139 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin"'.
J. Duffin finds in favor of the plastic bag manufacturer in a lawsuit from a nutritional supplement company bringing breach of contract, warranty, conspiracy and other claims over thousands of defective bags the manufacturer made for the company's products. The manufacturer's motion to dismiss is denied regarding personal jurisdiction over the case, but it is granted as to each of the company's six claims, as its two warranty claims and contract and negligence claims are barred by expired four-year statutes of limitation, and its conspiracy and fraudulent misrepresentation claims are barred by Wisconsin's economic loss doctrine. The company's case is dismissed with prejudice.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Duffin, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv305, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Tort, Warranty, Contract
J. Griesbach finds in favor of the mental health hospital in the employee's lawsuit claiming she was retaliated against and forced to resign from her job because of her pregnancy, including through harassment she faced from a female supervisor who cast her maternity leave in a negative light and asked when she was going to stop getting "knocked up." The employee's sex discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act fail because she has not brought nearly enough evidence proving she was constructively discharged, in part because there is nothing in the record to suggest the hospital intended to fire her prior to her resigning when she returned from maternity leave, or that her work environment had become intolerable or unbearable. Summary judgment is granted to the hospital and the employee's claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Griesbach, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv551, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
J. Dries finds State Farm must engage with the homeowners in the process of appraising damages to their home, particularly cracks in the stone basement wall, caused by explosive blasting to remove underground rock during construction at their neighbors' property. Because the parties disagree on the "amount of loss" and whether the damages can even be repaired without razing the home, the homeowners properly demanded appraisal as they have a right to under their policy and case law supports the dispute over damages being subject to appraisal, the homeowners motion for declaratory judgment compelling appraisal is granted.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Dries, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv734, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Contract
J. Stadtmueller grants the SEC's motion to amend a judgment entered against the investors who perpetrated a fraudulent investment scheme targeting Hmong-Americans in Wisconsin and Minnesota which unlawfully raised more than $16 million, and the judgment is amended to reflect the investors' permanent ban from violating two additional sections of the Securities Act. It is further ordered that the investors are barred for two years from making any filings in any case that do not adhere to federal court rules, and the SEC's motion to strike some of these recent inappropriate and nonsensical filings, including those alleging a nonexistent contractual relationship between them and the SEC, is granted.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv450, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Enforcement Of Judgments
J. Duffin grants Caterpillar’s motion to exclude certain testimony from two experts appearing for the widow in her lawsuit alleging the defective design of one of Caterpillar’s dump trucks led to her husband’s death when the truck he was driving rolled over. One medical professional will not be permitted to opine about whether the husband was conscious for minutes after his accident before he died and another will not be permitted to opine about whether the husband felt pain or terror or suffering before he lost consciousness, as the opinions are either untimely, based on unclear or unsound methodology or they otherwise violate civil procedures. Caterpillar’s motion for oral argument and the widow’s motion for supplemental briefing are both denied.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Duffin, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1874, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Wrongful Death
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J. Pepper denies the employee's renewed but incomplete motion for class certification in his lawsuit against the produce company disputing nonpayment for work done during meal breaks of less than 30 minutes. In addition to denying the company's motion to reconsider a previous ruling on class certification and ordering the employee to file another certification motion following all applicable court rules, the employee's motion for summary judgment is denied and a new briefing schedule is established to allow him and the company to file revised briefs taking into account a recent Seventh Circuit decision dealing with similar issues of payment and meal breaks. Both parties are also admonished to stop bringing superfluous motions asking to file sur-reply briefs or to strike other filings, as they are clogging up the docket and will not be granted.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: June 19, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1802, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action, Labor
J. Duffin partially finds in favor of the foodstuffs packaging company in a lawsuit it brought against the cookie dough company over nonpayment for packaging products it provided. The packaging company's motion for judgment as a matter of law is granted in that the individual guarantors are found to have breached a personal guaranty to pay for product they received and are liable to pay $132,000 for goods delivered between March and May of 2019, and the packaging company is also granted judgment as a matter of law as to the guarantors' misrepresentation claims under Wisconsin law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Duffin, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv499, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Tort, Contract
J. Dries finds largely against an individual suing his friend, the friend's girlfriend and the company that owns the rural farm property they rent where, on July 4, 2020, the individual was hit in the face with commercial-grade fireworks they were lighting off, sustaining injuries which ultimately cost him his right eye. The girlfriend and the company are granted summary judgment on the individual's strict liability and negligence claims, as his own negligence and willing participation in what is not an "abnormally dangerous activity" as defined in Wisconsin law outweighs any liability they may have. The only claim to move forward is a negligence claim against the friend, who purchased the fireworks and lit the one that hit the individual in the face.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Dries, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1182, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence
J. Joseph finds partially in favor of the dancers in their class action lawsuit against the strip club and its owners bringing multiple claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act, including for failure to pay minimum wage and forced tip sharing. The dancers' motion for partial summary judgment is granted as to whether the club and owners misclassified them as independent contractors instead of employees, which is supported by the "economic reality" of their relationship with their employer. The strip club and owners' motion for summary judgment is granted as to the merits of the dancers' wage claims since, as a matter of law, they are not entitled to individual coverage because they are not "engaged in commerce" under the Act's terms, and the club is also not covered by the Act's enterprise coverage, regardless of whether it frequently serves out-of-state patrons. Given these findings, the case is dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Joseph, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv753, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action, Labor
