100 results for 'judge:"Wright "'.
J. Wright denies a made-to-measure clothing franchisor's motions to alter or amend the judgment after the court awarded rescission and punitive damages to a franchisee in a contract dispute. The franchisee alleged fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of contract, and filed suit to confirm rescission of the franchise agreement. The franchisor was sanctioned for discovery misconduct during the proceedings, and its counsel withdrew, leading the court to grant default judgment to the franchisee and awarded rescission. The judgment is not erroneous and does not violate due process.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv9090, NOS: Franchise - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Wright partially denies the sheriff's motion for summary judgment in a civil rights action brought by the journalists alleging that they were harassed, shot with less-lethal weapons and unfairly arrested during the law enforcement response to protests after the deaths of George Floyd and Daunte Wright. The sheriff's motion is granted as to the journalists' injunctive and declaratory relief claims. However, the sheriff is entitled to qualified immunity as to three journalists' civil rights claims against him in his individual capacity. The city's motion for summary judgment is denied because the journalists presented evidence of a persistent pattern of unconstitutional misconduct by the police department and deliberate indifference by the city. The evidence shows that officers "deliberately and systematically" targeted journalists who were identifiable as members of the press and were not committing crimes. There is also evidence supporting the inference of a conspiracy between the police department, state patrol and other agencies to disregard curfew exemptions and interfere with the freedom of the press.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1302, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Police Misconduct
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J. Wright partially grants the company's motion to dismiss a nationwide class action brought by the homeowners arising from damages to their property allegedly caused by defective Power Grout and Hardener products. The motion is granted with respect to the homeowners' claims under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and Minnesota statutes, as well as the negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment and product liability claims. The homeowners failed to show that the Minnesota legislature intended for the statutes to apply extraterritorially. The homeowners failed to allege sufficient facts showing that damage occurred to their homes and property value to surmount the economic-loss doctrine.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv2173, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Product Liability, Warranty, Class Action
J. Wright partially rules in favor of the contractor in a breach of contract action against the subcontractor arising from microtunneling work performed as part of a water main construction project. The contractor's motion for summary judgment is granted as to the subcontractor's counterclaims for breach of contract, misappropriation of property and professional negligence but denied as to the wrongful termination, warranty and prompt payment counterclaims. The contractor's motion to exclude an estimator's testimony is granted to the extent that his opinions on engineering and geological topics are beyond his area of expertise. The motion is denied in all other respects. The subcontractor's motion to exclude testimony from a geotechnical engineer and a scheduling and damages expert is denied. The contractor's motion to exclude testimony from a construction expert and a hydrogeology expert is also denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv808, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Experts, Contract
J. Wright grants the corporation's motion to dismiss the former employee's action under the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act due to his failure to state a claim. The employee's motion for leave to amend is denied. The proposed second amended complaint fails to state claims under the Act against the corporation's counsel, its law firm and two executives. The employee also failed to allege a sufficient basis for invalidating agreements releasing the corporation and its agents or affiliates from liability for claims which do not fall under the Act.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1922, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Labor
J. Wright II grants the bioceramics company $2,900, finding that the equipment supplier CEO is liable for false advertising and unfair competition for making or approving statements about the bioceramics company's "Celliant" products, which violated a permanent injunction from a prior lawsuit the bioceramics company brought against the CEO. The evidence indicates that the CEO timed the bankruptcy filing of the equipment supplier with his statements about Celliant to avoid making payments under the settlement agreement from the prior lawsuit.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright II, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1149, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Bankruptcy, Trademark, False Advertising
J. Wright finds the trial court properly terminated the mother's parental rights to her minor child. The mother and child both tested positive at birth for illegal drugs. The mother failed to submit to drug testing and admitted to relapsing on heroin. All evidence is legally and factually sufficient to support the court���s findings. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 09-23-00108-CV, Categories: Family Law
