July 2008 - Gary A Costales represented a lawyer, Genevive Henriques, and her company in the case of Ramirez v. The Henriques Group PA and Genevive Henriques. This was an overtime case that went to trial in federal court. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Defendants after a 3-day jury trial in federal court.
April 2008 - Gary A. Costales represented Tremont Towing and Edwin Gonzalez in Suarez v. Tremont Towing, et. al. This was an overtime and minimum wages case filed in federal court. The jury returned a verdict for Tremont Towing and Edwin Gonzalez after a 3-day jury trial.
March 2008 - Gary A Costales represented the plaintiff in Lamothe v. Bal Harbour 101 Condominium. In that case, Lamothe, a 19-year employee of the company, was hit over the head by his supervisor, and was told "Only a Haitian with brain cancer would write a note like that, go work at McDonald's with the other niggers." The supervisor then told Lamothe "You're fired, go work at McDondald's with the other niggers making $6.50 per hour." The federal district court dismissed the case stating that there was no direct evidence of discrimination and that there was no adverse action or termination since Lamothe was offered his job back the next day. Gary A Costales, successfully argued to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that the decision should be reversed. Lamothe won the appeal. The case will now be set for trial.
January 2008 - Gary A. Costales, represented Mahogany Real Estate Group in Lavalais v. Mahogany Real Estate Group, Southern District, Florida. Lavalais claimed that was owed overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The case was filed and tried in federal court. The jury found for Mahogany Real Estate Group after a 3-day trial.
November 2007 - Gary A. Costales, Esq. represented the company in an age discrimination case, Mahlke v. Nationwide Laboratory Services Inc, Circuit Court, Broward County, Florida. In that case, Mahlke was the former president of Nationwide and claimed that he suffered $1.8 million dollars in damages when he was terminated due to his age. Mahlke also claimed that he was entitled to punitive damages. Mahlke rejected Nationwide's offer of $600,000 in severance at the time of his termination as well as subsequent settlement offers. After a 5-day jury trial, the jury returned a mixed-motive verdict, finding that Nationwide had proven that Mahlke would have been terminated even absent any unlawful age discrimination. This meant Mahlke was not due any damages whatsoever except for attorney's fees and costs, a small fraction of the amount sought.
2007 - In Dees v. RSight, Middle District, Florida, Gary A. Costales, Esq., represented three (3) individuals in an overtime lawsuit. This resulted in a total settlement of $110,000 for all three plaintiffs, including attorney's fees and costs.