214 results for 'court:"USDC Connecticut"'.
J. Shea denies, in part, the bank employees' motion to dismiss, ruling the bank's allegations of a scheme by which the employees submitted expense reports for a marketing company they owned meet the heightened pleading requirements of its fraud claim, which will be allowed to proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv609, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Oliver grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling that because the shoulder and neck injuries cited by the employee were temporary and did not substantially limit his ability to work, he is not considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Furthermore, the Family and Medical Leave Act claims also fail because the employee was granted several leaves of absence and any alleged misconduct on the part of the employer took place after his FMLA leave had been exhausted.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv948, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. Oliver grants the photographer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the school photography company cannot pursue actual damages for his solicitation of customers because it failed to submit the profit-and-loss statement during the discovery period, but waited until the summary judgment stage, which renders the evidence inadmissible. Meanwhile, the photography company's motion for summary judgment on the photographer's counterclaims will also be granted because the employment contract between the parties allowed the company to unilaterally change the photographer's compensation structure and prevents him from seeking unpaid commissions.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv666, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Trade Secrets, Contract
J. Underhill grants the employer's motion for a temporary restraining order, ruling it will suffer irreparable harm if the former employee is allowed to make further social media posts following her termination and creation of a competing business. Therefore, she will be barred from posting any information related to local entertainment and "family fun" directed at parents in her area.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Underhill, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 3:24cv192, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Contract
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J. Underhill grants the government's motion for final judgment, ruling the securities broker and his trading firm will be permanently barred from issuing any securities in the future and will also be required to disgorge over $223,000 in profits gained only through the manipulation of stock prices and the misleading of clients.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Underhill, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv397, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Sanctions, Securities
J. Shea grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the Muslim employee cannot establish a prima facie case for race and religious discrimination. The paid leave following his reporting of racist comments by coworkers does not constitute an adverse employment action, while his resignation in the weeks that followed was entirely voluntarily and not based on any intolerable conditions created by the employer. Meanwhile, even though the employee's reporting of racist comments can be considered protected activity to support a retaliation claim, the supervisor's negative performance review and request for disciplinary action was based on past performance issues of the employee and is insufficient to be considered an adverse action.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv946, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Bolden denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling the false arrest claim filed by the female occupant of the vehicle will proceed. Although she was not charged with a crime and was released on the same night as the confrontation, a jury must determine whether the officers' decision to handcuff her for several hours and transport her to the police station constituted an arrest. Meanwhile, the officers are entitled to immunity on the male occupant's excessive force claim as it relates to their initial use of pepper spray because the officers told the occupant to exit his vehicle at least 12 times over a minute-long period before they used the pepper spray, which made that use of force reasonable.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Bolden, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1766, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Immunity
J. Bolden denies the police chief's motion for summary judgment, ruling that because the female police officer was subject to the same disciplinary standards as several male officers with similar misconduct - off-duty domestic disputes - who were not fired, she has stated a plausible equal protection claim that must be submitted to a jury. However, because the female officer presented no evidence of a town policy that sanctioned such discrimination, all claims against the town must be dismissed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Bolden, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv331, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Equal Protection, Employment Discrimination
J. Dooley denies, in part, the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the discrimination and retaliation claims will proceed based on the allegations made by the Hispanic employee, which supports her claim of a constructive discharge. She was told to resign by her union representative before she was fired just two days after she informed her supervisors of numerous racist comments made by a coworker who was not disciplined.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Dooley, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv1173, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Nagala denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling the arrested individual's excessive force claims will proceed. Although he initially refused to comply and brandished a letter opener, the officers' use of force to take him to the ground and handcuff him after he put the letter opener down and complied with all commands creates an issue of fact as to whether the force was necessary and reasonable.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Nagala, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv845, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence
J. Oliver denies, in part, the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee's hostile work environment claim is not time-barred. The final act included under that claim - a coworker's invite to the beach so he could take pictures of her - occurred within 300 days of the filing the employee's initial claim. Meanwhile, the alleged repeated propositions for sex made by several employees, none of which were responded to by the employer with disciplinary action, are sufficient to support the employee's hostile work environment claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv882, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment Retaliation
