J. Joyce finds the trial court properly continued a FAPA restraining order against respondent after finding him to be a continuing credible threat to petitioner’s physical safety. “Respondent’s immigration issue continued after the parties separated, and there was a volatile incident between the parties after they separated, the evidence was sufficient.”
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Joyce, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A180897, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
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J. Mooney finds the trial court properly declined to acquit defendant of second-degree animal neglect involving a mare and her foal. The “state presented evidence that the very young, injured foal was found attempting to nurse from a mare with no milk supply.” Affirmed.
Court: Oregon Court of Appeals, Judge: Mooney, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: A178592, Categories: Animal Cruelty
J. Stone finds that the trial court should not have recused a judge in this divorce case based on the husband's claim of impartiality. There was no evidence that the judge was “biased, prejudiced, or interested in the cause” of this matter. Reversed and vacated.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Stone, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 55,605-CA, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Robinson finds that the trial court should not have granted a partial finding for the plaintiff driver on the issue of causation of injury. The evidence presented did not show that the plaintiff driver was in good health prior to the accident and was insufficient to show that no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether the accident caused the injury. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 55,211-CA, Categories: Evidence, Negligence
J. Choudhury tosses a class action brought by a self-representing litigant claiming several entities orchestrated a scheme to bankrupt and ultimately close an all-girls Catholic high school in Long Island, as well as other schools throughout the country. His claims do not concern federal law or establish diversity jurisdiction. Most notably, the court rules a pro se litigant cannot serve as class representative and class counsel at the same time, as that would unfairly prejudice the class members.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Choudhury, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv2636, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Jurisdiction, Class Action
J. Moss partially grants the FDA's motion for summary judgment and the tobacco vaporizer maker's cross-motion for summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by the vape maker seeking information on its denied premarket tobacco applications. The FDA's withholding of records under an exemption for "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" was proper because those documents were part of the deliberative process, regardless of the vape maker's various arguments that they were produced after the agency's decisions were made, because they were nevertheless produced before those decisions were finalized and published. Memos summarizing scientific data also are not privilege-free scientific reports in this case, since they were compiled for deliberative purposes. The agency has also established that the release of withheld memos would cause foreseeable harm and would chill the ongoing supervisory review process.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2853, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Government, Public Record
J. Cooper grants the employer's motion for partial summary judgment and denies the employee's motion for summary judgment in a suit alleging that the employee reneged on an obligation to return a bonus when she left her role as the employer's subsidiary's president. The pay schedule provisions of the employee's bonus contract is enforceable, and the employee breached them by failing to return an accelerated payment. The doctrine of unclean hands also does not apply in this case. The employer's request for fees incurred in summary judgment briefing as a sanction for the employee's litigation conduct is denied.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Cooper, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2574, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Employment, Choice Of Law, Contract
J. Moss denies the state of Florida's motion seeking a stay of an injunction entered in a suit brought under the Endangered Species Act pending appeal. Staying the decision would, in effect, deny the environmental groups the preliminary injunctive relief they sought, so the public interest and risk of injury to those groups weigh against a stay. Florida, meanwhile, has not demonstrated that it is likely to suffer an irreparable injury absent a stay, nor that it is likely to prevail on appeal.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv119, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Environment
J. Tigar allows negligence and race discrimination claims to proceed from a single plaintiff against the California Department of Corrections stemming from an incident at CTF Soledad in July 2020 where more than 50 Black inmates were awakened in the middle of the night to be interrogated in the dining hall, leading to an outbreak of Covid-19 at the facility. Of the initial class of over 50 people who were allegedly targeted by the event or got Covid from it, years of proceedings narrowed the class down to six. Today it is trimmed down further to just one. The rest lack standing for not exhausting all of their administrative options.
Court: USDC Northern District of California, Judge: Tigar, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv582, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Prisoners' Rights
J. Phillips dismisses an appeal from a podcast and its host that sought to challenge a ruling that refused to toss defamation claims leveled against them from a doctor after the podcast spread false claims about the doctor being a member of "Antifa" and trying to rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. The lower court denied their motion to toss the claims after finding that the doctor was likely to prevail on the merits of his claims. Their appeal falls outside the collateral-order doctrine, leaving it dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1109, Categories: Defamation
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court properly found for the prison radiologists who misread a prisoner's x-rays that showed the surgically implanted rods in his back were broken, leaving him in pain for over a year. The radiologists' error was negligent, but did not rise to the level of deliberate indifference, nor did the actions of the prison doctor who found the mistake and put the prisoner on the path to corrective surgery. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-1220, Categories: Constitution, Prisoners' Rights
J. Stabile finds that the trial court improperly granted defendant’s motion to decertify this case charging him with attempting to murder two police officers when he was 16 years old. The decertification order is defective due to the trial court’s failure to consider multiple criteria that it was required to take into account before granting decertification. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court, Judge: Stabile, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: J-A24009-23, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Civil Rights
J. Robie finds that the trial court properly rejected a civil service employee's claim that her due process rights were violated when she was denied a Skelly hearing. Skelly hearings are only available upon notice of an adverse employment action, and she chose a voluntary demotion rather than face what she was told would be possible termination. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Robie, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: C097235, Categories: Employment, Due Process
J. Flanagan grants an IT management company’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of race discrimination and wrongful termination brought by a former manager. The manager, a Black man originally from Haiti, argues that his white male supervisor did not promote him but promoted another white man, instead placing the manager in a newly created role instead. However, the supervisor correctly argues that the manager did not have the skill set for those positions, and the manager accepted the role offered. The manager also fails to present any evidence of race discrimination or sufficient evidence for wrongful termination after he resigned.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv345, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Navarro-McKelvey finds that the lower court properly granted sole legal and physical custody of the parties' three children to the father. The court was not required to consent to a parenting plan the father had proposed three years earlier, as the parties were no longer in agreement as to the custody arrangements, so the court was required to determine a custody plan that was in the best interests of the children. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Navarro-McKelvey, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: ED111647, Categories: Family Law
J. Hardwick finds that the lower court properly found for the defendant grout-maker on antitrust claims alleging that its noncompete agreement with its former president violated the law. In the noncompete agreement, the former president agreed to a 10-year non-competition period because he was caught violating a previous one-year agreement within three months. The extended term was reasonable as part of a settlement agreement to avoid litigation over the president's breach of the first noncompete agreement. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hardwick, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: WD86444, Categories: Antitrust, Business Practices