AMANDA ARNOLD SANSONE, Magistrate Judge.
Before the Court are the
On March 16, 2015, the Secretary filed a Complaint against Defendants Eliasen Environmental, Inc., ("Defendant EEI") and Michelle Eliasen ("Defendant Eliasen"),
The Secretary also sought a clerk's default against Defendant Eliasen. (Doc. 9). The Court denied the motion and ordered Defendant Eliasen to answer or otherwise respond to the Complaint. (Doc. 15). Defendant Eliasen subsequently responded to the Complaint and the case is proceeding as to Defendant Eliasen.
The Secretary now requests: (1) default judgment against Defendant EEI; (2) injunctive relief barring Defendant EEI from violating sections 6, 7, and 15(a)(2) of the FLSA, 29 U.S.C. §§206, 207, 215(a)(2); (3) back wages in the amount of $91,309.00; and (4) liquidated damages in the amount of $91,309.00.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provide that when a defendant fails to plead or otherwise defend, the clerk must enter the defendant's default. Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). "While a defaulted defendant is deemed to admit the plaintiff's well-pleaded allegations of fact, he is not held to admit facts that are not well-pleaded or to admit conclusions of law." Surtain v. Hamlin Terrace Found., 789 F.3d 1239, 1245 (11th Cir. 2015) (per curiam) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). Neither is the defaulted defendant held to admit allegations relating to the amount of damages; it is for the Court to determine the amount and character of damages to be awarded. Miller v. Paradise of Port Richey, Inc., 75 F.Supp.2d 1342, 1346 (M.D. Fla. 1999). However, "[e]ntry of judgment by default is a drastic remedy which should be used only in extreme situations" and is subject to the Court's discretion. Wahl v. McIver, 773 F.2d 1169, 1174 (11th Cir. 1985) (per curiam).
Here, while Defendant EEI has failed to respond to the complaint and has had a clerk's default entered against it, the case continues to proceed against Defendant Eliasen. Further, Defendants Eliasen and EEI are closely related, as "a corporate defendant can act only through its employees and agents." Rodriguez v. Guacamole's Authentic Mexican Food & More, LLC, No. 11-62527-CIV, 2012 WL 718688, at *3 (S.D. Fla. Mar. 6, 2012) (denying without prejudice the plaintiff's motion for default judgment against a corporate defendant pending adjudication of the FLSA case against the individual defendants). In the interest of avoiding potentially incongruous results, these circumstances weigh against entering a default judgment against Defendant EEI at this time. See Gulf Coast Fans, Inc. v. Midwest Elecs. Imps., Inc., 740 F.2d 1499, 1512 (11th Cir. 1984) ("Both Moore and Wright and Miller suggest that even when defendants are similarly situated, but not jointly liable, judgment should not be entered against a defaulting defendant if the other defendant prevails on the merits. We believe that this is a sound policy." (internal citations omitted)).
Accordingly and upon consideration, it is