Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse Inc. v. Cauley

619 F. App'x 836
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 21, 2016
DocketNo. 14-15747
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 619 F. App'x 836 (Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse Inc. v. Cauley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse Inc. v. Cauley, 619 F. App'x 836 (11th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

Universal Life Church World Headquarters, Inc. (“ULC HQ”) and Michael Cauley (collectively, “Cauley”) appeal from the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Universal Life Church Monastery Storehouse, Inc. (“ULC Monastery”) and George Freeman (collectively, “Appellees”) on their claim that Cauley violated a mediated settlement agreement between the parties concerning prior and ongoing defamation (the “Settlement Agreement”). On appeal, Cauley argues that: (1) the district court failed to provide him with notice that he could file affidavits or other responsive materials and the potential consequences if he failed to do so; and (2) even if the district court provided notice, summary judgment was improper because material facts were in dispute. After careful review, we affirm.

We review a district court’s order granting summary judgment de novo, applying the same standard as the district court. Nat’l Parks Conservation Ass’n v. Norton, 324 F.3d 1229, 1236 (11th Cir.2003). We view the material presented and draw all factual inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Brooks v. Cnty. Comm’n of Jefferson Cnty., Ala., 446 F.3d 1160, 1161-62 (11th Cir.2006). Summary judgment is proper where “the mov-ant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 66(a). “A mere scintilla of evidence supporting the nonmoving party’s position will not suffice.” > Allen v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 121 F.3d 642, 646 (11th Cir.1997) (alteration adopted) (quotations omitted). Summary judgment is also proper if the evidence “is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

A party moving for summary judgment bears “the initial responsibility” of pointing to the pleadings and other record evidence to “demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The burden then shifts to the nonmovant. Fitzpatrick v. City of Atlanta, 2 F.3d 1112, 1116 (11th Cir.1993). Where, as here, the movant bears the burden of proof at trial, the nonmovant “must come forward with evidence sufficient to call into question the inference created by the movant’s evidence on the particular material fact.” Id. Because of this burden on the nonmovant, “[a] motion for summary judgment should only be granted against a litigant without counsel if the court gives clear notice [at least ten days prior to ruling] of the need to file affidavits or other responsive materials and of the consequences of default.” United States v. One Colt Python .857 Ca. Revolver, 845 F.2d 287, 289 (11th Cir.1988). See also id. (“When a litigant moves pursuant to [R]ule 56 for summary judgment or when the district court converts a motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment, the ‘bright-line’ ten-day notice requirement is stringently enforced.”).

[838]*838First, we reject Cauley’s argument that the district court failed to provide him, a pro se litigant, with adequate notice that he could submit affidavits or other responsive materials and of the potential consequences of his failure to do so. “[W]hen a pro se litigant is involved, we have interpreted Rule 56[ ] to require that the district court specifically inform the litigant (1) of the need to file affidavits or other responsive materials, and (2) of the consequences of default.” McBride v. Sharpe, 25 F.3d 962, 968 (11th Cir.1994) (en banc). The district court fulfilled its obligation here. As the record shows, Cauley moved for summary judgment on June 5, 2014, and Appellees moved for summary judgment on June 11, 2014. On July 14, 2014, the district court entered an • order providing “[p]ro se Defendant Cau-ley” with “the notice requirements mandated by Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c),” including his “right to file affidavits or other material, and the consequences of default.” In fact, the district court specifically warned Cau-ley “that final judgment may be entered without a trial and that the moving party’s evidence may be accepted as true if not contradicted by sworn affidavits.” Accordingly, the district ordered that “[t]he parties should file affidavits or other material in opposition to the opposing party’s summary judgment motion on or before August 12, 201k [when the court took the motions for summary judgment under advisement].”

The district court’s order clearly and' plainly warned Cauley that he would have to submit affidavits or responsive eviden-tiary material to prevent the district court from accepting the Appellees’ evidence as true and granting summary judgment in their favor without a trial. Our precedent does not require a district court to provide that notice at an oral hearing. See Griffith v. Wainwright, 772 F.2d 822, 825 (11th Cir.1985) (per curiam) (“[I]t is well settled in this Circuit that [the Rule 56 notice] requirement does not of necessity require that such notice be given at an oral hearing. ...”). Since the district court provided Cauley with the required notice, it could then “properly take [Appellees’] motion under advisement ... [and] rule on the motion consistent with the dictates of procedural fairness required by Rule 56,” even though Cauley was proceeding without the assistance of counsel. Id. Thus, the district court committed no error when it provided Cauley with notice before it ruled on the motions for summary judgment.1

As for Cauley’s alternative claim that there are disputed, material facts that rendered improper the grant of summary judgment, Cauley did not raise this issue in his opening brief before this Court. Rather, he argued it for the first time in his reply brief. “It is well settled in this [C]ireuit that an argument not included in the appellant’s opening brief is deemed abandoned. And presenting the argument in the appellant’s reply does not somehow resurrect it.” Davis v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consol., 516 F.3d 955, 972 (11th Cir.2008) (citation omitted). Thus, Cauley has abandoned this argument and we need not consider it.

However, even if we were to consider the argument, it would still fail on the merits. Cauley claims that the district [839]*839court erroneously found as a matter of law that he violated the terms of the Settlement Agreement — since, he says, the Settlement Agreement declared only that the parties had to remove “anything about one another or their respective churches from all websites under their control,”

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619 F. App'x 836, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/universal-life-church-monastery-storehouse-inc-v-cauley-ca11-2016.