179 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Louisiana "'.
J. Cain grants partial summary judgment to an insurance company in a breach of insurance contract by two southwestern Louisiana homeowners who allege their carrier���s payments for damages from Hurricane Laura in 2020, were inadequate and untimely. Specifically, the insurer seeks summary judgment on its argument that the insured may not recover repair costs in excess of the $72,292 for which they have submitted proof and may not rely on estimates to prove the amount of damages for any repairs that have been completed. The homeowners both testified, however, that certain repairs have yet to be addressed, including the garage, attic and kitchen. They have therefore created an issue of fact as to the completion status of repairs. They are limited to the costs reflected in their invoices for completed repairs but may rely on estimates for other work.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1381, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Experts
J. Kay grants a request by survivors of a deceased truck driver for more complete discovery responses by a Chinese manufacturer and distributor of the left front tire on the vehicle which failed, resulting in a highway accident. The ruling orders the Chinese businesses to ���supplement and clarify��� their responses to nearly all of the 154 written requests by survivors��� counsel, with the hope that afterwards, the litigants will determine that their discovery dispute is ���much less wide ranging than it currently appears to be.���
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Kay, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv1111, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Commerce, Tort, Discovery
J. Summerhays denies a request by the former CEO of a hospice center to dismiss fraud claims by its insurance company, finding the insurer has alleged sufficient facts to support allegations that the top executive defrauded his employer over a four-year period by using his corporate American Express credit card to charge more than $500,000 worth of personal expenditures to and engaged in a variety of fraudulent activities to conceal his wrongdoing.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv690, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Fraud, Contract
J. Foote, on remand by the Fifth Circuit for abusing her judicial discretion by closing a predominantly white K-5 elementary school in a predominantly white community, orders the school to remain closed for the 2023-2024 school year pending further guidance from the Circuit. As the evidence demonstrates, there is no plan under which reopening the school contributes to a decades-long effort to desegregate the parish���s public school district���s primary schools, according to the 97-page ruling. If the Fifth Circuit���s remand means that the elementary school must be reopened, the lesser of several ���evils��� is reopening the school in 2024 as a prekindergarten-first grade school. That proposal balances the benefits of desegregation with the Fifth Circuit���s concerns about closing a local school.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Foote, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 6:65cv11314, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Judiciary
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J. Joseph denies a request by a meat processing plant to dismiss a white Hispanic shift manager���s national origin-based Title VII allegations because she purportedly failed to exhaust those claims at the administrative level before the EEOC. Because the circumstances that led to the manager���s allegations of discrimination at the plant are inextricably linked with her race and national origin, Alford���s national origin claim would ���reasonably be expected to grow out of the initial charges of discrimination��� based on her race. Therefore, she has administratively exhausted her national origin claims before the EEOC prior to filing suit.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv5758, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Summerhays denies summary judgment to Home Depot on its argument that two customers, allegedly injured by falling PVC pipes, have not produced any evidence ��� such as W2 forms, pay stubs or bank records ��� to support wage loss claims arising from their respective post-accident back surgeries. The store customers��� claim for loss of past earnings need not be proven with ���mathematical certainty.��� Their deposition testimony that they missed three months of work in order to recover from surgery creates a genuine issue of material fact as to lost earnings.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv642, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Damages
J. Hicks grants a request by a Virginia-based media service provider and issues a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the owner of three Louisiana television stations from selling the TV stations and other assets to anyone other than media provider, according to their alleged contractual agreement. If the order were not issued, the Louisiana TV owner might irreparably harm the Virgina-based media provider by selling the TV stations and other assets, thereby infringing on the latter litigant���s contractual rights. Further, enjoining the Louisiana TV owner from breaching a contract it signed after months of negotiations can hardly be said to harm its interests. The threatened injury to the media provider outweighs the threatened harm to the owner of the three Louisiana TV stations.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hicks, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv4212, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Communications, Fraud, Contract
J. Foote denies a request by Walmart to reconsider her ruling dismissing its petition for summary judgment on a slip-and-fall claim by a woman and her family against its store. Walmart unsuccessfully argued that the ruling erred because there is no ���positive evidence��� indicating that it knew or should have known of a spilled oil substance on the store floor. However, a Walmart employee testified he was alerted by another customer to the spill and while route to clean the mess, he encountered the litigant who claimed that she had slipped and fell on the oil. Walmart does not present any new issues or evidence that would necessitate a reassessment of its adverse ruling.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Foote, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv188, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Tort, Discovery
