[ PUBLISH] 

## In the 

# United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

____________________
No. 20

- 12660

____________________
MICHAEL GULISANO, Interested Party

- Appellant, CATHY COHEN, Plaintiff,

versus BURLINGTON, INC.,

Defendant

- Appellee. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 1 of 182 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660

____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 9:18

- cv

- 81420

- BB

____________________ Before J ORDAN , J ILL P RYOR , and M ARCUS , Circuit Judges. JILL PRYOR, Circuit Judge : When attorney Michael Gulisano represented a client in a negligence action in the Southern District of Florida , he obtained a default judgment against a non

- existent entity , “ Burlington, Inc. ” He added a n unrelated entity , Burlington Coat Factory Direct Corporation, as a judg ment debtor on the resulting writ of execution. He used the writ of execution to levy funds from another entity, Burlington Stores , Inc. After Burlington Stores, Inc. and Burlington Coat Factory Wareho use Corporation protested and sought to quash the writ, Gulisano asked the district court in the Southern District of Florida to amend its default judgment order and name Burlington Stores, Inc. and Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation a s judgment debtors . The district court denied the motion and, finding it to be legally and factually frivolous, imposed sanction s under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11

. It also denied Gulisano’s motion for reconsideration of the sanctions order. After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument , w e affirm. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 2 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 3

I. FACTS 1 While Cathy Cohen was shopping at a Burlington Coat Factory store in Royal Palm Beach, Florida , she looked at a set of tables on display. When Cohen attempted to inspect the tables, they fell on her knee

. Cohen jumped back to avoid the falling tables, injuring her neck and back

. Cohen hired Gulisano as her attorney. He filed a civil action

on her behalf in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. The complaint Gulisano drafted alleged that defendant “Burlington, Inc.” 2 had been negligent and was liable for damages to Cohen

. Gulisano served a summons and a copy of the c om plaint on CT Cor poration System, ostensibly the registered agent of “ Burlington, Inc. ” After “ Burlington, Inc. ” failed to file an answer or otherwise respond to the law suit, the district court clerk entered a default. Following a hearing on damages, t he district court entered a default judgment , awarding Cohen $677,774.75

. The district court’s final judgment named “ Burlington, Inc. ” as the sole defendant

. To collect on the default judgment, Gulisano requested that the court issue a writ of execution naming “Burli ngton , Inc. a/k/a

1 Because we write for the parties, we recount only the facts necessary to explain our decision.

2 Gulisano referred to the defendant as both “Burlington Inc.” and “Burlington, Inc.” For the sake of consistency, this opinion will use “Burlington, Inc.” USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 3 of 184 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660 Burlington Coat Factory Direct Corporation” as the judgment debtor. The court issued the writ

. Seeking to execute the writ , Gulisano used employer identification numbers (“EIN”) 3 to perform an asset search to find bank accounts from whi ch he could levy funds. But, instead of using the EIN number of the judgment debtor, “ Burlington, Inc. ”

— which did not exist

— he used the EIN number s of two other entities: Burlington Stores, Inc. (“BSI”) and Burlington Coat Factory Direct Corporation (“BCFDC”). BSI is the parent company of the entities that operate Burlington Coat Factory stores, including BCFDC and Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation (“BCFWC”), which o perates the Florida stores

. After locating bank accounts in New Jersey that belonged to BSI , Gulisano registered the judgment in the D istrict of New Jersey

. The New Jersey district court then issued a writ of execution against “ Burlington, Inc. ” The U nited States Marshals Service d elivered the writ to BSI’s bank. The bank withdrew the amount of the judgment award
, plus costs, from BSI’s account

. Once they discovered the withdrawal , BSI and BCFWC filed a motion in the New Jersey district court to vacate the levy, quash the writ of exec ution, and vacate the default judgment

. They pointed out that the writ of execution w as based on a default

3 An EIN number is the nine

- digit tracking number that the Internal Revenue Service assigns to the tax accounts of businesses

. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 4 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 5 judgment entered against “Burlington, Inc
., ” but the judgment was levie d on BSI, an unrelated entity not named in th e Florida action

. Gulisano opposed the motion. He asserted that “Burlington
, Inc. ” was a registered fictitious name or a misnomer that was similar enough to the correct name that it gave BSI and BCFWC

— which he collectively referred to as “Burlington”

—notice of the action. The day after he filed his response in the New Jersey district court, Gulisano filed in the Florida district court a “Motion to Amend Final Default Judgment to Remove Any Ambiguity of the Correct Defendant’s Identity

. ” In t h is m otion , Gulisano asked the district court to amend the default judgment so that a ll references

to the defendant “Burlington, Inc.” would bec o me “Burlington, Inc. a/k/a Burlington Stores, Inc. a/k/a Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation

. ” Do c. 33 at 6 (internal quotation marks omitted). 4 Gulisano requested this change in order to “remove any alleged ambiguity that ‘Burlington, Inc.’ is not the same entity as ” BSI and BCFWC. Id. (emphasis in original)

. He c ontend ed that “Burlington, Inc.” properly referred to BSI and BCFWC because the company went by multiple names, all of which included the word “Burlington.” He argu ed that BSI and BCFWC were the same entity, operat ing under the fictitious name “Burlington, Inc.” He also argue d that he had served “Burlington” via its registered

4 “Doc.” numbers refer to the district court’s docket entries. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 5 of 186 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660

ag ent, and that service on “Burlington, Inc.” was effective service on BSI.
BSI and BCFWC opposed the motion to amend

. They acknowledged that there were mu l tiple entities that together

own ed and operated the retail stores known as Burlington Coat Factory , but stated that “Burlington, Inc.” was not one of those entities. Nor was it a fictitious name for BSI or another Burlington Coat Factory entity. Therefore
, they argued
, the judgment against “Burlington, Inc.
, ” a completely unrelated entity, was improperly levied on BSI. Noting that the New Jersey district court had granted their motion to quash the writ of execution, BSI and BCFWC asked the Florida district court to deny the motion to amend the j udgment. In the Florida district court, BSI and BCFWC also moved for sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 1 1 , asserting that the m otion to a mend was frivolous because Gulisano could not have reasonably believed that BSI and BCFWC used the fictitious

name “Burlington, Inc.” They also asserte d that Gulisano had misrepresented to the court that effective service had been made on “Burlington, Inc.”
The district court denied the motion to amend

. It observed that, al though Gulisano now argued that he had sued BSI and BCFWC under their purported fictitious name, the complaint had

not alleged that the defendant used a fictitious name. And, despite many opportunities, Gulisano never sought to amend the complaint to add that all egation, nor did he attempt to voluntarily USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 6 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 7 dismiss the action without prejudice and initiate a new action against the intended entities. The district court found no support for his claims that “Burlington, Inc.” was the same entity as or the fictitious nam e of BSI or BCFWC : “Appallingly, the Court has not identified a single piece of evidence

. . . that substantiates the use of

‘ Burlington, Inc. ’ as the proper entity to be named in this action
, either as a fictitious name or as a company authorized to conduct business i n Florida .” Doc. 50 at 9. The court observed that Gulisano’s motion to amend failed to explain why the default judgment named “Burlington, Inc.” but the writ of execution named B CFDC. It concluded, “ L ike the motion for writ of execution, it is clear that the instant Motion to Amend Judgment is a back

- door attempt tocorrect an improperly named party and recover a $677,774.75 default judgment plus costs from the intended, but unnam ed, entities without having to litigate the matter any further. ” Id. at 11. In the same order, t he court granted the motion for sanctions

. It found that Gulisano had “add[ed] an independent and distinct legal entity to a motion for writ of execution that was neither referenced at any point in the litigation nor explicitly listed in the Court’s Final Judgment” and had “attempt[ed] to conflate various distinct corporate entities in order to recover an award of damages obtained through a default judgment agai nst a non

