Summary
The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted Defendants’ motion to set aside the Clerk’s entry of default in an Eighth Amendment excessive-force action. The Court found good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c), emphasizing the lack of personal service, Defendants’ prompt motion, absence of prejudice, and the strong preference for resolving claims on the merits.
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Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Clerk's entry of default should be set aside for good cause under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(c).
- Whether the defendants' lack of personal service, prompt motion, asserted defense, lack of prejudice, lack of personal responsibility, and the preference for adjudication on the merits warranted setting aside default.
- Whether attorney fees and costs should be awarded to the plaintiff in connection with obtaining and opposing the entry of default.
Holdings
- The entry of default should be set aside because the Rule 55(c) factors, including the defendants' prompt motion, asserted meritorious defense, lack of prejudice, lack of personal responsibility for the default, and the strong preference for resolution on the merits, supported relief.
- The individual defendants bore no personal responsibility for the default because they were not personally served, although the court did not conclusively resolve whether service was otherwise proper in light of the official-capacity claims.
Key quotations
“It has also “repeatedly expressed a strong preference that, as a general matter, defaults be avoided and that claims and defenses be disposed of on their merits.”” (2)
“The Court finds that the entry of default should be set aside to permit resolution on the merits.” (3)
Factual background
Andrew McCauley, who was incarcerated at Mount Olive Correctional Complex, alleged that Officer Michael Dempsey and Sergeant Lyle Lesher used excessive force against him on August 28, 2024, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The defendants were served through a correctional-facility secretary rather than personally, failed to answer, and consequently had default entered against them. They asserted that service was improper and that they had meritorious defenses, including that they committed no wrongdoing and that the use of force was justified.
Procedural history
Plaintiff filed the complaint on August 26, 2025, and the returns of service indicated that both defendants were served through Patricia Rhodes, a secretary at Mount Olive Correctional Complex. After defendants failed to answer, the Clerk entered default on October 30, 2025. Defendants moved to set aside the entry of default on November 3, 2025. The court granted the motion and vacated the Clerk's entry of default.