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
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J. Estudillo amends the employee's judgment to $5,400 in economic damages for her complaint alleging that the supervisor and the city did not prove her promotional opportunities and fired her because of her gender. The supervisor and the city agree with the employee's contention that the parties stipulated to economic damages if the jury found liability for the retaliation claim, which they did.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Estudillo, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv5002, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Damages
[Consolidated.] J. Ramirez finds the district court properly convicted defendants for money laundering based on sufficient evidence. DEA agents observed defendants carrying suitcases that were later found to contain large amounts of cocaine and $269,000 in cash, and they later found $432,000 hidden in a house associated with the organization. Although defendants' motion to suppress certain evidence alleged a warrantless search, the affidavit did not establish the search occurred without a warrant. Furthermore, defendants' motion for a new trial was properly dismissed as untimely. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Ramirez , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 22-40570, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Money Laundering
J. Fischer finds that while the port authority is an arm of the state, it is not exempt or immune from being assessed prejudgment interest in the current case, where the developer obtained a judgment as a creditor for the port's breach of a development contract. Therefore, the case must be remanded for a proper calculation of interest. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1501, Categories: Government, Damages, Contract
J. Pirtle finds the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission properly reversed the board's decision upholding its assessed value of the grocery store. Kroger appealed the board's assessed value of roughly $4.5 million, providing expert testimony the property was more correctly valued at $2.5 million. The board presented little evidence as to how its computer-aided appraisal was utilized, also insufficiently explaining market adjustments and specifics on figuring depreciation. The record is inadequate as to how the board’s valuation was determined compared to Kroger's well documented valuation. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-268, Categories: Evidence, Tax, Experts
J. Riedmann finds the district court properly denied defendant's motion to transfer his case to the juvenile court. Sufficient evidence supports allegations against the 16-year-old involving his sexual abuse of children, including one younger than 1 year old. Defendant's prior involvement with the juvenile court system, the allegations being made within three months of his return home, the severity of the allegations and the public’s need for protection makes retention in the district court proper. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Riedmann , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-880, Categories: Juvenile Law, Sex Offender, Jurisdiction
J. Oliver grants the hydration patch manufacturer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the patch developer's contract and fraud claims fail because it never made a purchase order under the parties' supply agreement that would have required the manufacturer to produce the patches, while the manufacturer also never signed the agreement, which renders it void.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv618, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Contract
J. Combs finds the district court properly terminated the mother and father's parental rights. The medical examiner testified the 15-year-old daughter reported abuse that had occurred for a number of years, which led to an examination confirming the abuse and the doctor's contacting police. Multiple witnesses with law enforcement and protective services testified to the mother and father's dismissive behavior and unwillingness to take part in a safety plan. The mother lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the trial court did not violate her right to equal protection by failing to apply the Act's heightened burden of proof. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court, Judge: Combs , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 120910, Categories: Family Law, Native Americans, Guardianship
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the insurer's claim for a declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend the archdiocese in 1500 underlying sexual abuse actions. The insurer's allegations concerning the archdiocese's longstanding awareness of sexual abuse should not have been discounted. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 02139, Categories: Tort, Indemnification
J. Halligan finds that the appellate division improperly accepted non-eyewitness testimony from a police detective to identify defendant in grainy surveillance video as the party who fired three shots into a van on a city street. The detective contends he knew defendant's build and mannerisms from their interactions, but the detective's familiarity with defendant was not likely superior to the jury's ability to determine identity. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Halligan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23, Categories: Witnesses, Identification
J. Wilson finds that a mistrial should have been declared in defendant's trial for drug possession after a juror expressed fears that her car had been followed by defendant early on in the proceedings because the juror was "grossly unqualified" by bias and should have been dismissed. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 41, Categories: Jury
J. Rivera finds that the appellate division improperly granted defendant a writ of error coram nobis on grounds that appellate counsel failed to seek direct appeal concerning defendant's abrupt removal from the courtroom while the verdict was being announced. No "practical opportunity" arose to provide warnings about removal in light of disruptive behavior exhibited by defendant, a teenager convicted of attempted murder, and a claim alleging rights violation would have lacked merit. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Rivera, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 42, Categories: Ineffective Assistance
