Integon National Insurance Company v. Seavers ( 2020 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 INTEGON NATIONAL INSURANCE No. 2:19-cv-01413 KJM AC COMPANY, 12 Plaintiff, 13 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS v. 14 GARY SPEED and DAMIAN SEAVERS, 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 This case comes before the court on plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against 19 defendant Damien Seavers. ECF No. 21 and 22 (erroneously docketed twice). The motion was 20 referred to the undersigned pursuant to E.D. Cal. R. 302(c)(19), and was taken under submission. 21 ECF No. 24. Both defendants in this matter filed statements of non-opposition. ECF Nos. 28 22 (Seavers Non-Opposition), 29 (Speed Non-Opposition). 23 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55, default may be entered against a party 24 against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought who fails to plead or otherwise defend 25 against the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). However, a defendant’s default does not 26 automatically entitle the plaintiff to a court-ordered judgment. Draper v. Coombs, 792 F.2d 915, 27 924-25 (9th Cir. 1986); Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(b). Instead, the decision to grant or deny an 28 application for default judgment lies within the district court’s sound discretion. Aldabe v. 1 Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980). The court’s discretion is guided by consideration of 2 multiple factors. See Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 1986). Here the 3 parties—including the defaulting defendant against whom judgment is sought—agree that default 4 judgment is appropriate; the individual Eitel factors therefore need not be discussed. 5 The undersigned has reviewed the complaint and finds that its allegations are well 6 pleaded. Because (1) defendant Seavers has not appeared in the action except to file a statement 7 of non-opposition to the default judgment; (2) the clerk previously entered the defendant’s default 8 on September 16, 2019 (ECF No. 16); and (3) no party opposes this motion, the undersigned 9 finds that default judgment is appropriate. 10 Judgment should be entered on the following terms: 11 The Court hereby adjudges, declares, and decrees the following with respect to plaintiff’s causes of action in the complaint against 12 defendant Damian Seavers only: 13 1. Plaintiff has no obligation under Integon National Insurance Company policy no. HOS1354575 to indemnify Damian Seavers 14 against the claims made by Gary Speed in Sacramento Superior Court action no. 34-2018-00227960 or otherwise arising from the 15 September 30, 2016 incident alleged in the complaint; and 16 2. Plaintiff has no obligation under Integon National Insurance Company policy no. HOS1354575 to defend Damian Seavers 17 against the claims made by Gary Speed in Sacramento Superior Court action no. 34-2018-00227960 or otherwise arising from the 18 September 30, 2016 incident alleged in the complaint; 19 CONCLUSION 20 It is hereby RECOMMENDED THAT plaintiff’s January 22, 2020 motion for default 21 judgment against defendant Damian Seavers only (ECF No. 22) be granted, with the terms of 22 judgment set forth above. The duplicative motion filed at ECF No. 21 shall be TERMINATED. 23 These findings and recommendations are submitted to the United States District Judge 24 assigned to the case, pursuant to the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). Within twenty one days 25 after being served with these findings and recommendations, any party may file written 26 objections with the court and serve a copy on all parties. Id.; see also Local Rule 304(b). Such a 27 document should be captioned “Objections to Magistrate Judge’s Findings and 28 Recommendations.” Any response to the objections shall be filed with the court and served on all 1 || parties within fourteen days after service of the objections. Local Rule 304(d). Failure to file 2 | objections within the specified time may waive the right to appeal the District Court’s order. 3 | Turner v. Duncan, 158 F.3d 449, 455 (9th Cir. 1998); Martinez v. YIst, 951 F.2d 1153, 1156-57 4 | (9th Cir. 1991). 5 | DATED: March 26, 2020 ~ 6 Attten— Lhor—e_ ALLISON CLAIRE 7 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28