503 results for 'court:"USDC Northern District of Illinois"'.
J. Lefkow denies a waste disposal company’s motion to dismiss an Illinois city’s claims that they violated the Clean Water Act by discharging pollutants into the Fox River. The waste disposal company claimed the city has no standing to bring the claim, as its drinking water intake is located almost a mile upstream from where the company allegedly discharged its pollutants. But the court disagrees, finding the company’s unpermitted discharges still occurred adjacent to city property. The court also partially grants the city’s motion to dismiss a counterclaim from the waste disposal company, seeking contributions from the city for any violations of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The court finds the city may have “owner-operator liability” for contributions, but that the waste disposal company has not adequately alleged it has “arranger” liability.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Lefkow, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3187, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Municipal Law, Water
J. Seeger denies a formerly pro-se debt case litigant’s motion to remand her class action to state court. The litigant, while defending herself against a debt collection agency in state court, used an online service known as SoloSuit to file an answer to the debt collector’s complaint. However, SoloSuit never filed the answer it generated for her, leaving her scrambling to find a lawyer who could file the answer themselves. She then filed a class action against the makers of SoloSuit, who had it removed to federal court. The litigant attempted to have it moved back to state court, arguing her case doesn’t satisfy the federal court’s amount-in-controversy requirement, but the court disagrees. It finds her class action “plausibly alleges a potential recovery of more than $5 million.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2365, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Debt Collection, Jurisdiction, Class Action
J. Bucklo grants the sued industrial equipment manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment on the suing auto part manufacturer’s warranty claim against it, and also grants its motions to exclude expert testimony and to strike an affidavit from the auto part manufacturer’s CEO. The auto part manufacturer claims it bought machinery from the defendant meant to automate cutting sheet metal, but that the equipment proved faulty and failed after its manufacturer ignored the issues for over a year and a half. However, the court finds that the plaintiff’s warranty claim is insufficient as it “offered no admissible evidence to establish its damages.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Bucklo, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv1996, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Business Practices, Warranty, Contract
J. Daniel alternately grants and denies multiple dismissal motions from multiple defendants in this sprawling racketeering, trade secret and contract case brought against them by Walgreens. The pharmacy chain accuses the defendants — store landlords, former employees and real estate investors — of conspiring to buy and sell Walgreens-leased properties while denying it its right of first refusal in real estate transactions involving Walgreens locations. The court agrees it lacks jurisdiction over several of the named investors and dismisses the claims against them, while denying the motion to dismiss from the main real estate firms involved in the suit. Against these defendants, the court finds Walgreens has sufficiently alleged the firms conspired to box its right of first refusal out of real estate transactions. The court issues a more complex order against a single investor, finding insufficient support for Walgreens RICO claims against him but allowing its Defend Trade Secrets Act violation claim to mover forward.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Daniel, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv2522, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Real Estate, Trade Secrets, Racketeering
J. Maldonado grants hip-hop artist French Montana’s motion for summary judgment on copyright claims brought by the suing hip-hop artist, Hotwire the Producer. Hotwire accused French Montana of ripping off his copyrighted song “Hood* Pushin’ Weight” to make the hit single “Ain’t Worried About Nothin,” which has more than 100 million hits on Montana’s official YouTube channel alone. After several years of legal fights, the court has found there’s some similarity in the underlying sounds and melodies of the two songs, but that those similarities are insufficient to create a triable issue of fact on Hotwire’s copyright infringement claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Maldonado, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 1:19cv2321, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright
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J. Leinenweber denies the “ComEd Four’s” motions for acquittal or, in the alternative, a new trial. The Four consist of the ex-CEO of energy company Commonwealth Edison, a former lobbyist for ComEd, a company consultant and a former Democratic Illinois state representative. They were convicted last May on multiple bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges for their roles in the company’s admitted efforts to bribe Illinois legislators between 2011 and 2019. Though the Supreme Court plans to hear a challenge to a bribery law central to the government’s case against the four, the court finds that, as the laws were understood in May, the jury correctly interpreted the evidence and rendered fair verdicts.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Leinenweber, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 1:20cr812, NOS: Other - Forfeiture/Penalty, Categories: Fraud, Conspiracy, Bribery
J. Rowland denies the Chicago Transit Authority’s motion for summary judgment on its employee’s disability discrimination claims. The CTA took the employee, who is diabetic, off his electrician job in June 2018 after he fainted due to low blood sugar. Despite a doctor clearing him to return to work a few weeks later, the CTA fought to keep him off-duty until October 2019, even going to an arbitrator over the issue. The court finds the employee has sufficiently alleged that the CTA’s efforts to keep him away from his job were discriminatory.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv2881, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Health Care, Employment Discrimination
J. Rowland grants Hyundai’s motion to compel arbitration in this class action represented by a frustrated customer who subscribed to “connected services,” such as an emergency SOS button, in his vehicle only to discover the 3G-based services were already obsolete and not compatible with then-modern 4G networks. Despite his grievances, the court finds the customer signed multiple binding user agreements that compel arbitration in conflicts such as this.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv282, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Vehicle, Class Action
