Ventura v. L.A. Howard Constr. Co.

• Decision Date: 28 September 2015
• Docket Number: Case No. 14–cv–01884 (CRC)
• Citation: 134 F.Supp.3d 99
• Parties: Tomas Alcides Ventura, Plaintiff, v. L.A. Howard Construction Co. et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

134 F.Supp.3d 99

Tomas Alcides Ventura, Plaintiff,

v.L.A. Howard Construction Co. et al., Defendants.

Case No. 14–cv–01884 (CRC)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed September 28, 2015

Mary Craine Lombardo, Stein Sperling Bennett De Jong Driscoll PC, Rockville, MD, for Plaintiff.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CHRISTOPHER R. COOPER

, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Tomas Alcides Ventura seeks to recover from a construction company and its owner unpaid overtime compensation for his work as a concrete installer. Despite having been served by first-class mail in accordance with the Court's Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Alternative Service, Defendants L.A. Howard Construction Company ("the Company") and Lazerrick A. Howard have not responded to the complaint or the Clerk's entry of default. Ventura now seeks entry of default judgment, monetary damages, and attorneys' fees. As Ventura has adequately demonstrated liability on the part of both defendants and established the amount of damages, the Court will grant Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default Judgment and enter judgment against the Company and Howard.

I. Background

L.A. Howard Construction Company is a Washington, D.C. corporation that employed Tomas Alcides Ventura as a concrete installer from February 1, 2011 through July 30, 2013. Compl. ¶¶ 4, 17.

Ventura alleges that he worked between forty-eight and fifty hours per week, but was never compensated at one and one-half times his regular hourly rate for the time he spent working over forty hours in a week. Compl. ¶ 19.

L.A. Howard Construction Co. and Howard himself are employers as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Revision Act ("DCMWRA"), and the District of Columbia Wage Payment and Collection Law ("DCWPCL").¹ With this designation comes certain obligations. As Ventura correctly notes in his complaint, id. at 3, both the federal government and the District of Columbia require that employers compensate their employees for overtime at a rate of at least one and one-half times the employee's regular hourly rate. 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)

; D.C. Code § 32–1003(c). If the Company willfully failed to pay Ventura at least one and one-half times his regular hourly rate for his overtime, he is entitled to recover his unpaid compensation as well as liquidated damages. 29 U.S.C. § 216(b) ; D.C. Code §§ 32–1012, 32–1303. Ventura contends that the Company never paid him his statutorily mandated overtime wage and that he is owed approximately $19,995.30 as a result. Compl. ¶ 4. He seeks monetary damages in the amount of $59,985.90 under the DCWPCL's treble damages provision, or, alternatively, $39,990.60 under the FLSA's liquidated damages provision, as well as attorneys' fees and costs.²

Ventura filed suit on November 7, 2014 against L.A. Howard Construction Co. and its owner, Lazerrick A. Howard, who controlled the day-to-day operations of the Company. Compl. ¶ 10. The Company and Howard were served on April 14, 2015 by first-class mail, in accordance with the Court's Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Alternative Service. Aff. Service of Process on L.A. Howard Construction Co.; Aff. Service of Process on Lazerrick A. Howard. Neither responded to the complaint. The Clerk of the Court entered default as to the Company on June 26, 2015, Clerk's Entry of Default, ECF No. 10, and as to Howard on September 4, 2015, Clerk's Entry of Default, ECF No. 12. Ventura now moves for entry of default judgment against both the Company and Howard.

II. Standard of Review

Default judgment is a two-step procedure. Lanny J. Davis & Assocs. LLC v. Republic of Equatorial Guinea, 962 F.Supp.2d 152, 161 (D.D.C.2013)

. First, the plaintiff requests that the Clerk of the Court enter default against a party who has "failed to plead or otherwise defend."

Fed.R.Civ.P. 55(a)

. Second, the plaintiff must move for entry of a default judgment. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b). Default judgment is available when "the adversary process has been halted because of an essentially unresponsive party." Boland v. Elite Terrazzo Flooring, Inc., 763 F.Supp.2d 64, 67 (D.D.C.2011). "Default establishes the defaulting party's liability for the well-pleaded allegations of the complaint." Id.

After establishing liability, the court must make an independent evaluation of the damages to be awarded and has "considerable latitude in determining the amount of damages." Id.

The Court may conduct a hearing to set the amount of damages. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b)(2). The Court is not required to do so, however, "as long as it ensure[s] that there [i]s a basis for the damages specified in the default judgment." Transatlantic Marine Claims Agency, Inc. v. Ace Shipping Corp., 109 F.3d 105, 111 (2d Cir.1997). To ensure that there is an adequate basis to determine damages, a plaintiff must "prove [his] entitlement" to the relief requested using " ‘detailed affidavits or documentary evidence’ on which the court may rely." Boland v. Providence Constr. Corp., 304 F.R.D. 31, 36 (D.D.C.2014) (quoting Fanning v. Permanent Solution Indus., Inc., 257 F.R.D. 4, 7 (D.D.C.2009) ).

III. Analysis

Ventura argues that the Company and Howard owe him liquidated damages, attorneys' fees, and costs. The Court must determine whether entry of default judgment is appropriate and, if it is, whether Ventura is entitled to the full amount of relief he requests. In making this determination, the Court will assess the defendants' liability for the unpaid wages, the proper amount of any damages, and Ventura's request for attorneys' fees. The Court concludes that the Company and Howard breached their duties under the FLSA and the District of Columbia's wage-and-hour laws and are therefore liable to Ventura. The Court further finds that Ventura is entitled to the relief requested in the form of liquidated damages under the FLSA, as well as attorneys' fees and costs.

A. Liability

Ventura filed suit in November 2014 to recover the damages prescribed by the FLSA and the District of Columbia's wage-and-hour laws. Compl. 1. The Company and Howard were both served with process on April 14, 2015 by first-class mail in accordance with the Court's Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion for Alternative Service. The Clerk of the Court declared the Company to be in default on June 26, 2015, and declared Howard to be in default on September 4, 2015. Neither Defendant has responded to the complaint or the Clerk's entry of default. Because the Clerk of the Court has entered default as to both defendants, the Court accepts Ventura's well-pleaded allegations as true to determine whether the Company and Howard are liable and entry of default judgment is appropriate. Elite Terrazzo Flooring, Inc., 763 F.Supp.2d at 67

.

The District of Columbia's wage-and-hour laws provide that "[e]very employer shall pay all wages earned to his employees," D.C. Code § 32–1302

, and that an employer must compensate an employee for overtime "at a rate not less than 1 1/2 times the regular rate at which the employee is employed," D.C. Code § 32–1003. Similarly, the FLSA provides that, for hours worked in excess of forty hours per week, an employer must pay his employee "at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed." 29 U.S.C. § 207(a). A prevailing plaintiff in a DCWPCL or FLSA suit is entitled to unpaid wages as well as liquidated damages. See id. §§ 321303(4), 32–1308; 29 U.S.C. § 216(b)

.

Ventura has submitted a declaration on his own behalf, setting forth his hours worked and the Company's failure to make required overtime wage payments between February 2011 and July 2013. Ventura Decl. ¶¶ 1–4. Ventura explains in his declaration that, based on his regular hourly wage and his hours worked, he is owed approximately $19,995.30 in overtime compensation. Id. ¶ 4. Under these facts, the Company and Howard are liable to Ventura under both federal and District of Columbia law.

The Court may enter default judgment when a defendant makes no request "to set aside the default" and gives no indication of a "meritorious defense." Int'l Painters & Allied Trades Indus. Pension Fund v. Auxier Drywall, LLC, 531 F.Supp.2d 56, 57 (D.D.C.2008)

(quoting Gutierrez v. Berg Contracting Inc., No. 99–3044, 2000 WL 331721, at *1 (D.D.C. Mar. 20, 2000) ). Here, neither defendant has requested that the default be set aside, nor has either responded to the complaint since being served in April. The Court therefore concludes that entry of default judgment against the Company and Howard is appropriate.

B. Damages

The next issue before the Court is the amount of damages due. "Plaintiffs must prove these damages to a reasonable certainty." Elite Terrazzo Flooring, Inc., 763 F.Supp.2d at 68

. When a defendant has failed to respond, the Court must make an independent determination—by relying on affidavits, documentation, or an evidentiary hearing—of the sum to be awarded as damages.

As support for his request for damages, Ventura has submitted a declaration on his own behalf. He attests that he worked between eight and ten hours of overtime per week for the Company for approximately 130 weeks, Ventura Decl. ¶ 1, at an hourly rate of $34.19, id. ¶ 2. If Ventura worked an average of, say, nine hours of overtime per week for 130 weeks, was paid his regular hourly rate for those hours of overtime, and was thus entitled to an additional $17.10 for each of those hours, then the Company would owe Ventura approximately $20,000 in unpaid wages. Ventura's calculation of $19,995.30 in unpaid overtime wages is therefore reasonable.

In an effort to obtain liquidated damages in addition to his unpaid wages, Ventura provides an overall calculation of his total damages under the FLSA and the DCWPCL. As his employers, the Company and Howard are liable to Ventura under the FLSA "in the amount of ... [his] unpaid overtime compensation ... and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages." 29 U.S.C §...