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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO. 2:20-CV-14130-ROSENBERG/MAYNARD

MICHELLE MILLER,

 Plaintiff,

v.

EDWARD D. JONES & CO., L.P. 

and STEPHEN R. HEDRICK,

 Defendants.

___________________________________/

ORDER OF COURT-MANDATED REQUIREMENTS IN FLSA-BASED CASES

 THIS MATTER is before the Court upon the filing of an action under the Fair Labor 

Standards Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §201 et seq. (“FLSA”), by which the Plaintiff seeks unpaid 

wages. To expedite resolution of this matter, the parties are instructed to comply with the following 

requirements.

I. STATEMENT OF CLAIM

To assist the Court in the management of the case, the Plaintiff is ORDERED to file with the 

Court a statement of claim setting forth the amount of the alleged unpaid wages, the calculation of 

such wages, and the nature of the wages (e.g. overtime or regular) within twenty-one (21) days from 

the date of this Order. The statement of claim shall also include all attorney’s fees and costs incurred 

to date. With respect to attorney’s fees, counsel must provide the hourly rate sought and the number 

of hours expended by each person billing time. Also within that allotted time, the Plaintiff shall serve 

a copy of this Order, the statement of claim, and copies of all documents supporting the claim (e.g.

time slips, pay stubs) on the Defendant’s counsel. The Plaintiff shall, on that same date, additionally 

file a notice of full compliance with this Order.

 The Defendant, within fourteen (14) days of service of the Plaintiff’s statement of claim, is 

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ORDERED to file with this Court a response to the Plaintiff’s statement, and provide the Plaintiff 

with copies of all documents supporting its defenses. Concurrently, the Defendant shall file a notice 

of full compliance with this Order. Failure to comply with this Order may result in default, 

dismissal, and/or sanctions.

The Statements of Claim are not intended by this Court to be a substitute for interrogatories 

under Rule 33. 

II. SETTLEMENT APPROVAL

Because FLSA rights cannot be abridged by contract or otherwise waived, claims arising 

under the FLSA may be compromised only with the approval of the Court or the Secretary of Labor. 

See Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. United States, 679 F.2d 1350, 1352-53 (11th Cir. 1982). In a suit 

brought by employees under the FLSA, the Court must determine whether a settlement proposed by 

the employer and employees “is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over FLSA 

provisions.” Id. at 1355. In doing so, the Court considers such factors as “(1) existence of fraud; (2) 

complexity of the case; (3) the point of the proceedings when the settlement occurs; (4) the 

probability of success on the merits; (5) the range of possible recovery; and (6) counsel’s opinion.” 

McHone v. Donald P. Hoekstra Plumbing, Inc., No. 10-60322-CIV, 2010 WL 4625999, at *1 (S.D. 

Fla. Nov. 4, 2010); see also Leverso v. SouthTrust Bank of Ala., Nat’l Ass’n., 18 F.3d 1527, 1530 n.6 

(11th Cir. 1994). Finally, the “FLSA requires judicial review of the reasonableness of counsel’s legal 

fees to assure both that counsel is compensated adequately and that no conflict of interest taints the 

amount the wronged employee recovers under a settlement agreement.” Silva v. Miller, 307 F. App’x 

349, 351 (11th Cir. 2009).

Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that any motion for settlement approval filed in this 

case should do the following:

a. Attach a copy of the settlement agreement.

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b. State whether the settlement agreement would result in a complete recovery of all wages 

that Plaintiff(s) claimed to be owed.

c. Explain, with specificity, the nature of the parties’ bona fide dispute and why the 

settlement agreement represents a fair and reasonable resolution of that dispute, in light of 

the factors outlined above.

d. If the settlement agreement provides for the recovery of attorney’s fees, explain how the 

fees were calculated and why the amount of the fees is reasonable. If the fees were 

calculated on an hourly basis, records of counsel’s time should be attached.

e. If the parties seek for their settlement agreement to be reviewed in camera, for their 

settlement agreement to be filed under seal or, alternatively, if the parties’ settlement 

agreement would somehow punish the Plaintiff for discussing the terms of the settlement 

agreement, the parties are hereby on notice that, historically, the undersigned has not 

approved these types of requests. If the parties seek any of the aforementioned relief, the 

parties should provide the Court with detailed legal argument justifying the relief in a 

manner akin and resembling a motion for reconsideration which is supported with a 

detailed accounting of the factual grounds supporting the requested relief. See Dees v. 

Hydradry, Inc., 706 F. Supp. 2d 1227, 1242-43 (M.D. Fla. 2010) (“A confidentiality 

provision in an FLSA settlement agreement both contravenes the legislative purpose of 

the FLSA and undermines the Department of Labor's regulatory effort to notify employees 

of their FLSA rights. . . . The district court should reject as unreasonable a compromise 

that contains a confidentiality provision, which is unenforceable and operates in 

contravention of the FLSA.”); see also Webb v. CVS Caremark Corp., No. 5:11-CV-106 

(CAR), 2011 WL 6743284, *3 (M.D. Ga. Dec. 23, 2011) (holding that, “in light of the 

Court’s ruling that it will not seal any settlement agreements, it is likely that the 

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confidentiality provisions are unenforceable” and, moreover, such a provision 

“contravenes the legislative purpose of the FLSA”). 

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in denial of the motion for 

settlement approval.

 DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, West Palm Beach, Florida, this 2nd day of June, 2020.

 ____________________________

Copies furnished to: ROBIN L. ROSENBERG

All counsel of record UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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