Rosario v. Los Castillos Mini Market, Corp.

Background

Carlos Rosario sued Los Castillos Mini Market, Corp. and Carlos Castillo. The opinion states that the court had previously granted in part and denied in part Rosario’s motion for a default judgment. The court then referred the case to a magistrate judge to determine the amount of damages.

Report and Recommendation

Magistrate Judge Cott issued a Report and Recommendation addressing damages. The parties had fourteen days to make specific written objections. No objections were filed, no extension was requested, and the objection deadline had passed.

When no timely objections are made, a district court may adopt the uncontested portions of a magistrate judge’s recommendation if the record shows no clear error. Although there were no objections here, the court stated that it independently reviewed the recommendation de novo, meaning anew and without relying only on the earlier review. The court found no error, clear or otherwise.

Ruling

The court adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. It ordered that Rosario was entitled to total damages of $342,864.04, plus prejudgment interest as set out in the recommendation. The court directed the clerk to enter judgment and close the case.

Because this order entered damages following a default judgment rather than resolving the underlying claims through an adversarial merits determination, it is classified as a procedural order.