BRIAN K. EPPS, Magistrate Judge.
Before the Court are Defendants' Motion to Enforce Settlement, (doc. no. 84), Plaintiff's Declaration for Entry of Default, (doc. no. 83), Plaintiff's Motion to Approve Agreement, (doc. no. 85), and Plaintiff's Motion to Modify or Terminate Private Settlement Agreement, (doc no. 88).
Plaintiff brought this prisoner civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting claims for deliberate indifference and equal protection for which the Court has held he can recover only nominal damages. (Doc. nos. 73, 76.) On June 20, 2018, the undersigned conducted a mediation, and the parties agreed to a final settlement as memorialized in a checklist signed that same day by Plaintiff and defense counsel. (Settlement Checklist, doc. no. 84-1, pp. 7-11.) The checklist included all material terms of the settlement and specified the settlement was immediately binding and would be incorporated into a final, formal settlement agreement. (
Plaintiff now seeks to avoid the settlement because the first version of the formal settlement agreement proposed by Defendants did not reference a checklist term requiring Defendants pay 100% of the amount, if any, demanded by Georgia Department of Human Services ("GDHS") to satisfy its litigation lien. However, when Plaintiff complained, Defendants included this term in the second version of the settlement agreement provided to Plaintiff, which he refuses to sign. While Plaintiff may be unhappy GDHS ultimately agreed to release the lien without requiring any payment, the checklist expressly contemplated this possibility by providing Defendants were in negotiations with GDHS and would pay the lien amount, "if any." (
"[A] district court has jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, at least when one party refuses to abide by the agreement prior to dismissal of the action."
SO REPORTED and RECOMMENDED.