107 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Pennsylvania"'.
J. Haines awards Kids 2 more than $19,000 in sanctions based on testimony that plaintiffs' attorney "made countless improper objections, including repeatedly coaching his witnesses and testifying himself, and instructed his witnesses not to answer on more than two dozen instances" during the deposition phase of a wrongful death action.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Haines, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv166, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Sanctions, Wrongful Death, Attorney Fees
J. Haines dismisses copyright claims contending Netflix impermissibly used a photograph of plaintiff's tattoo design in the second season of the documentary series "Tiger King." The tattoo, which caricaturized documentary subject Joe Exotic, "along with a Lysol brand aerosol can, illustration of five COVID-19 viruses, and a toilet paper banner with the words 'Quarantine 2020,'" is protected under the fair use act as a social comment on the widespread success of the first season of "Tiger King" during the pandemic.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Haines, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv131, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Property
J. Brann grants class certification to approximately 400 Shop-Vac factory workers seeking damages under under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act based on claims that they had been terminated without severance pay and lost health care coverage without notice when the corporation shuttered the Williamsport manufacturing plant. Employees who signed an arbitration agreement upon being re-hired by Shop-Vac's successor may join as subclass plaintiffs because they are sufficiently similar in numerosity and common interests.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Brann, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv976, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action, Labor
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J. Baxter dismisses claims seeking unpaid wages in the form of a bonus because the employee was fired on December 15, 2021, and the incentive was conditioned on his employment status through the end of the year.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Baxter, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv206, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Fraud, Contract
J. Colville allows a high school wrestler to continue negligence claims arising from a hazing incident in which he had been bound by teammates, beaten, and anally penetrated with a wooden stick because the wrestler sufficiently pleaded wrestling coaches were aware of and encouraged hazing activities.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Colville, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1088, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Negligence
J. Dodge finds that a bartender may sue a hotel that denied her a job after the interviewer found out her drug test would be positive for methadone, which she has been prescribed since 2008 to treat her opioid addiction. An applicant cannot be denied employment over a prescription such as methadone, but evidence remains in conflict; the bartender contends the hotel refused to administer a drug test after she admitted she would not "pass with flying colors," while the hotel contends the bartender refused to take a test.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Dodge, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1066, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Dodge dismisses claims contending a VA police officer's superiors at the Butler VA refused to promote him because he is Black, as evidence was insufficient to determine whether he was entitled to the position, that he was the best candidate for the job, or that he had been subjected to retaliation for filing race discrimination claims with the EEOC.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Dodge, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv304, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Dodge allows a school district to pursue certain breach of warranty claims against Tremco, the vendor which manufactured and installed a school bus canopy on district property. The district is barred from bringing contract claims under the statute of repose, but the statute of limitations has not expired on claims concerning the 20-year warranty issued by Tremco in 2005.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Dodge, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv706, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Warranty, Contract
J. Colville allows a railway employee to continue age discrimination claims against Union Railroad since his second amended complaint sufficiently alleges he had been denied his rightful "last chance" to attend drug and alcohol treatment before termination. The 53-year-old employee cites multiple instances in which coworkers in their 20's and 30's received "last chance" notice before being let go, while he had been fired on the spot after he showed up late the morning of Independence Day and had to undergo impromptu drug testing, which detected insubstantial traces of alcohol in his system.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Colville, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv718, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Horan denies an individual's motion for a new trial or remittitur in an intellectual property action. The individual is accused of illegally accessing his former company's filesharing system to obtain marketing materials and sales leads, and hacking its website so that visitors are redirected to his new company's domain. The court finds that a $225,000 verdict in the company's favor is reasonable because the jury may discretely award "goodwill" and "consequential" damages under the Lanham Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Horan, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv165, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Remedies, Trade Secrets, Contract
J. Ranjan finds that a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical resident are entitled to legal defense under their employer’s liability policy from defamation claims by the chair of the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery department, alleging the couple illegally obtained evidence with which to start a retaliatory smear campaign against him after he discovered their workplace romantic affair and reassigned them to separate work areas. The court finds that because it is within the doctor’s job description to ensure the safety of their patients, the hospital insurer has a duty to defend them from allegations relevant to their job duties, such as accessing patient medical records to facilitate a medical malpractice claim from a botched lung transplant, and bugging an exam room to record a conversation between the department chair and his physician about his own Suboxone use.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Ranjan, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1042, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Whistleblowers, Employment Retaliation
J. Fischer adopts a "flexible approach to admitting expert testimony," finding that construction equipment maker Caterpillar may not stop an injured excavator driver from presenting expert testimony alleging manufacturing defects caused the injuries he suffered when a spike tooth on the excavator bucket broke off on a rock and ricocheted, piercing through the closed cab of the vehicle and hitting him in the leg, fracturing his right tibia and fibula. Even though the projectile spike tooth and excavator were not preserved as evidence, the experts may utilize photo evidence for analysis at this stage of litigation.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv956, NOS: Motor Vehicle Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Consumer Law, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Conti dismisses certain contract counterclaims brought against a competing aluminum manufacturer in claims arising from a licensing agreement that allows use of the competitor's aluminum pretreatment process in manufacturing Ford F-150 pickup truck bodies. The licensing agreement does not provide particulars about material pricing and "market forces," and both parties paid the same price for materials from the same supplier, with the exception that the competitor received royalties for the use of proprietary technology.
Court: USDC Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Conti, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 2:17cv1434, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition, Contract