187 results for 'filedAt:"2024-03-25"'.
J. Forrest finds that the district court properly entered conviction after a jury found defendant guilty of knowingly importing cocaine and methamphetamine. However the matter is remanded for resentencing. The district court erred by not making an explicit reliability finding related to an expert’s testimony about the value of the drugs found in defendant's vehicle, but the error was harmless. However, the matter is remanded for resentencing in line with recent authority clarifying the process for conducting a "mitigating role inquiry." Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Forrest, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-50069, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Bea finds that the district court properly vacated the attachment of a vessel in an admiralty action seeking fulfillment of arbitration awards. The arbitration awards, arising from a contract dispute, were owed to shipping companies by a different corporate entity. The shipping companies sought to “pierce the corporate veil” of the gas company and hold a corporation liable for the arbitration awards on a theory that the corporation was the alter ego of the gas company. The district court did not err in concluding that the shipping company failed to show a reasonable probability of success on their veil-piercing theory. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bea, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 23-15245, Categories: Admiralty, Corporations
J. Liu finds, in answer to the U.S. Ninth Circuit, an employee must be paid for "hours worked" for time spent waiting for an employer-mandated vehicle security inspection before exiting an employer's premises. Time spent traveling from the security checkpoint to an employee parking area must be paid as "employer-mandated travel," but not "hours worked" because the level of employer control is lower. A collective bargaining agreement for an "unpaid meal period" does not apply if an employee is not allowed to leave the work premises during lunch, in which case an employee must be paid for "hours worked."
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Liu, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: S275431, Categories: Labor / Unions
J. Valihura finds that shareholders were not adequately informed about anticipated management fees and conflicts of interest concerning advisors to a special committee formed to evaluate a proposed merger, and thus the merger failed to satisfy the elements of "Khan v. M&F Worldwide Corp." Reversed.
Court: Delaware Supreme Court, Judge: Valihura, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 241, 2023, Categories: Fiduciary Duty
J. Lavin finds that the lower court improperly denied defendant's postconviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant pleaded guilty in adult criminal court to murder of a police officer via accountability, a crime she committed at age 15 at the behest of her 20-year-old boyfriend. Counsel orally asserted a proportionate penalties violation, but failed to amend defendant's petition to actually include this petition in her filing. Further, the state does not dispute that if defendant lost a single day of good time credit, her sentence would become a de facto life sentence. Reversed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Lavin, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 220807, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing
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J. King awards the employee $2,000 for his complaint that the dentist and the dental practice did not pay him $4,500 in bonuses for when he worked at the dental practice. A $1,000 bonus falls under Washington’s Wage Rebate Act because the employee accepted the dentist's offer to pay a $1,000 bonus, creating a "real promise" to pay the $1,000. Furthermore, because the dentist willfully failed to pay the bonus, the employee is entitled to recover an extra $1,000.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv6173, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment
J. Whitehead denies the injured car passenger's request for a ruling stating that funds received for personal injury protection subrogation from an at-fault party "prior to full compensation" are owed to the insured. The passenger "impermissibly seeks a general proclamation about the rights and duties of insureds and insurers without identifying the specific claim, 'or part of each claim,' on which he seeks summary judgment." He also fails to show that the insurer acted deceptively in its handling of the claim.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Whitehead, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1720, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Oetken denies the property owner's motion for summary judgment in a personal injury action brought by an employee who was injured while installing internet service at a property. The property owner was responsible for the condition of the premises, and there is no evidence that the internet service provider caused the falling bricks that led to employee's injury.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Oetken, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1154, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Tort
J. Mastroianni grants in part the motions to dismiss filed by a city and public school officials against the victims and representatives of victims of sexual assault on the city’s public high school campus. The victims and their representatives fail to adequately substantiate that the school officials violated their substantive due process rights by failing to prevent other students from sexually assaulting them, but the victims and their representatives do adequately support a Title IX claim based on school officials’ failure to take appropriate remedial actions, such as properly investigating three of the victims’ reported incidents of being sexually assaulted.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Mastroianni, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv11701, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Municipal Law, Assault
J. Wollman finds a lower court properly ordered a child to be returned to Honduras. The child's father argued that he was entitled to move the child to the U.S. to protect her from her abusive mother. However, the mother presented sufficient evidence in court that he was obligated to return her daughter under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Wollman, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-3048, Categories: Civil Rights, Family Law