- existent corporate entity.” Id. at 13

– 14. The court found this conduct to be “both frivolous and dishonest.” Id. at 13. It stated that a brief investigation would have revealed the proper entities to sue, but Gulisano’s pre

suit investigation was “woefully deficient ,” and his post

- judgment USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 7 of 188 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660 investigation was done in bad faith. Id. at 1 4

. Because of his “serious fraudulent co nduct,” the court granted the motion for Rule 11 sanctions again st Gulisano. Id. at 18. It ordered him to pay attorney’s fees and costs and referred him to the Florida Bar for appropriate disciplinary action.
Gulisano filed under Federal Rule of Civil Pro cedure 59 a motion for reconsideration of the court’s order imposing sanctions. After a hearing, the court denied his motion, concluding that it merely disagreed with the court’s reasoning and failed to establish a clear error of law or manifest injustice. It ordered him to pay $19,549.12 in sanctions.
Gulisano filed this appeal of the order granting sanctions and the order denying reconsideration

. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW We review a district court’s imposition of Rule 11 sanctions for abuse of discretion. Kaplan v. DaimlerChrysler, A.G. , 331 F.3d 1251, 1255 (11th Cir. 2003). We must affirm unless we find that the court applied the wrong legal standard or based its ruling o n a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence. Jones v. Int’l Riding Helmets , Ltd. , 49 F.3d 692, 694 (11th Cir. 1995 ).
We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s denial of

a motion for reconsideration under Rule 59. Am. Home Assurance Co. v. G lenn Estess & Assoc s

., Inc. , 763 F.2d 1237, 1238

– 39 (11th Cir. 1985). USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 8 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 9

III. ANALYSIS There are two issues before us on appeal: (1) whether the district court abuse d its discretion in granting BSI and BCFWC ’s motion for sanctions, and (2) whether the district court abuse d its discretion when it denied Gulisano’s motion for reconsideration of the sanctions order. We see no abuse of discretion in the first issue and deem the second issue abandoned.
A. The Distric t Court Acted Within Its Discretion in Impos ing Sanctions o n Gulisano

. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 authorizes a district court to impose sanctions against an attorney who files frivolous pleadings or motions

. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b), (c). 5 Rule 11 sa nctions are

5 Rule 11 provides in pertinent part : (b) Representations to the Cou rt

. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper

— whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it

— an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that to the best of the person ’ s knowledge, information, and belief, forme d after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances: (1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation; (2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existinglaw or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;(3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiar y support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery ; and USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 9 of 1810 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660

warranted when a party files a pleading or motion that “ (1) has no reasonable factual basis; (2) is based on a legal theory that has noreasonable chance of success and that cannot be advanced as a reasonable argument to change existing law; an d (3) is filed in bad faith for an improper purpose. ” Johnson v. 27th Ave. Caraf, Inc. , 9 F.4th 1300, 1314 (11th Cir. 2021) ( internal quotation marks omitted )

. Rule 11 imposes an affirmative duty on an attorney to conduct a re asonable inquiry into both the facts and the law before filing a p le ading or motion

. Bus. G uides
, Inc. v. Chromatic Comm c

’ns Enter s

., Inc. , 498 U.S. 533, 551 (1991) ; Mike Ousley Prods

. , Inc. v. WJBF

- TV , 952 F.2d 380, 382 (11th Cir. 1992). When deciding whether to impose sanctions under Rule 11, a district court must conduct a two

- step inquiry, determining “ (1) whether the party ’ s claims are objectively frivolous ; and (2) whether the person who signed the pleadings should have been aware tha t they were frivolous.” Baker v. Alderman , 158 F.3d 516, 524 (11th Cir. 1998). A factual claim is frivolous when it has no reasonable factual

(4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information. (c) Sanct ions. (1) In General. If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that Rule 11(b) has been violated, the court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsibl e for the violation. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm must be held jointly responsible for a violation committed by its partner, associate, or employee. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 10 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 11

basis. See id. A legal claim is frivolous when it has no reasonable chance of succeeding. See id. When the attorne y’s evidence is“merely weak,” but supports a claim under existing law after a reasonable inquiry, sanctions are unwarranted. Id. Sanctions are warranted, however, when the attorney exhibits “a deliberate indifference to obvious facts.” Id. (internal quota tion marks omitted).

