505 results for 'court:"USDC Northern District of Illinois"'.
J. Kennelly denies an Alaskan Native tribe-owned lending company’s motions to compel a RICO class action to arbitration, and to transfer the case to the District of Alaska. The suing class is composed of Illinois residents who took loans from the lending company, whose loans’ annual interest rates range from 466.66% to 792.76% — rates, the borrowers say, are illegal under Illinois law. They argue the lender uses its status as a Native American-owned business to predate on customers while dodging state and federal laws by asserting sovereign immunity. The court finds the Northern District of Illinois is a proper venue, as that is where the class members’ alleged injuries took place, and also finds that the class’s claims cannot be addressed by arbitration.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3590, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Native Americans, Banking / Lending, Racketeering
J. Coleman grants an insurance company’s motion to strike a group of policyholders’ expert testimony, and denies the policyholders’ motion for class certification. The policyholders accuse the insurance company of charging excessive premiums during the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing fraud charges under Illinois law. The court, though, finds the policyholders have not established predominance or commonality of injury sufficient to form a class.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Coleman, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv4306, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, Class Action
J. Daniel partially denies Veterans Affairs’ motion for summary judgment, and denies the suing VA pharmacy technician’s motion for summary judgment on the plaintiff’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims. The pharmacy technician suffered an extensive nerve injury while on the job that left her with only limited use of her arms, hands and neck; she says the VA failed to accommodate her disability afterwards. She also claims to have faced disparaging remarks at work that created a hostile environment, and that the VA retaliated against her after she filed a separate equal employment opportunity charge when she was passed over for promotion. The court allows the technician’s retaliation and failure to accommodate claims stand without granting her judgment, and grants the VA judgment on her interference and discrimination claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Daniel, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv6216, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Ellis denies the defendant Covid-19 testing site operator’s motion to dismiss a contract complaint brought by the suing health care revenue services company, but grants the operator’s motion to move the case to the federal court district of Nebraska. The revenue services company claims the testing site operator hasn’t paid up for four invoices related to its efforts to collect patients’ outstanding debts. The court finds that, while it does have sufficient jurisdiction over the case for it to survive a dismissal motion, the better venue is Nebraska, where the testing site operator maintains its primary place of business.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Ellis, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv6445, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Health Care, Venue, Contract
J. Durkin partially grants a number of staffing and temp agencies’ motion to enjoin a number of new Illinois labor protections for temporary workers that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law last year. One new protection requires the agencies to pay workers who are at a job site for more than 90 days wages commensurate with the lowest-paid, directly hired employee of the company that hired the agencies for their temp workers. Another protection attempts to discourage scabbing during labor strikes: It requires the temp agencies to inform their workers of any job happening at the site of a labor dispute, and bars the temp agencies from holding temp workers’ refusal to work despite the strike against them when they seek another job. A third protection allows “interested parties” to seek private action against any temp agency the parties suspect of violating labor law. The court finds that the temp agencies have made a showing of irreparable harm and that the balance of equities tips in their favor, but orders the agencies and the Illinois Department of Labor to jointly submit a proposed preliminary injunction order on or before March 15.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Durkin, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv16208, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Erisa, Labor / Unions, Labor
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J. Daniel partially grants Walmart’s motion to dismiss a trio of consumers’ fraud class action, brought over the overstated thread count of Walmart’s “Hotel Style” bed sheets. The court finds the consumers have sufficiently alleged fraud under Illinois law, as well as unjust enrichment, common law fraud, breach of warranty and negligent misrepresentation, on the basis that the sheets have less than half the 800-thread count advertised on their packaging. But the court also finds the consumers lack standing for injunctive relief as they have no plans to purchase the same sheets in the future, so they will not be falsely advertised to again. The court also dismisses the plaintiffs’ claims under California law, citing lack of jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Daniel, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv5315, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Johnston grants a number of Illinois State Police officers’ motion for summary judgment, and partially grants Rockford and its police officers' motion for summary judgment, on a slew of civil rights, conspiracy, emotional distress and due process claims brought by a man who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. The man claims police fabricated evidence and coerced testimony against him, and similarly withheld evidence that might have helped his case. The court absolves the Illinois State Police from their role in the alleged conspiracy against the wrongly convicted man, but allows his due process and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims stand against all but two of the implicated Rockford police, who are dismissed from the suit. The man’s indemnification claim against Rockford itself also stands.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Johnston, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 3:18cv50040, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Emotional Distress, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Rowland grants a number of Illinois municipalities’ motion to remand this ongoing negligence, nuisance and product liability suit to the Circuit Court of Cook County. The municipalities sued Monsanto and several other companies over their contamination of public land and water with polychlorinated biphenyls, highly carcinogenic chemicals whose production was banned in the U.S. under the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. The municipalities initially filed suit in Cook County, but companies had the case moved to federal court from in 2023 on the grounds that federally administered lands and waters were implicated in the complaint. But the court grants the remand on the basis of the municipalities disclaiming any injuries to federal holdings, and only seeking restitution for damage done to their own jurisdictions.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3140, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Environment, Product Liability, Venue
