Rodrigues

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

1. The Parties and the Litigation Respondent Ironwood Management (Ironwood) is a property management company. Appellants Angel Rodrigues and Carlos Lopez are former employees of Ironwood and sued Ironwood on their behalf and on behalf of all others similarly situated former employees. The parties agree that there are 47 former employees of Ironwood similarly situated to Rodrigues and Lopez vis-à-vis the overtime dispute. Apparently 46 employees (the putative class less three persons) signed releases with Ironwood shortly after the litigation was filed. The releases provide: “It was the intent and understanding of the all [sic] parties that Releasor was in fact working for Other Entities even though the paycheck came through Ironwood’s payroll and inasmuch fully understood that any hours worked for the Other Entities, even if they resulted in Releasor working over 8 hours in a day and/or over 40 hours in a week were not subject to overtime requirements because the work was done for the Other Entities and not for Ironwood.” The releases further state that “[a] preliminary review of timesheets and time records submitted by Releasor erroneously show that Releasor…