Acosta v. Evergreen Gas & Food Mart, LLC

United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Acosta v. Evergreen Gas & Food Mart, LLC

Trial Court Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA FORT MYERS DIVISION

ESTRELLA ACOSTA, and all others similarly situated under 29 U.S.C. § 216(b),

Plaintiff,

v. Case No.: 2:22-cv-365-KCD

EVERGREEN GAS & FOOD MART, LLC, DEL PRADO GAS & FOOD MART, LLC, EDISON PETROLEUM, INC., HAMZA RASHID and MUNAF RASHID,

Defendants.

/ ORDER In this Fair Labor Standards Act case, the parties have filed a Joint Stipulation for Dismissal with Prejudice. (Doc. 24.) Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii) allows a plaintiff to dismiss an action voluntarily if a stipulation of dismissal is signed by all parties who have appeared. The dismissal is effective upon filing and requires no further action by the Court. See Anago Franchising, Inc. v. Shaz, LLC,

677 F.3d 1272, 1278

(11th Cir. 2012).1 The text of the FLSA does not provide, and no Eleventh Circuit decision

1 Unless otherwise indicated, all internal quotation marks, citations, and alterations have been omitted in this and later citations. has ever held, that FLSA claims are exempt from Rule 41. To the contrary, the Eleventh Circuit has reasoned that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure apply

“in actions brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act no less than in any other case.” Vasconcelo v. Miami Auto Max, Inc.,

981 F.3d 934, 942

(11th Cir. 2020) (holding that Rule 68’s cost-shifting provisions trump the FLSA’s cost- shifting provisions). And there is “no distinction” between the operation of Rule

41(a)(1)(A)(ii) and Rule 68 in an FLSA action. See Casso-Lopez v. Beach Time Rental Suncoast, LLC,

335 F.R.D. 458

, 461-462 (M.D. Fla. 2020) (holding parties may terminate an FLSA case by filing either a Rule 41 stipulation of dismissal with prejudice or a Rule 68(a) notice of acceptance of an offer of

judgment “and the district court is immediately powerless to interfere”); see also Dicomo v. KJIMS Dev. Co., Inc., No. 2:16-cv-327-FtM-99CM,

2016 WL 6678420

, *1 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 14, 2016) (“[T]he parties may dismiss [an FLSA] case in its entirety pursuant to the Joint Stipulation for Dismissal With

Prejudice without further action from the Court as it is unconditional and self- executing.”). Accordingly, this action is dismissed with prejudice. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment, deny all pending motions, terminate all scheduled events,

and close the case. ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this August 28, 2022. Le C. Dudek United States Magistrate Judge

Copies: All Parties of Record

Reference

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