I f the attorney failed to make a reasonable inquiry, then “ the court must impose sanctions despite the attorney’s good faith belief that the claims were sound. ” Worldwide Primates, Inc. v. McGreal , 87 F.3d 1252, 1254 (11th Cir. 1996)

. The reasonableness of the inquiry depends on the circumstances of the case

. See i d. In addition, an attorney’s obligations with respect to the contents of pleadings or motions are not measured solely as of the time when the pleading or motion is ini tially filed wit h the court
, but also at the time when the attorney, having learned the claims lack merit, reaffirms them to the court

. Turner v. Sungard Bus. Sys., Inc. , 91 F.3d 1418, 1422 (11th Cir. 1996) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P.
11 ( b) advisory committee’s note to 1 993 amendment)

. “That the contentions contained in the complaint were not frivolous at thetime it was filed does not prevent the district court from sanctioning [the attorney] for his continued advocacy of them after it shou ld have been clear that those contentions were no longer tenable.” Id.
The district court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Gulisano’s claim that the default judgment against “Burlington, Inc.” allowed him to collect damages from BSI and BCF W C was objectively frivolous. That claim was undergirded by USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 11 of 1812 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660

two arguments . First, Gulisano argued that “Burlington, Inc.” was the fictitious name of BSI and BCFWC

. That argument was frivolous because there were no facts to support it. Second, he argued that a judgment entered against a corporation’s fictitious name could bind multiple distinct corporate entities . That argument was frivolous because it ignore d basic p rinciples of corporation s law.
First, t here was no factual support for Gulisano’s claim that “Burlington, Inc.” was the fictitious name of BSI and BCF W C. It i s true that Gulisano attached hundreds of pages to the motion to amend to illustrat e that BSI use d the name “Burlington,” including pictures from the website, pictures of the interiors of Burlington stores, the f ederal trademark registration of the Burlington logo
, and BSI’s SEC 10

- K Form

. But he presented no evidence that BSI or any other Burlington entity used the name “Burlington, Inc.” Nor did he sh ow that “Burlington, Inc.” was a corporate entity in Florida or anywhere else. Eventually Gulisano admitt ed to the district court that “Burlington, Inc.” did not exist

. Nor was “Burlington, I nc.” a fictitious name. In Florida, a

co rporation engag ing in business under a fictitious name must first register the name with the State. Fla. Stat. § 865.09 (3)(a). State record s show that “Burlington, Inc.” was not a registered fictitious

name. BSI stat ed that neither it nor any other Burlington entity

use d the name. Gulisano provide d evidence that BCFWC applied for two fictitious names in Florida
, “Burlington” and “Burlington Coat Factory.” But h e produced no evidence revealing use or registration of th e fictitious name “Burlington, Inc.” Without this USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 12 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 13
evidence, he failed to support the factual contention made in the

m otion to a mend that he had sued BSI and BCFWC under their fictitious name. Second, there was no legal support for Gulisano’s argument that his judgment against “Burlington, Inc.” entitled him to collect monies from BSI or BCFWC

. In Florida, a c orporation must be sued under its corporate name. RHPC, Inc. v. Gardner , 533 So. 2d 312, 314 (Fla. D ist. C t. A pp. 1988). A co rporation op erating under a fictitious name has no independent legal existence. Osmo Tec SACV Co. v. Crane Env’t, Inc. , 884 So. 2d 324, 327 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004). “In pleadings, the corporate name must be strictly used.” RHPC, Inc. , 533 So. 2d at 314. The district court explained that, w hen suing a n entity under its fictitious name, the plaintiff should state the entity’s true name , the designation “d/b/a” or “doing business as,” and the fictitious name

