By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Sept 10 – Miguel Nepomuceno Valencia sued Doughboys of 3rd Avenue, Inc. under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Then... nothing happened.
On February 4, 2021 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John G. Koeltl held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered it.
Judge Koeltl asked where the listed defense lawyer Richard Michael Hendler was.
His associate said he had another commitment, that he is an adjunct professor at NYU.
But so is Judge Koeltl. Inner City Press did a bit of research and foudn that Hendler is also a lawyer for the creative classes.
The associate said that given COVID, the pizzeria is barely open and cannot afford to pay $30,000 (a figure she threw out). Judge Koeltl said that Hendler should attend the next conference on February 19.
Jump cut to September 10, 2021, when another proceeding was scheduled. Hendler did not call in and so was contacted. He apologized, saying he forgot about it as "we got tickets to the U.S. Open" tennis tournament. The semi-final, he said, started at 3 pm.
There was a proposed settlement, for $22,000, with the plaintiffs' lawyers in line for 33.3%. Judge Koeltl said in this case, perhaps the plaintiffs' lawyers should devote another $2000 to the actual plaintiffs. Counsel said she had to check.
The case is Valencia et al v. Doughboys of 3rd Ave, Inc. et al., 18-cv-11385 (Koeltl)
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