United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Southern Division
MEMORANDUM OPINION
KARON
OWEN BOWDRE, CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This
matter comes before the court on Plaintiff Sherday Cole's
motion for default judgment against Defendant Reneau Inc.,
pursuant to Rule 55(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure. (Doc. 17.) As explained below, Reneau has failed
to appear, and the clerk has entered default against it.
Although default judgment is proper, Ms. Cole has offered
insufficient evidence to prove the amount of damages she
claims. For these reasons, the court will GRANT Ms.
Cole's motion for default judgment with leave to
supplement this motion with additional evidence of damages.
Ms.
Cole filed this Fair Labor Standards Act claim against Reneau
on March 26, 2019. On March 29, 2019, Reneau's putative
agent received a summons, and on May 3, 2019, Ms. Cole filed
a motion for a clerk's default judgment. (Doc. 8.) On May
8, 2019, Magistrate Judge T. Michael Putnam denied the motion
without prejudice because “the complaint was served at
an address other than the corporation's address of
record.” (Doc. 10 at 1.) On May 10, 2019, Reneau
received proper summons. (Docs. 12, 13.)
Ms.
Cole re-filed a motion for a clerk's entry of default on
June 17, 2019, and the clerk of court entered default on June
19, 2019. Ms. Cole filed the instant motion for default
judgment as to liability and damages on July 16, 2019, after
which Magistrate Judge Gary Borden, who was re-assigned the
case, ordered Reneau to show cause why this motion should not
be granted. (Doc. 18.) The court finds that, pursuant to Rule
55(b), default judgment is appropriate because Reneau has
failed to appear or file any responsive answer or motion
after being properly served. But the court has questions
about the damages Ms. Cole claims in her motion.
The
claimed damages in this case arise from Reneau's alleged
failure to pay Ms. Cole overtime wages pursuant to the FLSA,
29 U.S.C. § 206. Ms. Cole contends, without an affidavit
or sworn testimony, that she worked for about three months at
Reneau's restaurant, making an hourly wage of
$8.50.[1] Ms. Cole alleges that, during her roughly
50 hours of overtime she worked over the course of her
employment, Reneau only paid her the normal rate of $8.50 per
hour instead of the premium rate of 1.5 times $8.50, or
$12.75 per hour. (Doc. 17 at 3.) She also alleges that Reneau
owes her for 30 hours' worth of unpaid wages at her
normal hourly rate. (Id.)
But Ms.
Cole provides meager evidence for the 30- and 50-hour figures
in either her complaint or motion for default judgment. The
only evidence she offers is a screenshot of a “Weekly
Time Punch Report” for the week of June 19, 2018, that
shows she apparently worked 42.88 hours and was only paid for
35. (Doc. 17, Ex. 1.)
Rule
55(b)(2) states that, if the court ruling on a motion for
default judgment needs “to determine the amount of
damages or to establish the truth of any averment by evidence
or to make an investigation of any other matter, the court
may conduct such hearings or order such references as it
deems necessary and proper.” This rule gives
“courts broad discretion to determine what additional
evidence, if any, is required to enter default
judgment.” C & M Inv. Grp., Ltd. v.
Campbell, 448 Fed.Appx. 902, 906 (11th Cir. 2011). In
this case, Ms. Cole provides only a screenshot and the
statement that “[t]his reasonable estimation is derived
from Plaintiff and to the best of her knowledge at this time
she believes she is owed 50 hours of overtime [and] . . . is
also owed 30 hours of off the clock unpaid time.” (Doc.
17 at 4.) Without additional evidence, such as an affidavit
affirming Ms. Cole's estimations, the court cannot order
Reneau to pay any amount of money.
Because
Reneau failed to appear after receiving proper service, the
court will GRANT Ms. Cole's motion for default judgment
as to liability (Doc. 17) and grants her leave to provide
evidence for damages pursuant to her FLSA claim. Ms. Cole may
file an amended motion with the court on or before October
30, 2019. The court will enter a separate order consistent
with this opinion.
The
court DIRECTS the clerk to mail a copy of this memorandum
opinion and accompanying order to the Defendant at the place
of employment where it was served.
DONE
and ORDERED.
---------
Notes:
[1] Although at one point, Ms. Cole states
her regular hourly rate was $7.25 per hour. (Doc. 17 at 4.)
Because Ms. Cole uses the $8.50 figure throughout the rest of
her motion, the court will consider her reference to the
$7.25 rate a typographical error. The court also questions
some of the mathematical calculations that appear ...