J. Hicks denies a request by the corporate owner of three Louisiana television stations to dismiss it from a contracts suit on the jurisdictional argument its corporate ���home��� is in the capitol city Baton Rouge, and therefore cannot be considered ���at home��� in the Western District of Louisiana. Because the test for jurisdiction is a statewide analysis, the TV station owner is subject to Western District of Louisiana jurisdiction based on statements in its own brief that it is considered ���at home��� in Louisiana, the forum state.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hicks, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv4212, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Jurisdiction, Venue, Contract
J. Hicks affirms a bankruptcy court ruling against a Kansas contractor, holding that non-debtor litigants in Kansas City did not violate the lower court���s order by filing suit in a Kansas state court to determine certain interests and rights in land ownership. Because the non-debtors did not violate the bankruptcy court���s stay order, there is no legal basis to find the Kansas litigation is legally void. Affirmed.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hicks, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv5769, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Property
J. Cain rebukes the self-described ���leading insurer of religious organizations��� for its ���systemic failure��� to settle disputes with its insureds following a a non-jury trial, awarding a small-town church over $1.9 million for its ���grossly mishandled��� hurricane damages claim. The insurer ���failed to pay the church what was due under the policy, and every payment it made was untimely.��� The ruling excoriated CM for its ���repeated mishandling��� of claims and its failure to resolve claims in this district. The insurer settles the least number of cases precertification ��� only approximately 20%, compared to 80-100% of all cases settled by other carriers.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv2472, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Settlements, Damages
J. Doughty denied the government���s objections to his First Amendment-related order blocking U.S. contact with social media companies on the argument the ruling is overly broad. The preliminary injunction is not as broad as it seems because ���it only prohibits something the defendants have no legal right to do ��� contacting social media companies for the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner��� changes in constitutionally protected posts on social media. The order contains numerous exceptions.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1213, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Constitution, Government, Health Care
J. Hicks dismisses a demolition subcontractor's fraud counterclaim regarding a general contractor's breach of contract allegations for delayed progress. The subcontractor failed to plead sufficient facts to establish required elements of a fraud by silence or omission claim. The subcontract did not create any fiduciary duty in what "was a customary arm���s length business transaction." The subcontract specifically stated that the information provided was not guaranteed to be accurate, therefore the subcontractor's fraud by silence or omission claim, alleging that the general contractor should have known the actual conditions of "lead contaminated non-friable asbestos material," fails.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv471, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Fraud, Contract
J. Doughty on July 4th grants a request by Missouri and Louisiana for a preliminary injunction against the Biden Administration, holding that the states and several individuals are likely to succeed on the merits of First Amendment claims that the Government has used its power to silence opposition on social media to Covid-19 vaccines, pandemic masking and lockdowns, the Chinese lab-leak theories about the origins of Covid-19, the validity of the 2020 presidential election, President Biden���s policies, claims that the Hunter Biden laptop story was true, and opposition to policies of government officials in power. ���All were suppressed,��� the ruling adds. ���It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature.���
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: July 4, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1213, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Government
J. Hicks denies summary judgment to a subcontractor, refusing to dismiss a contractor���s damages claims, arising from the subcontractor���s filing of a $388,587 property lien against the project owner regarding a dispute over the removal of asbestos from the demolition of a battery manufacturing plant. The ruling seeks additional argument regarding the causes of the subcontractor���s claims relating to the lien and whether the dispute could be resolved separately from any trial, possibly in an evidentiary hearing or after a trial record is made.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Hicks, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv471, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Evidence, Contract
J. Cain denies summary judgment to a nationwide employment agency, ruling in favor of a branch manager who sued her bosses for disability discrimination after she was fired shortly after her diagnosis of a headache disorder requiring treatment with three spinal taps. Her employer alleges she was terminated for poor performance. Given the short duration of the employee���s condition, the court is unable to determine that she was actually disabled. She may prevail based on pre-termination statements made by her employers. Her case fails if it is shown that her condition was "objectively transitory and minor."