J. Stadtmueller dismisses with prejudice a lawsuit from a citizen bringing excessive force, unlawful arrest and other constitutional claims over his arrest after police found him passed out in his parked and running car, during which time he smelled like alcohol and police found marijuana and a pipe in his car. The citizen's motion for a mistrial is denied because all of his accusations of a conspiracy by prosecutors and court officials to thwart his case are meritless and untrue, as are accusations that he was attacked by individuals at the behest of prosecutors the night after his trial, which are easily disproved by security footage showing him drunkenly falling and striking his head and arguing with first responders before he was briefly hospitalized and discharged, then came to court bleeding profusely, refused to cooperate and left before the jury could deliver its verdict. The citizen's actions are worthy of sanctions, so the officers' attorneys' motion for sanctions is granted in that he must pay $1,118 for the cost of empaneling the jury, plus the costs the attorneys took on to respond to his mistrial motion.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv996, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Sanctions
J. Pepper adopts the magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss the daughter’s wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital, hospice, nursing home and medical workers over the death of her mother, as well as alleged harassment and discrimination from her neighbors. Because none of the daughter’s claims coherently invoke federal law, her objections to the magistrate’s recommendation are overruled and the case is dismissed for failure to state a claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1440, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Medical Malpractice
J. Pepper denies the cheese company's motion to seal parts of the record in the employee's discrimination lawsuit where he alleges or implies the company uses illegal child labor and engaged in other criminal activity, including attempting to entice him with female minors. Although the employee is once again warned not to make these kinds of "irrelevant" and "inappropriate" allegations of criminal activity in his lawsuit, there is no basis under Seventh Circuit precedent to seal the documents as requested by the company, in part because they do not fit any of the three categories providing basis to seal and the company did not follow local rules by filing a redacted version of the documents they wish to have sealed. The employee is admonished that further violations of the court's rules and orders could result in sanctions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Pepper, Filed On: June 11, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv1335, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Sanctions, Employment Discrimination
J. Joseph finds in favor of the city, the county, prosecutors, and fire and police department officials in a lawsuit from a fire department lieutenant bringing constitutional claims over his arrest on charges alleging his racist and sexist harassment and sexual assault of a rookie female firefighter he supervised, as well as his placement on suicide watch while in jail before the charges were ultimately dismissed. Given the balance of the evidence, summary judgment is granted to the female firefighter, the county, the city and all officials on the lieutenant's federal constitutional claims, including those for due process, equal protection and malicious prosecution. Supplemental jurisdiction will not be exercised over the lieutenant's remaining state law claims for defamation, malicious prosecution and civil conspiracy, so they are dismissed without prejudice except the malicious prosecution claim, which is dismissed with prejudice.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Joseph, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1307, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Due Process
J. Stadtmueller finds partially in favor of the solar power plant developer in a lawsuit it faces from a company which loaned the developer more than $500,000 across two business notes which ended up in default. The company who made the loan's motion for summary judgment is partially granted, in that it is ordered that the developer is liable to the company for around $3.9 million per the terms of their agreement even though the company only ever dispersed $514,000, but the company's claim for turnover of a membership interest in the developer is dismissed with prejudice. If the parties are unable to agree on an amount of prejudgment interest, the first round of briefing on the matter is due from the company on July 5, 2023.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: June 2, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv757, NOS: Negotiable Instrument - Contract, Categories: Negligence, Contract
J. Ludwig finds in favor of the insurance company in a lawsuit from an employee health plan beneficiary claiming he was wrongfully denied long-term disability benefits after he stopped working in 2019 after 20 years on the job due to his worsening Multiple Sclerosis. The company made its decision based on the analysis of at least three doctors who found the beneficiary's disability precluded him from continuing to work with his longtime employer but not in a similar position for a different employer, which precludes him from being considered "disabled" under the plan.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Ludwig, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv391, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Insurance
J. Stadtmueller grants summary judgment to the plumbing products manufacturer in a lawsuit from an employee claiming she was disciplined more harshly than her white coworkers and fired because she is Black. The record contains multiple instances of the employee failing to meet the manufacturer's attendance and performance standards, and based on the evidence, the legitimate issues the employer cited when firing her had nothing to do with her race.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv65, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Joseph grants the government agencies' and officials' motion to dismiss a lawsuit from a Mexican citizen challenging the denial of her application for employment authorization subsequent to the denial of her application for adjustment of status and her widow petition after the death of her husband, a U.S. citizen, in 2014. The Mexican citizen's complaint must be dismissed because no subject matter jurisdiction is conferred to review or decide her claim under the Administrative Procedures Act or the Declaratory Judgment Act.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Joseph, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1535, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Immigration, Attorney Fees
J. Stadtmueller finds that because the Saudi Arabian telecom firm has for three years failed to effectively prosecute its breach of contract dispute against the mass alarm and siren company over allegedly defective sirens the latter provided for use by the Saudi government, including by failing to obtain local counsel and arrange for experts they claim from Saudi Arabia, the case must be dismissed with prejudice and costs.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv178, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Negligence, Contract
J. Joseph recommends a finding in favor of the municipalities, municipal officials and others in a lawsuit from property owners alleging in part that officials conspired to discriminate against them, falsely issued them tickets for having “animals at large” and failed to address needed repairs at their property. The magistrate says the property owners’ complaint should be dismissed, as their claims under the U.S. Constitution and state and federal law either fail to allege valid claims for relief or do not establish jurisdiction. Because the property owners have already amended their complaint once, leave to amend it again is denied as unwarranted.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Joseph, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv422, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Property