Settling Civil Cases
How-To: Settling Civil Rights Discrimination Cases
| Background: | You have initiated a lawsuit |
| Problem: | You are not sure how to draft a settlement offer |
| Solution: | You follow this guide for drafting your settlement offer |
I. Definitions
Settlement
"conclusive resolving of a matter; especially, a compromise achieved by adverse parties in a civil suit before final judgment, whereby they agree between themselves upon their respective rights and obligations, thus eliminating the necessity of judicial resolution of the controversy."
II. Legal Citations
Rule 28-106.209 FAC | Pre-Hearing Conferences
"At any time after a matter has been filed with the agency, the presiding officer may direct the parties to confer for the purpose of clarifying and simplifying issues, discussing the possibilities of settlement..."
Rule 60Y-2.004 FAC | General Description of Organization and Functions of Commission Staff
"The Office of Employment Investigations has the following additional duties:
(a) Seek to encourage settlement between parties;"
Rule 1.200 Fla. R. Civ. P. | Pretrial Procedure
"At such a [case management] conference the court may:
(10) pursue the possibilities of settlement;"
Rule 1.442 Fla. R. Civ. P. | Proposals for Settlement
(1) A proposal shall be in writing and shall identify the applicable Florida law under which it is being made.
(2) A proposal shall:
(A) name the party or parties making the proposal and the party or parties to whom the proposal is being made;
(B) state that the proposal resolves all damages that would otherwise be awarded in a final judgment in the action in which the proposal is served, subject to subdivision (F);
(C) state with particularity any relevant conditions;
(D) state the total amount of the proposal and state with particularity all nonmonetary terms of the proposal;
(E) state with particularity the amount proposed to settle a claim for punitive damages, if any;
(F) state whether the proposal includes attorneys’ fees and whether attorneys’ fee are part of the legal claim; and
(G) include a certificate of service in the form required by Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516.
Rule 16 Fed. R. Civ. P. | Pretrial Conferences; Scheduling; Management
(a) PURPOSES OF A PRETRIAL CONFERENCE. In any action, the court may order the attorneys and any unrepresented parties to appear for one or more pretrial conferences for such purposes as:
(5) facilitating settlement.
29 CFR §1601.20 | Negotiated Settlement
(a) Prior to the issuance of a determination as to reasonable cause the Commission may encourage the parties to settle the charge ...
(b) In the alternative, the Commission may facilitate a settlement between the person claiming to be aggrieved and the respondent by permitting withdrawal of the charge pursuant to § 1601.10.
29 CFR §1603.108 | Settlement and Alternative Dispute Resolution
(a) The parties are at all times free to settle all or part of a complaint on terms that are mutually agreeable. Any settlement reached shall be in writing and signed by both parties and shall identify the allegations resolved.
III. Samples
| # | Comments | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | FCHR Case | 1992 | General Release | Software Company | Embedded in RO |
| 2 | | FCHR Case | 2000 | Housing | $5,000 |
| 3 | | FCHR Case | 2001 | Professional Licensing | Complete Accredited Course |
| 4 | | FCHR Case | 2000 | Employment | $8,900 | Heirs Bound |
| 5 | | FCHR Case | 2001 | Employment | $15,500 | Great Model |
| 6 | | FCHR Case | 2001 | Employment | 3-Months Salary | Overpayment; Unemployment Comp |
| 7 | | FCHR Case | 2001 | Employment | $4,000 | Reference Letter |
| 8 | | FCHR Case | 2001 | Employment | Got Sick; Amended termination basis |
| 9 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | $25,000 | Bankruptcy; No admission of guilt; nice model |
| 10 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | $12,500 | Mediation paid; Unemployment Comp; Gag Order |