. Thus, even if “Burlington, Inc.” had been the registe red fictitious name of BSI or BCFWC, Gulisano should have include d those proper corporate names in the complaint. He failed to do so. Instead, he named only “Burlington, Inc.” without includ ing a d/b/a designation

. The district court denied the motion to amend and rejected Gulisano’s argument that “Burlington, Inc.” was a fictitious name

. On appeal
, Gulisano argue s that “Burlington, Inc.” was a typographical error

— he had accidentally omitted “Stores” from the party’s name on the complaint and repeated the error throughout the suit. I t hardly matters whether Gulisano intentionally chose to use a fictitious name or inadvertent ly repeated a mistake . He tried USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 13 of 1814 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660 to use a judgment against a non

- existent party to collect from an unrelated no n

- party and persisted in his attempts well past the time when he learned of his error. We agree with the district court’s conclusion that “the factual and legal contentions asserted [in the motion were] objectively frivolous.” Doc 50. at 14. 6
We turn now to the question whether Gulisano should have known that his arguments were legally and factually frivolous. Our answer is yes. Gulisano should have known that the m otion to

a mend was frivolous because “even the most minimal investigation would have alerted ” him that there was no such entity as “Burlington, Inc.” McGreal , 87 F.3d at 125 5

. The district court found that a search of registered corporations in Florida would have revealed proper Burlington Coat Factory entities that he could have sued. And we kno w that Gulisano could have performed such an investigation because, a fter obtaining the default judgment against “Burlington, Inc.,” he used the EIN numbers of BSI and BCFDC to locate their assets

. He failed to mention whether he performed an asset search on “Burlington, Inc.” or what, if anything, he found. That he had to identify other entities from which to collect the

6 Gulisano said that he effected service on BSI through its registered agent. The agent sai d that it sent Gulisano a letter rejecting service on “Burlington, Inc.” Gulisano said that he never saw the letter. BSI and BCFWC said that neither BSI, nor any related entity, ever received notice of the complaint . The district court explicitly declined to resolve or rely on the notice issue

. Because we, like the district court, need not resolve the issue to decide that sanctions were warranted, we do not address it further

. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 14 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 15 judgment should have informed him that the named judgment debtor did not exist.
Even if Gulisano had failed to discover that “Burlington, Inc.” was non

- existent and un related to the other Burlington entities , he learned these facts from BSI and BCFW C ’s motion to quash the writ and opposition to the motion to a mend. Though BSI and BCFWC had “alerted [him] to the potential im propriety of his collection efforts, ” Gulisano persisted in claiming that he could collect the award from BSI, BCFWC, or BCFDC, despite failing to nam e any of them as parties to the d efault j udgment. Doc. 50 at 15. The district court properly concluded, “ [ I] t is abundantly clear that Mr. Gulisano should have known, and seemingly did know, that the claims he asserted during these proceedings were objectively and patently frivolous.” Id. at 1 5 . Gulisano violated his duty of candor by “insisting upon a positio n after it [was] no longer tenable.” Peer v. Lewis , 606 F.3d 1306, 1311 (11th Cir. 2010) ( internal quotation marks omitted ). And, because “ [a] finding of bad faith is warranted where . . . a frivolous argument is knowingly or recklessly raised,” the district court correctly determined that Gulisano acted in bad faith. Johnson , 9 F.4th at 1314 (alteration adopted) (internal quotation marks omitted). We thus conclude that the district court acted well within its discretion in imposing sanctions on Gulisano.Gulisano’s arguments against the sanctions order are unpersuasive. He asserts that the court improperly punished his conduct throughout the litigation rather than looking solely at the challenged motion . But to determine whether the m otion to a me nd USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 15 of 1816 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660
j udgment warranted sanctions, the court had to examine whether Gulisano conducted a reasonable inquiry before filing the motion. It thus was required to look beyond the four corners of the motion to the attorney’s conduct. See McGreal , 87 F.3d at 1254