J. Gill finds the lower court improperly dismissed a tenant's claims for damages and attorney fees associated with an allegedly illegal eviction. A tenant was served with a five-day eviction notice by a landlord during a period when evictions were prohibited due to Covid-19. While the landlord eventually moved to dismiss its claim, the tenant’s counterclaims moved forward, but were dismissed on grounds that the Wisconsin Consumer Act did not apply to residential leases. But the instant court finds it does apply, as a residential lease is a consumer transaction, with the tenant as the customer. The matter is remanded to determine attorney fees owed to tenant’s counsel and to determine the amount of damages to be awarded to the tenant. Reversed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Gill, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP182, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Damages, Attorney Fees
J. Zainey denies a request by Walmart to dismiss as time-barred an overnight stocker’s malicious prosecution and defamation suit. She argues the clock on her claims did not begin running until after a city prosecutor dismissed Walmart’s theft claims. The store had her arrested for twice purchasing multiple packages of newly marked-down meat after her shift ended. In neither instance did she alter the pricing labels, and she paid full price for the meat. Walmart may raise its prescription argument later.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6441, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Defamation
J. Mawla finds that the state agency properly declined to reconsider an order in which the board of public utilities established siting requirements for the competitive solar incentive program for projects that exceed use on covered agricultural land or the county's 5% concentration limits. The program limits are not contained in separate sections of the underlying regulation, and state- and county-wide limits on farmland construction are contained in separate sections. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Mawla , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-2232-22, Categories: Energy, Municipal Law
J. Gale finds for the commissioner in this tax liability dispute related to a corporate filing because the company improperly claimed a deduction in connection with distressed Brazilian trade receivables.
Court: U.S. Tax Court, Judge: Gale, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2024-50, Categories: Tax
J. Gratton finds that the trial court properly refused to suppress drugs and a firearm in defendant's home during a probation search prompted by a confidential tip. A probation agreement authorized law enforcement officers other than his own probation officer to conduct searches, and he did not preserve his challenge to the validity of the agreement or his claim that his probation officer must first request that he submit to a search. Also, the trial court's error in sustaining an objection to part of defendant's closing argument was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gratton, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 50051, Categories: Drug Offender, Probation, Search
J. Pirtle finds the county court properly divided the property in this marriage dissolution. Real estate conveyed to the couple by the ex-husband's parents was correctly found to be marital property, and the ex-husband was not entitled to a credit for the value of a vehicle that was paid off with proceeds from his workers compensation settlement. Affirmed in part.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-283, Categories: Family Law, Property, Workers' Compensation
J. Pirtle finds the trial court properly dismissed defendant's petition for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. The 9-year-old victim reported defendant had sexually abused her when she was 3 or 4 years old, saying her mother made her available to defendant in exchange for drugs. Though information shared by the victim over several forensic interviews was not entirely consistent, defendant was not prejudiced by his counsel's not interviewing a previous forensic interviewer or another individual the victim had mistaken for defendant. The information would have been cumulative. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-230, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Bishop finds the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission properly reversed the board's acceptance of the county assessor’s recommended valuation for a hotel property. The owner presented expert testimony using a sales comparison approach, as well as actual income and expenses from the property and comparable properties to calculate a typical market average. The expert's $660,000 appraisal was clear and convincing evidence the board’s appraisal of $1.5 million was arbitrary or unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bishop , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-661, Categories: Evidence, Tax
J. Welch finds the trial court properly convicted defendant, by no-contest plea, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, sentencing him to 6 to 8 years in prison. After responding to an early morning report of gunshots, officers found a bullet in the flat tire of a vehicle involved in the altercation. The gun connected to the bullet was later found in defendant's girlfriend's vehicle during a traffic stop. All sentencing factors were properly considered, including defendant's criminal record and claims of posttraumatic stress disorder. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-817, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Sneed dismisses civil rights claims brought against a lengthy list of officials, including judges, prosecutors, and the state of Florida itself, as an impermissible shotgun pleading.
Court: USDC Middle District of Florida, Judge: Sneed, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv2073, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights
J. Navarro-McKelvey dismisses the department's appeal of the lower court's decision to apply a multiplier to the award of attorneys' fees to the employee who prevailed in a sexual harassment suit. The department failed to show that the issue of waiver of sovereign immunity for attorneys' fees multipliers falls under the jurisdictional exception to the claim preservation requirements.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Navarro-McKelvey, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: ED111748, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Attorney Fees