CURRENT STATUS (June 24, 2022):  Excellent news! The Government completed its payment and finally provided us with the necessary accounting so that we can make disbursements.  We have run Plaintiffs’ addresses through the National Change of Address database, and we are in the process of printing checks.  Checks will be mailed, along with a letter explaining the payment and the deductions, no later than July 5, 2022. 

The only remaining issue is verifying the offsets that the Government took against the settlement awards for 53 Plaintiffs pursuant to the Treasury Department Offset Program.  We have reached out to all 53 Plaintiffs who had deductions due to offsets but are waiting to hear back from some regarding whether the offsets are accurate.  This will not impact the timing of the payments.  As mentioned, all checks will be mailed by July 5.  Please allow two weeks after that date to contact us if you have not received your check.  The USPS has been slow.

The Parties will file a status report or dismiss the case on or before July 15, 2022. 

Previous UPDATE (May 26, 2022)

AGUIRRE v. UNITED STATES

(BORDER PATROL AGENT FLSA OVERTIME LAWSUIT)

 (May 26, 2022):  While the Court denied our request for a conference regarding our concern that it has taken the Government an inordinate amount of time to fund the settlement, the Court did acknowledge the legitimacy of Plaintiffs’ frustration caused by the Government’s delay and ordered the Parties to submit a status report by June 17. This prompted the Government to action.  On May 13, 2022, the Government began transferring portions of the settlement monies to us.  However, the first payment was for only 12 of the 5,722 Plaintiffs, and some of those 12 were allocated only partial payments.  This could be because the individual Plaintiffs at issue are subject to federal offsets for debts.  The Government made similar payments on several more occasions since May 13, 2022, and again some of those payments for these small groups of Plaintiffs were only partial payments, while others appeared to be overpayments.  To confuse matters more, in addition to the underpayments, the Government has failed to provide us with an accounting showing how the payments, which do not match the amounts in the settlement agreement (Exhibit A) should be distributed.  We also need the accounting to confirm that the underpayments for certain Plaintiffs result from federal debt offsets, and not from some error made by the Judgment Fund. The settlement agreement requires the Government to provide an accounting when the payments are made.

We have made daily requests to the Department of Justice attorney for an accounting of the payments made.  To date, she has failed to provide the required accounting but has provided assurances that she will be providing the accounting soon.  Unfortunately, we cannot distribute the funds we have received until the Government provides us with the required accounting.  Given the underpayments, and the overpayments, without the accounting, we cannot match appropriate settlement amounts to specific plaintiffs.  

Accordingly, the monies will remain in the dedicated IOLTA account until we receive the accounting, at which time, we will begin to distribute the funds.  We will update our website with information regarding whose checks have been mailed as we begin the distribution process.  Under the Settlement Agreement, we have 21 days from the date that the Government pays us AND provides the necessary accounting, to distribute the funds.

Of course, the law firm is not paid  any fees until the Government has made all of the payments.