| 11 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | $50 | Resign voluntarily; nice model |
| 12 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | $5,000 |
| 13 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | $500 | Resign voluntarily |
| 14 | | FCHR Case | 2002 | Employment | Effectuates Resignation; No admission of guilt |
| 15 | | Licensure case; Revoked |
| 16 | | FCHR Case | 2003 | Employment | Nice model |
| 17 | | FCHR Case | 2003 | Employment | $500 | Nice |
| 18 | | FCHR Case | 2004 | Employment | $6,000 | Apology letter |
| 19 | | FCHR Case | 2004 | Employment | $8,500 | No admission of guilt; no reinstatement; nice model |
| 20 | | FCHR Case | 2004 | Employment | 12-weeks pay | Resign voluntarily |
| 21 | | FCHR Case | 2004 | Employment | Rescind demotion |
| 22 | | FCHR Case | 2005 | Housing | Physically incapacitated; parking spot |
| 23 | | FCHR Case | 2005 | Employment | $11,000 | Bunch of legalese; very long |
| 24 | | FCHR Case | 2005 | Employment | $15,000 | Plaintiff/Petitioner = FCHR |
| 25 | | FCHR Case | 2005 | Employment | $3,216 | "Taxation of Costs" |
| 26 | | FCHR Cas6 | 2005 | Employment | $3,500 |
| 27 | | FCHR Case | 2007 | Employment | Notarized; great model; |
| 28 | | FCHR Case | 2007 | Employment | Great model |
| 29 | | FCHR Case | 2008 | Employment | $5,000 |
| 30 | | FCHR Case | 2008 | Employment | Personnel file |
| 31 | | FCHR Case | 2008 | Employment | $100 | Letter of Recommendation |
| 32 | | FCHR Case | 2010 | Employment | $10,400 |
| 33 | | Duval Case | 2011 | General Release; Executive |
| 34 | | FCHR Case | 2013 | Severance Agreement | $5,001 |
| 35 | | FCHR Case | 2014 | Empoyment | $2,000 | No admission of guilt |
| 36 | | FCHR Case | 2017 | Empoyment | $100 | Resign voluntarily |
| 37 | | FCHR Case | 2019 | Empoyment | $50,000 | Worker's Comp; Life Expectancy; Child Support Arrearage |
IV. Templates
| # | Word | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Offer | Replace the placeholder tags with real information (eg "[plfName]" becomes "John Doe"). |
| 2 | | Agreement | Replace the placeholder tags with real information (eg "[plfName]" becomes "John Doe"). |
V. Quick Commentary
- You shouldn't file this document.
- Rule 1.442(d) Fla. R. Civ. P.
- "(d) Service and Filing. A proposal shall be served on the party or parties to whom it is made but shall not be filed unless necessary to enforce the provisions of this rule."
- Rule 1.442(d) Fla. R. Civ. P.
- Note: some juries frown upon the clauses that exclude "heirs, etc."
"Moore’s insurer, GEICO, tried to settle, but claimants found GEICO’s efforts inadequate, primarily because (1) GEICO provided a form document that released, not only its insureds, but also “all officers, directors, agents or employees of the foregoing [named insureds], their heirs, executors, administrators, agents,2or assigns” (Jt. ex. 22 at 2), and (2) GEICO provided vague and incomprehensible affidavits from its insureds, the Moores, regarding the possible availability of additional insurance.3 Rejecting GEICO’s efforts to settle their bodily injury claims, claimants sued Moore in Florida state court, where a jury returned a verdict of approximately $45 million in claimants’ favor."
- see Moore v. Geico, 758 F. App’x 726 (11th Cir. 2018)
- Feel free to use the template (see Part III - above) to help draft your 'Directions to the Clerk'
- Please download as many sample documents as you'd like
- Save the final version as a PDF file.
- Serve the state agency with the directions
V. Additional Resources
- Read Knealing v. Puleo, 675 So. 2d 593 (Fla. 1996)
- Read TGI Friday’s, Inc. v. Dvorak, 663 So. 2d 606 (Fla. 1995)
- Read Timmons v. Combs, 608 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1992)
- Read Fabre v. Marin, 623 So. 2d 1182 (Fla. 1993)
VI. Conclusion
With the use of the template (as well as the samples above), you can more easily draft a settlement offer & settlement agreement.
Please get the justice you deserve.
Sincerely,
www.TextBookDiscrimination.com
Send Email