J. Coleman partially denies Chicago’s motions to dismiss numerous civil rights claims brought by a city worker. The worker opposes Chicago’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for city employees and refused to get it on religious freedom grounds, despite contracting Covid-19 in September 2020 and being hospitalized for nine days. The city denied his request for a religious exemption and, when he still refused the vaccine, was eventually put on “no pay status.” After reviewing the case, the court dismisses the employee’s 14th Amendment and Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience
Act claims, but allows his First Amendment, Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Illinois Human Rights Act and Title VII claims to stand.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Coleman, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv650, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Fuentes denies Chicago and its police officers’ motion to bifurcate a wrongfully imprisoned man’s claims against them, and also denies the city’s motion to stay discovery until the claims against the individual police have been settled. The wrongfully imprisoned man spent 28 years behind bars for a murder and murder attempt he did not commit because Chicago police deliberately framed him, he says. The court declines to bifurcate the man’s civil rights claims against the police from his Monell claims against Chicago based partly on wanting to conserve “judicial economy” — even if the individual claims against the police fail, the Monell claims against the city implicating them may still stand. This, the court ruled, speaks to the overlap between the defendants both in discovery and litigation.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Fuentes, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv4268, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Indemnification, Police Misconduct
J. Rowland partially grants a class of hair product consumers’ motion to compel production of materials related to hair care products sold outside the U.S. The class of consumers claim they were injured in various ways by using L’Oreal, Revlon and other companies’ hair care products, and they seek information regarding what safety and marketing standards the products adhered to domestically as opposed to when they’re sold abroad. They seek materials pertaining six specific categories of information: foreign regulatory materials, product labels and usage instructions, scientific studies, articles in scientific journals, organizational charts and board of director materials. The hair care product companies must produce all but the organizational charts and board of director materials.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv818, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Product Liability, Discovery, Class Action
J. Valderrama grants a suburban Illinois police officer's motion for summary judgment in this civil rights case, and denies a hospital system's motion for summary judgment for its own involvement in the case. In the case, police in suburban Chicagoland pulled over a man for alleged traffic violations but then subjected him to dog-sniffing when they suspected he had cannabis on his person. The police also took the man to Christ Hospital in the suburb of Oak Lawn, where doctors carried out an examination to see if he was hiding drugs in his rectum. Ultimately only miniscule amounts of cannabis were found in the man's car, and none were found in his rectum. The man then sued all parties for battery and carrying out unreasonable searches. The court finds the man has not presented sufficient evidence regarding the alleged unreasonableness of the officers' initial stop and search, but that there is still a factual dispute as to whether he fully consented to the rectal examination.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Valderrama, Filed On: December 22, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv7904, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Medical Malpractice, Police Misconduct
J. Valderrama denies a Chicago resident's motion for a preliminary injunction against Amazon, barring it from operating a warehouse on the city's west side while this case against it is pending. The resident, who lives near the warehouse site, claims Amazon does not have the special use permit it would need to legally operate the facility in accordance with Chicago zoning rules. Though the court agrees there is a possibility Amazon may be in violation of some zoning rules, it also finds the resident has not established how she would suffer the "irreparable harm" needed to justify a preliminary injunction order.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Valderrama, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv14163, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Municipal Law, Property, Injunction
J. Gettleman grants a clinical research company’s motion to dismiss one of its former stock holders’ contract, fraud, securities and estoppel claims. The stock holder claims the company provided him with misleading data as to the value of his shares, which in turn meant he took on a much higher tax liability than he was expecting when he sold the shares following a merger the company went through in 2021. However, the court agrees with the company that the stock holder has failed to show the company acted with fraudulent intent. The court also opines the stock holder has failed to show that the company “promised to provide him with accurate, updated fair market value information” through a separate trading platform.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Gettleman, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv5782, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Contract
J. Hunt denies a hospital system’s motion to dismiss a former medical assistant’s disability discrimination, Fair Medical Leave Act and retaliation claims. The medical assistant has a heart condition that makes it harder for her to travel, which she claims the hospital system ignored. She also claims the hospital singled her out for scrutiny and punishment, eventually firing her, because she took FMLA leave to tend to her sick grandmother. The court finds she has adequately alleged these claims, and so denies the hospital’s motion to dismiss them.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Hunt, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv1474, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Shah denies a maintenance product distributor’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The injunction would enforce a non-solicitation agreement against one of the distributor’s former employees, who after leaving the distributor to start a competitor, poached some of the distributor’s customers. The court finds that the distributor has not suffered harm necessitating an injunction, however, stating that the issue can be “adequately remedied through monetary damages.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Shah, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv5314, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Contract, Injunction
J. Cole grants a class of plaintiff truck drivers’ motion to compel the production of damages data. A railroad company captured thousands of truck drivers’ fingerprints when the drivers passed through its gates in Illinois, in violation of the state’s privacy law governing biometric information, and the court finds it appropriate for the company to produce data of every fingerprint scan it captured.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Cole, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv390, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Privacy, Discovery, Class Action
