179 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Louisiana "'.
J. Doughty denies a request by an international helicopter manufacturer to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction product liability and injury claims by a pilot allegedly forced to land his aircraft in a field during a crop dusting operation. The ruling rejects the chopper-maker's argument it has insufficient contacts with Louisiana to merit jurisdiction. Louisiana has a great interest in adjudicating the case because of the high rate of helicopter use for crop dusting and offshore work. Further, all states have a shared interest in having the jurisdiction to hold corporations accountable when their products cause harm to consumers, and the corporations' contacts with the state are sufficiently like the helicopter-maker's contacts with Louisiana.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv6055, NOS: Tort Product Liability - Real Property, Categories: Corporations, Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Ayo refuses to dismiss a police lieutenant���s allegations a city and its police chief have refused to address his claims about pervasive corruption and police misconduct, including excessive force, neglecting inmates' medical needs and misusing funds. The lieutenant���s lawsuit is not an impermissible shotgun pleading, but a compelling complaint filed after two years of extensive discovery and multiple depositions.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Ayo, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv1535, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Defamation, Police Misconduct
J. Doughty grants a request by two insurers to dismiss all claims by a Louisiana couple arising from unspecified damages to their home. The litigants are not named insureds, additional insureds, or third-party beneficiaries under the policy; therefore, they lack standing to enforce the insurance contract. Furthermore, because they have not sufficiently alleged the breach of contract claim, their bad faith claim also fails.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 6:23cv803, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Contract
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J. Cain denies a request by an insurer to dismiss bad faith claims by a small rural church against the self-described ���leading insurer of religious organizations of all denominations.��� The litigants have shown the insurer adjuster failed to inspect the roof or all buildings on the property after Hurricane Laura hit the Lake Charles area in 2020, despite being unable to confirm the source of water staining on ceiling tiles.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv3551, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Settlements, Damages
J. Cain grants a request by the Roman Catholic diocese of Lake Charles to enforce a settlement of coverage claims with its insurer arising from the diocese���s allegations that employees of the insurer���s mitigation company created more destruction of its insured properties than what had been caused by Hurricane Laura, including stealing computers and equipment, removal and destruction of items not damaged, and leaving certain buildings exposed creating more water intrusion. Contrary to the insurer���s argument, an email from the insurer���s counsel did not revoke an agreement between the litigants. Previous emails show there had already been a meeting of the minds regarding a settlement.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv3480, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Settlements, Damages
J. Cain denies a request by a syndicate of insurers to order a small Louisiana town to arbitrate bad faith penalties and breach of contract claims on the argument that arbitration is required by international treaty. The town has dismissed the only two foreign insurers from its suit; therefore, the remaining domestic insurers��� arbitration agreements are reverse-preempted by Louisiana law, which prohibits arbitration agreements in insurance policies covering property within the state, such as the town's hurricane-damaged properties.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv240, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, International Law, Choice Of Law
J. Cain grants summary judgment to a maritime construction company, finding an employee who was injured while working on its crane barge is not a seaman and, therefore, not entitled to a seaman���s benefits. His exclusive remedy against his employer is found under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act as a land-based maritime worker.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1111, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Employment, Maritime, Tort
J. Dick grants summary judgment to a railroad and against a black foreman of a track maintenance crew who sued his employer for racial discrimination after he was fired for two track use violations that put company employees at risk of injury or death. The foreman failed to provide specific evidence that similarly situated white comparators were treated more favorably. The litigant���s argument a white foreman���s rear-end collision, albeit occurring at work but not on the track, is nearly identical to exposing an entire work crew to a potential train collision.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Dick, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv373, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Transportation, Employment Discrimination
J. Cain denies a request by Eli Lilly to dismiss a Louisiana woman���s claims the pharmaceutical giant failed to warn her that its drug for Type 2 diabetes was associated with gastroparesis, a gastric disorder with side effects so severe her teeth fell out from extreme vomiting. Lilly contends the litigant���s claim is preempted by FDA approval of its drug because she cannot show the existence of newly acquired information justifying a unilateral label change. However, post-approval reports from summer 2023 point to a growing awareness of the condition as an adverse effect of the drug���s use. It is too early in the litigation to determine whether the recent reports reflect an increasing incidence of gastroparesis that might qualify for a post-approval warning label.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1020, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Product Liability
J. Joseph grants summary judgment to a marine construction company on its argument its litigant-employee was not a seaman when a 70-pound shackle fell on his left foot while he was working on a docked barge and, therefore, he is not entitled to a seaman���s medical care and benefits. None of the work performed by the employee, a carpenter, was of a seagoing nature or subjected him to the ���perils of the sea.��� After he finished his work at the dock, he was not going to sail with any vessel, as required of an actual seaman under the Jones Act.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv5535, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Maritime, Tort, Workers' Compensation
