388 results for 'court:"9th Circuit"'.
J. Nelson finds that the district court properly declined to preliminarily enjoin a California Public Utilities Commission rule changing the mechanism for charging telecommunications providers to fund California’s universal service program. The district court properly denied preliminary injunctive relief because the carriers were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their express preemption claims. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-15490, Categories: Communications
J. Bennett finds that the district court improperly denied Warner Bros. Entertainment’s motion to compel arbitration pursuant to the terms of service in a mobile application Game of Thrones: Conquest. A putative class action filed against Warner Bros. alleged false and misleading advertising within the game. The mobile game has a “sign-in wrap agreement” where users are required to advance through a sign-in screen which states “By tapping ‘Play,’ I agree to the Terms of Service.” A sign-in wrap agreement may be an enforceable contract based on inquiry notice if the website provides reasonably conspicuous notice of the terms. The district court was incorrect in finding that Warner Bros. failed to provide reasonably conspicuous notice. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 22-55982, Categories: Class Action, False Advertising
J. McKeown grants the National Labor Relations Board’s application for enforcement of its order directing Starbucks in Seattle to cease and desist from failing and refusing to recognize and bargain with a union. The Board held that by refusing to recognize and bargain with the union, Starbucks engaged in unfair labor practices. Starbucks refused to recognize and bargain with the union, claiming that the regional director should have ordered an in-person election instead of a mail-in vote. The Board correctly applied its own law in determining that the regional director appropriately exercised its discretion to hold a mail-ballot election. The certification of the union’s representative was proper, and the Board correctly found that Starbucks committed a violation by refusing to bargain.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 22-1969, Categories: Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Bennett affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court preliminary injunction limiting wolf trapping and snaring in certain parts of Montana to January 1, 2024 through February 15, 2024. Environmental groups alleged that Montana’s laws authorizing recreational wolf and coyote trapping and snaring, including regulations approved by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, allowed the unlawful “take” of grizzly bears, a threatened species. The district court was correct in considering new arguments and new materials, submitted with the organizations' reply brief in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction, because the record showed that the State of Montana had an opportunity to respond to those submissions. However, the injunction was overbroad because it prevents Montana from trapping and snaring wolves for research purposes. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-3754, Categories: Environment
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J. Forrest finds that the district court improperly dismissed a hostile-work-environment claim brought by a NASA scientist but affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of NASA on his disability-discrimination claim, and remanded for further proceedings. The employee has physical disabilities related to his hips and spine that he alleged required him to purchase premium-class airlines tickets for flights over an hour long. He sued NASA under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, alleging that he suffered a hostile work environment after informing his supervisors of his disabilities and requesting upgraded airline tickets for work travel, and alleging he was discriminated against due to his disability by being passed over for a promotion. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Forrest, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 22-15889, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Rakoff finds that the district court properly granted class certification in a consumer class action concerning the marketing of the pet health product Cosequin. The class expert's proposed damages model was sufficiently sound and developed to satisfy this standard at the class certification stage. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Rakoff, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 22-55744, Categories: Damages, Product Liability, Class Action
J. Nelson denied a pilot's petition for review of the National Transportation Safety Board’s order affirming the Federal Aviation Administration's revocation of his pilot certificate. The pilot transported marijuana, which is legal under Alaska law but a controlled substance under federal law, by aircraft within Alaska which prompted the FAA to revoke his pilot certificate. The pilot did not show that the FAA lacked jurisdiction to revoke his pilot certificate because Congress cannot authorize an administrative agency to regulate purely intrastate commerce like marijuana delivery within Alaska.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Nelson, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 22-70129, Categories: Aviation
J. VanDyke finds that the district court improperly denied a Redwood City police officer qualified immunity in an action alleging constitutional and state law violations arising from the deadly shooting of an individual. Officers responded to a call involving a man attempting suicide with a knife in his backyard. When they arrived, they found the man’s wife covered in blood and frantically pleading for help. After making contact with police, the man moved toward officers while brandishing the knife and was subsequently shot and killed by one officer. Decedent's family failed to show that the officer’s conduct was objectively unreasonable. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: VanDyke, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-17008, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Hurwitz finds that the district court properly entered convictions and sentence for various offenses arising out of an assault on defendant's girlfriend. Sufficient evidence supported the convictions, sentences and sentence enhancements. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Hurwitz, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 21-10230, Categories: Sentencing, Assault
