309756048.2 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 

CASE NO: 0:20-cv-60945-WPD 

EDGAR RONALDO ALVAREZ 

GUTIERREZ, 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

FOOD BAZAAR INTERNATIONAL, INC., 

d/b/a BAZAAR SUPERMARKET AND 

JUAN F. ESPINAL 

 Defendants. 

JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF 

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT 

Defendants, Food Bazaar International, Inc. d/b/a Bazaar Supermarket (“Food Bazaar”) 

and Juan F. Espinal (“Espinal”), (collectively “Defendants”) and Plaintiff Edgar Ronaldo 

Alvarez Gutierrez jointly file this Joint Motion for Approval of Settlement Agreement and 

request the entry of an Order approving the Parties’ settlement in the above-referenced matter. 

Because the settlement of the underlying action includes a release of any overtime claims that 

could have been brought pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”), the settlement 

as to the FLSA claims must be approved by this Court. 

1. On May 12, 2020, Plaintiff filed this action seeking damages under the FLSA 

and under Florida Workers’ Compensation Statute, Section 440.205, Fla. Stat. (Dkt. 1). 

2. Defendants dispute Plaintiff’s claims that there was any violation of the FLSA 

or Florida Workers’ Compensation Statute. 

3. The Parties evaluated the claims, exchanged discovery, and held a mediation on 

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March 1, 2021, before Marlene Quintana, Esq. (Dkt. 34). 

4. Despite being unable to resolve Plaintiff’s claims at mediation, Defendants 

provided a detailed damages analysis to Plaintiff subsequent to mediation, involving a 

computation of alleged hours worked. 

5. Without admitting fault or liability, the Parties amicably resolved all disputed 

claims in this matter, including attorney’s fees and costs, and entered into a Settlement 

Agreement and Release of Claims (the “Settlement Agreement”), attached hereto as Exhibit 

A. 

6. The Parties agree that this is a fair and reasonable compromise of the Plaintiff’s 

claims for unpaid wages and overtime under the FLSA. 

7. Because of the nature of Plaintiff’s claims, the Settlement Agreement requires 

court approval in order to become effective. 

8. In this regard, for a release and waiver of claims agreement to be considered 

effective under the FLSA, it must be approved by a Court or supervised by the U.S. 

Department of Labor. See Lynn’s Food Stores, Inc. v. U.S. Dept. of Labor, 679 F. 2d 1350, 

1355 (11th Cir. 1982) (“Other than a section 216(c) payment supervised by the Department of 

Labor, there is only one context in which compromises of FLSA back wage or liquidated 

damage claims may be allowed: a stipulated judgment entered by a court which has 

determined that a settlement proposed by an employer and employees, in a suit brought by the 

employees under the FLSA, is a fair and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over 

FLSA provisions.”). 

9. Given that Plaintiff also brought a claim under Florida’s Workers’ 

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Compensation Statute against Defendants, the Settlement Agreement is not limited to solely a 

release of FLSA claims. 

10. A bona fide dispute exists between Plaintiff and Defendants in this case 

regarding whether Plaintiff was classified properly and is entitled to damages under the FLSA. 

Plaintiff contends that he was not properly paid overtime during the relevant time period. 

Defendants disagree and contend that Plaintiff was properly compensated for every hour 

worked during his provision of services to Defendants, notwithstanding his classification. 

However, to avoid the risks and costs associated with additional litigation, the Parties have 

agreed to resolve this dispute. 

11. Plaintiff was represented by competent counsel with experience in this area of 

the law. Defendants also were represented by experienced counsel throughout the litigation. 

The Parties request that the Court approve the Settlement Agreement as fair and reasonable in 

this case given the nature of the dispute, the legal issues involved, and the risks and costs 

associated with further litigation. 

12. The Parties state that they reached the amount of this settlement through factbased, good-faith negotiations, facilitated by the Court-ordered mediation and subsequent 

exchanges of discovery. Accordingly, the Parties compromised to avoid the expense and 

uncertainty of further litigation without fraud or collusion. The Parties exchanged discovery 

relevant to the Plaintiff’s claims and Defendants’ defenses and reached a resolution concerning 

the claims at issue—both the FLSA claims and the Workers’ Compensation claims. 

13. Counsel for both Parties have evaluated the merits of the claims and defenses at 

issue, and discussed the probability of different outcomes with respect to their clients. 

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Plaintiff’s counsel included them at all stage of the settlement negotiations, repeatedly 

informed them of their options, and provided their authority to enter into the Agreement, as 

shown by their signatures affixed thereto. Plaintiff and their counsel believe that they have 

obtained a favorable resolution given the Claims at issue. Based on the foregoing, the Parties 

and their counsel respectfully submit that the Agreement represents a fair and reasonable 

resolution of this case. 

14. The settlement also provides for the payment of attorneys’ fees and costs which 

were negotiated separately without regard to the amount paid to Plaintiff, as provided for 

under the FLSA. See Bonetti v. Embarq Mgmt. Co., 715 F. Supp. 2d 1222, 2009 U.S. Dist. 

LEXIS 68075, 2009 WL 2371407 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 4, 2009). The agreed upon amount of 

attorneys’ fees and costs to Plaintiff’s counsel is for its representation of Plaintiff through 

conclusion of the settlement, separate from and without regard to the amount paid to settle the 

Plaintiff’s FLSA claims. 

As the conditions of the Settlement Agreement are extended after the dismissal of this 

lawsuit, the Parties request that as a condition for dismissal, the Court retain jurisdiction to 

enforce the terms of the Settlement Agreement. The effectiveness of the stipulation of dismissal 

is conditioned upon the Court’s entry of an order retaining jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the 

Settlement Agreement reached in this case, solely pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(2).1 See 

Anago Franchising, Inc. v. Shaz, LLC, 677 F. 3d 1272, 1280 (11th Cir. 2012). 

 WHEREFORE, the Parties respectfully request that the Court enter an Order (i) 

approving the terms of the Settlement Agreement entered into by the Parties, (ii) adopting the 

 

1

 No review of this settlement or the dismissal of the pending claims is sought under Rule 

41(a)(1). 

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settlement of the Workers’ Compensation claims, (iii) compelling the Parties to comply with 

the terms of the Settlement Agreement, and (iv) retaining jurisdiction to enforce its terms. 

Dated: Miami, Florida Respectfully submitted, 

 May 17, 2021 

/s/ Sergio R. Casiano, Jr. 

Sergio R. Casiano, Jr. 

Florida Bar No. 457302 

ergioc@mkrs.com

MKRS LAW, PL 

201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 802 

Coral Gables, FL 33134 

Telephone: (305) 446-5228 

Facsimile: (305) 446-7110 

C. Mitchell Barrenechea 

Florida Bar No. 105722 

mitchell@mb-attorney.com 

MITCHELL BARRENCHEA, P.A. 

333 Las Olas Way, cU#327 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 

Telephone: (954) 281-7220 

Facsimile: (954) 337-3224 

/s/ April L. Boyer 

April Boyer 

Florida Bar No. 0168335 

april.boyer@klgates.com 

Rio Gonzalez 

Florida Bar No. 1023389 

rio.gonzalez@klgates.com 

K&L GATES LLP 

Southeast Financial Center 

200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 3900 

Miami, Florida 33131 

Telephone: 305.539.3300 

Facsimile: 305.358.7095 

Attorneys for Plaintiff Attorneys for Defendants 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing was electronically 

filed with the Clerk of the Court using CM/ECF and served via CM/ECF on all counsel of record 

on the following Service List this 17th day of May 2021. 

/s/ April Boyer 

April Boyer 

SERVICE LIST 

Sergio R. Casiano, Jr., Esquire 

sergioc@mkrs.com

MKRS LAW, PL 

201 Alhambra Circle, Suite 802 

Coral Gables, FL 33134 

Telephone: (305) 446-5228 

Facsimile: (305) 446-7110 

Counsel for Plaintiff 

C. Mitchell Barrenechea, Esquire 

mitchell@mb-attorney.com 

MITCHELL BARRENCHEA, P.A. 

333 Las Olas Way, cU#327 

Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 

Telephone: (954) 281-7220 

Facsimile: (954) 337-3224 

Co-counsel for Plaintiff 

 

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