Recent Class Actions
Augustin v. Jablonsky
We are lead counsel in this consolidated class action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It is a consolidation of three separately filed cases, Augustin v. Jablonsky, CV 99-3126 (DRH), O’Day v. Nassau County, CV 99-2844 (DRH), and Iaffaldano v. County of Nassau, CV 99-4238 (DRH). In the consolidated case, the Court certified, for purposes of liability and general damages, a class defined as all persons arrested for misdemeanors or non-criminal offenses in Nassau County who thereafter were strip searched at the Nassau County Correctional Center [“NCCC”] pursuant to defendants’ blanket policy, practice and custom which required that all arrestees be strip searched upon admission to the facility, from May 20, 1996 until and including June 1, 1999. Defendants conceded that all of those strip searches were unlawful and conceded liability to the members of the class. After a trial on the issue of general damages to be awarded to the class, the Court determined to award each class member $500 per strip search for general damages due to the injury to human dignity inherent in each strip search, leaving the issue of all other damages –“special damages” — for later determination. The Court has now determined not to continue class certification so as to permit special damages to be decided on a classwide basis. Each class member must therefore either move to intervene in this action or commence his or her own individual separate action in order to seek damages for his or her emotional distress, whether it be emotional distress beyond that which is inseparable from the injury to human dignity, or other items of special damages, including more severe emotional distress or economic loss, resulting from his or her unlawful strip search(es) upon admission to the NCCC during the class period.
Cronas v. Willis
On February 15, 2012, settlement checks were mailed to class members by certified mail.
On December 19, 2011, the Court granted final approval of the Consent Decree and Fee Petition. The full text of the decision can be found here.
On October 18, 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted preliminary approval of the settlement of this gender discrimination class action that is embodied in the Consent Decree filed on August 25, 2011.
The Court also approved the Notice of Settlement to be mailed to each of the 317 members of the class. A Fairness Hearing is currently scheduled for December 12, 2011, at 3 p.m., at which the Court will determine whether the Settlement should be finally approved.
After reviewing these documents, please email us with any questions.
On October 31, 2011, Plaintiffs’ attorneys filed a Motion for Approval of Attorney’s Fees in the Southern District of New York with the accompanying documents: