320 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of Louisiana "'.
J. Ashe grants a request by an alleged police brutality victim, awarding civil penalties in the total amount of $17,000 for the city���s failure to timely respond to his state law public records requests for interviews by internal affairs investigators, 911 call materials and police body-worn camera footage. The city acted unreasonably or arbitrarily by failing to give any explanation for its seven-business-day delay in responding to the litigant���s first public records request, instead stating he did not suffer any injury due to the de minimus delay. A civil penalty is not awarded based on the injury suffered by the requestor; it is awarded when a custodian unreasonably fails to timely notify the requestor of the availability of records, advise of an exception for their production or provide an estimated completion date.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:19cv11803, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Public Record, Damages, Police Misconduct
J. Currault grants summary judgment to the Secretary of the Army, dismissing an engineering technician���s Title VII employment claims of sex, religion, age, and disability discrimination and complaints of a hostile work environment. The Corps of Engineers has presented substantial evidence, including sworn declarations of the technician���s supervisors, coworkers and HR representatives, that undermine her allegations. The technician failed to come forward with any evidence in response.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3333, NOS: Federal Employers’ Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Government
J. Currault grants requests by the former owners of a bankrupt clinical laboratory, ordering a creditor suing them for fraud to respond with full and complete answers to discovery questions for the owners��� counterclaims. The creditor���s reference to court filings and memoranda are improper. Complaints and briefs are not verified and, therefore, do not provide admissible evidence, unlike a response to an interrogatory.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2570, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Discovery
J. Jolivette Brown grants a request by an insurance company, dismissing a homeowner���s contract claims arising from her hurricane-related property damages. The policy was issued to the mortage lender. The homeowner, as mortgagor, has not established she is entitled to any benefits from the policy. She unsuccessfully argues the remaining balance on the mortgage is $695,000 and, because the policy limit of $1 million exceeds the mortgage balance by $387,000, the lower, remaining amount is intended to benefit her. The policy does not contain a provision stating that any excess payment would be given to the mortgagor.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6691, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Fiduciary Duty, Contract
J. Papillion grants summary judgment to a children���s hospital, dismissing an employee���s Title VII religious discrimination complaint arising from her nine-day suspension for failing to get a Covid-19 vaccination. Her suspension was lifted and accommodations were made after the last of her four affidavits articulated a bona fide religious belief that conflicted with the hospital���s vaccine requirement. The first three sworn statements included largely disjointed legal maxims, bible verses and portions of the Nuremberg Code on human experiments. The successful fourth affidavit finally stated the employee believes she is ���a creation of the one true Creator Almighty,��� and that ���the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and as such should not be used for medical experimentation.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Papillion, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv4757, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Health Care, Covid-19
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J. Van Meerveld grants a request by developers and a flooring company to dismiss civil racketeering claims by the father and son owners of a construction company, alleging they were defrauded into investing in a business deal to purchase, renovate and sell real estate. The litigants��� allegations are insufficient to show the necessary predicate acts, or independent illegal activity, required for a RICO claim. Not one allegation in the suit identifies a fraud or misrepresentation. Instead, the alleged acts can only reasonably be interpreted as preliminary negotiations of a legitimate business deal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Van Meerveld, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv565, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, Business Practices, Racketeering
J. Currault denies a request by a Chevron plant to dismiss a 52-year-old white supervisor���s employment discrimination claims based on his race, sex and age. He alleges he was subjected to increased scrutiny, disparate treatment and required to work excessive shifts to force him out so his employer could further its diversity efforts by promoting younger minority workers. At the current stage of the litigation, his allegations allow him to proceed on his discrimination claims based on race, gender and age.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv7203, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Evidence
J. Zainey denies summary judgment to an insurer on its argument that its policy for an aircraft does not cover approximately $79,000 worth of repairs. The damage falls within a wear-and-tear exclusion, not as the result of ���a single-recorded incident which requires immediate repair.��� The policy fails to define the term ���single-recorded incident��� and ���immediate repair;" therefore, the ordinary meaning of the terms control. Because both the insurer and the policyholder offer reasonable interpretations of the terms, the policy is ambiguous under state law and must be interpreted in favor of the policyholder.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv4603, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Aviation
J. Lemelle denies summary judgment to the city of New Orleans and rules in favor of a group of property owners seeking short-term rental permits for lodging offered on internet platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The ruling bars the city from excluding surviving spouses and trust beneficiaries, such as adult children, as residential STR owners and operators, as their exclusion "has no lawful rational basis.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:19dv13773, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Government, Property, Housing
