Teddlie v. Social Security

Filing 21

JUDGMENT: IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that the Report and Recommendation [doc. 19] be ADOPTED and that this matter be DENIED and DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Signed by Judge James D Cain, Jr on 12/11/2020. (crt,Benoit, T)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
LAKE CHARLES DIVISION

MARK LAYNE TEDDLIE

CASE NO. 2:18-CV-00413

VERSUS

JUDGE JAMES D. CAIN, JR.

COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL
SECURITY

MAGISTRATE JUDGE PEREZMONTES

JUDGMENT
Before the court is a Report and Recommendation [doc. 19] of the Magistrate Judge,
recommending that this Social Security appeal [doc. 1] be denied and dismissed with
prejudice. The court has conducted an independent review of the record, as well as the
objections filed by appellant Mark Layne Teddlie, and finds that the Report and
Recommendation is correct under applicable law.
The Magistrate Judge noted that this matter had already been reinstated after one
dismissal for failure to prosecute, and that Teddlie had taken no action in the matter since
that time. Meanwhile, the government filed its answer to the complaint in August 2019 and
Teddlie’s deadline to file a response passed in October of that year. The Magistrate Judge
therefore reviewed the government’s answer as unopposed and found no merit to the
appeal.
In his objections Teddlie’s counsel argues that dismissal is too harsh a remedy and
maintains that he believed that the government would send him a physical copy of the
response and record rather than just an electronic notice of filing. He also asserts that the

turmoil caused by COVID-19 and Hurricanes Laura and Delta prevented him from
discovering the government’s Notice of Electronic Filing in a timely manner. Doc. 20. But
the court notes that the scheduling order in this matter [doc. 14] and the government’s
answer [doc. 15] were both filed months before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Counsel
has failed to provide a basis for rejecting the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation and the
court agrees that review of the government’s answer as unopposed is the appropriate
sanction for Teddlie’s noncompliance with briefing deadlines. Upon undertaking that
review, the court likewise finds no merit to the appeal. Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that the Report and
Recommendation [doc. 19] be ADOPTED and that this matter be DENIED and
DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.
THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Chambers on this 11th day of December, 2020.

_________________________________________
JAMES D. CAIN, JR.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE