Morales v. Vela, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 10884 (May 8)
In this case brought pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201, a jury awarded several plaintiffs roughly $5,000 cumulatively for defendant’s failure to pay overtime as appropriate. The trial court awarded attorney’s fees totaling $51,750. On appeal, defendant argued that the award was excessive given the limited recovery. The Fifth Circuit rejected that argument, because “the district court properly considered the plaintiffs’ limited recovery when it reduced the lodestar amount by ten percent.”