J. Milazzo denies summary judgment to a white police officer on his request for immunity from excessive force claims by two black men. They were seriously injured when he fired four shots into a silver Camaro, one of three cars that had been ���doing donuts��� on the lakefront. Taking together the assumptions the two men were attempting to flee the parking lot to evade arrest, were under suspicion of reckless driving - a relatively minor crime - and the officer was not in immediate harm, a jury could reasonably find the degree of force used the officer was not reasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv333, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Africk grants a request by a district attorney and his assistant state prosecutor to dismiss state law defamation claims by a litigant in connection with his arrest for taking pictures of a carnival amusement ride at a Catholic school fair. In an earlier federal suit related to that incident, a jury found a single sheriff���s deputy liable for excessive force violations, false arrest and imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. State prosecutors are protected by the doctrine of absolute immunity, while other claims are dismissed as time-barred.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1247, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Jury, Malicious Prosecution, Police Misconduct
J. Jolivette Brown grants a request by a Nevada resident for an order freezing $294,000 worth of his cryptocurrency assets traced to private accounts held by a purported investor he is suing for fraud. The litigant has shown that irreparable harm will ensue absent a restraining order, considering the speed with which cryptocurrency transactions are made, as well as the anonymous nature of those transactions. The potential recovery of assets will disappear if the accused is allowed to transfer the allegedly stolen assets into inaccessible digital wallets, which could occur at any moment.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv393, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Evidence, Fraud, Conversion
J. Milazzo denies a request by the manufacturer of a chemotherapy drug to dismiss 47 cases in the mass product liability litigation in which the litigant has passed away, in some cases, years ago. It is the burden of the litigants��� counsel to notify the decedent���s representatives, not the drug-maker.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 2:16md2740, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Damages, Negligence
J. Vitter denies summary judgment to the owner of an offshore production platform on the argument it is not responsible for injuries a rig worker allegedly sustained on a chartered supply vessel carrying him to an oil platform. Two site leaders on the platform at the time of the incident testified that the rig owner has control over both the timing and the means by which a crew change occurs.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv122, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Employment, Maritime, Tort
J. Currault finds for the insurer of a coastal Louisiana hospital district, finding its policy does not cover the medical facility���s loss of income resulting from the state���s suspension of non-emergency procedures during the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. A proper reading of the policy���s communicable disease provision means a disease outbreak must occur at the insured premises, not from people infected from an outbreak elsewhere who show up to the hospital for medical treatment. The hospital���s infectious disease control manager testified it was not until the end of 2021 or 2022 that she reported several hospital-acquired Covid-19 cases, and both dates are past the relevant policy period.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv689, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Business Expectancy, Covid-19
J. Vance grants a request by the Uber rideshare company for a stay, but not dismissal, of a passenger���s lawsuit pending arbitration of negligence claims she was run over by the driver of the hired car. A case may be dismissed in favor of arbitration only if all the issues and claims raised are subject to arbitration. The passenger���s claims against two additional litigants, the driver of the Uber and an insurance company, may be litigated without arbitration.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1775, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Tort, Negligence
J. Africk grants a default judgment to a natural gas pipeline company against seven remaining landowners for its suit for right of use and right of way over their properties for the construction of a compressor station and other facilities in the coastal Louisiana town of Golden Meadows. The seven landowners are deceased or could not be located by the company. The pipeline company has agreed to pay $100 in compensation to each of the seven landowners who would otherwise receive less than $100.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2793, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Construction, Energy, Property
J. Vitter grants a request by a bank to dismiss a landscaping business��� complaint the creditor did not timely process its application for a federally guaranteed pandemic recovery loan in 2021 before the Small Business Administration ran out of funds. The ruling agrees with the bank���s assertion the business disingenuously refused to admit it earned far more than the loan program���s maximum of $1 million in gross revenues required to qualify for a 30-day notification by the bank, information the business concealed by redaction from its lawsuit. "The [c]ourt will not tolerate such gamesmanship."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1324, NOS: Banks and Banking - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, Business Practices, Covid-19
J. Ashe grants a request by the president and majority owner of an oilfield services company, dismissing on jurisdictional grounds its fired COO���s suit to dissolve the company, and for an accounting and access to company records. The president, a citizen of Florida, and the ex-COO, the company���s minority owner, is a citizen of Texas, so the company is a citizen of both states. The minority-shareholder's suit must be dismissed because it cannot proceed without the company, but adding the company would destroy the diversity of citizenship required for federal jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6409, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Corporations, Partnerships
