Long v. Baker

37 F. Supp. 3d 1243, 2014 WL 3887740, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108980
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedAugust 7, 2014
DocketCase No. 8:12-cv-1943-T-35TBM
StatusPublished

This text of 37 F. Supp. 3d 1243 (Long v. Baker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Long v. Baker, 37 F. Supp. 3d 1243, 2014 WL 3887740, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108980 (M.D. Fla. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

MARY S. SCRIVEN, District Judge.

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court for consideration of the Report and Recommendation issued by Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III on June 20, 2014 (Dkt. 142). The Report and Recommendation recommends that Plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Dkt. 98) be granted in part and denied in part, and that Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 99) be denied. Plaintiffs timely filed objections to the Report and Recommendation (Dkt. 147), to which Defendant filed a response (Dkt. 152). Defendant also timely filed objections to the Report and Recommendation (Dkt. 150). Plaintiffs did not respond to Defendant’s objections.

I. Procedural History

Plaintiffs, William E. Long and his wife, Shirley Skafec-Long, filed a three-count Complaint that was removed to this Court on August 28, 2012. The Complaint alleges that Defendant, a musical performer, and his entourage initiated and engaged in a bar fight at Bishop’s Tavern in St. Pe-tersburg, Florida, on January 29, 2012. Mr. Long was employed as a bouncer at Bishop’s Tavern. He alleges that, during his attempt to quell the fracas, he was struck on his right hand by a bottle of liquor that was being swung by Defendant. Mr. Long suffered a laceration across the knuckle of his hand, which subsequently became infected and required surgery, physical therapy, and antibiotic treatment. In Count I of the Complaint, Mr. Long asserts a claim for battery. In Count III, Mrs. Long asserts a claim for loss of consortium.1 Defendant filed an Answer in which he denied all the pertinent allegations and asserted twenty-four affirmative defenses.

II. Standard of Review

After conducting a careful and complete review of the findings and recommendations, a district judge may accept, reject or modify the magistrate judge’s report and recommendation. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); United States v. Powell, 628 F.3d 1254, 1256 (11th Cir.2010). A 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.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); see also United States v. Farias-Gonzalez, 556 F.3d 1181, 1184 n. 1 (11th Cir.2009). This requires that the district judge “give fresh consideration to those issues to which specific objection has been made by a party.” Jeffrey S. v. State Bd. of Educ. of Ga., 896 F.2d 507, 512 (11th Cir.1990) (quoting H.R. 1609, 94th Cong, § 2 (1976), 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6162, 6163). The district judge reviews legal conclusions de novo, even in the absence of an objection. See Cooper-Houston v. S. Ry. Co., 37 F.3d 603, 604 (11th Cir.1994). A district court may not reject the credibility determinations of a magistrate judge without personally rehearing disputed tes[1246]*1246timony from the witness. Powell, 628 F.3d at 1256-58.

III. Discussion

A. Plaintiffs Objections

In their Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, Plaintiffs contend that there is no evidence to support Defendant’s affirmative defenses, and that they are entitled to summary judgment on all the affirmative defenses pertaining to self-defense, unintentional touching, negligence, and accident. In the Report and Recommendation, Judge McCoun recommended that Plaintiffs’ motion be granted as to Defendant’s First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-First, Twenty-Third, and Twenty-Fourth Affirmative Defenses, and that the motion be denied as to Defendant’s Second, Ninth, Twelfth, Fourteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-Second Affirmative Defenses.

Plaintiff raises the following objections to Judge McCoun’s recommendations: (1) the Eleventh affirmative defense should have been stricken with prejudice; (2) the Twelfth affirmative defense should have been stricken; and (3) the Twentieth and Twenty-Second defenses should have been stricken.

In his Eleventh affirmative defense, Defendant alleges that Plaintiffs fail to state a claim for which relief can be granted. The Court agrees with Judge McCoun that failure to state a claim for which relief may be granted is not an affirmative defense, but rather, a failure of pleading. See U.S. v. Halifax Hosp. Medical Center, 2013 WL 6017329 (M.D.Fla. Nov. 13, 2013). As such, it is appropriate to strike this defense, but Defendant should not be precluded from otherwise asserting this failure of pleading as a specific denial of Plaintiffs’ allegations. See Getter v. von Hagens, 2011 WL 2581187, *3 (M.D.Fla. June 29, 2011) (finding “failure to state a claim” was not a sufficient affirmative defense, but treating it as a specific denial of plaintiffs’ claims); Denarii Systems, LLC v. Arab, 2013 WL 500826, *6 (S.D.Fla. Feb. 11, 2013) (same). Accordingly, the Court agrees with Judge McCoun’s recommendation that the Eleventh Affirmative Defense be stricken without prejudice.

With respect to Judge McCoun’s recommendations that the Twelfth, Twentieth, and Twenty-Second affirmative defenses not be stricken, Plaintiffs’ objections are. merely reassertions of the same arguments they made in their Motion for Partial Summary Judgment. The Court believes these arguments were properly considered and sufficiently addressed by Judge McCoun, particularly in footnote 6 of the Report and Recommendation.

B. Defendant’s Objections

In his Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendant argues summary judgment is warranted on Mr. Long’s battery claim because there is no genuine issue of material fact with respect to whether Defendant intended to injure Mr. Long and whether the injury Mr. Long suffered was caused by Defendant swinging the bottle. Judge McCoun recommended that Defendant’s motion be denied because the evidence proffered by Plaintiffs establishes genuine issues of material fact as to the allegations of battery.

Defendant objects to the Report and Recommendation, asserting the same arguments with respect to intent and causation that he made in his motion for summary judgment. Again, the Court finds that these argument were properly considered by Judge McCoun. Upon its own review of the facts and the applicable law, [1247]*1247the Court agrees with Judge McCoun that there are genuine issues of material fact about the events that took place on the night of January 29, 2012, particularly whether Defendant intended to cause a harmful and offensive contact with Mr. Long, and whether Mr. Long’s injuries were a result of being struck with the bottle being swung by Defendant. The Court is unable to resolve the disputed testimony upon a motion for summary judgment and believes that a reasonable jury could resolve these issues in favor of either party, depending on which version of the facts it finds most persuasive.

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Bluebook (online)
37 F. Supp. 3d 1243, 2014 WL 3887740, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/long-v-baker-flmd-2014.