Randolph v. I.C. System, Inc. et al

Filing 31

MEMORANDUM OPINION. Signed by Judge R David Proctor on 6/16/2014. (AVC)

FILED
2014 Jun-16 PM 02:57
U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
BRENDA S. RANDOLPH,
Plaintiff,
v.
NORTHEAST LEGAL GROUP, LLC,
Defendant.

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Case No. 2:12-CV-03800-RDP

MEMORANDUM OPINION
On May 23, 2014, the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation was entered and the
parties were allowed therein fourteen (14) days in which to file objections to the recommendations
made by the Magistrate Judge.

No objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and

Recommendation have been filed by Plaintiff or Defendant.
After careful consideration of the record in this case and the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation, the court finds that the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge are
due to be accepted in part and rejected in part. The court ACCEPTS the recommendations of the
Magistrate Judge that the motion for summary judgment filed by Plaintiff be granted with respect
to her claims under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and that judgment be entered in favor of
Plaintiff and against Defendant Northeast Legal Group, LLC, in the amount of $1000 in statutory
damages and $72,000 in actual damages, in addition to attorney’s fees and costs in an amount to be
determined after Plaintiff has submitted a separate application for attorney’s fees and costs.

However, the court REJECTS the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge to award Plaintiff under
Rule 56 the amount of $72,000 in compensatory damages for mental anguish and emotional distress.
The court views the circumstances of this case, in which Defendant’s counsel withdrew and
Defendant failed to thereafter defend itself in this action, as analogous to a default situation. In such
cases, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(1) applies. Under Rule 55(b)(1), in the Eleventh
Circuit, a “judgment of default awarding cash damages could not properly be entered ‘without a
hearing unless the amount claimed is a liquidated sum or one capable of mathematical calculation.’”
Adolph Coors Co. v. Movement Against Racism and the Klan, 777 F.2d 1538, 1543 (11th Cir. 1985)
(quoting United Artists Corp. v. Freeman, 605 F.2d 854, 857 (5th Cir. 1979)). As explained by the
Seventh Circuit,
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure make a clear distinction between the entry of
default and the entry of a default judgment. The default is entered upon the
defendant's failure to plead or otherwise defend, Fed.R.Civ.P. 55(a), but if an
evidentiary hearing or other proceedings are necessary in order to determine what the
judgment should provide, such as the amount of damages that the defaulting
defendant must pay, those proceedings must be conducted before the judgment is
entered. See Rule 55(b)(2).
S.E.C. v. Smyth, 420 F.3d 1225, 1232 (11th Cir. 2005) (quoting Lowe v. McGraw–Hill Cos., 361
F.3d 335, 339-40 (7th Cir. 2004)). Plaintiff’s damages for alleged mental anguish and emotional
distress are not capable of mathematical calculation.

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Furthermore, even if the court’s analogy to Rule 55 is inapt, the court concludes alternatively
that the Rule 56 record in this case does not support an award (that is not capable of mathematical
calculation) for mental anguish and emotional distress damages.
Therefore, the court finds that on the issue of emotional distress and mental anguish
damages, the present record does not support entry of such a damage judgment. Instead, an
appropriate hearing/trial is necessary on these damages, at which the issues of attorneys’ fees and
costs may also be considered.
A separate order in conformity with this Memorandum Opinion will be entered
contemporaneously herewith.
DONE and ORDERED this

16th

day of June, 2014.

___________________________________
R. DAVID PROCTOR
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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