Rodriguez v. Tiffany & Bosco LP.

Background

Samuel Rodriguez sued Tiffany & Bosco LP., GreenTree Servicing LLC, and Selene Finance LLC. A magistrate judge’s December 2, 2019 report and recommendation concluded that Rodriguez had not established the court’s jurisdiction, despite several opportunities to correct the complaint’s jurisdictional deficiencies.

Objections and jurisdiction

Rodriguez objected to the report and recommendation, but his objections were filed on December 20, 2019, after the December 16 deadline. He repeated arguments previously considered and rejected and attempted to clarify the federal question and the corporate defendants’ citizenship in the objections. The court explained that this information had to appear in the complaint rather than in a later brief.

Because the objections were untimely and improper, the court did not conduct a fresh review of the issues raised in them. Instead, it reviewed the report and recommendation for clear error, meaning an obvious mistake on the face of the record. The court found no clear error. It also concluded that Rodriguez’s failure to amend the complaint, even though he had been given opportunities to do so, warranted dismissal.

Ruling

Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright adopted the December 2, 2019 report and recommendation. The court dismissed Rodriguez’s complaint without prejudice for failure to establish the court’s jurisdiction. The court denied as moot Rodriguez’s motion to file medical information under seal and to reaffirm a standing stipulated restraining order, his motion to join a necessary party, and his emergency motion to compel compliance.