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv1621, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination, Labor
J. Joseph grants a request by a Louisiana woman and her parents for additional time to serve a lawsuit in France against a French citizen, who she says was an LSU graduate student when he sexually assaulted her almost 5 year ago. She says he attacked her during a church retreat in 2018, organized by the ���Ragin��� Cajun Catholics��� college ministry at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Considering that the woman filed suit against the French citizen more than two years ago and the difficulties of serving a suit abroad, she is given extra time to demonstrate continued ���reasonable diligence��� in attempting service on her alleged assailant.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Joseph, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv430, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Education, Assault
J. Doughty adopts a ���claim construction��� for a patent dispute between two manufacturers of baby products over a shampoo pitcher designed to rinse soap from a child���s hair. The claim construction represents the court���s interpretation of the meaning and scope of phrases in the patent held by one manufacturer defending itself against infringement complaints by a competitor. The rival makers are ordered to ���not refer, directly or indirectly,��� to each other���s claim construction positions in the presence of the jury. Only the court���s claim constructions may be mentioned at trial.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 3:17-cv-00821, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Jury, Patent, Property
J. Doughty grants a request by a Virginia resident who co-founded an energy investment consulting company with offices in the Dominion State and Texas, dismissing on jurisdictional grounds claims for breach of contract and unpaid wages by a Louisiana resident. Based on a magistrate judge's report, the ruling finds the Louisiana resident is unable to show that the Virginia-based corporate officer engaged in fraud for his direct and personal benefit, which is required to both pierce the Texas-based company���s corporate veil and to overcome the corporate officer���s assertion of the fiduciary shield doctrine. Therefore, jurisdiction is precluded.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv1910, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Jurisdiction, Discovery
J. Doughty denies a request by the Texas-based manufacturer of a recreational vehicle to dismiss or transfer on jurisdictional grounds, claims by two Louisiana residents who allege their RV is defective. The RV malfunctioned in Louisiana, and the manufacturer directed the litigants to an authorized repair center in Louisiana which began the repair process and documented the repairs required by the manufacturer. The unhappy customers have also shown that their legal claims result from their Louisiana contacts. Because the litigants��� claims are related to the RV-maker���s activities in Louisiana, it is not unreasonable to subject the manufacturer to suit in a Louisiana court. The ruling is based on a magistrate judge's report.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv138, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Vehicle, Jurisdiction, Warranty
J. Summerhays denies Shell USA���s request for reconsideration of an order remanding to state court a southwestern Louisiana coastal parish government���s suit alleging Shell���s oil and gas exploration activities violated state rules and permits. The ruling agrees with a decision in a similar suit in the Eastern District of Louisiana that the connection between a refining contract and production activities in the field is too attenuated to support removing the case to federal jurisdiction based on federal government requirements.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv688, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, Jurisdiction
J. Doughty denies summary judgment to the Jackson Parish sheriff on a Black female sergeant���s claim that he fired her in retaliation for a race-based discrimination complaint she filed against the sheriff. He argued he fired the woman for excessive force against an inmate, a legitimate, non-retaliatory reason for termination. But the sergeant presented evidence to support her claim that this reason is pretextual: Considering the timing of her firing, the contradiction in the reason for her termination and the possibility that the jail applied its use-of-force policy against the complaining Black sergeant but not against other similarly situated employees, there are enough factual issues to defeat summary judgment.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv832, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Evidence, Employment Retaliation
J. Cain grants the U.S. government���s motion to dismiss a neo-Nazi prison gang member���s million-dollar suit against a federal prison in Louisiana, arising from injuries sustained in a razor slashing attack by an inmate from a notorious Mexican gang, despite the litigant declaring his rival gang affiliation to a prison screening officer. The litigant-prison gang member fails to overcome the government���s assertion of immunity from liability.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Cain, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1184, NOS: Federal Employers’ Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Government, Damages
J. Summerhays denies summary judgment to the so-called ���White Hat plaintiffs,��� environmentalists and other activists protesting a controversial pipeline project on a Louisiana bayou. The court rejects their arguments that a ���critical infrastructure��� law, amended by oil lobbyists after their protest to provide prison time for trespassing on property marked for pipeline construction, is unconstitutional. The law expressly excludes protected First Amendment expressive conduct from the statute���s prohibitions. To the extent that they seek a declaration that the law is unconstitutional as applied to future anticipated protests of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, ���the White Hat plaintiffs lack a constitutionally protected right to protest on private property.��� Violators of the amended trespassing law face up to five years in prison and $1,000 in fines.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 6:20-cv-00983, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Constitution, Construction, Environment
J. Doughty denies a request by a Louisiana-based baby products manufacturer for permission to amend its answer to a patent infringement suit, arising from its ���no tears��� pail for shampooing a baby���s hair. At issue is whether the baby-bucket maker and other businesses named in the suit have ���an unfettered right��� to alter their answer to the complaint to add ���whatever additional defenses and counterclaims they desire. The answer is that they do not.��� The patent suit was filed in 2016. Trial is set to begin September 18, 2023.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Doughty, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 3:17cv821, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Property, Business Practices
J. Summerhays grants remand to the joint owners of a 35-acre tract in rural Church Point, Louisiana, transferring to state court their environmental property damage suit against Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), Chevron-owned companies and Hess Corp. The corporations unsuccessfully argued for federal jurisdiction on grounds that ARCO, a Texas citizen, was improperly added to the suit by the property owners, a Louisiana woman and a Texas corporation based in Louisiana. The landowners prevailed by showing that the terms of a 1953 operating agreement ���explicitly��� provide that the sued companies, including ARCO, are proportionately liable for damages to related to their oil and gas operations. The landowners have stated ���a viable claim against ARCO, even if they do not ultimately prevail.���
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Summerhays, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv6190, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Environment, Damages, Jurisdiction
J. Foote finds an Acadiana parish school board���s actions on racial desegregation over the last year ��� ���sudden unexplained changes in positions and general obstructionism��� ��� have ���severely��� undermined its bid to end nearly 60 years of court oversight. As a result of the board���s refusal to negotiate with Black plaintiffs, even on agreed-upon remedies to foster ���graduation pathways,��� the South Louisiana school district may not apply for an end to court-supervised racial desegregation until the fall of 2026.
Court: USDC Western District of Louisiana , Judge: Foote, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 6:65cv11314, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Judiciary