Wolfe v. Charter Forest Behavioral Health System, Inc.

185 F.R.D. 225, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 1999 WL 198880
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedFebruary 22, 1999
DocketNo. Civ.A. 96-1301
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 185 F.R.D. 225 (Wolfe v. Charter Forest Behavioral Health System, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wolfe v. Charter Forest Behavioral Health System, Inc., 185 F.R.D. 225, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 1999 WL 198880 (W.D. La. 1999).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM RULING

STAGG, District Judge.

Before the court are two motions. The first is a motion filed by Lynne Wolfe, Richard Wolfe, and John Zachary (hereafter, collectively referred to as “Plaintiffs”) urging this court to enter a final judgment pursuant to FRCP 54(b). The second is a motion filed by Charter Forest Behavioral Health Systems, Inc. (“Charter”) requesting the court to render a final judgment in its favor. For the reasons assigned, Charter’s motion is GRANTED and Plaintiffs motion is DENIED as MOOT.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 28, 1996, Plaintiffs brought this qui tam action pursuant to the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3279 et seq., against Charter. Plaintiffs alleged that while they were employed by Charter they discovered that Charter filed false claims for various government payments. In their “Second Amending and Supplemental Complaint,” Plaintiffs also alleged that Lynne Wolfe was terminated in retaliation for Plaintiffs’ lawsuit (hereafter, referred to as “retaliation claim”). In response, Charter filed a motion to dismiss arguing that the qui tam provisions of the FCA are unconstitutional, that Plaintiffs failed to plead fraud with the degree of particularity required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 9(f), and that Plaintiffs failed to state a claim under FRCP 12(b)(6). Charter also argued that Plaintiffs’ “Third Supplemental and Amending Complaint,” which did not contain the retaliation claim, superseded all previous complaints and effectively dismissed the retaliation claim.

Charter’s motion to dismiss was referred to Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne for a report and recommendation. On August 13, 1998, Magistrate Judge Payne rejected Charter’s arguments that the qui tam provisions violated the constitution but concluded that Plaintiffs failed to state a claim pursuant to FRCP 12(b)(6) and 9(f). With regard to Charter’s argument that Plaintiffs effectively dismissed their retaliation claim, Magistrate Judge Payne noted that while the third supplemental and amended complaint was not clear, he was inclined to give Plaintiffs the benefit of the doubt and preserve the retaliation claim. Over limited objections by both parties, this court adopted Magistrate Judge Payne’s report and recommendation on October 29,1998.

On November 6, 1998, Plaintiffs filed a motion urging this court to enter a final judgment pursuant to FRCP 54(b). In essence, Plaintiffs believe that they should be able to appeal the False Claims Act issues prior to entry of final judgment as to all of the claims raised in Plaintiffs’ complaint. On November 19, 1998, Charter filed an opposition to Plaintiffs’ motion. Charter, once again, argued that the retaliation claim was dismissed by the Plaintiffs’ failure to restate or reference the retaliation claim in their “Third Supplemental and Amending Complaint.” Charter believes that Plaintiffs are now using their motion for final judgment as “a backdoor mechanism, to preserve ‘retaliatory discharge’ claims that [Plaintiffs] never properly pled.” Record Document 78. Therefore, in its opposition, Charter filed a motion requesting final judgment in its favor as to all claims asserted in this action. In the alternative, Charter believes that the court should deny Plaintiffs’ motion for final judgment. In response, Plaintiffs argue that Charter is not entitled to a final judgment in its favor because it failed to object to the magistrate judge’s finding that Plaintiffs’ did not abandon their retaliation claim.

II. Law and Analysis A. Jurisdiction.

In 1976, Congress amended the Federal Magistrates Act (“FMA”), 28 U.S.C. § 636,1 [227]*227to permit district judges to refer certain pretrial matters to a magistrate to conduct limited proceedings and to recommend dispositions. See Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 141, 106 S.Ct. 466, 468, 88 L.Ed.2d 435 (1985). The FMA provides that any party that disagrees with the magistrate judge’s recommendations may demand de novo review by the district judge by timely filing written objections. Id.

In this case, Plaintiffs argue that Charter’s failure to object to the portion of the magistrate judge’s findings regarding Plaintiffs’ retaliation claim bars Charter from rearguing this issue to this court. Plaintiffs note that Magistrate Judge Payne’s report and recommendation warned the parties that their failure to object would result in the forfeiture of certain appellate rights. Specifically, Magistrate Judge Payne’s report provided:

Under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C) and Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b), parties aggrieved by this recommendation have ten (10) business days from service of the report and recommendation to file specific, written objections with the Clerk of Court.
* * *
A party’s failure to file written objections to the proposed findings, conclusions and recommendations set forth above ... shall bar that party, except upon the grounds of plain error, from attacking on appeal the unobjected-to proposed factual findings and legal conclusions accepted by the district court.

Record Document 65 at 18 (emphasis added). Plaintiffs contend that Charter’s failure to heed this warning precludes Charter from opposing the portion of the Magistrate Judge’s report recommending that Plaintiffs retaliation claim be preserved.

In support of this argument, Plaintiffs cite Nettles v. Wainwright, which held that

the failure of a party to file written objections to proposed findings and recommendations in a magistrate’s report ... shall bar the party from de novo determination by the district judge of an issue covered in the report and shall bar the party from attacking on appeal factual findings accepted or adopted by the district court except upon grounds of plain error or manifest injustice.

677 F.2d 404, 410 (5th Cir.1982) (emphasis added). Despite the court’s explicit reference to additional review by the district court, a careful reading of the case reveals that the court was concerned with the failure of a party to perfect his right to appeal to the Fifth Circuit by not objecting to the conclusions of the magistrate. Therefore, the court does not find this case to be of particularly persuasive authority for Plaintiffs’ position.

In Thomas v. Arn,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Bell v. State
Idaho Supreme Court, 2025
Hinton v. Trans Union, LLC
654 F. Supp. 2d 440 (E.D. Virginia, 2009)
Morrison v. Office of the U.S. Trustee (In Re Morrison)
375 B.R. 179 (W.D. Pennsylvania, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
185 F.R.D. 225, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4790, 1999 WL 198880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wolfe-v-charter-forest-behavioral-health-system-inc-lawd-1999.