UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

RUFINO DEJESUS, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated,

Plaintiff, ORDER

- against - 20 Civ. 6147 (PGG)

BUKHARA GRILL II, INC. (d/b/a BUKHARA GRILL), VIJAY RAO, RAJA JHANHEE, and VICKE VERMA,

Defendants.

PAUL G. GARDEPHE, U.S.D.J.:

Pursuant to Cheeks v. Freeport Pancake House, Inc.,

(2d Cir. 2015), the parties have submitted a joint letter seeking judicial approval of their proposed settlement in this Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) action. (Dkt. No. 45) “When reviewing an FLSA settlement agreement submitted for approval, ‘courts must consider whether the agreement reflects a reasonable compromise of disputed issues rather than a mere waiver of statutory rights brought about by an employer’s overreaching.’” Mosquera v. Masada Auto Sales, Ltd., No. 09 Civ. 4925 (NGG),

, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2011) (quoting Le v. SITA Info. Networking Computing USA, Inc., No. 07 Civ. 86 (JS),

, at *1 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 13, 2008)). “The court needs to be presented with sufficient evidence in order to determine ‘whether the settlement agreement represents a fair and reasonable resolution of [the] disputes.’”

(quoting Le,

, at *1). Here, the parties have provided little explanation as to why the proposed settlement constitutes a fair and reasonable resolution of the dispute. Counsel has not provided any information concerning the nature of the litigation risk or why the settlement amount constitutes a reasonable compromise. The parties reference “the risks in this case outlined above,” but never explain what those risks are. (Jan. 6, 2022 Jt. Ltr. (Dkt. No. 45) at 2) In sum, the Court lacks sufficient information to determine whether the proposed agreement ts, in fact, fair and reasonable. The parties will submit a joint letter to the Court addressing these issues by February 21, 2022. Dated: New York, New York February 7, 2022 SO ORDERED. El)0 Aarslopbe- Paul G. Gardephe United States District Court