J. Campbell grants the school defendants' motion for reconsideration and grants their motion to enforce the parties' settlement agreement in this lawsuit involving a high school student's alleged assignment "to an alternative school." The parents of the student, who was allegedly removed from the high school "for possession of alcohol," argue that a settlement agreement was not reached. However, the court finds that the parties "agreed to the material terms of settlement" and that the remaining issues, including the proposed wording of the agreement, were not material. The court further notes that the student was allowed to return to the high school.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Campbell, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv408, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Settlements
J. Schopler partly grants the homeowners' motion for summary judgment on their claims of failure to defend and indemnification against the insurer for a renovation company that damaged the homeowners' duplex during a remodel. The homeowners sufficiently show that their duplex is in fact a two-unit apartment and damage caused to apartments is covered under the insurance company's policy with the renovation company.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Schopler, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1221, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Indemnification
J. Kendall partially grants a food company’s motion to dismiss a consumer fraud class action. A class of consumers sued the food company after they bought its “Certified Sustainably Sourced” fish products, only to discover that the company employed a non-ecofriendly “pelagic trawl” fishing method that indiscriminately captures everything in the path of a net the size of two football fields. The court will allow the class’s fraud and state-level claims to move forward, but denies their motion for an injunction against the company’s unsustainable fishing practices. The court argues that because the class is now aware the company’s fish is unsustainably sourced, “any future harm is too speculative to support standing for injunctive relief.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kendall, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1298, NOS: Contract Product Liability - Contract, Categories: Environment, Fraud, Class Action
J. Reidinger grants a group of advocates of homeless people their motion for preliminary injunction after the City of Asheville and some of its police officers banned the advocates from city parks and imposed other punishments. The advocates have been helping homeless people get access to food and other necessities and protesting public policy on their behalf. In response, the city and officers have banned the advocates and charged them with felony littering, which could lead to imprisonment if the advocates visited a park. The felony charges have affected some advocates’ ability to be hired. They were also not given a hearing before the charges were filed. The advocates sufficiently demonstrate likelihood of success on the merits, that their right to due process has been violated, and that it is in the public interest that a preliminary injunction be granted.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Reidinger, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv103, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Injunction
J. Lui finds that the trial court properly denied defendants' petitions for resentencing on felony murder convictions. Defendants could be convicted of felony murder under current law despite changes to statute. The evidence shows one defendant had the specific intent to kill and both were major participants in a kidnapping that resulted in death and that they acted with reckless indifference to human life. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lui, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B322561, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Kidnapping
J. Weingart finds that trial court properly denied an e-commerce retailer's motion to compel arbitration of a consumer's claim that a device he bought online did not improve his sexual performance or stamina as advertised. The link to the website's terms of use was too small and inconspicuous to put the consumer on notice about an arbitration agreement. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Weingart, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B323430, Categories: Arbitration, Consumer Law, False Advertising
[Consolidated.] J. Viramontes holds that the trial court must revisit its denial of an employee's attorney fee request after he was awarded $7,600 in wages. Statute entitles employees who prevail on minimum and overtime wage claims to reasonable attorney fees and costs, and the trial court must determine how much of the $323,000 the employee requested is reasonable. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Viramontes, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B322697, Categories: Employment, Attorney Fees
J. Brody finds that the district court properly reversed the magistrate court and ordered a new trial on a debt collection complaint. Disputed issues of material fact exist, the debt collector's failure to provide a transcript of magistrate court proceedings bars its argument that a new trial is needed, and the debt collector failed to show the debtor is not entitled to attorney fees on intermediate appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Brody, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 49755, Categories: Debt Collection, Attorney Fees
J. Colins finds that the lower court properly dismissed Richmond Waterfront Industrial Park’s quiet title action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The federal Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act gave the federal Surface Transportation Board with exclusive jurisdiction to decide issues involving the abandonment of railroad tracks on its property. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Colins, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: J-A04035-24, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property, Jurisdiction