Fortin v. Dedicated Nursing Associates, Inc., 2:21-cv-02836

Plaintiff Amanda Fortin sued Dedicated Nursing Associates, Inc. under the FLSA alleging unpaid overtime tied to the employer’s meal-break policies and improper deductions for rest breaks under 20 minutes.
The case had not been conditionally certified as a collective, but 10 opt-in plaintiffs had joined and the parties estimated ~1,300 potential eligible participants for settlement.
Parties agreed to settle only the FLSA claims and dismiss state-law claims; they submitted a joint motion asking the court to approve the settlement.
The total settlement fund is $250,000, with individual payments allocated for alleged rest-break deductions and pro rata payments for missed meal breaks.
Representative Plaintiff would receive a $5,000 service award; current opt-ins who release claims would get $1,000 each.
Counsel requested $83,333.33 in attorneys’ fees (≈33%) and $5,404.15 in costs; the court found these amounts reasonable and approved the settlement, dismissed the case with prejudice, and retained jurisdiction to enforce the settlement.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a court may approve an FLSA collective settlement	Settlement resolves bona fide dispute over meal and rest-break pay and should be approved	Settlement is appropriate given disputed liability and defenses regarding interruptions, limitations, and collective treatment	Court approved settlement as fair, reasonable, and adequate and authorized dismissal with prejudice
Whether a bona fide dispute exists to justify supervised settlement	There is a genuine dispute about uninterrupted meal breaks, limitations period, and collective certification	Defendant disputed liability and ability to pursue claims collectively	Court found a bona fide dispute present
Whether proposed service awards are reasonable	Service awards ($5,000 to rep; $1,000 to opt-ins) incentivize representation and compensation for efforts	Defendant did not oppose awards; considered reasonable relative to fund	Court approved service awards as reasonable
Whether attorneys’ fees and costs are reasonable	Counsel sought one-third of fund (~33%) and $5,404.15 costs as reasonable for common-fund FLSA settlement	Defendant did not contest fees; parties negotiated fees as part of settlement	Court independently assessed and approved fees and costs as reasonable

Lynn's Food Stores, Inc. v. United States, 679 F.2d 1350 (11th Cir. 1982) (FLSA settlements require court or Secretary of Labor supervision)
Int'l Union, United Auto., Aerospace & Agr. Implement Workers of Am. v. Gen. Motors Corp., 497 F.3d 615 (6th Cir. 2007) (court must find class/collective settlement "fair, reasonable, and adequate")
Hadix v. Johnson, 322 F.3d 895 (6th Cir. 2003) (service awards are an appropriate method to compensate representative plaintiffs)