H.G. v. United States of America, No. 1:2022cv01133 - Document 32 (E.D. Cal. 2023)

Court Description: ORDER ADOPTING 31 Findings and Recommendations, GRANTING Approval of the Minor's Compromise signed by District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on 11/21/2023. (Sant Agata, S)

Download PDF
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 H.G., by and through his Guardian ad Litem ) ) Yubiel Magana, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) ) Defendant. ) Case No.: 1:22-cv-01133-JLT-HBK ORDER ADOPTING THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS GRANTING APPROVAL OF THE MINOR’S COMPROMISE (Docs. 27, 31) On July 6, 2023, the parties engaged in a settlement conference with Magistrate Judge 18 Dennis M. Cota, and the parties reached a settlement. (Docs. 24.). On August 3, 2023, Plaintiff 19 H.G., by and through his guardian ad litem, filed a petition for approval of minor’s compromise 20 from the gross settlement. (Doc. 27.). The assigned magistrate judge ordered petitioner to 21 supplement the petition pursuant to Local Rule 202(b)(2), and the supplement was filed on 22 September 18, 2023. (Docs. 29-30.) Defendant filed no response to the initial or supplemented 23 petition. 24 On November 6, 2023, the assigned magistrate judge found the minor’s compromise – 25 including the payment of attorney fees from the portion of the settlement designated for H.G. – 26 was “fair and reasonable in light of the facts of the case, the specific claim, and recoveries in 27 similar cases.” (Doc. 31 at 6.) Therefore, the magistrate judge recommended the motion for 28 1 1 approval of the minor’s compromise be approved. (Doc. 31.) In addition, the magistrate judge 2 recommended the minor’s net compensation be assigned as follows: (1) an annuity be purchased 3 in the amount of $30,000.00 for the benefit of the minor, (2) $1,000.00 be released to guardian ad 4 litem and H.G.’s mother Yubiel Magana, and (3) $8,825.83 be placed in a blocked account where 5 it cannot be withdrawn until H.G.’s eighteenth birthday. 6 The Court served the Findings and Recommendations on all parties and notified them that 7 any objections thereto were to be filed within 14 days after service. (Id.) To date, neither party 8 has filed objections, and the deadline for doing so has passed. According to 28 U.S.C. § 636 9 (b)(1)(C), the Court has conducted a de novo review of the case. Having carefully reviewed the 10 entire file, the Court concludes that the magistrate judge’s Findings and Recommendations are 11 supported by the record and proper analysis. Thus, the Court ORDERS: 12 1. 13 The Findings and Recommendations issued on November 6, 2023, (Doc. 31), are ADOPTED in full. 14 2. The petition for approval of minor’s compromise (Doc. 27) is GRANTED. 15 3. An annuity SHALL be purchased from JMW Settlements LLC in the amount of 16 $30,000.00 from the minor’s net compensation for the benefit of the minor, which 17 will yield a total payout of $48,000.00 over a 3-year period when the minor turns 18 19. 19 4. $1,000.00 of the minor’s net compensation SHALL be released to guardian ad litem and H.G.’s mother Yubiel Magana to obtain a residence. 20 21 5. $8,825.83 of the minor’s net compensation SHALL be placed in a blocked 22 account at Noble Credit Union in Fresno, California where it cannot be withdrawn 23 until H.G.’s eighteenth birthday or otherwise ordered by the Court. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 /// 28 /// 2 1 6. The parties SHALL file a stipulation for dismissal of the action with prejudice 2 pursuant to Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure within 45 days of the 3 date of service of this order. 4 5 6 IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: November 21, 2023 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.