Tovar v. The Empire Shoe Repairing Corp.
Case Details
- Nature of Suit — the legal category of the dispute
- 710 Labor: Fair Standards
- Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
- Unknown
- Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
- consent decree
- State
- New York
- Circuit
- Second Circuit
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
Court approved a settlement in an FLSA wage-and-hour case where the plaintiff employee reached a settlement with the employer for $42,500, with $27,991.33 net to plaintiff after attorney's fees and costs of $14,508.67.
What This Ruling Means
Tovar v. The Empire Shoe Repairing Corp.
What Happened
An employee at Empire Shoe Repairing Corp. filed a lawsuit claiming the company failed to pay wages owed to them. The case involved federal wage-and-hour laws that protect workers' right to fair compensation.
What the Court Decided
Rather than go to trial, the employer and employee agreed to settle the dispute. The court approved a settlement where the employee received $42,500 in total damages. After paying attorney fees and legal costs ($14,508.67), the employee received $27,991.33 directly.
Why This Matters for Workers
This case demonstrates that workers can take legal action when employers don't pay them properly. Even without going to trial, employees can recover money owed to them through settlements. However, it also shows that legal fees can be significant—in this case, nearly one-third of the settlement went to attorneys. Workers facing wage theft should understand that while they have legal protections, recovering unpaid wages involves costs that reduce the final payout.
This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.
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This ruling information is sourced from public court records via CourtListener.com. Case outcomes, claim types, and summaries are extracted using AI analysis and may be incomplete or inaccurate. It is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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