Star v. TI Oldfield Development LLC et al

Filing 115

ORDER adopting Report and Recommendations re 96 Report and Recommendation.; adopting Report and Recommendations re 97 Report and Recommendation. Signed by Honorable David C Norton on September 19, 2018.(cban, )

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
CHARLESTON DIVISION
ROB STAR, derivatively and on behalf
of all Nominal Defendants, Oldfield
Community Association, LLC and Oldfield
Club, LLC, and on behalf of Oldfield
Community Association LLC’s and Oldfield
Club, LLC’s respective members

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Plaintiff,
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vs.
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TI OLDFIELD DEVELOPMENT, LLC,
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TI OLDFIELD OPERATIONS, LLC,
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by and through their respective board of
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directors, John Does 1-10, individually and )
as directors between the time period
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2010-2017, including Philip Galbreath
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and I. William Stolz, III; OLDFIELD
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HOLDINGS GA, LLC; SF CAPITAL,
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LLC; SF OPERATIONS, LLC; JAMIE D. )
SELBY, individually and as managing
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member of Elliot Group Holdings, LLC,
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and ELLIOT GROUP HOLDINGS, LLC; )
OLDFIELD COMMUNITY COUNCIL,
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(2013-2015) including Jay Barr and
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Richard Price, by and through its respective )
Board of Directors, John Does 11-20;
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OLDFIELD COMMUNITY
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ASSOCIATION, (2010-2017) by and
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through its respective Board of Directors, )
John Does 31-40 including Richard Price, )
Phillip Galreath, and I. William Stolz, III; )
BALD EAGLE PARTNERS LLC; BEP
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OLDFIELD, LLC, by and through their
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respective Board of Directors (John Does )
41-50); JAY BARR; RICHARD PRICE;
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WILLIAM STOLZ, III; PHILLIP
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GALBREATH; OLDFIELD
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COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, LLC;
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OLDFIELD CLUB, LLC,
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Defendants.
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No. 9:17-cv-02489-DCN
ORDER

This matter is before the court upon the Special Master’s report and
recommendation (“R&R”) that the court grant defendants’ motions to dismiss, ECF Nos.
53, 54, 55, 56, 58, and 61, and that the court deny plaintiff’s cross-motion to amend the
complaint, ECF No. 65.
The court is charged with conducting a de novo review of any portion of the
Special Master’s report to which a specific objection is registered. “In acting on a
master’s order, report, or recommendations, the court must give the parties notice and an
opportunity to be heard; may receive evidence; and may adopt or affirm, modify, wholly
or partly reject or reverse, or resubmit” the R&R to the Special Master with instructions.
Fed. R. Civ. P. 53(f)(1). The 2003 Advisory Committee Notes state that the “requirement
that the court must afford an opportunity to be heard can be satisfied by taking written
submissions when the court acts on the report without taking live testimony.”1
Plaintiff requests a hearing with this court to address his objections to the R&R.
However, a party is not entitled to a hearing on his objections to a Special Master’s R&R.
Rather, he must be given “notice and an opportunity to be heard,” which plaintiff has
received through his opportunity to submit objections to the R&R. See Pac, Harbor
Captial, Inc. v. Carnival Air Lines, Inc., 210 F.3d 1112, 1118 (9th Cir. 2000) (finding that
Rule 53(f)(1) “does not require an oral or evidentiary hearing on the issues”). The court
finds that a hearing is not necessary to decide upon plaintiff’s objections to the R&R, and
thus denies plaintiff’s request for a hearing.

1

While this language is drawn from the Committee Notes to Rule 53(g), in the
2003 version of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 53(g)(1) contained the
substantive language that is now in Rule 53(f)(1).

The court has conducted a de novo review of the record, including plaintiff’s
objections to the R&R and the transcript from the Special Master’s hearing on the
motions. The court concludes that the Special Master’s R&R accurately summarizes this
case and the applicable law. Accordingly, the Special Master’s R&R, ECF No. 96, is
incorporated into this order. For the reasons articulated by the Special Master, the court
GRANTS the defendants’ motions to dismiss all of plaintiff’s claims, rendering moot
plaintiff’s cross-motion to amend the complaint.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.

DAVID C. NORTON
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
September 19, 2018
Charleston, South Carolina