UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

MIAMI DIVISION

CASE NO. 1:20-cv-22603-GOODMAN

[CONSENT]

ERIC CHAVEZ and 

LEONEL DIAZ 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

GRILL ENTERPRISES, LLC, a

Florida Limited Liability Company, d/b/a

Los Parrilleros and Parrilleros Tavern, and 

RUBEN SIERRA, individually, 

Defendants. 

_____________________________/ 

POST-HEARING ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER

On May 11, 2023, the Undersigned held an extensive, almost two-hour hearing to 

reschedule the trial date, set a charge conference hearing date, and discuss the 11 topics 

noticed by the Court in the Order Re: Trial Rescheduling, Briefing and Questions [ECF 

No. 185]. At the hearing, the Undersigned ordered as follows: 

Trial Date and Charge Conference

The Jury Trial in this matter is re-scheduled to commence on Monday, September 

11, 2023 at 9:15 AM before the Undersigned at the James Lawrence King Justice Building, 

99 NE 4th Street, 11th Floor, Miami, Florida. The Court has reserved 5 days for this trial.

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There will be no new pretrial conference.

The parties have submitted joint proposed jury instructions. [ECF No. 156-1]. The 

Court will hold an in-person charge conference on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 at 1:30 PM. 

The parties will be prepared to address disputed jury instructions.

Defendants’ Revised Proposed Verdict Forms

Defendants will file a notice containing their revised proposed verdict forms (one 

verdict form per Plaintiff) by no later than Friday, May 19, 2023. Defendants will email 

Word-version courtesy copies of their verdict forms to the Court’s CM/ECF mailbox 

(goodman@flsd.uscourts.gov). There is no need to submit a flash drive. The Court is 

already in receipt of Plaintiffs’ revised proposed verdict forms [ECF Nos. 178-1; 178-2]. 

The Parties’ Memoranda on Additional Issues

In an earlier Order, the Court listed 11 issues1 under the heading “Issues to be 

Briefed.” [ECF No. 185, pp. 2-5]. The Court provided preliminary instructions to the 

1 Issue No. 11 asked the parties to address the following question: “Is ‘unclean 

hands’ an affirmative defense in an action for damages (as opposed to a defense when 

the Court is sitting in equity, such as in connection with a motion for injunctive relief)?”

[ECF No. 185, pp. 4-5]. At the May 11, 2023 hearing, Defendants represented to the Court 

that they were waiving their affirmative defense of unclean hands. Therefore, the parties 

no longer need to address Issue No. 11.

Nonetheless, to avoid confusion, the Court will keep the same numbering 

convention. The parties may simply skip “Memorandum No. 11” and proceed to 

“Memorandum No. 12” when docketing their memoranda on CM/ECF. [For ease of 

reference, the issue number should be included in both the title of each memorandum 

and in the docket entry description on CM/ECF.]

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parties on how to answer the listed issues and further stated that “the Court would like 

a separate, double-spaced memorandum of law, not to exceed five pages, on each of the 

issues listed[.]” Id. at 2.

In addition to the issues listed in the Court’s earlier Order [ECF No. 185], the 

parties will file memoranda addressing the following issue identified at the May 11, 2023 

hearing: “12. Did Plaintiffs timely seek a claim for tip confiscation and, if not, what impact 

does that have on their damages claim?”. 

The parties will submit their memoranda by no later than Monday, June 12, 2023. 

Pending Motions

Defendants have filed a motion for reconsideration [ECF No. 179] and Plaintiffs 

filed a combined response/motion for relief from trial order [ECF No. 181]. Defendants 

will have until Thursday, May 25, 2023 to file their response to Plaintiffs’ motion [ECF 

No. 181]. Plaintiffs may file an optional reply in accordance with the Local Rules.

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers, in Miami, Florida, on May 12, 2023. 

Copies furnished to: 

All counsel of record

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