J. Tharp partially grants both Ledo pizza parties’ motions for summary judgment on their combined half dozen competing trademark claims for the “Ledo” mark. The court precisely slices these complex competing claims, including abandonment and allegedly void trademark registrations, in a manner more thoroughly laid out in the opinion itself.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Tharp, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv7350, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Wood partially grants a bank’s motion to dismiss claims by a tax lien trader that it presented her with inaccurate account statements. The lien trader further claims the lien trading platform, the bank and several Florida counties have conspired to lock her lien trading account but continue to trade liens and keep the sale proceeds for themselves without transferring any money into her bank account. The court dismisses all of the lien trader’s numerous allegations, save for one negligence claim over the bank not maintaining accurate records and losing funds that should have been deposited into her account.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Wood, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3589, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tax, Negligence, Banking / Lending
J. Kocoras grants the University of California, Berkeley engineering department motion for summary judgment, and partially grants the sued data analytics platform’s motion for summary judgment, on the university’s claims that the defendant infringed on its patents for programs designed to calculate object level profitability. The court mostly finds in the university’s favor in the patent dispute, but finds in the platform’s favor on the university’s claim that the platform induced infringement by encouraging its customers to use the university’s programs.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kocoras, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv7472, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Education, Patent
J. Alonso grants Johnson & Johnson’s motion for summary judgment, and denies the suing plastic container manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment, on the question of whether Johnson & Johnson’s “Ziploc Endurables” products infringe on the plaintiff’s own line of silicone food containers and the method for creating them. The court finds Ziploc Endurables infringe on neither patent.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Alonso, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv5028, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Technology
J. Pallmeyer partially grants the defendant U.S. Veterans Affairs Department’s motion for summary judgment on a former employee’s race discrimination and Title VII retaliation claims. The former employee, a Black man, claims the VA fired him in retaliation for a heated argument he had with a white coworker that almost boiled over into a fight. However, the court found the VA also had reasonable cause to fire the employee due to lapses in attendance and work protocol. The court grants judgment to the VA on the former employee’s race discrimination claims, but withholds judgment on his Title VII retaliation claim pending a de novo review.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Pallmeyer, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv9259, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Veterans, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Jenkins partially grants a motion for summary judgment from an Illinois village and its police, on claims the police used fatally excessive force during an arrest. The arrestee died of choking-related injuries he sustained after swallowing a plastic bag while police were on top of him and holding him down. The court grants judgment to the police on the excessive force claim as to the allegation that they stuck a plastic bag in the arrestee’s mouth, finding it is not sufficiently backed by evidence, but allows the excessive force claim to stand regarding other elements of the arrest.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jenkins, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3236, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Ellis grants the defendant marketing agents’ motion to dismiss RICO and Defend Trade Secrets Act violation claims brought by cryptocurrency developers. The developers hired the marketing agents to help them advertise their cryptocurrency and its associated hardware, only for the marketers to fleece them for as much money as possible, sometimes charging thousands of dollars for reasons that were never fully elaborated. They also failed to tell the developers that per a prior order from the FTC, they were not allowed to perform certain marketing activity. However, the court finds the developers have failed to show how the marketing agents' behavior amounts to racketeering or betrayal of trade secrets.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Ellis, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv708, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Trade Secrets, Technology, Racketeering
J. Leinenweber denies the originally sued insurance firm’s motion to transfer this case to Utah, and partially grants the originally suing insurance and capital firms’ motion to dismiss their opponents’ fraud, conspiracy, wage law violation and tort claims. This is a convoluted contract dispute arising from a number of businesspeople who passed their insurance and capital firms between each other and spent time working for each other. Now, in claims and counter-claims, they accuse each other of business malfeasance of various stripes, which the court attempts to simplify in this ruling eliminating all but three claims several of the parties on both sides face.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Leinenweber, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1109, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Tort, Interference With Contract
J. Finnegan partially grants a pair of former McDonald’s employees’ motion to override the fast food chain’s assertions of attorney-client privilege over documents the McDonalds attorney created, and depositions he conducted, while investigating the former employees to build a case for firing them. The court finds that records of the investigation itself are protected by attorney-client privilege, but orders McDonald’s to turn in unredacted copies of the attorney’s notes to see if any individuals should be subject to deposition again. The former employees will also be allowed to conduct a limited deposition of the investigating attorney himself regarding one specific memo.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Finnegan, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv117, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Privilege, Employment Discrimination
