559 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of New York"'.
J. Block denies in part a motion to dismiss a former New York police officer’s First Amendment rights violations alleging he was fired from the police force following an investigation into his relationships with conservative firebrand Roger Stone and members of the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys and other individuals and organizations who supported former President Donald Trump. The investigation began after an anonymous tip that alleged the litigant participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The court preserves a single claim under his right to expressive association against the NYPD officials in their individual capacities, finding he sufficiently alleges that he suffered disciplinary action due to his actions which were of a matter of public concern, specifically Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Block, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5109, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, First Amendment
J. Donnelly denies summary judgment to two New York police officers and a retired officer-turned-private investigator on false arrest and unlawful search and seizure claims, alleging they searched a woman’s clothing and jewelry store without a warrant and arrested the owner on false charges of selling counterfeit jewelry. Several disputed facts preclude judgment, including whether or not the defendants had the authority to search the store’s drawers and a duffel bag containing merchandise, or probable cause to arrest her.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Donnelly, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv7440, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Garaufis dismisses a former NYPD officer’s sole denial-of-access claim alleging the department withheld exculpatory evidence and fabricated claims during a disciplinary hearing regarding an incident in which his ex-girlfriend suffered a gunshot wound to her neck during a domestic dispute, which ultimately led to his termination from the force. His allegations are mostly conclusory, failing to allege which official actions on the defendants’ part prevented him from pursuing any claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Garaufis, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1217, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Korman dismisses a woman’s civil rights suit alleging the New York City police department entered her apartment without a warrant during a wellness check and involuntarily committed her to a mental health institution after determining she was mentally unfit. Her mother had called the authorities claiming she had stopped taking her medication for her bipolar disorder for the last eight months and had begun hallucinating. Her allegations that the mental health facility failed to follow the requisite procedures are contradicted by her medical records, and she fails to allege any facts that would lead a jury to believe the department failed to properly train its officers in regards to wellness checks.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Korman, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv6599, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Commitment, Police Misconduct
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
[Consolidated.] J. Brodie awards two vehicle finance creditors a total of $132,568 in attorney fees after prevailing on their separate procedural due process claims in which they alleged the Port Authority refused to release impounded vehicles in which they hold an interest at both LaGuardia Airport and JKF Airport until they paid past-due parking, towing and storage fees. The court applies an across-the-board reduction of the requested hourly rates, finding they all exceeded the typical rates for cases of this size and nature.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brodie, Filed On: August 6, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1997, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Due Process, Attorney Fees
J. Morrison enters judgment in favor of the Port Authority on a Polish electronic system specialist’s employment discrimination claims alleging he was subjected to a hostile work environment, including being suspended on six separate occasions, on the basis of his age and national origin. His claims time-barred and he fails to provide any detail that would remotely suggest his suspensions were motivated by his age or national origin, rather than his repeated acts of hostility and insubordination towards his supervisors.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Morrison, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv3328, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Brown declines to grant declaratory relief to an insurer who seeks to be absolved from its duties to defend and indemnify its insureds for their underlying claim for losses stemming from a car crash that occurred on the edge of their front driveway, an incident which has expanded into three separate state court actions in at least two courts. The court finds that, due to a lack of detail provided in the insurer’s complaint, a state court action would be a better remedy for its claims and subsequently dismisses the action.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv6022, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Vehicle, Indemnification
J. Seybert allows the bulk of claims asserted in a class action deceptive marketing complaint brought against the manufacturers of an alleged compostable dog poop bag product to survive. The litigants plausibly allege that consumers paid a premium on the product on the belief that composting facilities may be available in their area to accept pet waste material when in fact no such facility currently exists within the entire U.S. due to the presence of harmful parasites and bacteria in the waste.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Seybert, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv6775, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Product Liability, Class Action
j. Kovner declines to overturn a jury’s verdict that found New York City liable for Fourth Amendment violations and malicious prosecution claims brought by the owner of a string of city-based pawn shops and awarded the owner $1 million in damages. The jury agreed with the owner’s allegations that New York City Police Department had an official policy or custom of seizing their branches’ respective customer buy books plus customers’ collateral without a warrant or consent following the company’s decision to stop participating in the city’s LeadsOnline program. The court finds the jury’s decision was justified based on the evidence presented at trial, including witness testimony regarding damages that claimed the company’s financial losses during the time were a direct result of the department’s actions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Kovner, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 1:13cv1686, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Damages, Police Misconduct
J. Azrack finds in favor of a municipal fire company on a female volunteer firefighter's gender discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation claims and closes the case. The court finds her claims asserted under Title VII are all time-barred, she fails to rebut the fire company's assertion that she was expelled from the company for failing to provide a doctor's note while out extended medical leave and she further fails to allege she has a protected interest in her position and should have been afforded a pre-termination hearing as she is not a regular, non-probationary firefighter.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Azrack, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv4643, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Brown dismisses a trademark infringement suit contesting the use of the name "Ripple" in connection with HR software. It was revealed during discovery that the litigant didn't actually own the rights or interests to the contested trademark, and that it had assigned ownership over to a non-party individual. It subsequently failed to follow court procedure and provide a statement from the trademark's owner stating he would abide by the court's rulings.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: July 26, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv894, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Shields finds that an insurance provider must produce all but one document that a securities broker seeks for its denial of coverage action in which the broker alleges it was denied coverage for losses stemming from a rogue employee's scheme to misappropriate investor funds for his own personal benefit. An in-camera review reveals that the bulk of the documents, which include various emails that were exchanged between an outside counsel, an in-house claims adjuster and the company's counsel, are not protected under attorney-client privilege or work product protection, save for one 17-page letter written by the outside counsel containing legal opinions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Shields, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv6665, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Discovery
