71 results for 'judge:"Pitman"'.
J. Pitman grants a law firm’s motion to intervene in a wrongful death case against the city of Austin and city police in which the law firm said it was removed from the case “without good cause” despite spending “significant amounts of time” investigating the family’s claims and otherwise working on the issue. The law firm has met its burden to intervene, including by showing it has an interest in this case due to a prior contingency fee arrangement and because no other party in this case will advocate for its interests.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv9, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Wrongful Death, Contract
J. Pitman declines to a former worker’s motion to reconsider a convoluted case in which she sued her former employer for alleged wrongful termination and other claims and her former employer in turn sued her for allegedly violating the terms of her employment contract, including by allegedly breaching a non-disclosure agreement. While the worker makes a somewhat “convincing” argument that a finding of wrongful termination could “void” this second case brought against her, she has “waived” this argument by waiting too long into this process to make it.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv627, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Employment, Fraud, Contract
J. Pitman grants a motion by X Corp, the successor of Twitter, to remand to state court a convoluted dispute in which X Corp accuses a former employee of violating confidentiality agreements and the employee, in a putative class-action brought in California, accuses X Corp of "fail[ing] to pay bonuses owed" to him and other workers. While this legal dispute has multiple wrinkles, the goal of an injunction sought by X Corp is simply "the return of confidential information to Twitter," and because the former employee cannot show the sought injunction "is worth more than $75,000," this federal court does not have jurisdiction to hear this particular controversy.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv778, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Trade Secrets, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Pitman declines to dismiss Yeti Coolers' complaint accusing two sister corporations of selling tumblers that violate Yeti's dress rights. The two corporations "have sold dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of the infringing tumblers into Texas" through a program called "Fulfillment by Amazon." Most district courts have found that repeated purchases through FBA into a state establishes that state's specific jurisdiction over those products, so the court has jurisdiction in this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv79, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Jurisdiction
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J. Pitman issues a preliminary injunction preventing the Texas Education Agency from enforcing some state employment requirements after the agency was sued by the spouse of a military member for violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act for allegedly failing to recognize the "portability" of her school-counselor licensure from another state. The spouse has not only shown that she was harmed by these alleged failures but also that a "balance of equities" supports this finding because while Texas "undoubtedly has a strong interest in regulating the qualification and licensure of its educators," forcing compliance with the SCRA on this matter would result in "limited encroachment" on Texas' "regulatory authority."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv551, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Education, Government
J. Pitman grants summary judgment to the Department of Labor after it was sued by a restaurant association over a rule from the department limiting the amount of non-tipped work that tipped employees can do following allegations from the department that restaurants were misusing “tip credits” — that is, offsets taken out of tips and later paid to employees to make sure they are making minimum wage — in order to subsidize non-tipped work. The association has sought to enjoin this rule, but while the Fifth Circuit did previously find that restaurants could face harm from the rule, the rule was not arbitrary and capricious, and without it, the government and the public could be harmed.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1106, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Government, Labor, Injunction
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly resentenced to 20 years at hard labor on his conviction for manslaughter. Defendant does not present evidence to support his claim of poor health, and the sentence is not excessive based on defendant finding a gun and killing an unarmed victim during a drug fueled altercation. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 55,099-KA, Categories: Sentencing, Manslaughter
J. Pitman denies the former employee’s motion to dismiss or transfer this case brought by her former employer, a marketing company, claiming breach of contract, tortious interference and computer fraud. The court is not persuaded that “breach of contract/non-solicitation allegations must be brought as counterclaims to employment discrimination claims.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv627, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Contract
J. Pitman partially grants a motion to compel arbitration in a convoluted contract dispute that happened after former plans by the parties in this case to create a real-estate investment fund went sour. This case should be “bifurcated,” with some claims going to arbitration and others going to federal court, because while this “may be inefficient,” it is a “direct result of the parties’ decisions in this litigation,” including a decision by one party to not originally include an opposing party in arbitration despite a Fifth Circuit ruling on the matter.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: June 22, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1247, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Real Estate, Contract
J. Pitman denies attorney fees to a semiconductor resale and intermediary company after it was sued by a competitor for alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and other claims. The competitor alleged that the company, which was formed by former employees, was using proprietary client information and other trade secrets stolen from it, but those claims have not entirely stood up to scrutiny in court, including after the Fifth Circuit determined that one former employee had “deleted the relevant … files” from his computer storage “before joining” the first company. That first company now moves for attorney fees on the grounds that the initial complaint was “objectively specious” and “bad faith,” but they cannot meet this high bar as the competitor had valid reasons for concern.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv377, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Trade Secrets, Attorney Fees, Technology