UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO

WESTERN DIVISION

R. ALEXANDER ACOSTA, Secretary 

of Labor, United States Department of 

Labor,

Plaintiff,

vs.

DREAMLIFE COMMUNITY, LLC, et 

al.,

Defendants.

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Case No. 1:18-cv-492

Judge Timothy S. Black

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S

MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT (Doc. 12)

This case is before the Court on the Plaintiff’s motion for judgement by default. 

(Doc. 12). Defendants Dreamlife Community, LLC (“Dreamlife”) and Edreisha 

Humphrey did not respond. 

I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff filed the Complaint on July 20 2018. (Doc. 1). Defendants were served 

with a copy of the summons and Complaint on August 21, 2018. Pursuant to Federal 

Rule of Civil Procedure 12(a), Defendants were required to file and serve their answer no 

later than September 11, 2018. To date, no responsive pleading has been filed or served. 

On December 6, 2018, the Clerk properly entered default. Subsequently, Plaintiff filed 

the instant motion for default judgment. (Doc. 12). 
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II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff brought this action to recover unpaid minimum wage and overtime 

compensation pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.

(the “FLSA”). Defendant Dreamlife was engaged in operating a day-care 

center/preschool in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Doc. 1 at 2). Defendant Humphrey is the owner 

of Dreamlife. (Id.). 

As alleged in the Complaint, Defendants repeatedly violated the provisions of §§ 6 

and 15(a)(2) of the FLSA by paying employees for wages at rates less than $7.25 per 

hour, specifically by not paying employees their final paychecks if employees did not 

give the employer at least two weeks written notice of departure or if Defendants

believed employees destroyed property. (Id. at 3).

Defendants repeatedly violated the provisions of §§ 7 and 15(a)(2) by employing 

employees for workweeks longer than forty (40) hours without compensating the 

employees for hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week at rates not less than 

one and one-half times the regular rate at which they were employed. Defendants did not 

pay employees time and one-half for hours worked over forty hours and shaved time off 

of employees’ total hours worked. (Id.).

Defendants repeatedly violated provisions of §§ 11(c) and 15(a)(5) by failing to 

make, keep, and preserve adequate and accurate records of the wages, hours, and 

conditions of employment from approximately February 2016 to October 2016. (Id. 

at 4).
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Plaintiff seek an Order (i) finding Defendants liable for unpaid minimum wage 

and overtime compensation and liquidated damages equal in amount to the unpaid 

compensation and (ii) enjoining and restraining Defendants from violating the FLSA by 

withholding payment of unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation. (Id. at 5).

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Applications for default judgment are governed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2). 

Following the clerk’s entry of default pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a) and the party’s 

application for default under Rule 55(b), “the complaint’s factual allegations regarding 

liability are taken as true, while allegations regarding the amount of damages must be 

proven.” Murasaki v. Davenport, Allen & Malone, Inc., No. 2:09-cv-298, 2010 U.S. 

Dist. LEXIS 86241, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Aug. 23, 2010) (citing Dundee Cement Co. v. 

Howard Pipe & Concrete Products, 722 F.2d 1319. 1323 (7th Cir. 1983)). 

While liability may be shown by well-pleaded allegations, this Court is required to 

“conduct an inquiry in order to ascertain the amount of damages with reasonable 

certainty.” Osbeck v. Golfside Auto Sales, Inc., No. 07-14004, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 

62027, at *5 (E.D. Mich. June. 23, 2010). To do so, the civil rules “require that the party 

moving for a default judgment must present some evidence of its damages.” Mill’s 

Pride, L.P. v. W.D. Miller Enter., No. 2:07-cv-990, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36756, at *1 

(S.D. Ohio Mar. 12, 2010). 
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IV. ANALYSIS

Defendants having defaulted, the factual allegations in the complaint, except those 

related to the amount of damages, are deemed true. Antoine v. Atlas Turner, Inc., 66 F.3d 

105, 110 (6th Cir. 1995). Upon review of the record, the Court finds that default 

judgment is warranted in this case. Defendants’ failure to respond to the Complaint, the 

application for entry of default, or motion for default judgment has made it clear that 

Defendants have no intention of defending this action. The record establishes that 

Plaintiff is entitled to default judgment in its favor on its claims under the Fair Labor 

Standards Act.

A. Monetary Damages

To ascertain a sum of damages, Rule 55(b)(2) “allows but does not require the 

district court to conduct an evidentiary hearing.” Vesligaj v. Peterson, 331 F. App’x 351, 

354-55 (6th Cir. 2009). An evidentiary hearing is not required if the Court can determine 

the amount of damages by computation from the record before it. HICA Educ. Loan 

Corp. v. Jones, No. 4:12cv962, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 116166, at *1 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 

16, 2012). The Court may rely on affidavits submitted on the issue of damages. 

Schilling v. Interim Healthcare of Upper Ohio Valley, Inc., No. 2:06-cv-487, 2007 U.S. 

Dist. LEXIS 3118, at *2 (S.D. Ohio Jan. 16, 2007). 

Plaintiff has submitted the declaration of Nikolai S. Bogomolov, an investigator 

employed by the United States Department of Labor, in support of its claim for damages. 

(Doc. 12-1). The declaration establishes that six (6) of Defendants’ employees were not 
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paid the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Those six (6) employees are due $1,833,82 in 

back wages. (Id. at ¶ 3(d)). The declaration further establishes that twenty-one (21) of 

Defendants’ employees were not paid time and one-half for all hours worked over 40 in a 

workweek. Those twenty-one (21) employees are owed $8,380.41 in back wages. (Id. at 

(e)–(f)). Accordingly, combined Defendants owe twenty-three (23) employees 

$10,214.23 in back wages. (Id. at (g)). 