J. Alonso grants the suing parent’s petition for the defendant parent to return a minor child to Germany. The individuals are former domestic partners — the plaintiff European, the defendant American — who had the minor child together, but separated soon after. The American defendant eventually committed domestic battery against the European plaintiff; successive custody battles over the child ensued. In this particular round, the European individual has a legal right under the Hague Convention to demand the child be returned to Germany.`
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Alonso, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv5017, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Family Law, International Law
J. Kim partially grants the sued spinal implant manufacturer’s motions in limine against the suing spinal implant manufacturer. This dispute over two competing “expandable cage” spinal implant products that perform the same function will go to jury trial in January 2024. The suing manufacturer accuses the defendant of stealing its design. The court, on the defendant’s motion, bars the suing manufacturer from producing “ambiguous, misleading or new evidence of alleged trade secret misappropriation,” as well as making other claims about the defendant’s product. The court will allow other controversial materials and topics, such as the actions of the defendant’s parent company, to be brought up at trial.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kim, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv7092, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Trade Secrets, Interference With Contract, Business Practices
J. Rowland grants Mercedes-Benz’s motion to compel arbitration in a class action suit over its onboard navigation service, for which the suing class claim to have never fully agreed to use. The court finds that, per a user license agreement, the parties are contractually bound to arbitrate the dispute.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv6099, NOS: Contract Product Liability - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Product Liability, Contract
J. Jensen denies an Illinois city’s motion to compel an individual’s compliance with a subpoena. The city accuses the defendant healthcare management company and associated pharma companies of conspiring to assert monopoly control of the drug Acthar, used to treat the disease proteinuria. The city wished to enforce a subpoena on one of the defendant companies’ attorneys, but the court finds that enforcing the subpoena on the lawyer would violate attorney-client privilege.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Jensen, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 3:17cv50107, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Antitrust, Health Care, Attorney Discipline
J. Rowland partially grants the defendant real estate investors’ motion to dismiss a fraud complaint brought by one of their former business partners, the plaintiff real estate investor. During a fight over the partner’s shares of their mutually owned business, the sued investors began to box plaintiff out of communications and financial documents, and using financial maneuvers to ensure he didn’t receive payouts from the company’s general partners. The court finds the plaintiff investor has sufficiently alleged this constituted securities fraud, shareholder oppression and fraudulent concealment as to one account, but dismisses his breach of fiduciary duties claims and his fraudulent concealment claims as they regard another account.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Rowland, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5628, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Real Estate, Securities
J. Kendall declines to dismiss a RICO suit against a collection of real estate brokers and their associated businesses, who are sued by people who bought run-down properties from them. The court finds the property buyers have suitably alleged that the brokers, rather than selling the buyers properties from “long-standing owners,” actually controlled the properties they were selling through their own business entities. The court also finds the buyers have suitably alleged that the brokers were selling the properties at marked-up rates without disclosing that many of the buildings were not up to code.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kendall, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv1182, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Real Estate, Racketeering
J. Kendall partially grants Walgreen’s motion to dismiss fraudulent inducement and contract breach claims brought by an electronic accessories company. The accessories company claims it paid Walgreen's to place its products in “premium” locations of Walgreen’s stores, but underlying contract disputes sullied the arrangement. The court mostly allows the accessory company’s contract claims to go forward, only dismissing a portion of one claim dealing with Walgreen’s alleged failure to pay for “sold and delivered” goods.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kendall, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv303, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Maldonado denies a tea shop’s motion to dismiss multiple employment law violation claims brought by one of its former employees. She says she was underpaid, that the tea shop falsely classified her as an independent contractor and that she suffered repeated incidents of sexual abuse from a coworker even after complaining to her supervisor about it. The court finds she has sufficiently alleged these claims, and allows them to move forward.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Maldonado, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv1793, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Assault
J. Weisman partially grants a trust beneficiary’s motion to compel the production of documents by other trust beneficiaries — her siblings — regarding 19 law firms and businesses in which the trust’s deceased creator held his real estate investments. As laid out in the ruling in more detail, the court compels production of some documents related to these entities, but denies the beneficiary’s request for other documents.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Weisman, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv5756, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Real Estate, Trusts, Racketeering
J. Daniel grants an Illinois hospital’s motion to dismiss conspiracy, constitutional violation and indemnification claims brought by a Chicago resident, but denies Chicago and several of its police officers’ motions to do the same. The resident claims that, without a warrant, Chicago police invaded his home, pointed assault weapons at him, handcuffed him and forced him into the custody of a local hospital. The court finds the resident has sufficiently stated his claims against the city and police, but not against the hospital.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Daniel, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv7080, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Constitution, Indemnification, Police Misconduct