J. Wright finds the trial court properly assessed $937 in court costs for defendant's conviction of possession of less than 1 gram of meth. Though the trial court did not orally pronounce a $500 fine, and so could not include it in the final judgment, the same rule does not apply to taxable costs, which are not part of the punishment. Defendant has not shown that the court erred by rendering a judgment including $937 in taxable costs. The $500 fine is deleted. Affirmed as modified.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00198-CR, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Due Process
[Consolidated] J. Wright finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child, sentencing him to 70 years and 20 years, respectively. When the trial court asked if there were objections to seating the jurors, none were given. Nothing in Arkansas' rules requires that a court specifically request whether there are any challenges for cause, and the complaint regarding jury selection is not preserved. Though defendant argues that the court went into ���unnecessary details��� regarding the indictment to the jury, he does not specify what statements were unnecessary, nor does he cite to any legal authority as to why they might show bias. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00121-CR, Categories: Jury, Sex Offender, Child Victims
[Consolidated] J. Wright finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for harassment of a public servant and assault on a peace officer. Officers responded to a report of a naked, belligerent man, covered in blood. Defendant proceeded to spit on and punch one of the officers, which was recorded on both officers' body cams. The officers testified at trial that they believed defendant was on PCP, which defendant claims had been "laced" into a joint he had smoked, without his knowing. Even if defendant had properly requested a jury instruction on involuntary intoxication, preserving his appellate complaint, the trial court still correctly denied the instruction as it was not raised by the evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00226-CR, Categories: Assault, Harassment, Jury Instructions
J. Wright denies the bankrupt cryptocurrency mining location services provider's employees' motion to dismiss the provider's client's suit against them alleging that they made false statements in order to convince it to use their location for its mining operations. The employees' argument that the fraud allegations are preempted by the client's contract with their employer fails since they are not party to the contract, as does their argument that the allegedly fraudulent statements were inactionable "puffing" statements or predictions. The client has also adequately pleaded reliance on the statements and that the supervisors among the employees directed the other employees to make the allegedly misleading statements. Since the client does not request return of its equipment, its claims need not be resolved in the provider's bankruptcy proceedings. Fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy claims also survive, and a motion to stay pending the resolution of bankruptcy proceedings is denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv2911, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Wright finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the developer that sought to enforce the buy-back agreement with the sellers of a property based on restrictions that prevented it from completing its proposed project. The evidence supports the finding that the sellers "were estopped from arguing the validity of the restrictions." Though, the award of damages for breach of contract is deleted since the developer had obtained judgment on its specific performance claim. Affirmed as modified.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 10-21-00309-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Real Estate, Contract
J. Wright denies the employee's motion to compel a discovery conference and grants the employer's motion to stay discovery and related deadlines in the employee's action alleging unpaid wages and retaliation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employer has shown that it is sufficiently likely to succeed on the merits of its motion to dismiss to justify a discovery stay, and that continuing discovery while the motion to dismiss is pending would be more prejudicial to the employer than failing to would be to the employee.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1922, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment, Discovery
J. Wright partially denies the city, county and Department of Natural Resources and their officers' motions to dismiss the protester's suit alleging constitutional violations during protests of the death of Daunte Wright. The protester has standing to bring his claims and to seek injunctive relief, and has plausibly alleged that the county sheriff knew of an unconstitutional pattern of behavior by his subordinates sufficient to overcome a qualified-immunity defense. The protester's Fourteenth Amendment claims are dismissed for failure to state a claim, but his conspiracy claims survive.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1666, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Wright partially grants the employee's motion to amend her complaint to add punitive damages and factual allegations against her employer and its CEO and sole owner. The employee's proposed new allegations, which seek to attribute the CEO's sexual harassment and assaults to the employer, are not futile, nor is the request for punitive damages, in part because the employee's agreement to a choice-of-law provision requiring employees to litigate disputes in Minnesota and under Minnesota law.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1623, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Choice Of Law, Employment Discrimination