Moreover, the declaration sets forth that Defendants additionally owe $10,214.23, 

pursuant to the FLSA, in liquidated damages. Therefore, Defendants owe a total of 

$20,428.46. (Id. at (h)).

The allegations in the Complaint, and the evidence set forth by Plaintiff, establish 

that Defendants’ employees are entitled to a total of $20,428.46 in back wages and 

liquidated damages. The amount owed to each of Defendants’ former employees shall be 

distributed as indicated in Table 1 below: 

Name Period 

Covered 

Back Wages

Due 

Liquidated 

Damages 

Total: 

Allen, Neeley 10/01/16-

07/15/17 

$1,092.09 $1,092.09 $2,184.18 

Chapman, 

Darryas 

02/04/17-

05/27/17 

$466.80 $466.80 $933.60 

Coleman, Kai 10/08/16-

06/17/17 

$845.81 $845.81 $1,691.62 

Cross, Treva 05/06/17-

07/01/17 

$586.29 $586.29 $1,172.58 

Dowell, Joy 10/01/16-

01/21/17 

$47.65 $47.65 $95.30 

Gill, Princess 06/04/16-

06/17/17 

$422.22 $422.22 $844.44 

Humphrey, 

Neeley 

10/08/16-

10/22/16 

$73.43 $73.43 $146.86 
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Humphrey, 

Yolanda 

01/28/17-

06/17/17 

$589.05 $589.05 $1,178.10 

Angela 03/11/17-

03/25/17 

$71.72 $71.72 $143.44 

Lonnie 01/14/17-

03/25/17 

$33.13 $33.13 $66.26 

Malena 01/14/17-

01/21/17 

$23.68 23.68 $47.36 

Long, Therese 06/03/17-

06/24/17 

$305.73 $305.73 $611.46 

Lumpkin, 

Fatimah 

04/02/16-

07/15/17 

$1,815.54 $1,815.54 $3,631.08 

Martin, Terra 10/22/16-

11/19/16 

$88.29 $88.29 $176.58

McDavis, 

Antionetta 

10/01/16-

12/10/16 

$47.04 $47.04 $94.08 

Mendez, Nircy 07/16/16-

08/19/17 

$1,389.57 $1,389.57 $2,779.14 

Perry-Smith, 

Claudia Fatima 

07/02/16-

07/09/16 

$174.00 $174.00 $348.00 

Rollinson, 

Jasmine 

02/11/17-

05/20/17 

$150.29 $150.29 $300.58 

Rudolph, 

Jawanna 

05/27/17-

07/01/17 

$209.25 $209.25 $418.50 

Soult, Kelsey 10/29/16-

12/10/16 

$65.29 $65.29 $130.58 

Spivery, 

Vanessa 

10/08/16-

10/29/16 

$92.51 $92.51 $185.02 

Thompson, 

Audrea 

05/07/16-

07/22/17 

$1,548.91 $1,548.91 $3,097.82 

Tuck, Chanta 03/18/17-

06/17/17 

$75.94 $75.94 $151.88 

TOTAL TOTAL $10,214.23 $10,214.23 $20,428.46 

(Doc. 12-3).
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V. CONCLUSION

For these reasons, Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment (Doc. 12) is 

GRANTED. Accordingly:

1. Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and those persons in 

active concert or participation with them be, and they hereby are, 

permanently enjoined and restrained from violating the provisions of 

§§ 15(a)(2) and 15(a)(5) of the FLSA in any of the following manners:

a. Defendants shall not pay any of their employees who in any workweek 

are engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or 

who are employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the 

production of goods for commerce, within the meaning of the FLSA, 

wages at a rate less than the applicable minimum wage of $7.25 under 

the FLSA (or at a rate less than such other applicable minimum rate as 

may hereafter be established by amendment to the FLSA).

b. Defendants shall not employ any of their employees engaged in 

commerce or in the production of goods for commerce or who are 

employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of 

goods for commerce, within the meaning of the FLSA, for a workweek 

longer than forty (40) hours, unless the employee receives compensation 

for his/her employment in excess of forty (40) hours at a rate not less 

than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he/she is 

employed.

c. Defendants shall not fail to make, keep, and preserve records of their 

employees, and of the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices 

of employment maintained by them as prescribed by the regulations of 

the Administrator of the Secretary of Labor issued, and from time to 

time amended, pursuant to § 11(c) of the FLSA, and found in Title 29, 

Chapter V, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 516.

2. The Clerk shall enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendants

in the amount of $20,428.46 for unpaid minimum wage and overtime 

compensation due under the FLSA and liquidated damages in an equal 

amount, for which execution may issue, to be distributed to Defendants’ 

employees for the time periods and in the amounts indicated in Table 1,

supra at 5–6.
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a. Defendants shall make said payment to Plaintiff for disbursement by 

Plaintiff as prescribed by law, provided that any money not so 

distributed by Plaintiff within a reasonable time because of Plaintiff’s 

failure to locate the proper persons or because of any such person’s 

refusal to accept such money shall be covered into the Treasury of the 

United States as miscellaneous receipts.

3. No costs or disbursements are allowed.

4. This civil action is TERMINATED on the docket of this Court upon entry 

of Judgment. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Date: 2/14/2019 /s/ Timothy S. Black

Timothy S. Black

United States District Judge