– 5 5 (affirming sanctions on an attorney who accepted his client’s assertions without question ing the client about damages, obtain ing or examin ing any data, or contact ing a third party who could shed light on the claim ’s validity). The district court properly considered Gulisano’s reasonable

- inquiry conduct preceding the filing of the m otion to a mend j udgment. Gulisano also argues that the sanctions motion flouted Rule 11’s safe harbor provision

. The safe harbor provision requires th e moving party to serve the motion for sanctions on the nonmoving party and give it 21 days to withdraw the offending pleading before filing the motion with the district court. Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 (c)(2). Gulisano does not argue that BSI and BCFWC failed to do that

. Rather, he argues that the sanctions were aimed at conduct that had already taken place and could not be withdrawn. Although the district court considered Gulisano’s prior conduct, it imposed sanctions b ased on the m otion itself

. T he court stated
, “ [C] ontinuing to argue Plaintiff’s entitlement to collect the Final Judgment amount from corporate entities not named or involved in the instant action by filing and defending the instant Motion [] , despite the utter lack of legal or factua l support, is precisely the type of conduct subject to Rule 11’s duty of candor.” Doc. 50 at 16 (emphasis added). Gulisano admits that he could have withdrawn the m otion. Thus, the USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 16 of 1820

- 12660 Opinion of the Court 17

district court acted within its discretion when it imposed sanctions

on a m otion that could have been withdrawn under the safe harbor provision. 7
B. The District Court Acted Within Its Discretion in Denying Gulisano’s Motion for Reconsideration. Gulisano asked the court to reconsider its decision to impose sanctions

. After conducting an evidentiary hearing, the district court denied his motion. Gulisano challenges the denial on appeal, but he has abandoned t his challenge

. See Sapuppo v. Allstate Floridian Ins. Co. , 739 F.3d 678, 680 (11th Cir. 2014). He fail ed to suppor t the claim with arguments and citations to authority

. See i d. at 681. Instead
, he merely append ed , repeatedly, the same sentence to the end of his arguments agains t sanctions : “ In the alternative, the court abused its discretion by denying the Appellant ’ s Motion for Reconsideration, which raised this issue as grounds for doing

so. ” Appellant’s Brief at 39 , 43, 47 , 52, 54

. These appended sentences are mere “ passing references ” that cannot raise a n issue for appellate review. Sapuppo , 739 F.3d at 68 1

. We consider the issue abandoned.

7 Gulisano contends that the amount of attorney’s fees awarded as sanctions was too high because BSI failed to mitigate its damages. This argument lacks merit. First , it is, at best for Gulisano, unclear whether any duty to mitigate damages was owed. Second, BSI asked Gulisano to withdraw the motion to amend judgment , an d Gulisano refused, forcing BSI to incur at t orney’s fees in defending against the motion

. So , it seems to us that Gulisano himself prevent ed BSI from mitigating its damages. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 17 of 1818 Opinion of the Court 20

- 12660

Were we to reach the merits, however, we would affirm the district court’s denial of the Rule 59(e) motion for reconsideration

. The court found that the motion “amount[ed] to no more than disagreement with the Court’s reasoning and ultimate conclusions.” D oc. 70 at 1 0

. It failed to establish a clear error of law or manifest injustice as required. Because the motion merely “relitigate[d] old

matters , ” the district court was within its discretion to deny it. Micha el Linet, Inc. v. Vill. o f Wellington , 408 F.3d 757, 763 (11th Cir. 2005).
IV. CONCLUSION For the foregoing reasons
, we affirm the district court’s order imposing sanctions and its denial of the motion for reconsideration.
AFFIRMED

. USCA11 Case: 20-12660 Date Filed: 05/12/2022 Page: 18 of 18