Eldorado Trailer Leasing LLC v. ReeferTek LLC

Filing 15

ORDER signed by Judge Lynn Adelman on 5/29/15 granting in part 13 Motion for Default Judgment. The clerk of court shall enter judgment in the amount of $178,600. (cc: all counsel) (dm)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN

ELDORADO TRAILER LEASING, LLC,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 14-C-1199

REEFERTEK USA CORP.,
Defendant.

ORDER
The plaintiff, Eldorado Trailer Leasing, LLC, has filed a motion for a default
judgment against the defendant, ReeferTek USA Corp. The clerk of court entered the
defendant’s default on April 14, 2015, after the plaintiff filed a motion asking the clerk to
do so. The plaintiff’s motion for a default judgment is addressed to the clerk under Federal
Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b)(1). However, I reviewed the order and noticed that the
amount requested in the default judgment, $312,550, is inflated. The amended complaint
alleges that the plaintiff’s actual pecuniary loss is $44,650, which represents the amount
of the plaintiff’s money allegedly converted by the defendant. The complaint alleges that
the plaintiff is entitled to recover that amount, along with exemplary damages of three times
that amount, or $133,950, under Wisconsin’s civil-theft statute, Wis. Stat. § 895.446(3)(c).
This is a plausible reading of the statute, and if the plaintiff were requesting a default
judgment in the amount of $178,600 ($44,650 + $133,950), I would have allowed the clerk
to enter it.
However, the plaintiff contends that in addition to this amount it is entitled to double
damages ($89,300) under Wis. Stat. § 100.18, and also to additional single damages

($44,650) for reasons that I have been unable to identify. No authority of which I am aware
would allow the plaintiff to recover these amounts. The plaintiff’s recovery under the civiltheft statute is more than sufficient to make it whole. Additional damages for the same
wrong would amount to a double recovery. Accordingly, a default judgment in the amount
of $178,600 is the maximum allowable judgment, and I will direct the clerk to enter
judgment in that amount.
For the reasons stated, IT IS ORDERED that the plaintiff’s motion for a default
judgment is GRANTED IN PART. The clerk of court shall enter judgment in the amount
of $178,600.
Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this 29th day of May, 2015.
s/ Lynn Adelman
_______________________________
LYNN ADELMAN
District Judge

2