J. Seeger partially grants Cook County’s motion to dismiss constitutional and state law violations claims brought by a former photographer for the county medical examiner’s office. The ex-photographer claims he was fired in retaliation for complaining about his working conditions and how the office spent its budget; he says the office used his positive drug test result for cannabis as pretext to fire him. He brought First and Fourth Amendment violations claims as well as a number of state law claims. The court allows the Fourth Amendment claim to stand, and the First Amendment claim stands only regarding his formal complaint to OSHA about his working conditions. His retaliation claim under state law also survives dismissal, but the court tosses his state wage law violation claim and his claim for due process violations.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv5571, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Jensen denies a pro se litigant’s motion to disqualify the Illinois Attorney General’s Office and an Illinois assistant attorney general. The litigant claims an assistant attorney general conspired with law enforcement officials in 2017 to wrongfully arrest him, fabricate evidence against him and ensure his conviction in an underlying bogus criminal case. Though a court eventually vacated his conviction, this court finds the litigant has not sufficiently shown how the assistant attorney general acted unethically.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jensen, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv50041, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Constitution, Malicious Prosecution, Police Misconduct
J. Pallmeyer grants Cook County’s motion for summary judgment on claims that its statute barring assault weapon trade and ownership violate the Second Amendment. Two Cook County residents, backed by gun rights advocacy groups, challenged the county statute as unconstitutional in 2021. Given contrary determinations from the Seventh Circuit, which supported the county law, and nearly identical city-level assault weapon bans, the residents moved to have this case decided in the county’s favor so they could challenge factual underpinnings of the Seventh Circuit rulings on remand from an appeal. The county rejected that motion and instead committed to overcoming the legal challenge on its merits. Yet more support for assault weapon bans has emerged from the Seventh Circuit since 2021, and the court defers to the appellate judges’ determinations in granting the county summary judgment.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Pallmeyer, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv4595, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Constitution, Firearms
J. Shah partially grants the Cook County sheriff’s motion to dismiss civil rights claims brought by a man who is a former county arrestee. Deputies arrested the man while he was on pre-trial release in another case, without a warrant or court order, after they decided he had strayed from his court-ordered electric monitoring area. He ended up serving two years in jail, and now brings charges against the sheriff’s office for Fourth and 14th Amendment violations. The court finds he has not sufficiently alleged his 14th Amendment claims, but his Fourth Amendment claims against unlawful seizure stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Shah, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1782, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Alonso partially grants UPS’s motion for summary judgment on retaliation and sex & disability discrimination claims brought by one of its human resources managerial employees. The manager claims UPS didn’t provide her necessary accommodations to express breast milk at work, retaliated against her for taking maternity leave and for filing and filing an EEOC complaint, and passed her over for promotion. The court finds she has not sufficiently alleged her claim under the FMLA, nor her retaliation claim related to her maternity leave. Her remaining claims stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Alonso, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3506, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Seeger grants a nursing home operator’s motion to dismiss whistleblowing claims brought by an Illinois pharmacy owner, who said the nursing home operator provided patients with medication without prescriptions so it could cash in on Medicare payments. The court finds the government and pharmacy owner have not sufficiently alleged their claim under the False Claim Act, and concludes that their claim under the Controlled Substances Act is not actionable.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv1169, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Medicare, Elder Abuse, False Claims
J. Alonso grants an insurance company’s motion for reconsideration of a prior judgment, and denies a condiment packaging company’s motion for relief from a prior judgment. This case stems from an underlying Biometric Information Privacy Act class action the condiment company’s employees brought against it in 2021. The company argued the insurance company was obliged to indemnify it in this suit; the insurance company denied that obligation and sought a declaratory judgment from the court to back up its denial. The court previously declined to rule in favor of the insurance company, but on reconsideration now rules it has no duty to indemnify the condiment firm.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Alonso, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1334, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Privacy, Indemnification
J. Maldonado partially grants a university board’s motion to dismiss employment discrimination claims brought by an employee of the university’s health care and hospital system. The employee, a middle-aged Black woman, claimed she faced race and age-related discrimination at work, was unfairly targeted by her superiors for criticism, and faced retaliatory discipline for formally complaining about this treatment to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The court finds the employee has not sufficiently alleged her state law claim under the Illinois Gender Violence Act, or her adverse action claim. The rest of her claims against her employer stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Maldonado, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1410, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Seeger grants Netflix and the defendant documentarians’ motion to dismiss nearly two dozen tort, defamation, conspiracy, unjust enrichment and privacy claims brought by a woman who briefly appeared in a 2003 Kanye West music video, asking him for spare change. The woman claimed that when she appeared in the video she was at her lowest; in her complaint’s words, “broke, impoverished, disheveled, and desperate.” Clips of her from that time were included in the 2022 Netflix documentary series “Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,"” and she resented how she was represented in the series. However, the court finds that despite the unflattering representation, it was not materially false and thus not defamation, and further opines that she has not sufficiently alleged the rest of her claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2392, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, Emotional Distress, Privacy
J. Rowland denies a Chicago YWCA’s motion to dismiss contract breach and race discrimination claims brought by the founder of “World of Money," a financial tutoring program for children of color. The YWCA incorporated World of Money as one of its own programs in 2020, hiring the founder as its executive director. However, despite claiming World of Money as its own, the YWCA did not financially support the program or hold up the founder’s attempts to broaden it, then abandoned it entirely in 2023. The founder has adequately alleged her race discrimination and contract breach claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2821, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Contract