Cleveland Guardians Oppose Lawyer Fee Triple Value of Wage Deal

The Cleveland Guardians baseball team asked a federal court to reject as unreasonable a request for $114,000 in attorneys’ fees after the parties reached a $36,000 settlement of claims the ball club failed to compensate a worker at its Arizona spring training facility.

Because the claims that were dismissed or dropped as part of the settlement “formed the far greater portion” of Jenae Finton’s claimed damages, the fee award “must take into account that far lesser extent of her overall success,” the ball club told the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona Monday.

“That requires a substantial reduction in the fees that Ms. Finton seeks,” with a total fee award of between $34,000 and $64,000, the Guardians said.

The Guardians reached a settlement in December, agreeing to pay Finton 100% of her claimed overtime and minimum wage compensation on her Fair Labor Standards Act claims, and liquidated damages of the same amount.

The club also agreed to pay Finton’s attorney fees and costs as determined by the court after briefing and argument.

Finton submitted her claim for attorneys’ fees on Jan. 14. Anticipating the club’s opposition, Finton said, “In an individual FLSA case like this one, it is not the amount of the award that justifies the legal fees—it is the value of the rights that are vindicated by this lawsuit and by this court that justifies a substantial fee award here.”

“When the wages being sought are $16 per hour wages, unless it is a class action, if the defendant behaves like the club and defends the matter until the bitter end, waiting until less than a month before trial before offering to pay wages due, the amount of the attorneys’ fees will virtually always far exceed the amount of recovery,” Finton said.

The Guardians countered that the requested amount is excessive because Finton also alleged unsuccessfully that the club violated the disclosure obligations of the Arizona paid sick time statute, and the paycheck disclosure obligations of Arizona’s wage payment law.

“Significantly,” the Guardians said, Finton calculated her claimed damages under the Arizona paid sick time statute as $36,250, and calculated her claimed damages under the Arizona wage payment law as $45,250, for a total of $81,500 on those two counts.

Because Finton “lost one of those claims on summary judgment, and walked away from the other as part of the parties’ global settlement,” she “plainly was not successful at all on those claims, which collectively constituted the bulk of her claimed damages,” the club said.

Finton worked as an assistant for the organization, reporting to the director of Arizona operations. Her duties included participating on nonprofit boards, working with local charities to coordinate fundraisers, and arranging and staffing player events and outings.

Judge Michael T. Liburdi is assigned to the case.

Creta Law Firm PLLC represents Finton. Gallagher & Kennedy PA represents the team.

The case is Finton v. Cleveland Indians Baseball Co., D. Ariz., No. 19-cv-02319, 2/7/22.