245 results for 'court:"4th Circuit"'.
J. King finds the lower court properly awarded judgment to the university on a 79-year-old art professor's age-based discrimination claim. The professor failed to show that age discrimination motivated her termination, rather than her unwillingness to develop a digital art skillset and improve her technology skills to meet the demand for graphic design and animation courses. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King , Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 21-2390, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court properly awarded the insurance company after a denial of long-term benefits was disputed. The insurance company did not abuse its discretion in denying the writer's claim despite his cardiovascular history including two open heart procedures. His most recent examination from a doctor determined that he did not suffer from any cardiovascular symptoms such as chest pain or pressure. He was walking 3 miles a day to improve his overall health, meaning he could hypothetically perform his sedentary job. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum , Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 22-1519, Categories: Erisa, Insurance
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court properly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence police discovered while searching his van without a warrant. The officers acted reasonably to intake the van containing a high-powered rifle, a pistol, ammunition and explosives in plain view to be left overnight and unattended in a bank parking lot eventually leading to the FBI searching the defendant's cell phone and finding child pornography. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum , Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 21-4687, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Child Pornography
J. Thacker finds the lower court properly entered a default judgment against the telemarketers. The telemarketers, accused of running an illegal telemarketing and consumer exploitation scheme, failed to respond accurately and fulsomely to numerous discovery requests and to comply with court orders pertaining to those requests. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 22-1820, Categories: Consumer Law, Discovery
J. Keenan finds the board improperly denied the Salvadorian national's motion to reconsider the dismissal of his requests for asylum and withholding of removal claims. The Board failed to properly regard his credible testimony about the threat of future persecution from MS-13 gang members who had killed his brother, were actively looking to kill another brother and had threatened the petitioner numerous times before fleeing to the United States. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Keenan, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 22-1499, Categories: Immigration, Agency
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly dismissed the defendant's motion to suppress evidence finding the defendant carrying large amounts of meth from a vehicle search. The officers had reasonable suspicion to stop him after seeing him at a common drug trafficker hangout and knowing his previous history as a convicted drug dealer. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer , Filed On: June 22, 2023, Case #: 21-4634, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Search
J. Moran finds the lower court properly sentenced the contractor. The contractor, who sexually abused a minor while in Japan working as a subcontractor for the Department of Veterans Affairs, signed a plea deal that bars him from challenging whether he falls outside the scope of the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 21-4411, Categories: Child Victims, Extradition, Child Pornography
J. Traxler finds the lower court properly sentenced defendant on drug charges. The defendant, who sold prescription drugs under the guise of running a health clinic, contends that the government did not inform him before he took a plea deal that the new Supreme Court precedent from Ruan v. United States established that the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew that he or she was acting in an unauthorized manner, or intended to do so when prescribing drugs. The lower court afforded the defendant the opportunity to address the court before the court imposed sentence meaning he cannot now establish the existence of error. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Traxler, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 22-4221, Categories: Drug Offender, Conspiracy, Plea
J. Agee finds the lower court properly affirmed a bankruptcy court order that entered a preliminary injunction preventing thousands of third-party asbestos claims from proceeding against the wallboard company, owned by Georgia-Pacific and its affiliates. The purpose of the bankruptcy would be defeated without the injunction because the company would be unable to address all the claims against it in one forum. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: June 20, 2023, Case #: 22-1127, Categories: Bankruptcy, Asbestos
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly granted judgment to the railroad company. The employees failed to show that they were fired for discriminatory reasons and not for being dishonest after over 65 employees submitted format at the same time after being furloughed requesting to take medical leave based on claimed minor soft-tissue injuries sustained while off duty in hopes of enjoying health and welfare benefits for up to two years. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: June 16, 2023, Case #: 21-2051, Categories: Employment, Health Care, Employment Discrimination
J. Richardson finds the lower court improperly denied the Black employees' conversion claims. It is still disputed whether the supervisor, accused of racial discrimination after using terms like "thugs" to describe the Black employees, ordered white employees to throw the things from the Black employees' desks away after they quit their jobs. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Richardson , Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 21-1855, Categories: Conversion, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court improperly granted judgment and affirmed the arbitration award to the union. The arbitrator, tasked with resolving a dispute over the firing of a nursing home staff member for allegedly engaging in harassment and falsifying records, failed to determine whether the employer had a reasonable basis for concluding that the employee committed the conduct that led to her discharge. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum , Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 22-1268, Categories: Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Agee finds the lower court properly granted judgment to the plaintiff software protection company. The defendant software protection company failed to show any evidence despite accusing the plaintiff software protection company of engaging in unlawful conduct related to the content of the defendant software protection company's vulnerability database. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Agee, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 22-1812, Categories: Copyright, Trade Secrets, Business Practices
J. Heytens finds the lower court properly confirmed the Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan. Chapter 13 bankruptcy filers who earn more than the median income can use their mortgage payments to calculate how much they can afford to pay unsecured creditors rather than the relevant local standard which would have deducted less. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Heytens, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 22-1328, Categories: Bankruptcy