J. Joseph grants a request by the city of Shreveport, dismissing all federal civil rights claims by the adult children of a 72-year-old detainee who died 17 days after being beaten in the local jail by an arrestee with a history of violence. While prison officials have a constitutional duty to protect inmates from violence at the hands of other prisoners, the decedent���s children fail to allege sufficient facts that local police and jailers acted in accord with a city policy, practice, or custom that resulted in their father���s death.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv689, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Cain denies a request by a Texas-based law firm seeking to intervene in a former client���s suit against an insurer, rejecting the firm���s attempt to recover attorneys��� fees and out-of-pocket expenses expended on the case after its lawyers were suspended from the practice of law in Louisiana on misconduct allegations. The litigant argues, and the court agrees, that she dismissed the disgraced law firm for cause. She never spoke with an attorney from the law firm about the retention agreement, and although she received an email telling her they were filing a lawsuit on her behalf, she never spoke to an attorney about the decision to file suit.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv3388, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Damages, Attorney Fees, Attorney Discipline
J. Hornsby denies requests by a casino hotel to dismiss claims of civil rights violations in the swimming pool area by a black retired naval officer and military policeman who was a guest at the inn. The complaint includes plausible allegations the casino had a policy of excluding black guests from the pool area by insisting he show photo ID, a requirement not made of white guests in the pool area. Further, the casino may be vicariously liable for the suit���s battery allegations that its security officer placed his fist and knee on the retiree���s back after he was handcuffed, stating: ���You���re a cop. You���re acting like a crook.���
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hornsby, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv818, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Assault, Police Misconduct
J. Cain awards $43,000 in damages to an 88-year-old widow suffering from dementia and against a mortgage company for negligence and mental anguish. The company refused to release $47,000 in insurance proceeds to repair her hurricane-damaged home, arguing Louisiana law requires a homeowner to hire a licensed contractor to make home repairs. The purpose of this statute is to regulate contractors in the state of Louisiana, not homeowners.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 6:21-cv-03650, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Damages, Contract
J. Cain dismisses a family's civil rights case against police officers who shot the decedent, a wanted suspect, 14 times in his brother's home. The officers saw a gun on the floor after their decedent had been shot in the wrist and tased, while video evidence shows the decedent reaching across his body with his left hand and pulling the object he has retrieved toward his midsection. A reasonable officer in these circumstances could have believed the decedent had retrieved the gun and determined lethal force to be necessary.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv249, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Drell denies summary judgment to two officers on their argument that excessive force claims by a wanted suspect, subdued after a foot chase and taser deployment, should be dismissed since his own deposition testimony establishes��he did not suffer physical injury.�� The authorities fail to address, much less dispute, the allegations of psychological injury from his��arrest including paranoia when he sees police, trouble sleeping and an ability to enjoy time with his children.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Drell, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv36, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Joseph denies a request by parish authorities to dismiss claims of malicious prosecution by a citizen who says his run-ins with police at a department store and a Home Depot stem from their desire to punish him for his exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech while ���peacefully shopping.��� The outspoken shopper correctly argues, though without citation to any authority, that his state law claims against police are not time-barred because criminal cases against him related to his run-ins with the law remain pending.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv894, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution, Malicious Prosecution
J. Joseph denies summary judgment to Amazon.com on the online website���s arguments it is not liable for the products of approximately two million ���third party sellers,��� including a defective battery charger resulting in a deadly house fire and wrongful death claims. Amazon may re-urge its requests after resolution of questions to the Louisiana Supreme Court regarding an online market operator���s liability for potentially dangerous products sold by a third-party seller under both state law and a legal theory of negligent undertaking.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv1448, NOS: Tort Product Liability - Real Property, Categories: Consumer Law, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Hornsby grants summary judgment to the estate of the decedent���s mother, and against his living brother, awarding a total of $480,000 insurance annuity payments to her estate. The living brother is a tertiary beneficiary; however, absent express language in the annuity to the contrary, if a primary beneficiary dies after the insured, but before all proceeds are paid to her, the estate of the primary beneficiary, not a secondary or tertiary beneficiary, is entitled to the proceeds. There was no such express language in the annuity contract or other relevant documents, so the estate of the mother is entitled to all remaining payments due under the annuity.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hornsby, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv158, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Settlements, Attorney Fees
J. Doughty grants summary judgment to a city police chief and dismisses due process claims by a detective fired for repeatedly lying during an internal probe into whether he intentionally delayed reporting a police brutality criminal investigation to influence the outcome of the city mayoral election. The fired detective cannot establish any acts by the police chief that can be classified as arbitrary and capricious, and, therefore, his due process claim is dismissed.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv828, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Doughty denies a request by the Postmaster General to dismiss a claim by a white female employee that she was fired in retaliation for filing a race-based discrimination complaint with the E.E.O.C. Although the local postmaster has clearly articulated legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for termination of the 26-year postal veteran from a temporary position related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be inferred from the ���slightly ambiguous��� record that her termination and the filing of her E.E.O.C. complaint were within a few days of each other. Therefore, a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding the retaliation claim.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv3882, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Covid-19, Employment Retaliation