National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA. v. Shores et al, No. 1:2019cv01113 - Document 18 (E.D. Cal. 2020)

Court Description: ORDER ADOPTING 15 Findings and Recommendations and GRANTING 14 Motion for Default Judgment signed by District Judge Dale A. Drozd on 7/22/2020. CASE CLOSED.(Lundstrom, T)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY OF PITTSBURGH, PA., 12 13 14 15 No. 1:19-cv-01113-NONE-SAB ORDER ADOPTING FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS AND GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT Plaintiff, v. DONA SHORES, (Doc. Nos. 14, 15) Defendant. 16 17 Plaintiff National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA. filed the complaint in 18 this action on June 3, 2020, alleging that Defendant Dona Shores fraudulently embezzled more 19 than $1.3 million from plaintiff’s insured, the Visalia Public Cemetery District. (Doc. No. 1.) 20 Defendant Shores is also currently facing related criminal charges in Tulare County Superior 21 Court. (See People v. Dona Shores, VCF360063). After defendant failed to respond to the 22 complaint in this civil action, default was entered by the clerk, and plaintiff filed a motion for 23 default judgment, which was referred to the assigned magistrate judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 24 636(b)(1)(B) and Local Rule 302. (Doc. Nos. 10, 14.) 25 On June 3, 2020, the magistrate judge filed findings and recommendations, recommending 26 that plaintiff’s motion for default judgment be granted. The findings and recommendations were 27 served on plaintiff and contained notice that any objections to the findings and recommendations 28 1 1 were to be filed within fourteen (14) days from the date of service.1 The period for filing 2 objections has passed and no objections have been filed. In accordance with the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C), this court has conducted a 3 4 de novo review of this case. Having carefully reviewed the entire file, the court finds the findings 5 and recommendations to be supported by the record and by proper analysis. 2 6 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 7 1. The findings and recommendations, filed June 3, 2020, (Doc. No. 15.) are ADOPTED IN FULL; 8 9 2. Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment, filed March 17, 2020 is GRANTED; 10 3. Default judgment is ENTERED in favor of Plaintiff Union Fire Insurance 11 Company of Pittsburgh, PA. and against Defendant Shores in the amount of 12 $1,342,387.00 with post-judgment interest on the entire award from the date 13 judgment calculated at the applicable statutory rate; 4. 14 The Clerk of the Court is DIRECTED to assign a district judge to this case for the purpose of closing the case and to CLOSE THIS CASE; and 15 5. 16 Plaintiff is directed to personally serve this order on defendant and provide a copy of this order to defendant’s attorney in the criminal case pending in state court. 17 18 IT IS SO ORDERED. 19 Dated: July 22, 2020 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 25 Defendant’s criminal defense attorney, Charles F. Magill, was also informed of this lawsuit and provided a copy of the findings and recommendations. (Doc. No. 14-1 at ¶ 8; Doc. No. 17.) 1 2 The court notes that no party has requested entry of a stay of this civil action pending resolution of the related criminal charges against defendant. In the absence of any appearance in this action 27 or participation by defendant, there is no basis to defer entry of default judgment. Should any party believe reconsideration as to that issue is warranted, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 28 provide mechanisms for such a motion. 26 2

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