Monge v. Everwell Home Health Care LLC et al

Filing 15

ORDER that no later than January 10, 2025, the parties shall file a joint statement indicating whether they agree to attend a settlement conference before a magistrate judge. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED if the parties do not agree to proceed to a settlement conference, Everwell Home Health Care LLC must retain counsel and that counsel must file a notice of appearance no later than January 17, 2025. See document for complete details. Signed by Judge Krissa M Lanham on 1/3/2025. (KLG)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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Alexis Monge,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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Everwell Home Health Care LLC, et al.,

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Defendants.

No. CV-24-03007-PHX-KML
ORDER

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Plaintiff Alexis Monge filed this suit alleging defendants Everwell Home Health

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Care LLC and Shanea Howell owed her unpaid wages. Monge alleged she had worked 38

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hours and had been promised an hourly rate of approximately $19. (Doc. 1 at 7.) Thus, the

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complaint seeks approximately $722 in unpaid wages plus liquidated damages, attorneys’

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fees, and costs. Monge served both defendants but neither responded to the complaint and

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their defaults were entered. (Doc. 10.) Six days after entry of the defaults, Howell filed a

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motion that appears to be a request to set aside the defaults. (Doc. 11.) Howell also filed

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an answer to the complaint. The motion to set aside the defaults and the answer were both

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filed by Howell, allegedly on behalf of herself and Everwell. (Doc. 12 at 3.) The answer

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asserted numerous affirmative defenses and purported to assert an unidentified

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counterclaim against Monge. (Doc. 12 at 5-6.)

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Monge filed a response to the motion to set aside defaults stating she did not oppose

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the motion. (Doc. 13.) Monge also filed a motion for more definite statement regarding the

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answer. According to Monge, the answer does not respond to each allegation in the

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complaint as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b). In addition, Monge argues it is unclear

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whether the answer should be viewed as a motion to dismiss under Rule 12 and whether

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Howell wishes to pursue a counterclaim.

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Howell is entitled to represent herself but a limited liability company such as

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Everwell must be represented by counsel. See Rowland v. California Men’s Colony, Unit

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II Men’s Advisory Council, 506 U.S. 194, 203 (1993). Thus, the motion to set aside the

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defaults and the answer must be viewed as filed only on Howell’s behalf. As for Monge’s

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motion for more definite statement, it seems likely that Howell would need to amend her

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answer to make it clearer how she plans to defend this case. But the court will not take any

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formal action on these pending motions because this case appears to be a good candidate

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for a settlement conference.

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Based on the filings so far, Monge is seeking a relatively small amount of damages

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and Howell has indicated she attempted to pay Monge the wages she was owed but Monge

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refused to provide a mailing address. Assuming Howell’s version of events is accurate, she

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made efforts to pay Monge the wages that were owed such that it is unlikely Monge would

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be entitled to liquidated damages. See Scalia v. Emp. Sols. Staffing Grp., LLC, 951 F.3d

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1097, 1102 (9th Cir. 2020) (an FLSA violation is willful when “the employer either knew

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or showed reckless disregard for . . . whether its conduct was prohibited by the [FLSA]”).

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And at this early stage, Monge has incurred a minimal amount of attorneys’ fees and costs.

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Therefore, the total amount in dispute appears to be approximately $1,500 (i.e., unpaid

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wages plus filing fee and attorneys’ fees). Given this small amount, the parties must confer

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and file a joint statement indicating if they agree to attend an immediate settlement

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conference before a magistrate judge. If the parties are unwilling to do so, the court will

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rule on the pending motions. If the parties do not proceed to a settlement conference,

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Everwell must retain counsel and that counsel must filed a notice of appearance.

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IT IS ORDERED no later than January 10, 2025, the parties shall file a joint

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statement indicating whether they agree to attend a settlement conference before a

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magistrate judge.

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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED if the parties do not agree to proceed to a settlement

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conference, Everwell Home Health Care LLC must retain counsel and that counsel must

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file a notice of appearance no later than January 17, 2025.

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Dated this 3rd day of January, 2025.

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