J. Wright finds the trial court properly terminated the father���s parental rights to his daughter. The father was in prison when his daughter was born, and he admitted that he used meth with the mother before his arrest. Although he didn���t specify that the mother used while she was pregnant, the jury could make reasonable inferences to find that the parents knowingly used meth together while the child was in utero. The jury could also reasonably conclude that the father���s imprisonment for at least three felonies created a life of uncertainty and instability due to his unavailability to care for the child in the mother���s absence after her removal for drug use. All evidence and record support the endangerment finding. The father also was able to meaningfully participate through Zoom, and his due process claim fails. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 09-23-00050-CV, Categories: Family Law, Due Process, Guardianship
J. Wright grants a company's motion for preliminary injunction to enjoin a trustee from arbitrating claims against the company in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration. The trustee alleges that an employee of the company orchestrated a Ponzi scheme and that the trust lost over $300,000 by investing in the scheme. The trustee has not shown that the individual was acting as the company's employee when he facilitated the investment, and the trustee agrees that the individual operated the investment scheme as an "outside business" that was undisclosed to his employer. The company has shown that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv2994, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Injunction
J. Wright grants JPMorgan Chase's motion to dismiss an account-holder's allegations that the bank breached its fiduciary duty and aided and abetted fraud when an unauthorized signatory was able to withdraw $199,000 over eleven separate transactions. The account holder has not shown that depositing funds into its account created a fiduciary duty between it and the bank, as banks are not fiduciaries for depositors, therefore their relationship is instead founded on contract. The account holder has not shown that the bank had knowledge of the unauthorized signatory's fraudulent conduct. The account holder is granted leave to amend.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: August 4, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv699, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Fiduciary Duty, Negligence
J. Wright finds that the trial court properly denied the civilly committed sexually violent predator's application for writ of habeas corpus. The ward left his court-ordered residence while his initial appeal was pending and failed to establish that good cause existed to retain his appeal, which was dismissed with prejudice. He brings 23 issues on this appeal, which are all overruled or moot. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00219-CV, Categories: Commitment, Habeas
J. Wright finds the trial court improperly adopted the award of the special commissioners who were appointed pursuant to Texas seeking to condemn one-tenth of an acre of private land in furtherance of a highway widening project. The state's objections to the award were timely, and the court was required to proceed under property code to consider them in due form. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wright , Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00055-CV, Categories: Construction, Government, Property
J. Wright grants the insurer's motion for judgment on the pleadings in the insureds' suit seeking coverage for the theft of their cryptocurrency tokens by hackers. The tokens do not fall under the insured's policy's "direct physical loss" provisions, since they are a purely digital asset.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv691, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Wright denies an individual's motion for summary judgment and affirms the decision of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records regarding the individual who is "seeking an upgrade of his discharge characterization" and review of Army Board findings. The individual was discharged from the Army for "fraudulent entry" for failing to disclose that he had been investigated for marriage fraud to obtain a visa. The Correction Board did not err in refusing to amend the reasons for the individual's discharge or for refusing to upgrade his character of service to "honorable."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1905, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Military
J. Wright denies in part the government's motion for partial summary judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit after a government employee driving a van crashed into the decedent's motorcycle. Damages claims are brought by decedent's estate and by his parents. The estate "may proceed with its claim for pain and suffering damages, but only as to the time period beginning just before Decedent���s collision with the vehicle and ending with Decedent���s collision with the ground." The parents are entitled to recover funeral expenses, but there is a genuine issue of disputed fact regarding the amount.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1529, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Wrongful Death
J. Wright II grants $55,600 in attorney fees to the geles company for prevailing in the apparel company's trademark claim accusing the geles company of infringing on the former's "ANGELINA" and "SWAN" trademarks by selling geles, a type of headwear, with the "ANGELINA SWANN" mark. This case is exceptional as there was not a reasonable chance of consumer confusion regarding the products. Also, the apparel company committed unreasonable litigation conduct by repeatedly not fulfilling its discovery obligations.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright II, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv915, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Attorney Fees