Schiefer, et al. v. Bain Capital, LP (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-044-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT Civ. No. 2015-3599-BLS2 ASHLEY SCHIEFER, COLLEEN McPHERSON, ELIZABETH BURNHAM, and REBECCA SHAAL, for themselves and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs vs. BAIN CAPITAL, LP, f/k/a BAIN CAPITAL, LLC, Defendant MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON ASHLEY SCHIEFER’S APPLICATION FOR PRE-JUDGMENT INTEREST On August 21, 2017, Ashley Schiefer, one of four plaintiffs in this putative class action alleging failure to pay overtime wages, accepted a Rule 68 Offer of Judgment (the Offer) made by defendant Bain Capital LP (Bain). The Offer included $ 80,000, reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and prejudgment interest as determined by the Court. This Court has already made a determination as to the attorney’s fees. This Memorandum addresses the question of prejudgment interest. Although both parties agree as to the applicable rate (twelve percent), they disagree as to the date from which interest should be calculated. Section 6C applies to actions like this one based on contractual obligations. By its terms, the statute provides that that interest accrues ““from the date of the breach or demand,” provided that such date can be determined. If the date of the breach or demand is not established, interest accrues “from the date of the commencement of the action.” The purpose of Section 6C is to “compensate a damaged party for the loss of use or unlawful detention of money.” Sterilite Corp. v. Continental Cas. Co., 397 Mass. 837, 841 (1986), quoting Perkins School for the Blind v. Rate Setting Comm’n, 383 Mass. 825, 835 (1981). Although Section 6C “commands a 2 ministerial act, its sole or primary purpose was not to provide administrative ease” but to ensure that the person wrongfully deprived of the use of money is “made whole for his loss.” Sterilite, 396 Mass. at 841-842. Thus, even if there are multiple breaches so as require different calculations, the Court should engage in that analysis in keeping with that statutory purpose. Id. Plaintiff argues that the dates of defendant’s breaches are “established” within the meaning of Section 6C because the Offer pays Schiefer on her breach of contract claim, and a breach of that contract occurred at the end of each pay period when Bain failed to compensate her for overtime — — a point in time that is easily ascertained and is undisputed. Schiefer worked 72 pay periods during her employment at Bain. If the $ 80,000 Offer is apportioned equally over those pay periods, $ 1,111 should be apportioned to each pay period, with interest calculated from that date. In a chart attached as Exhibit A to her Application, plaintiff explains how those calculations amount to a total of $ 60,813.09 in prejudgment interest. Bain […]
Schiefer, et al. v. Bain Capital, LP (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-036-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT Civ. No. 2015-3599 BLS 2 ASHLEY SCHIEFER, COLLEEN MCPHERSON, ELIZABETH BURNHAM, and REBECCA SHAAL on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs vs. BAIN CAPITAL, LP, f/k/a BAIN CAPITAL, LLC , Defendants MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFF ASHLEY SCHIEFER’S APPLICATION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES On August 21, 2017, Ashley Schiefer, one of four plaintiffs in this putative class action suit alleging failure to pay overtime wages, accepted a Rule 68 Offer of Judgment made by defendant Bain Capital LP (Bain). In addition to an $ 80,000 payment to Schiefer, the Offer of Judgment provided for “reasonable costs and attorney’s fees” together with interest “as awarded by the Court.” Schiefer now asks that this Court award her attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $ 125,488.13. 1 The defendant asks that I reduce the award to $ 26,225.50. After careful review of the materials submitted in support of the application, this Court allows fees and costs in the amount requested by plaintiff. The Amended Complaint asserts both common law claims and statutory ones. Bain first argues that it should not have to pay any attorney’s fees since, after the Offer of Judgment was extended, Schiefer took the position that she was waiving her statutory claim because of a 1 The application originally requested $ 122,788.13. Counsel filed a $ 2,700 supplement to that request for work performed in connection with the hearing on the application. 2 statute of limitations problem, proceeding instead on a common law theory of breach of contract. Certainly, had Schiefer prevailed on her common law claim after trial, she would not have been entitled to recover her litigation expenses. But the Offer expressly included an award of fees, and attached no conditions to that except that the fees be reasonable. In a supplemental pleading filed after the hearing on this Motion, Bain appears to suggest that it was misled about the basis of Schiefer’s claims. But Bain had to have known about the statute of limitations problem. Moreover, Schiefer’s answers to interrogatories about the damages she was seeking describe damages that are of the type that would be recoverable on a common law claim, not on the statutory claim. In short, there was no unfair surprise. This Court also is not persuaded that counsel had some obligation to segregate out what work was spent on Schiefer’s common law claim and what work was attributable to her statutory claim. As plaintiff spells out in her Reply Memorandum, Scheifer’s breach of contract claim was based on the same core of facts as her statutory claim and indeed required that she prove she was “eligible” for overtime – […]