Curtis v. Myer Companion Care, LLC, 1:16-cv-00125

Plaintiff Lequita Curtis sued Myer Companion Care, LLC alleging Title VII and § 1981 race discrimination and retaliation, and FLSA violations for unpaid off-the-clock and overtime work and termination for complaining.
Plaintiff filed a Complaint on March 23, 2016 and later filed a Proof of Service asserting certified-mail service on the company’s registered agent, Robert Myer, on June 10, 2016.
Defendant failed to file any responsive pleading by the July 1, 2016 deadline, and plaintiff moved for default judgment and a hearing on damages.
The court identified a procedural defect: plaintiff attempted to combine or skip the required two-step process (clerk’s entry of default under Rule 55(a) followed by a motion for default judgment under Rule 55(b)).
There was an address discrepancy between the service location used (Gulfport, MS) and the address on file with the Alabama Secretary of State (Mobile, AL); the record indicates a second alias summons was used to effect service in Gulfport.
The court granted the request for entry of default (directing the Clerk to enter default and mail notice to Myer), but denied the request for default judgment as premature; plaintiff may renew the default-judgment motion if no motion to set aside is filed by the given deadline.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether plaintiff may obtain a default judgment without first securing a clerk's entry of default	Curtis moved directly for default judgment after serving defendant	(Implicit) Defendant had not responded; court must follow Rule 55 sequence	The court held clerk's entry of default under Rule 55(a) is a prerequisite; plaintiff's request for default judgment was premature and denied, but entry of default was ordered
Whether service on defendant was effective despite address discrepancy	Curtis represented service was perfected on Myer's Gulfport address via certified mail after a second alias summons	Record shows Secretary of State address differed; court noted discrepancy but accepted service sequence in file	Court accepted that service had been attempted via second alias summons and proceeded to order entry of default; it directed the Clerk to mail the Order and Entry of Default to the Gulfport address
What notice/remedy should follow before default judgment	Curtis asked for immediate default judgment and damages hearing	Court identified procedural error and provided defendant opportunity to move to set aside default	Court granted entry of default, ordered notice to defendant, and allowed plaintiff to renew default-judgment motion if defendant does not move to set aside by the deadline

Ramada Franchise Sys., Inc. v. Baroda Enters., LLC, 220 F.R.D. 303 (N.D. Ohio 2004) (distinguishing clerk’s entry of default from default judgment and disallowing consolidation of the steps)
UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Stewart, 461 F. Supp. 2d 837 (S.D. Ill. 2006) (explaining the two-step process: obtain clerk’s entry of default, then seek default judgment)
Gottschalk v. City & County of San Francisco, 964 F. Supp. 2d 1147 (N.D. Cal. 2013) (reaffirming that default judgment follows entry of default by the clerk)
Whitesell Int’l Corp. v. Smith Jones, Inc., 827 F. Supp. 2d 964 (S.D. Iowa 2011) (noting that a plaintiff cannot obtain default judgment until default has been entered by the clerk)