Phillips v. Hillsborough County

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA TAMPA DIVISION

CHARITY L. PHILLIPS,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 8:22-cv-1473-CEH-JSS

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY and ARMATURE PARK APARTMENTS,

Defendants.

ORDER This cause comes before the Court on Plaintiff Charity Phillips’ Motion for Reconsideration of Order Adopting Report and Recommendation (Doc. 11). Plaintiff requests reconsideration of the Order because, inter alia, she timely filed objections to the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. Upon consideration and review, the Court will grant Plaintiff’s Motion and vacate its Order. DISCUSSION “[A] motion to reconsider must demonstrate why the court should reconsider its decision and set forth facts or law of a strongly convincing nature to induce the court to reverse its prior decision.” McGuire v. Ryland Grp., Inc., 497 F. Supp. 2d 1356, 1358 (M.D. Fla. 2007). “This ordinarily requires a showing ‘of clear and obvious error where the interests of justice demand correction.’” Id. (quoting Prudential Sec., Inc. v. Emerson, 919 F.Supp. 415, 417 (M.D.Fla.1996)). Plaintiff requests reconsideration of this Court’s Order, dated August 8, 2022, which adopted the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge and noted that no objections had been filed. Doc. 7 at 1. Plaintiff explains that she timely filed

objections on August 8, 2022, noting that her motion for e-filing access was still pending at the time. Doc. 11 at 1. Under Rule 72 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a party may serve and file specific written objections to proposed findings and recommendations of a magistrate judge within 14 days. For parties who receive service by mail, an additional

three days is added to procedural deadlines. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(d). Further, if any deadline would end on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Id. at Rule 6(1)(1)(C). Here, the Magistrate Judge issued its Report and Recommendation on July 20,

2022. Doc. 6. Her deadline to submit any objections would normally have been August 3, 2022. However, Plaintiff was not granted e-filing access until August 9, 2022, and instead received service by mail. See Doc. 9. Accordingly, her deadline was extended by three days to August 6, which was a Saturday; Plaintiff was therefore

required to file any objections by Monday, August 8, 2022. Because Plaintiff’s objections were filed on August 8, 2022, they were timely. See Doc. 8. Plaintiff has demonstrated that the Order dated August 8, 2022, merits reconsideration.1

1 The Court will consider the substance of Plaintiff’s Objections in a separate Order. Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 1. Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration Order Adopting Report and Recommendation (Doc. 11) is GRANTED. 2. The Court’s Order (Doc. 7) adopting, confirming, and approving the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation is VACATED. 3. The Clerk is directed to VACATE the Order (Doc. 7) entered August 8, 2022. DONE and ORDERED in Tampa, Florida on August 12, 2022.

Chak ene Coward Mere A gl el □□ Charlene Edwards Honeywell United States District Judge Copies furnished to: Counsel of Record Unrepresented Parties