J. McKeown finds that the district court properly dismissed a securities fraud action against an international information services company under a Securities Exchange Act and Rule. The class alleged that the company made materially misleading statements by omitting key facts regarding a 2015 acquisition and a 2017 investment. The class was unable to show a strong inference that the company acted with the intent to deceive or with deliberate recklessness as to the possibility of misleading investors. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: McKeown, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-55829, Categories: Securities, Class Action
J. Lee finds that the district court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress in a case in which defendant argued that a police officer violated the Fourth Amendment by asking about parole status during a traffic stop. Asking about parole status during a traffic stop does not offend the Fourth Amendment because the question reasonably relates to the officer’s safety. However, the matter is remanded in part so that the district court can correct the written judgment to conform it to the oral pronouncement of sentence. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Lee, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 22-50045, Categories: Parole, Search, Sentencing
J. Bybee finds that the district court improperly denied an individual's motion for preliminary injunctive relief in an action arising from two events, an abortion rally and an LGBTQ+ pride event, in which the individual, a devout Christian, sought to read Bible passages and was arrested for obstructing a police officer after he refused to move to a different location. The individual alleges that attendees at both events physically assaulted him, stole his Bibles and ripped them up. He further alleges that Seattle police opted to arrest the individual for obstructing rather than deal with the attendees who assaulted him. The individual established a likelihood of success on the merits of his First Amendment claim. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bybee, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 23-35481, Categories: Constitution, Assault, First Amendment
J. Tallman finds that the district court properly denied a motion to suppress evidence after a California parolee was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and cocaine. The California Highway Patrol did not violate the Fourth Amendment in their search of defendant's cell phone during a traffic stop, made possible by the officers’ forced use of his thumb to unlock the device. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Tallman, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 22-50262, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Murguia dismisses a complaint of judicial misconduct against a district judge. The matter is governed by the Rules for Judicial Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings, therefore, the names of complainant and the subject judge are not disclosed in the order.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Murguia, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-90122, Categories: Judiciary
J. Berzon denies a petition for panel rehearing and amends an opinion filed on July 3, 2023, now affirming the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Forest Service in an action brought by an environmental group alleging that the Service’s approval of the Walton Lake Restoration Project violated the National Environmental Policy Act. The Forest Service developed the Project to replace trees infested with laminated root rot and bark beetles with disease-resistant trees. The judgment of the district court is affirmed and the previous stay of its order dissolving the preliminary injunction is lifted. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Berzon, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-35857, Categories: Environment
J. Thomas vacates a conviction by jury trial for two counts of assaulting a federal officer resulting in bodily injury The district court abused its discretion in excluding the sworn statement of a government attorney as hearsay.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Thomas, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 22-50217, Categories: Assault
J. Tallman affirmed a matter in part from a combined jury and bench trial against a munitions and explosives company in an action brought by the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency (SCVWA) that alleged that the company was responsible for contamination of groundwater that the agency pumps from wells. The district court properly permitted SCVWA to assert restoration costs as a measure of damages for the first time after the close of discovery, SCVWA adequately established that groundwater treatment facilities were an appropriate measure of damages, and the jury award of restoration costs was reasonable. However, the district court improperly denied a finding to SCVWA a liability against the company for one category of incurred response costs under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Tallman, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-55727, Categories: Environment, Water
J. Forrest finds that the district court properly entered summary judgment for the City and County of Fresno, a number of its law enforcement officers, and a paramedic in an action brought by the family of an individual who asphyxiated and died after the officers, at the direction of the paramedic, used their body weight to restrain him while he was prone in order to strap him to a backboard for hospital transport. The law-enforcement officers and the paramedic are entitled to qualified immunity. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Forrest, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 22-15546, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Graber dismisses in part an immigrant's appeal from the 41-month prison sentence imposed following his guilty plea for attempted reentry by a removed noncitizen. The immigrant challenged the validity of his waiver of a grand jury indictment, but he waived the right to appeal that issue by pleading guilty unconditionally. The lower court correctly decided all other issues stemming from the matter. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Graber, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-705, Categories: Immigration
