247 results for 'court:"USDC Northern District of New York"'.
J. D’Agostino dismisses with prejudice an employment discrimination and retaliation complaint brought against Hamilton College by a university professor, who says he was targeted for being a Black immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many of his allegations involve actions that occurred prior to 2018, including the university’s decision not to appoint him to chair of the French and Franco Studies Department in 2012, which the court finds are untimely.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: D’Agostino, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv1395, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Sannes declines to issue a temporary restraining order which would prohibit a healthcare provider from soliciting clinicians from an anesthesia management company following the litigant’s decision to terminate their agreement for anesthesia services. The court finds the the company’s allegations that patient care will be impacted speculative and conclusory, and further finds any potential losses could be remedied with money damages.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 5:24cv276, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Health Care, Restraining Order
J. Sannes rules in favor of Amazon on a patent infringement lawsuit alleging the technology in its Alexa voice-assistant devices infringe on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s natural language processing technology, finding the school’s patent invalid on the basis that the underlying technology contain no inventive concept and is therefore not eligible for patent protection.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 1:18cv549, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Technology
J. Kahn vacates a prior entry of default entered against an art gallery after it failed to respond to claims that it owes a New York-based visual artist more than $635,000 for helping sell his works at its gallery. The court finds the default was not willful, the gallery’s defenses against the allegations have merit and the order would not unfairly prejudice the artist.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Kahn, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv557, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract
J. Hurd preserves claims for employment discrimination and retaliation brought against a healthcare while at the same time enters judgment in its favor on a claim for disparate pay. The litigant, a Black woman employed as a coding analyst, sufficiently alleges the decision to terminate her employment was pretext for race discrimination and in retaliation for her complaint for sexual harassment. The court says a jury will have to determine whether the sexual harassment she endured was sufficiently severe or pervasive to establish a claim for gender discrimination.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 5:20cv1382, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
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J. Kahn declines to enter judgment on a self-represented former construction manager’s remaining disability discrimination claim and preserves the claims for a jury trial. His employer, a construction company, fails to establish conclusively that it fired him on the basis of his performance and not due to an injury he suffered while moving a large saw. As well, the parties dispute the scope of the employee’s injuries, whether they severely limited his ability to perform his job and whether he was experienced and qualified enough to perform his work as a construction manager with or without an accommodation.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Kahn, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv571, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. D’Agostino preserves a shipper and receiver’s untimely wages complaint against her employer, a packaging materials manufacturer. Her allegations sufficiently articulate an injury suffered, so she has standing to sue, and the state labor law at issue affords a private right of action.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: D’Agostino, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv790, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment, Jurisdiction, Labor
J. Hummel orders New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation to produce requested documents in an employment discrimination lawsuit. The litigant seeks documentation regarding the demotion and subsequent promotion an environmental department officer who was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint. The litigant in this case alleges he was denied a promotion to be the director of law enforcement due to reverse racism, while the department argues the decision to deny him the position was in part based on his involvement in the officer’s promotion, which they claimed showed a lapse in judgment.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hummel, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv106, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Discovery, Employment Discrimination
J. Lovric awards a New York resident $50,000 in damages after finding a local town police officer liable for claims of false arrest and excessive force stemming from an altercation regarding a loud noise complaint. The local town does not have a noise ordinance, thus there was no cause to arrest him on charges of obstructing governmental administration. The court further finds from video footage that the resident posed little threat to the officer and was not resisting arrest.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Lovric, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv484, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Hurd preserves claims for takings, excessive fines and unjust enrichment, finding they plausibly allege a New York county violated their rights under the Constitution’s takings and excessive fines clauses when it sold their homes at tax foreclosure sales to recover unpaid taxes without providing them the excess proceeds. A rash of similar complaints have been filed throughout the state following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that found a Minnesota resident successfully challenged the county’s decision to retain the surplus proceeds from the sale of his condo.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1311, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Tax
J. Nardacci preserves for trial claims that seek to hold a fabric dome installation company liable for the collapse of an air-supported sports dome at Utica College due to excess snow, which resulted in more than $3 million in damages. The court rules that the college’s insurer is entitled to seek compensation for the losses to the college’s equipment located inside the dome, which were damaged in the accident. The court further grants summary judgment to the college’s cleaning services company on the manufacturer’s claims for contribution and indemnification, finding the college’s cleaning company was not responsible for the dome’s collapse.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Nardacci, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 6:20cv496, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Insurance, Product Liability, Indemnification
J. Hurd tosses a self-represented New York State Thruway employee’s discrimination and retaliation complaint, finding it fails to allege the agency’s decision to issue him several warnings for refusing to wear a mask around employees during the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a negative performance review, was motivated by either discriminatory or retaliatory animus.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv337, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Covid-19, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hummel orders an environmental protection group focused on protecting the Hudson River to produce documents that it claimed was protected information on the basis of attorney-client privilege, attorney work product and material prepared in anticipation of litigation. The group is suing a recycling center for violating the Clean Water Act. The documentation involves communications between the group and a non-party individual, who the court finds was neither an employee of the group’s counsel nor its own in-house counsel.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hummel, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv1025, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Discovery
