Pittman v. Lithia Motors, Inc.

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT September 30, 2024 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk HOUSTON DIVISION

DIANDRA M. PITTMAN and § NICK COOPER, § § Plaintiffs, § § VS. § Civil Case No. 4:22-CV-01049 § LITHIA MOTORS, INC. and § SOUTHWEST INFINITI, § § Defendants. §

ORDER ACCEPTING FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE Pending before the Court is the August 28, 2024, Memorandum and Recommendation (“M&R”) prepared by Magistrate Judge Peter Bray. (Dkt. No. 83). Judge Bray made findings and conclusions and recommended that Defendants Lithia Motors, Inc. and Houston-I, Inc. d/b/a Southwest Infiniti’s Motion for Leave for Reconsideration of Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 73), be granted; Defendants Lithia Motors, Inc. and Houston-I, Inc. d/b/a Southwest Infiniti’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 32), be granted; and Defendant Lithia Motors, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 34), be denied as moot. The Parties were provided proper notice and the opportunity to object to the M&R. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1); Fed. R. Civ. P. 72(b). No party filed an objection. As a result, review is straightforward: plain error. Guillory v. PPG Indus., Inc., 434 F.3d 303, 308 (5th Cir. 2005). No plain error appears. Accordingly, the Court accepts the M&R and adopts it as the opinion of the Court. It is therefore ordered that: (1) Magistrate Judge Bray’s M&R, (Dkt. No. 83), is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED in its entirety as the holding of the Court; (2) Defendants Lithia Motors, Inc. and Houston-I, Inc. d/b/a Southwest Infiniti’s Motion for Leave for Reconsideration of Defendants’ Motions for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 73), is GRANTED; (3) Defendants Lithia Motors, Inc. and Houston-I, Inc. d/b/a Southwest Infiniti’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 32), is GRANTED; and (4) Defendant Lithia Motors, Inc.’s Motion for Summary Judgment, (Dkt. No. 34), is DENIED as MOOT. It is SO ORDERED. Signed on September 29, 2024.

DREW B. TIPTON UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE