Crawford v. Wilson

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA ORANGEBURG DIVISION Williams Kevin Crawford, ) Case No. 4:19-cv-02119-DCC ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ORDER ) Trinity Food Service, Officer S. Wilson, ) J. Howard, Tory Ervin, ) ) Defendants. ) ________________________________ ) This matter is before the Court upon Plaintiff’s complaint alleging violations of his civil rights pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. ECF No. 1. In accordance with 28 U.S.C. § 636(b) and Local Civil Rule 73.02(B)(2), (D.S.C.), this matter was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Kaymani D. West for pre-trial proceedings and a Report and Recommendation (“Report”). On December 30, 2019, Defendant Trinity Food Service filed a motion for sanctions requesting dismissal of the claims against it based on Plaintiff’s failure respond to discovery requests. ECF No. 46. Plaintiff filed no response.

On January 16, 2020, the Magistrate Judge issued a Report recommending that the motion for sanctions be granted and this action be dismissed with prejudice as to Defendant Trinity Food Service pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with an order of the court. ECF No. 51. The Magistrate Judge advised the Plaintiff of the procedures and requirements for filing objections to the Report and the serious consequences if he failed to do so. He did not file objections to the Report, and the time to do so has lapsed.

The Magistrate Judge makes only a recommendation to this Court. The recommendation has no presumptive weight, and the responsibility to make a final determination remains with the Court. See Mathews v. Weber, 423 U.S. 261 (1976). The Court is charged with making a de novo determination of any portion of the Report of the Magistrate Judge to which a specific objection is made. The Court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the recommendation made by the Magistrate Judge or recommit the matter to the Magistrate Judge with instructions. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b).

The Court will review the Report only for clear error in the absence of an objection. See Diamond v. Colonial Life & Accident Ins. Co., 416 F.3d 310, 315 (4th Cir. 2005) (stating that “in the absence of timely filed objection, a district court need not conduct a de novo review, but instead must only satisfy itself that there is no clear error on the face of the record in order to accept the recommendation.” (citation omitted)).

After considering the record in this case, the applicable law, and the Report of the Magistrate Judge, the Court finds no clear error and agrees with the recommendation of the Magistrate Judge. Accordingly, the motion for sanctions [46] is GRANTED and this action is DISMISSED with prejudice as to Defendant Trinity Food Service.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

s/ Donald C. Coggins, Jr. United States District Judge April 15, 2020 Spartanburg, South Carolina NOTICE OF RIGHT TO APPEAL The parties are hereby notified of the right to appeal this order pursuant to Rules 3 and 4 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.