Ottah v. National Grid

Background

The case was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for general pretrial management and to resolve National Grid’s motion to dismiss. Judge Lehrburger issued a Report and Recommendation on April 27, 2020, recommending that the court grant the motion in full and dismiss the case for failure to state a claim. The district court incorporated the Report’s summary of the facts by reference rather than repeating those facts in the opinion.

Review of the Recommendation

Under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C), a district court may accept, reject, or modify a magistrate judge’s recommendations. Because neither party filed objections, the court reviewed the Report for clear error—an obvious mistake on the face of the record. The court found no such error and determined that the Report was thorough and well reasoned. The opinion also states that the parties’ failure to file timely objections operated as a waiver of appellate review.

Ruling

District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. The court granted National Grid’s motion to dismiss in its entirety and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motion at docket 15 and close the case. The opinion does not state whether the dismissal was with or without prejudice.