Pozo et al v. Direct Heating & Cooling, Inc. et al

Filing 24

ORDER adopting 23 REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS re 22 Joint MOTION for Settlement Approval and Dismiss with Prejudice filed by Michael Butler, Maykol Pozo. The Report and Recommendation 23 is accepted and adopted and its finding s incorporated herein. The parties' Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Dismiss With Prejudice 22 is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to the parties exercising one of the two options provided in the Report and Recommendation, on or before November 17, 2017. Signed by Judge Sheri Polster Chappell on 10/25/2017. (LMF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
MAYKOL POZO and MICHAEL
BUTLER, individually, and on behalf of
all others similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No: 2:17-cv-170-FtM-99MRM

DIRECT HEATING & COOLING,
INC. and MITZIE FOX-LERNER,
Defendants.
/
OPINION AND ORDER1
This matter comes before the Court on review of United States Magistrate Judge
Mac R. McCoy’s Report and Recommendation (Doc. 23), recommending that the parties’
Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Dismiss With Prejudice (Doc. 22) be denied
without prejudice because the settlement agreements contain waiver and general release
language. No objections have been filed and the time to do so has expired.
A district judge “may accept, reject, or modify in whole or in part, the findings or
recommendations made by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). The district
judge “shall make a de novo determination of those portions of the report or specified
proposed findings or recommendations to which objection is made.” Id. And “[t]he judge

1

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may also receive further evidenced or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with
instructions.” Id.
This is the second time that the parties’ Settlement Agreements and General
Releases were not recommended for approval based on the presence of a waiver and
general release without evidence of any additional consideration. See Docs. 20, 21.
Once again, after conducting an independent examination of the file and upon due
consideration of the Report and Recommendation, the Court accepts the Report and
Recommendation and denies the request for settlement approval without prejudice.
Failure to file settlement agreements that comport with the Magistrate Judge’s Report and
Recommendation could result in the Court finding that a settlement has not been reached
and the case will proceed through normal litigation.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED:
(1) The Report and Recommendation (Doc. 23) is accepted and adopted and its
findings incorporated herein.
(2) The parties’ Joint Motion to Approve Settlement and Dismiss With Prejudice
(Doc. 22) is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to the parties exercising one of the two
options provided in the Report and Recommendation, on or before November 17, 2017.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida this 25th day of October, 2017.

Copies:
United States Magistrate Judge Mac R. McCoy
All Parties of Record

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