J. Barbier denies summary judgment to the New Orleans Police Department on its argument a negligent hiring claim by the mother of a 14-year old girl should be dismissed because nothing in a 53-year-old police officer���s background check made it plainly obvious he would sexually assault a child. The victim has identified facts in the record that could allow a reasonable jury to find the decision to hire the now-imprisoned ex-officer reflects the department���s deliberate indifference to the particular risk that would follow from his hiring. When he applied for a police job, NOPD was aware he had five arrests on his criminal record, which qualifies him as a habitual offender under the NOPD���s own rules.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv407, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Police Misconduct
J. Currault grants a request by a New Orleans property owner, ordering her insurer to produce written materials pertaining to her claim for damages by Hurricane Ida. The insurer���s nine-month delay in the production of documents identified in the court���s discovery protocols is improper. Likewise, the insurer���s discovery responses, most of which reflect boilerplate, unsubstantiated objections, are insufficient.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv761, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Discovery
J. Vitter grants summary judgment to a minority-owner of a joint venture of general contractors formed to obtain construction work on prison buildings in New Orleans, dismissing the majority-owner's demands for a total of $6 million in capital contributions it made on behalf of its estranged minority partner. The ruling finds the joint venture agreement requires an executive committee's approval of the need for capital contributions to bind the two contractors and partners. The language of the joint venture agreement makes it clear the minority partner is not in default of the contract since the executive committee did not unanimously approve the majority partner���s capital contribution.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5323, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Evidence, Government
J. Vance denies a property manager���s request to strike a former tenant���s claim he violated Louisiana law by failing to notify him for almost one year that his social security number and other personal data had been stolen, resulting in major corporations pursuing him for fraudulent purchases. The ex-landlord argues the former tenant knew his allegations were false based on correspondence between the litigants��� attorneys that included letters to the state���s attorney general. However, the correspondence does not clearly show the ex-tenant's state law claim is defective.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1450, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Negligence, Privacy
J. Ashe denies summary judgment to an insurer on its refusal to cover a church's hurricane-related coverage request for a full replacement of its approximately 42,300 square-foot roof, including a warehouse. The insurer has failed to sustain its burden of demonstrating there are no disputed issues of material fact concerning whether the building needs an entire roof replacement. As to the church's bad-faith claims, genuine issues of material fact remain with respect to the timely payment of undisputed amounts, and the timeliness and sufficiency of the insurer's investigation and adjustment of the church's insurance claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3130, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Experts
J. Milazzo grants a request for default judgment by a seller of construction material against a contractor for unpaid invoices amounting to $399,000. The contractor has failed to appear in court, respond to the suit or otherwise defend itself. However, the prevailing construction business���s request for attorney fees in the amount of $4,700 does not detail the lawyers hourly billing rate nor the hours spent on the litigation; therefore, the litigant must submit attorney fees and costs according to Louisiana law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv511, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Enforcement Of Judgments, Attorney Fees
J. Fallon, following a one-day trial of negligent damage claims by a shipyard against a family-owned marine facility located approximately 1,000 yards upstream, finds the litigant-facility is 65 percent responsible for damage to its own dock and two of its ships and the family-owned shipyard is 35 percent responsible for a breakaway vessel striking other maritime property during Hurricane Ida in 2021. The shipyard bears the most fault due to the number of deficiencies and the nature of flaws in its mooring arrangement of two vessels.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv154, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Maritime, Damages
J. Currault grants a request by a T.J. Maxx store allowing it to withdraw admissions to facts that had been deemed admitted when it responded past a deadline to a litigant's discovery requests for her slip and fall suit. Allowing the store to withdraw the deemed admissions at the early stage of the litigation is proper. Withdrawal of the deemed admissions is favored, as it will allow for resolution of the litigant's suit on its merits rather than procedural error. Further, withdrawal will not hurt the litigant's case, despite her protests of the store counsel's "abuses of professional courtesies."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv5020, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Tort, Discovery
J. Africk denies a credit union���s request to dismiss a widow���s claim the loan servicer did not provide her with sufficient information, as required by a consumer protection law, when it held her liable for the debts of her husband up to the value of the property that she inherited on behalf of herself and their minor child. With respect to the widow���s alleged failure to claim one of three specific causes for her complaint under the statute, the credit union���s arguments are without merit.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv5618, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Consumer Law, Banking / Lending, Racketeering