Reyes v. Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC, et al

Filing 22

CONSENT ORDER AND JUDGMENT - Signed by District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan on 6/27/2016. (Baker, C.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
WESTERN DIVISION
Civil Action No. 5:16-cv-00087-FL
SALVADOR REYES,

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Plaintiff,
v.

FIESTA MEXICANA VI, LLC, and ANDRES
ESCAMILLA,
Defendants.

CONSENT ORDER AND JUDGMENT

This is a purported class and collective action brought pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards
Act ("FLSA"), 29 U.S.C. §§201 et seq., and the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act (“NCWHA”),
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 95-25.1 et seq. Plaintiff Salvador Reyes (“Plaintiff”) asserts claims under the
FLSA and the NCWHA, alleging that during the applicable time period Defendants Fiesta
Mexicana VI, LLC and Andres Escamilla (“Defendants”) employed him and other potential
members of the class and collective action as kitchen workers at the Fiesta Mexicana restaurant
in Holly Springs, NC. Plaintiff further alleges that the Defendants failed to pay him all of his
promised wages when due at the wage rate that the Defendants allegedly disclosed to the
Plaintiff and his co-workers for that same work. The Plaintiff further alleges that the Defendants
did not compensate them for at the overtime rate required by the FLSA when they worked in
excess of 40 hours per week. Lastly, Plaintiff alleges that Defendants falsified the earning
statements of Plaintiff.
The defendants named in the Plaintiff’s Complaint are Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC and
Andres Escamilla. During at least 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, Plaintiff alleges that these
same Defendants were his employers and that they employed other persons similarly situated to the
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Plaintiff.
The allegations of the Complaint essentially allege that Defendants violated the rights of
Plaintiff and the members of the class and collective action that Plaintiff formerly sought to
represent under the FLSA and the NCWHA in a number of different ways. Those alleged ways
included, but are not limited to, the failure to pay the Plaintiff’s wages at the overtime rate required
by § 207(a)(1) of the FLSA and the failure to pay the Plaintiff’s promised wages when due at the
rate and in the amount disclosed pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 95-25.6 and 95-25.13(1)-(2).
Defendants have at all times denied, and continue to deny, any violation of the FLSA and
the NCWHA in the manner and to the extent alleged by the Plaintiff. Nothing in this consent order
or in the settlement of this action should be construed as an admission or finding of any violation of
the FLSA or the NCWHA or wrongdoing of any kind or nature by these same Defendants, and that
therefore, upon the date that final payment is made and all other actions specified in this Consent
Order are taken in compliance with its terms, Defendants shall be fully released and forever
discharged from any and all claims, demands, charges, complaints, rights, and causes of action by
the Plaintiff Salvador Reyes that arise or may arise against Defendants Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC
and Andres Escamilla under the FLSA or the NCWHA for the period from July 1, 2011 through
the date that this Court enters that consent order.
Plaintiff and Defendants have decided to enter into this consent order and to settle all of the
individual claims of the named Plaintiff against Defendants in this case in an effort to avoid further
protracted and costly litigation. To that end, Plaintiff and Defendants have mutually stipulated to
the entry of this Consent Order, and the Court, therefore, upon consideration of the record herein
and being fully advised of the premises,
THE COURT HEREBY ORDERS and DECREES:
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(1) By consent of the Plaintiff Salvador Reyes and Defendants Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC
and Andres Escamilla, the terms of this Consent Order shall be subject to enforcement by any
person(s) who would receive any benefit from a full and complete execution of its terms.
(2)

Prior to July 26, 2016, but following the entry of the Order of the Court finally

approving the Settlement Agreement among the parties, Defendants Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC
and Andres Escamilla, jointly and severally, are obligated to pay and shall pay the total amount of
Fifteen Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($15,000.00) to the Law Office of Sommers Schwartz, PC
for deposit into the trust account of the Law Office of Sommers Schwartz, PC and disbursement
by that law firm pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement that is agreed upon by
Plaintiff and Defendants. Specifically, the Fifteen Thousand and 00/100 Dollars ($15,000.00)
payment shall be distributed as follows: a) Eight Thousand Two Hundred and 00/100 Dollars
($8,200.00) to Plaintiff, Salvador Reyes; b) Six Thousand and 00/100 Dollars to the Law Office
of Sommers Schwartz, PC, for attorneys’ fees; and c) Eight Hundred and 00/100 Dollars
($800.00) to the Law Office of Sommers Schwartz, PC, for reimbursement of costs.
The undersigned parties agree and stipulate that this Consent Order resolves all matters
between Defendants Fiesta Mexicana VI, LLC and Andres Escamilla and Plaintiff Salvador Reyes
that are alleged in the Plaintiff’s Complaint that was filed in the above-captioned action to the extent
and only to the extent that individual claims and individual relief were sought in that Complaint, and
the Plaintiff’s individual claims against all Defendants are dismissed with prejudice except that the
Court retains jurisdiction over this action to the extent necessary to enforce the terms of this Consent
Judgment and Consent Order.
June
This the 27th day of _____________________, 2016.
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_____________________________________
U.S. District Court Judge Louise W. Flanagan

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