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court improperly denied immunity to the Maryland Capitol police officer who arrested protesters who allegedly refused to move off a sidewalk. The police chief instructed the officer to evaluate the situation and relocate the picketers if necessary. A reasonable officer in the officer's position could have believed that the orders constituted lawful time, place, or manner restrictions on the picketers’ First Amendment rights. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 21-1608, Categories: First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Diaz finds the lower court properly denied postconviction relief to the murderer. Police charged the murderer with several crimes, including carjacking, kidnapping, armed robbery, first-degree assault, and first-degree murder. The prosecutor offered to dismiss all the other charges if he pleaded guilty to two counts of carjacking and one count of second-degree murder. The murderer took the plea deal after hearing that Maryland's guidelines for these offenses are thirty to fifty-one years rather than the ninety possible years he faced for the original charges. He contends he involuntarily agreed to the plea deal, but the terms of his plea agreement, including his maximum sentencing exposure, were explained to him. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 19-7638, Categories: Murder, Plea, Vehicle
J. Niemeyer finds the lower court properly applied a sentence enhancement to defendant's sentence for possession of child pornography due to his prior qualifying sex offense. The defendant signed a plea agreement that waived his right to appeal any issue relating to his conviction, as well as any issue relating to his sentence. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer , Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 21-4322, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender, Child Pornography
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly convicted the immigrant of illegally reentering the United States after an aggravated felony conviction. The immigrant failed to show vindictive prosecution by the government. The government sought harsher charges than the original charge of being an illegal immigrant with a firearm after stopping him at a traffic stop when they found out he had been removed from the country before and illegally reentered while trying to strengthen their case. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 20-4297, Categories: Immigration, Malicious Prosecution, Firearms
J. Rushing finds the lower court properly dismissed the professor's First Amendment claims. The university disciplined the psychology professor after allegedly creating a hostile environment that led to four female students reporting him for sexual harassment after he told them explicit stories about his personal sexual experiences, made explicit remarks, and asked intimate questions about their sex lives. His sanctioned speech primarily involved casual, interpersonal interactions with students about private sexual matters that the professor does not plausibly connect to a larger public discourse or matter of public concern. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: June 13, 2023, Case #: 20-1509, Categories: Education, Due Process, First Amendment
Per curiam, the circuit finds the lower court properly sentenced the defendant from New Zealand to 21 years of prison after sending sexually explicit photos and videos to a 13-year-old girl in Virginia. The defendant, who traveled to Virginia and attempted to kidnap the child before her mother shot him in the neck with a handgun, failed to argue that his conviction rests on an impermissible extraterritorial application because he was in New Zealand when he committed the offense. The intent was to send the photos to the United States. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 22-4131, Categories: Kidnapping, International Law, Child Pornography
J. Floyd finds the lower court improperly denied a cook's application for disability benefits. It is not the cook's fault, who suffers from back pain, that his medical records are sparse as he has not had insurance and therefore couldn't afford frequent visits for medical attention. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 21-2421, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Social Security
J. Wynn finds the lower court properly dismissed the inmate's procedural due process and equal protection claims because they are not covered by the Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Bivens cannot be expanded to new contexts, such as this case where an inmate disputes his firing from a prison job due to racial discrimination. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 20-7540, Categories: Due Process, Equal Protection, Prisoners' Rights
J. King finds the lower court improperly ordered a preliminary injunction against the Asian business entities that compete in marketing video gaming chairs and other products. The first order contained clear and enforceable directives that threatened the company with contempt for noncompliance if they did not stop marketing their company with the disputed trademark. The district court made procedural errors that amount to abuses of its discretion in ordering the injunction while many aspects of the case were still debated. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: King, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 22-1495, Categories: International Law, Trademark, Injunction
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly denied the truck driver's argument that the company's negligence led to the accident that injured him. The truck driver acted negligently when he opened the manway covered on the tanker without relieving all of the tank's pressure leading to an explosion that left him paraplegic. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: June 5, 2023, Case #: 21-2368, Categories: Negligence, Workers' Compensation
J. Diaz finds the lower court properly granted judgment to the holding company. The investors failed to show they were misled about the merger and how the holding company's omission of cash-flow projections caused any economic loss. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Diaz, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 21-1571, Categories: Securities, Business Practices
J. Harris finds the board properly denied the Honduran immigrant's application for cancellation of removal. The immigrant, who sought to stay to care for his elderly father, failed to file an appeal within 30 days of the Board’s December 2020 order. Petition dismissed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Harris, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 21-1864, Categories: Immigration
J. Niemeyer finds the tax court improperly imposed penalties for 2016. The company used a consistent methodology to determine the amount of the CEO's bonuses for both 2015 and 2016 with the advice of independent accountants, and therefore, the reasons that the tax court gave for not imposing a substantial underpayment penalty for 2015 likewise provided an adequate defense against imposing a similar penalty for 2016. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Niemeyer, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 22-1573, Categories: Tax, Business Practices
J. Motz finds the lower court properly dismissed the student organization's free speech claims for lack of standing. There is no evidence that the university's bias response reporting team persecuted certain students for expressing unpopular opinions on Virginia Tech's campus. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Motz, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 21-2061, Categories: Education, First Amendment
J. Thacker finds the lower court improperly dismissed the deliberate indifference charges against the prison nursing staff for failure to support a cause of action against them for a constitutional violation. The nursing staff violated the Fourteenth Amendment when they refused to take the incredibly unhealthy inmate suffering from heart complications due to drug withdrawals to the hospital when his blood pressure spiked. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Thacker, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 20-7102, Categories: Constitution, Prisoners' Rights
J. Wynn finds the lower court improperly dismissed the charges against the officers. The two officers wrongly withheld an incriminating video interview of an informant who lied about who murdered a mother and daughter, sending an innocent man to prison for over 20 years. Reversed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wynn, Filed On: May 30, 2023, Case #: 22-1684, Categories: Fair Trial, Murder, Arson