J. Morrison partially declines to dismiss a class action alleging that an energy service company charged one of its customers an unreasonably high variable rate for its monthly energy costs following the end of its 24-month introductory period. While the customer fails to allege the company violated the express terms of the agreement for purposes of a breach of contract claim, it successfully alleges the company violated the implied terms of the agreement by charging a variable rate that was approximately double the fixed-price rate. It also successfully claims that it was not given sufficient notice as to the rate change.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Morrison, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv4844, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Class Action, Contract
J. Garaufis adopts a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and grants preliminary approval for a class action settlement to resolve allegations of securities violations brought by the stockholders of a 3D printer manufacturing company. The court finds the agreed-upon terms of the settlement, including a $400,000 settlement award, to be reasonable and negotiated in good faith.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Garaufis, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv2383, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities, Class Action
J. Morrison preserves a jury’s verdict that found in favor of a housekeeper and her claims for assault, battery and deliberate indifference against New York City and four officers stemming from injuries she suffered while in police custody. The jury subsequently awarded her $400,000 in total damages, which included an award of $100,000 in punitive damages against each officer for her deliberate indifference claim. The court finds that, even though the parties’ account of the assault greatly differed, there was ample evidence for the jury to conclude the officers attacked her while she was handcuffed in a juvenile room awaiting questioning for an unrelated drug charge. The court further finds the $100,000 award was not unreasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Morrison, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 1:16cv79, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Damages, Assault, Police Misconduct
J. Levy enters partial judgment against an insurer and declares it must defend its insured, a subcontractor, along with three additional insureds in an underlying negligence and wrongful death action stemming from a workplace accident that resulted in the death of one laborer and severe injuries to another. The court also orders the insurer to reimburse the additional subcontractors’ insurer for the defense costs already incurred in the underlying action. However, the court finds in favor of the insurer on a crane operator’s claims for coverage, finding it does not qualify as an additional insured.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Levy, Filed On: July 18, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv2249, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Negligence, Wrongful Death
J. Brown enters judgment in favor of the manufacturer of Arizona Ice Tea on its claims that its insurer provided only partial coverage for the additional costs involved in preparing its annual audit after its corporate headquarters’ software systems suffered a catastrophic data loss and resulted in the permanent loss of data for 2016 and 2017. The court finds the auditing process is considered “usual business operations” pursuant to the insurance policy and the process to restore its systems and complete its revised audit were conducted during a covered restoration period.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1537, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Technology
J. Block dismisses for lack of standing an action brought by three residents of East Hampton, New York, who sought to halt the construction of a wind farm off the coast of Long Island because the onshore trenching excavation work allegedly would exacerbate an existing PFAS contamination present in the surrounding soils. The defendants are not responsible for the onshore trenching work and are therefore are not the source of the residents’ alleged injury.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Block, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1305, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Construction, Environment, Tort
J. Komitee dismisses a swimwear consultant’s breach of contract complaint alleging a swimwear merchandise provider failed to compensate her for consultancy work she provided and also induced her to invest in a separate personal protective equipment venture, but ultimately misappropriated the funds for personal use. The consultant fails to provide enough details to allege the existence of an enforceable contract in either respect.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Komitee, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv4395, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Contract
J. Cogan dismisses a neurosurgery practice’s action alleging the various federal agencies have failed to properly implement the No Surprises Act healthcare legislation in relation to reimbursement claims for out-of-network healthcare services. It sought an injunction compelling the agencies to implement various changes to the Act’s independent dispute resolution process, which it claims has resulted in a large backlog of unresolved claims and has ultimately prevented it from receiving reimbursement for its services. The court finds it lacks the authority and the inclination to rewrite a statute enacted by Congress.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Cogan, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv2977, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Health Care, Contract
J. Matsumoto preserves claims for breach of contract on the basis of piercing the corporate veil and tortious interference brought by the owner of a car wash and lube shop property against its tenant, finding the landlord provided sufficient details to allege the tenant’s owner exercised control over the company and devised a scheme to take advantage of New York’s moratorium on evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic as a way to withhold rent, property taxes and other obligations under its lease agreement.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Matsumoto, Filed On: July 17, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5155, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Brodie denies a self-represented UPS delivery driver’s motion for reconsideration to vacate the court’s judgment entered in favor of UPS and his union on claims that they conspired together and acted in bad faith when securing a settlement agreement while arbitrating his grievance for wrongful termination. The court finds his motion was not filed within a reasonable amount of time after judgment was issued and his claims fail on the merits because he fails to identify the supposed new evidence he referenced in his motion that would justify overturning the court’s order.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brodie, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv2046, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Settlements, Labor / Unions
J. Gonzalez dismisses an action brought by the Village of Mineola in Long Island against the Town of Hempstead challenging the town’s newly adopted redistricting plan, claiming the decision to swap two districts ultimately violates the equal protection clause’s one-person, one-vote principle. The court finds the new districts survive judicial review and do not violate the sole remaining litigant’s voting rights.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv6231, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Municipal Law
J. Morrison issues a preliminary injunction staying the nearly 200 ongoing arbitration and state court proceedings filed by a pain management specialist who seeks payments on no-fault insurance claims that amount to more that $1.1 million in unpaid claims. The order also covers actions that have yet to be filed, which seek an additional $1.7 million in unpaid claims. The court finds State Farm, who alleges the specialist filed fraudulent insurance claims starting in 2017, will most likely win on the merits of its claims and will suffer irreparable harm if the cases are allowed to proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Morrison, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3611, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Insurance