Event Sales v. The TJX Companies
Event Sales, Inc. v. The TJX Companies, Inc.; Federal Express Corporation, a Delaware Corporation; and FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., a Delaware Corporation.
- Katherine Menendez
- 0:23-cv-03444
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 3
Counsel of record per CourtListener. Firm names are approximate and have been consolidated across spelling variants.
In Event Sales v. TJX Companies, Judge Menendez granted TJX's unopposed motion to correct a clerical omission in the January 2026 judgment, adding $130,000 in fees and $20,000 in costs.
The parties in this case: Event Sales, Inc., which is now required to pay an additional $150,000 (comprising $130,000 in expert witness and attorney fees and $20,000 in taxable costs) to TJX per the corrected judgment. The ruling also has general relevance to litigants and practitioners regarding a district court's authority to correct clerical errors in a judgment even after a notice of appeal has been filed.
What happened
In Event Sales, Inc. v. The TJX Companies, Inc., the parties had previously agreed — through a written stipulation — that the final judgment would require Event Sales to pay TJX $130,000 in expert witness and attorney fees and $20,000 in taxable costs. When the court entered its final judgment on January 23, 2026, it accidentally left those amounts out, addressing only the question of pre-judgment interest.
TJX filed an unopposed motion asking the court to fix this oversight under Rule 60(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which allows a court to correct clerical mistakes or omissions in a judgment. Event Sales did not object to the correction. The court also addressed a technical legal question about whether it still had authority to act after Event Sales filed a notice of appeal to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, concluding that courts generally retain the power to fix clerical errors even while an appeal is pending.
Judge Katherine M. Menendez granted TJX's motion and directed the court clerk to enter an amended judgment adding the $130,000 in expert witness and attorney fees and $20,000 in taxable costs in TJX's favor, consistent with what the parties had already agreed to.
The detailed version
- Event Sales v. The TJX Companies · No. 0:23-cv-03444
- Katherine Menendez
- Feb. 25, 2026
Background
This case involves a dispute between Event Sales, Inc. (Plaintiff/Counter-Defendant) and The TJX Companies, Inc. ("TJX") (Defendant/Counter-Plaintiff), along with Federal Express Corporation and FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. The underlying merits are not detailed in this order. Prior to the entry of final judgment, the parties filed a joint stipulation (Dkt. 95) agreeing that the final judgment would include, in addition to pre-judgment interest, two specific monetary awards in favor of TJX: (1) $130,000 in expert witness and attorney fees, and (2) $20,000 in taxable costs. The court had previously entered an Amended Order (Dkt. 98) accepting that stipulation.
The Clerical Error
When the court entered its final judgment on January 23, 2026 (Dkt. 111), it inadvertently omitted the $130,000 and $20,000 amounts, focusing solely on the pre-judgment interest issue. The total amount omitted was $150,000 — a sum that both parties had already agreed to through their stipulation.
The Motion
On February 4, 2026, TJX filed an unopposed Motion to Correct the Judgment (Dkt. 112) under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(a), which permits courts to correct clerical mistakes or errors arising from oversight or omission in a judgment. Event Sales did not dispute the motion or challenge the underlying amounts.
Jurisdiction While Appeal Is Pending
After TJX filed its motion, Event Sales filed a Notice of Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The court acknowledged that a pending appeal generally divests a district court of jurisdiction over a case. However, citing persuasive authority from the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, the court concluded that district courts retain authority to correct clerical errors under Rule 60(a) even after a notice of appeal has been filed. Because the correction was grounded in the parties' own pre-existing stipulation — meaning the $150,000 omission was purely an inadvertent clerical oversight — the court found it had authority to proceed.
Ruling
Judge Menendez granted TJX's Motion to Correct the Judgment. The court ordered the clerk to enter an amended judgment adding an award of $130,000 in expert witness and attorney fees and $20,000 in taxable costs in favor of TJX, consistent with the parties' stipulation and the court's prior Amended Order.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.