Greer v. Fox Corporation

Background

The court reviewed Magistrate Judge Aaron’s December 24, 2020, Report and Recommendation. The recommendation advised granting the moving defendants’ motion to dismiss but allowing Steven E. Greer to amend his complaint. No objections were filed.

Reasoning

Because no timely objection was made, the district court reviewed the recommendation for clear error on the face of the record. Judge Swain found no clear error and adopted the magistrate judge’s conclusions.

The court concluded that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction—the court’s legal authority to hear the case—because there was no diversity of citizenship between the parties. The court also adopted the conclusion that Tucker Carlson and Strasberg could not be severed from the action because they were not indispensable parties. The court further agreed that Greer should be allowed to amend because he was representing himself without a lawyer.

Order

The court adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety. It granted the motion to dismiss but granted Greer leave to file a Second Amended Complaint by March 1, 2021. The amended complaint had to include all allegations on which Greer intended to rely and identify all parties against whom he wished to maintain the lawsuit. The court stated that failing to file a timely amended complaint would result in entry of judgment dismissing the action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction without further advance notice. The case remained referred to Magistrate Judge Aaron for general pretrial management.