J. Clifton reverses in part and affirms in part a district court judgment in a putative class action under ERISA. The class alleged that UnitedHealthcare applied a "more stringent review process" to benefits claims for outpatient, out-of-network mental health and substance use disorder treatment than to otherwise comparable medical and surgical treatments. The class adequately stated a claim for a violation of the Parity Act and dismissal on that claim and the breach of fiduciary duty claim are reversed. However, the lower court correctly dismissed claims based on a violation of the terms of the employment plan. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Clifton, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 22-55761, Categories: Employment, Erisa, Health Care
J. Bennett finds that the district court properly granted Amazon’s motion to compel arbitration and dismissed without prejudice a case arising from a dispute between Amazon and the delivery service partners (DSP) with whom it contracts to provide local delivery services. The business entities entered into DSP agreements with Amazon that contained an arbitration provision. A transportation worker exemption did not extend to business entities or to commercial contracts such as the DSP agreement. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Bennett, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 22-35818, Categories: Arbitration, Contract
[Consolidated] J. Callahan dismisses three consolidated appeals challenging the district court’s decision to remand each of the underlying product liability actions back to California state court. The three consolidated product liability matters were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Callahan, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-55403, Categories: Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Friedland vacates six defendants’ convictions for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud arising from defendants’ sales companies’ tactics in selling printer toner. While "not just any lie that secures a sale constitutes fraud; the lie must instead go to the nature of the bargain." The government’s theory of fraud in this case was overbroad because it did not require the jury to find that defendants deceived customers about the nature of the bargain.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Friedland, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 21-50162, Categories: Fraud
J. Mendoza finds that the district court ruled improperly in part in a securities-fraud complaint against children's entertainment company Genius Brands International. The shareholders adequately pleaded that Genius fraudulently concealed its relationship with a stock promoter, as well as adequately pleaded loss causation with respect to claims that Genius misrepresented that Disney or Netflix would be acquiring the company. However, they did not adequately plead loss causation relating to Genius' alleged misrepresentations regarding its relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reversed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Mendoza, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-55760, Categories: Fraud, Securities
J. Gould finds that the lower court must reevaluate the amount of attorney fees owed to a transgender inmate for a successful Eighth Amendment claim. The inmate obtained an injunction requiring the state of Idaho, private prison company Corizon, and individual Idaho prison officials to provide the inmate with adequate medical care, including gender-confirmation surgery. The lower court awarded $2.58 million in attorney fees to the inmate, but improperly assessed the fees by calculating the lodestar amount to include fees incurred litigating unsuccessful claims advanced in the complaint. However, the district court correctly applied an enhancement to the lodestar amount given that counsel operated under extraordinary time pressure. Vacated in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Gould, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-35876, Categories: Health Care, Attorney Fees, Prisoners' Rights
J. Mendoza vacates a sentence which was imposed at a previous resentencing and remands for resentencing. Defendant’s failure to challenge specific aspects of her initial sentence on a prior appeal does not waive her right to challenge comparable aspects of a newly imposed sentence. Defendant has twice been sentenced by the district court and twice appealed those sentences, stemming from her involvement in a money-laundering scheme. Vacated.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Mendoza, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-50240, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing, Money Laundering
J. Gould vacates defendant's convictions on two counts of encouraging or inducing an alien to come to, enter or reside unlawfully in the United States for private financial gain following remand from the Supreme Court. The matter is vacated because the jury instructions for the two counts omitted certain elements, making the instructions erroneous. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Gould, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 17-10548, Categories: Immigration, Jury
J. Spraker reverses, in part, the bankruptcy court's dismissal of an attorney's claims the California State Bar's efforts to collect discovery sanctions and disciplinary costs violated a stay. Although the debts were non-dischargeable when her case converted to chapter 7, an automatic stay prevented it from pursuing the costs during the pendency of her case. Reversed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Spraker, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: CC-23-1024-SFL, Categories: Bankruptcy