Binns-Harty-Bolt v. McDonough

Background

Rinella C. Binns-Harty-Bolt brought the case against Denis R. McDonough, in his official capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The pending motion concerned the hostile-work-environment cause of action in Binns-Harty-Bolt’s Third Amended Complaint. McDonough moved to dismiss that cause of action under Rule 12(b)(6), which permits dismissal when a complaint does not state a legally sufficient claim.

Report and Recommendation

Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses issued a June 21, 2024 Report and Recommendation recommending that the court grant McDonough’s motion. No party filed objections. Because there were no objections, Judge Engelmayer reviewed the recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake apparent from the record. He found no facial error and adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety.

Ruling

The conclusion states: “the Court denies grants defendant’s motion to dismiss the TAC’s second cause of action without further leave to amend.” This wording is internally contradictory. The preceding discussion says that the Report recommended granting the motion and that the court adopted that recommendation in full. Accordingly, the opinion appears to grant the motion to dismiss the second cause of action without further leave to amend, but the conclusion’s exact wording creates uncertainty about the disposition. The clerk was directed to terminate the motion at Docket 90. The opinion also states that the parties’ failure to object waived appellate review.