IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, SOUTHERN DIVISION

BUDDY GILL, )

)

Plaintiff, )

) CIVIL ACTION NO. 

v. ) 1:06cv718-MHT

) (WO)

SORRELLS FUNERAL HOME, ) 

INC., and TERRY G. )

SORRELLS, )

)

Defendants. )

OPINION

This case is currently before the court on plaintiff

Buddy Gill and defendants Sorrell Funeral Home, Inc. and

Terry Sorrell's joint motion to approve a settlement of

Gill’s claim filed under the Fair Labor Standards Act

(FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201-219. For the reasons that

follow, the settlement will be approved.

Because the FLSA was enacted to protect workers from

the poor wages and long hours that can result from great

inequalities in bargaining power between employers and

employees, the FLSA's provisions are mandatory and,

except in two narrow circumstances, are generally not

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subject to bargaining, waiver, or modification by

contract or settlement. Brooklyn Savings Bank v. O'Neil,

324 U.S. 697, 706 (1945). The first exception is that

the Secretary of Labor may supervise the payment of back

wages to employees; employees who accept such payments

waive their rights to bring suits for liquidated damages,

provided the employer pays the back amount in full. 29

U.S.C. § 216(c); Lynn's Food Stores, Inc. v. United

States, 679 F.2d 1350, 1352-53 (11th Cir. 1982).

The second route to settlement, and the one that is

applicable here, occurs when an employee brings a private

action for back wages under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b); the

employee and employer present a proposed settlement to

the district court, and the district court reviews the

judgment and enters it as a stipulated judgment. Lynn's

Food Stores, 679 F.2d at 1354 ("Settlements may be

permissible in the context of a suit brought by employees

under the FLSA for back wages because initiation of the

action by the employees provides some assurance of an

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*In Lynn's Food Stores, the court disallowed a

(continued...)

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adversarial context. The employees are likely to be

represented by an attorney who can protect their rights

under the statute. Thus, when the parties submit a

settlement to the court for approval, the settlement is

more likely to reflect a reasonable compromise of

disputed issues than a mere waiver of statutory rights

brought about by an employer's overreaching.").

In reviewing a settlement of an FLSA private claim,

a court must "scrutiniz[e] the settlement for fairness,"

id. at 1353, and determine that the settlement is a "fair

and reasonable resolution of a bona fide dispute over

FLSA provisions." Id. at 1355. "If a settlement in an

employee FLSA suit does reflect a reasonable compromise

over issues, such as FLSA coverage or computation of back

wages, that are actually in dispute[,] ... the district

court [may] approve the settlement in order to promote

the policy of encouraging settlement of litigation." Id.

at 1354.*

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(...continued)

compromise because it was not brought in the context of

an employee lawsuit, but rather was an attempt by an

employer to "settle,” through a declaratory judgment

action, backpay claims because of a pending investigation

by the Secretary of Labor. The "compromise" was unfair

and reflected the extreme inequalities of bargaining

position that the FLSA was designed to protect against.

In this case, there are bona fide disputes over FLSA

provisions, namely FLSA coverage and the amount of

backpay. Further, after hearing from Gill and reviewing

the settlement agreement, the court concludes that the

settlement is a fair and reasonable resolution of these

bona fide disputes, particularly given that it appears

that the defendants acted in good faith. 

An appropriate judgment will be entered.

DONE, this the 18th day of January, 2007.

 /s/ Myron H. Thompson 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 

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