J. Shea denies the client's motion for a new trial, ruling the jury's finding of a willful and malicious breach of its services contract with the law firm is not against the weight of the evidence, which indicated the client was happy with the firm's performance up until it learned of the adverse jury verdict in the underlying Kentucky trial and then simply refused to pay its legal fees. Meanwhile, because the question of whether the firm and other litigants can seek punitive damages on a contract claim outside the context of an insurance dispute is unsettled in Connecticut, the issue must be certified to the Connecticut Supreme Court for consideration.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv1124, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Damages, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Haight denies the solar panel company's motion to stay proceedings and compel arbitration, ruling the testimony of the 80-year-old buyers and their children requires the enforceability of the arbitration provision in the contract to be determined by a jury. The buyers were never told about a loan, only that solar panels would be installed at their home, and they were also never given a written contract.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Haight, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1020, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Arbitration, Fraud, Consumer Law
J. Oliver grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the female vice president cannot establish a prima facie case for sex discrimination. None of the male vice presidents she names as comparators decided to take an international vacation immediately after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic and shortly after other disciplinary issues; therefore, the male comparators are not similarly situated.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv770, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Covid-19, Employment Discrimination
J. Shea grants Anheuser-Busch's motion for summary judgment, ruling that while its agreement with the distributor gives it significant influence over day-to-day operations, it does not grant control of the company as understood by the Connecticut Liquor Control Act because the distributor is able to appoint its own management team and control the sale of its ownership stock, which renders the agreement enforceable.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1003, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Williams denies, in part, the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the employee's emotional distress claim must be decided by a jury because if the termination process began when she attempted to return from medical leave, the embarrassment and humiliation from being replaced could support such a claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Williams, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv821, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination
J. Nagala denies the prison doctor's motion for summary judgment, ruling his failure to timely address the prisoner's history of hearing loss coupled with the onset of facial numbness and dizziness could be considered deliberately indifferent by a reasonable jury, which precludes the application of immunity on wrongful death and civil rights claims brought after the prisoner died from surgical complications. However, because the evidence brought to support the claims against the nurses consists almost entirely of inadmissible hearsay, the claims against all three nurses will be dismissed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Nagala, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv337, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Wrongful Death
J. Spector grants the U.S. Postal Services' motion for summary judgment, ruling the female mail carrier cannot establish a prima facie case for sex discrimination. The comparators she cites in her complaint were in entirely different roles with the postal service and were subject to separate disciplinary policies. Meanwhile, the age discrimination claim also fails because there is no evidence or allegation in the complaint that the mail carrier's age was a factor in the decision to fire her.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Spector, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1424, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Employment Discrimination
J. Meyer grants the town and its police chief's motion for summary judgment, ruling the police officer's grievances about shift practices were not a matter of public concern and, therefore, cannot constitute protected speech to support his First Amendment retaliation claim, which must be dismissed. Additionally, the comparators cited by the police officer cannot be used to support his employment claims because none of the officers had nearly as many disciplinary infractions or investigations on their record at the time the officer was fired for insubordination.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1663, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Williams grants, in part, Yale University's motion for summary judgment, ruling the former chief of cardiovascular medicine cannot make a plausible contract claim related to his removal from that position after sexual assault allegations. His employment agreement with the university guaranteed only his job as a professor. However, because the removal of several honorific titles and endowments after the allegations could be considered an adverse employment action under precedent from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the sex discrimination claim will proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Williams, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv1547, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Contract
J. Shea grants, in part, the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee who missed a month of work after she tested positive for Covid-19 cannot bring disability discrimination claims. The illness did not involve serious or prolonged symptoms that required accommodations upon her return or could otherwise be considered a disability. However, the temporal proximity between the employee's protected activity under the Family and Medical Leave Act and her termination immediately after returning to work is sufficient to allow the FMLA retaliation claim to proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv123, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Covid-19, Employment Discrimination
J. Meyer grants the Connecticut-based car dealership warranty provider's motion for summary judgment, ruling the New Jersey-based warranty provider cannot prove damages because evidence in the record indicates commissions paid after the Connecticut company took over the accounts of four dealerships were paid to a related, but separate business entity not named as a defendant in this case.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv659, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Damages, Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Oliver grants the debt collector's motion for summary judgment, ruling that while the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act allows claims related to rental properties, the renter's sole federal claim is not viable because he did not make any payments based on the allegedly misleading collection notices; therefore, this court lacks jurisdiction over the case.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv1191, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law, Jurisdiction
J. Thompson grants the hazmat suit manufacturer's motion to compel arbitration, ruling that although the non-disclosure agreement between itself and the exporting company was sent by a third party, subsequent communications from the exporter expressed no issues with the document, which was signed by all parties. Therefore, the agreement was binding and requires the parties to arbitrate their dispute.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Thompson, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv430, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Contract