Defense counsel: Edwar Estrada · Kauff McGuire & Margolis LLP (810 Seventh Ave, NY)
Dashiel Gables worked as Trevor "Busta Rhymes" Smith's personal assistant in 2024–2025. According to the federal complaint filed August 4, 2025 in the Eastern District of New York, Gables claimed he worked 15 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, on a flat $200/day rate — with no overtime and no proper wage documentation, putting the case in classic FLSA territory.
Beyond the wage claims, Gables alleged Smith berated employees, used a homophobic slur, mocked Gables's hearing impairment, and dispatched him on trivial errands.
The flashpoint allegation: in January 2025, in the lobby of Smith's luxury Brooklyn apartment building, Smith allegedly punched Gables multiple times in the face after Gables took a phone call from his young daughter and was perceived to have been late retrieving food. Gables said he sought medical treatment for facial injuries and filed a police report. Smith was arrested and issued a desk-appearance ticket for third-degree assault — a misdemeanor.
Gables also alleged he was subsequently blacklisted from the hip-hop industry for reporting the incident, and sought between $6M and $7M in damages across all claims.
October 2025 · counterclaim. Smith filed a defamation counterclaim, asserting Gables's allegations were materially false and damaging to his career. The counterclaim was running in parallel through the EDNY mediation track.
April 22, 2026 · settlement. The parties resolved the matter in private mediation before Hon. Steven M. Gold (Ret.). Terms not disclosed. The joint status letter filed April 29 (Doc 28, signed by Edwar Estrada for the defense) put the court on notice. Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry ordered the parties to file a Cheeks-compliant motion for settlement approval — required for any FLSA case — by June 1, 2026.
Criminal closure. A spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office confirmed that the corresponding criminal case has been officially sealed, concluding the active legal battle on both the civil and criminal sides.
The Cheeks approval requirement is what makes this settlement meaningful as a public-record event: in FLSA cases, parties cannot just walk away — the court has to bless the deal as fair after a Wolinsky factor analysis. So even though terms aren't disclosed, the docket will eventually have a fully executed settlement agreement, a letter brief on the Wolinsky factors, a damages-calculation explanation, and (if applicable) attorneys' fees, time and billing records. That's far more transparency than a private confidential settlement gets you.
Side benefit for trackers: this is a clean template for what to look for when the Lively v. Wayfarer SDNY settlement papers eventually drop — though that case isn't FLSA, the joint-status-letter format is identical across federal court.