Edwards v. Schoenig et al

Filing 159

MEMORANDUM & ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION; Judge Brown's R&R (Docket Entry 155) is ADOPTED in its entirety and the parties are HEREBY ORDERED to comply with the terms of the settlement they reach on the record on January 5, 2015. The Clerk of the Court is directed to enter judgment in Plaintiff's favor in the amount of $15,000. Defendants shall make the $15,000 payment to Plaintiff within ninety (90) days after entry of judgment. This case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE and the Clerk of the Court is directed to mark this matter CLOSED. So Ordered by Judge Joanna Seybert on 7/16/2015. C/M; C/ECF (Valle, Christine)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
----------------------------------X
MARK EDWARDS,
Plaintiff,

MEMORANDUM & ORDER
05-CV-5427(JS)(GRB)

-againstLT. SCHOENIG, SGT. STASKY,
C.O. GARAFOLO, C.O. RANT, C.O.
ARMINI, C.O. WHITE, C.O. PU,
C.P. ROMAN, C.O. B. SHEFTIC,
NASSAU COUNTY UNIVERSITY MEDICAL
CENTER, and NASSAU HEALTH CARE
CORP. s/h/a NASSAU UNIVERSITY
MEDICAL CENTER,

Defendants.
----------------------------------X
APPEARANCES
For Plaintiff:
Mark Edwards, pro se
05-A-1980
Auburn Correctional Facility
P.O. Box 618
Auburn, New York 13021
For Defendants:

Liora M. Ben-Sorek, Esq.
Nassau County Attorney’s Office
One West Street
Mineola, New York 11501
Alexander V. Sansone, Esq.
Troy & Troy
382 Rosevale Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, New York 11779

SEYBERT, District Judge:
Pending

before

the

Court

is

Magistrate

Judge

Gary

R.

Brown’s Report and Recommendation (“R&R”), recommending that the
Court enforce the terms of a binding settlement agreement placed on
the record during a January 5, 2015 conference.

(Docket Entry 155.)

For the following reasons, the Court ADOPTS Judge Brown’s R&R in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND
This action was commenced by Mark Edwards (“Plaintiff”) on
November 9, 2005 pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Lt. Schoenig,
Sgt. Stasky, C.O. Garafolo, C.O. Rant, C.O. Armini, C.O. White, C.O.
Pu, C.O. Roman, C.O. Sheftic (collectively “County Defendants”);
Nassau University Medical Center, and Nassau Health Care Corporation
(collectively the “Medical Defendants”).

(Compl. ¶ 1.)

A jury trial was scheduled to begin on January 14, 2015.
(December 5, 2014 Electronic Order.)
parties

reached

a

settlement

conference before Judge Brown.

Before trial, however, the

agreement

on

the

record

during

(January 5, 2015, Minute Order.)

a
In

exchange for dismissing the case, Defendants agreed to pay Plaintiff
$15,000, consisting of $14,000 to be paid by the County Defendants,
and $1,000 to be paid by the Medical Defendants.
Minute

Order;

R&R

at

2.)

After

the

(January 5, 2015,

settlement

agreement

was

memorialized on the record, Defendants forwarded a written version
of the agreement to Plaintiff for his review and signature.
Mar. 2, 2015 Ltr., Docket Entry 152.)

(See

But Plaintiff claimed that

Defendants added language to the agreement releasing Defendants from
liability in an unrelated case and waiving the timely execution of
the payment.

(See Edwards Decl., Docket Entry 154.)

2

By letter dated March 2, 2015, Defendants sought an Order
compelling Plaintiff to execute the settlement agreement forwarded
to him.

(Mar. 2, 2015 Ltr.)

In response, Plaintiff sought to

increase the settlement amount from $15,000 to $20,000.

(R&R at 4.)

On April 2, 2015, Judge Brown issued his R&R sua sponte recommending
that the Court enforce the settlement agreement that was reached on
the record during the January 5, 2015 conference.

(R&R at 8.)

DISCUSSION
In reviewing an R&R, a district court “may accept, reject,
or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and recommendations made
by the magistrate judge.”

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C).

If no timely

objections have been made, the “court need only satisfy itself that
there is no clear error on the face of the record.”

Urena v. New

York, 160 F. Supp. 2d 606, 609-10 (S.D.N.Y. 2001) (internal quotation
marks and citation omitted).
Objections were due within fourteen days of service of the
R&R.

The time for filing objections has expired, and no party has

objected.

Accordingly, all objections are hereby deemed to have been

waived.
Upon careful review and consideration, the Court finds
Judge Brown’s R&R to be comprehensive, well-reasoned and free of
clear error, and it ADOPTS the R&R in its entirety.

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CONCLUSION
Judge Brown’s R&R (Docket Entry 155) is ADOPTED in its
entirety and the parties are HEREBY ORDERED to comply with the terms
of the settlement they reach on the record on January 5, 2015.
Defendants

are

ORDERED

to

pay

Plaintiff

$15,000,

consisting

of

$14,000 to be paid by the County Defendants, and $1,000 to be paid
by the Medical Defendants.
enter

judgment

in

The Clerk of the Court is directed to

Plaintiff’s

favor

in

the

amount

of

$15,000.

Defendants shall make the $15,000 payment to Plaintiff within ninety
(90) days after entry of judgment.

This case is DISMISSED WITH

PREJUDICE and the Clerk of the Court is directed to mark this matter
CLOSED.

SO ORDERED.

Dated:

/s/ JOANNA SEYBERT______
Joanna Seybert, U.S.D.J.

July
16 , 2015
Central Islip, NY

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