J. Sannes preserves a Black man’s amended civil rights complaint alleging he was wrongfully convicted of rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. It was discovered later that an assistant district attorney involved in the case coerced the victim into changing whom she believed was the attacker following a lineup procedure. The court finds the assistant district attorney is not entitled to prosecutorial immunity because his duties at the time were investigatory, not prosecutorial, and the county is vicariously liable for his actions. The court also preserves a cross-claim filed by the city of Syracuse against the county and the ADA for contribution, apportionment and indemnification.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv1241, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Malicious Prosecution, Immunity
J. Suddaby preserves two claims for retaliation and sexual harassment against New York State’s Unified Court System that alleges a family court judge for Broome County sexually harassed two of his personal aides, but limits the claims to misconduct that occurred after the aides’ became official employees of the department following the judge’s reassignment. The court further preserves a single claim for equal protection against the family court judge, finding he is not entitled to qualified immunity in his individual capacity and his behavior could be viewed by a jury as creating a hostile work environment.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 3:18cv1476, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Immunity, Equal Protection, Employment Discrimination
J. Kahn enters default judgment against an Algerian-based company on claims that it failed to pay the litigant $8 million for technology-related services performed under an agreement originally formed in 2003. The court finds the claims timely and the foreign company’s actions were willful. The court awards the litigant an additional $18 million in interest, for a combined total of $26 million in damages.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Kahn, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 5:17cv424, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Damages, Contract, Technology
J. Suddaby enters judgment in favor of a Syracuse police officer on a citizen’s claims for excessive force and failure to intervene, dismissing the entire complaint. He alleges the officer used unreasonable force to restrain him on suspicions that he inserted contraband into his rectum while being detained in a holding cell. He also alleges he was restrained both physically and medically at a local hospital and was forced to undergo a sigmoidoscopy in an effort to retrieve the contraband. Video surveillance shows the officer had not used unreasonable force during these events. The officer also successfully alleges that he was not involved in the hospital’s decision to sedate him or the order to perform the medical procedure.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 5:20cv1215, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Police Misconduct
J. Hurd grants partial summary judgment to a group of Onondaga County sheriffs on a retired sergeant’s First Amendment retaliation claims, finding his allegations that he suffered retaliation after he reported several incidences of misconduct during his tenure, including allegations that a doctor at the Onondaga County Justice Center altered the records of an inmate who committed suicide, are wholly speculative.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 5:18cv1218, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Suddaby dismisses a civil rights complaint that alleges two teacher’s unions deducted union dues from a former member’s wages without her consent and in violation of her First Amendment and due process rights. The court finds the former member’s membership agreement authorized the union to continue deducting dues from her wages for one year after her resignation unless expressly revoked, and she failed to allege that she was coerced into signing the agreement.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv261, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: First Amendment, Labor / Unions
J. Hummel grants an environmental advocacy group’s motion for joinder, allowing it to also sue an executive for a recycling services company in its Clean Water Act complaint alleging unlawful discharge of industrial stormwater runoff at an industrial park. The court finds the executive a responsible corporate officer tasked with complying with the company’s general permit. The court further grants the advocacy group’s motion to amend so it can add details about the general permit as well as the executive’s alleged involvement.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hummel, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv1025, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Environment
J. Hurd grants summary judgment to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Department on a woman’s false arrest, unlawful search and seizure and municipal liability claims stemming from charges that she used counterfeit money to buy groceries at a Wegmans supermarket. It was later discovered that she obtained the fake bills from an ATM installed at the grocery store and was soon after released from police custody. The officer had probable cause at the time to arrest her following a review of in-store surveillance footage and after she admitted to using the counterfeit money.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 5:18cv837, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Stewart denies a self-represented litigant’s motion to amend his civil rights complaint that seeks to reinstate more than 30 claims that the court had previously dismissed, plus add several new claims, finding the claims frivolous. The court furthermore trims his complaint down to only two claims for denial of prescription medication while incarcerated.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Stewart, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv169, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Prisoners' Rights
J. Hurd enters default judgment against an electrical subcontractor, finding it liable for violations under New York Lien law in the amount of $920,000 stemming from its unfinished work on a solar electricity construction project. The litigant, a general contractor, alleged the subcontractor walked off the project prior to completing its work and then demanded an additional sum to resume. However, the court sets aside default judgment against the subcontractor’s owner, finding his absence was not willful, his defenses to the claims are meritorious and the order will not prejudice the litigant.c
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv771, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Contract
J. Suddaby affirms a magistrate judge’s decision not to recuse himself in a citizen’s civil rights case with claims stemming from a traffic stop and further approves the judge’s report and recommendation trimming the 10-count complaint down to a single claim for excessive force against a village police officer. The court finds the litigant’s objections against the magistrate judge’s conclusions as mostly frivolous.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Suddaby, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv364, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Hurd declines to reconsider a prior court ruling dismissing a engineering consultancy firm’s requests for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against a former executive which seek to prevent him from taking any actions that would violate the restrictive covenants of his employment contract. The court ruled the former executive’s pending California lawsuit to determine his rights under the contract takes priority, and the firm fails to present any new evidence or law that would counteract that ruling.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv76, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Restraining Order, Contract