Court Awards Attorney's Fees in Excess of Damages in FLSA Case

In Urnikis-Negro v. American Family Property Services, Inc., No. 06 C 6014, Jan. 26, 2009 (N.D. Ill. 2009), Ms. Urnikis-Negro sued her former employer and two of its principals for $90,000.00 in unpaid overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In addition to the unpaid overtime, Ms. Urnikis-Negro asked that her damages be doubled under the FLSA’s liquidated damages provision. The court found in Urnikis-Negro’s favor on the question of liability, but concluded that she worked far fewer hours of overtime than she claimed at trial. Pursuant to the “fluctuating hours” method set forth in the Department of Labor regulations, the court awarded Urnikis-Negro $12,233.00 in unpaid overtime, and doubled the amount to $24,466.00.

Urnikis-Negro then petitioned the court for an award of attorney’s fees and expenses which are also recoverable under the FLSA. Although the court rejected American Family’s argument that the fee award should not exceed the damage award, it acknowledged that it would consider “the degree of success Urnikis-Negro achieved” in determining an appropriate fee award. The court ultimately awarded Urnikis-Negro nearly $60,000.00 less in fees and costs than she was seeking and refused to reduce the award further in light of Urnikis-Negro’s relatively modest recovery. In support of its decision, the court noted that

Recoveries in individual FLSA suits like this one typically are modest; they involve cases in which a law-flouting employer has, in essence, tried to nickel-and-dime his employee. With that backdrop, limiting recoverable fees when a plaintiff recovers relatively modest damages in a FLSA case would create a significant disincentive for lawyers to take on such litigation, which, in turn, would undermine Congress’ intent in creating the statute and authorizing private enforcement actions.