80 results for 'judge:"Richardson"'.
J. Richardson grants the defendant company’s motion for summary judgment in this case brought by a former employee asserting certain state-law employment related claims, including retaliatory discharge under the Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Law and discriminatory discharge under the Tennessee Disability Act. As to the former employee’s two claims, which both stem from his termination, the court concludes that there are no issues of fact and that the employer is “entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv87, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Richardson finds the lower court improperly dismissed the workers’ complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. A fiber plant hired a crew of industrial custodians to clean up a room that uses large ovens to convert recycled plastics into polyester fibers. When a worker swept one large batch of plastic dust, the dust brushed against the oven and immediately ignited, engulfing the oven in a fireball. Moments later, the entire room was aflame. South Carolina law provides that certain workers’ compensation disputes are within the exclusive cognizance of the state Workers’ Compensation Commission, meaning that covered employees cannot bring common-law actions, like tort claims, to state courts. However, state law cannot circumscribe federal subject matter jurisdiction. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 23-1163, Categories: Employment, Jurisdiction, Workers' Compensation
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J. Richardson finds the lower court denied summary judgment to the arresting officers. The officers arrested a registered sex offender who left the state for a month to attend a wedding and visit friends, claiming he broke the law by failing to return forms. The officers cannot prove he acted willfully, as required because the offender kept close contact with the sheriff's office throughout in hopes of not breaking any laws. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 21-1459, Categories: Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Richardson partially grants the restaurant's motion to compel arbitration of the chef's claims in this lawsuit alleging discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment. The chef fails to sufficiently create a question of fact regarding whether he electronically signed the arbitration agreement. Accordingly, the court will enforce the arbitration agreement, though the restaurant is not entitled to attorney fees.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 3:24cv3, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Contract
J. Richardson grants the Nissan defendant's motion to compel arbitration in this class action. The court concludes that the "dispute over arbitrability has been delegated to the arbitrator" as it relates to the specific customer at issue. Also, the company's dismissal motion is denied as moot, though it can refile "with arguments specific to the plaintiffs actively before the Court."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: March 31, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv830, NOS: Motor Vehicle Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Procedure, Class Action
J. Richardson finds the lower court properly classified the gang member's attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity as a crime of violence. The gang member argued that the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Taylor created a dramatic change in what constitutes a crime of violence when it held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery isn’t such an offense. Taylor simply held that attempted Hobbs Act robbery isn’t a crime of violence because Hobbs Act robbery can be committed without the use of force. Murder, by contrast, requires the use of force. So, attempted murder necessarily requires the attempted use of force and fits cleanly within the definition of a crime of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-4147, Categories: Murder, Racketeering, Gangs
J. Richardson grants the state defendants' dismissal motion in this voter lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of certain statutes, alleging that the statutes "deter voting" and chill "freedom of political speech." The voter plaintiffs contend that the sections at issue, which are meant to prevent "cross-over voting" in the primary elections, are void for vagueness. But the court finds that the plaintiffs lack standing.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1256, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Jurisdiction
J. Richardson partially grants the defendant medical college's motion for summary judgment in this suit brought by a former student asserting violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. The college is entitled to summary judgment on the student's negligent misrepresentation claim and his "failure-to-accommodate claim to the extent that that claim is based on anything other than a failure to allow a fourth attempt at the Step 1 exam."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv624, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education
J. Richardson finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The police had probable cause to search his vehicle, where they found illegally owned firearms and drugs because the defendant ran two stoplights in an unprovoked flight upon noticing the police before they had turned on their sirens. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 21-4684, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Vehicle
J. Richardson grants the government officials' dismissal motion in this immigration action without prejudice based on a lack of jurisdiction. The petitioner seeks a decision on his waiver application, which has allegedly been pending for over two years. However, the majority of the courts have found "that judicial review is precluded."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv527, NOS: Other Immigration Actions - Immigration, Categories: Administrative Law, Immigration, Jurisdiction
J. Richardson finds the board properly denied the petition for asylum. The petitioner failed to show that his persecution by MS-13 gang members was on account of his membership in a protected group. The claimed social group of “Salvadoran males without male protection” is not cognizable, and even if it was, the petitioner has not established that he was a part of that group as he primarily lived with his uncles during the time he was extorted. Petition denied.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: 22-1808, Categories: Immigration, Gangs, Extortion
J. Hart finds the lower court improperly convicted the defendant for witness tampering. The government waited 60 days, 30 days too long, past his arrest for drug and sex trafficking to charge him with witness tampering for assaulting a prostitute he told not to testify against him in court. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 20-4534, Categories: Drug Offender, Speedy Trial, Witnesses
J. Richardson finds the lower court properly convicted the defendant of drug trafficking charges. The defendant is not eligible for relief through the speedy trial provision despite it taking nearly two years from his arrest to his trial because it excludes any period of delay caused by a continuance, so long as the court grants the continuance because it serves the ends of justice and the court sets forth its reasoning on the record. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, the defendant going through four attorneys, and incompetency proceedings, the court had plenty of reason to delay the trial. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 22-4209, Categories: Competence, Drug Offender, Speedy Trial
J. Richardson finds that the court of appeal properly overturned the trial court's conviction of defendant for evading arrest. Defendant "was egregiously harmed when the jury charge failed to include the element that appellant knew the officer was attempting to arrest him." Affirmed in part.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: PD-0963-19, Categories: Resisting Arrest
J. Richardson denies the parental rights organization's request for a preliminary injunction in this free speech lawsuit against a county board of education and its members. The organization and its officers seek to enjoin the school board's enforcement of an "address-disclosure requirement and the abusive-comment prohibition" at school board meetings, along with a requirement that speakers prove their comments are "in the public interest." The court finds the "public interest" requirement to be reasonable given the purpose of the forum. The plaintiffs also fail to show "imminent and irreparable harm" in connection with the other restrictions, which "defendants have removed from their policies."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv211, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Education
J. Richardson grants in part the plaintiff health company's motion for default judgment in this case concerning the alleged use of the company's trademarks and brand. The request is granted as to certain claims, including the claims for federal trademark infringement and unfair competition, as well as common law trademark infringement. The request is denied, however, as to federal trademark dilution and state trademark dilution.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv110, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Richardson grants the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director's partial dismissal motion in this lawsuit brought by a Tennessee resident challenging the constitutionality of the Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification and Tracking Act. The court will dismiss two of the counts brought by the resident under the Due Process Clause. He fails to plausibly assert a violation of his right to travel, and his claim that he did not receive "any notice or opportunity to challenge" his inclusion on the registry is time-barred.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 3:17cv995, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution
J. Richardson grants the individual plaintiff's motion to abstain and motion to strike in connection with two breach of contract claims, following remand from the Sixth Circuit. The court finds that there are exceptional circumstances and determines that "the reasons for declining jurisdiction significantly outweigh the interests in exercising jurisdiction." Accordingly, the court will not exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the two state-law contract claims at issue.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv924, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Richardson dismisses the former employee's complaint against his former employer alleging retaliatory discharge under the Tennessee Public Protection Act and religious discrimination under Title VII, as well as other counts, based on his alleged termination during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The court concludes that the employee's amended complaint fails to meet certain pleading standards.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Richardson, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv923, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation