185 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of North Carolina"'.
J. Flanagan denies one faction of a high school’s alumni association’s motion for an extension of time in an already-lengthy trademark infringement case it brought against a second faction. The first faction has repeatedly gone against court procedures by entering multiple amendments to their complaints without permission and refusing to hire new counsel after their first attorney withdrew. Also, the second faction’s motion to dismiss is granted.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv321, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Flanagan grants a generator production company’s partial dismissal in this product liability class action brought by an ice cream truck driver who was chemically burned when the truck’s gasoline tank malfunctioned. The driver argues the company knew the tanks were faulty, claiming fraud by omission. Because the driver fails to give sufficient information as to when the company supposedly began hiding this information, and because he does not point to any specific way that the company tried to hide information, this part of his claim fails.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv1329, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Product Liability, Contract
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J. Flanagan grants an IT management company’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of race discrimination and wrongful termination brought by a former manager. The manager, a Black man originally from Haiti, argues that his white male supervisor did not promote him but promoted another white man, instead placing the manager in a newly created role instead. However, the supervisor correctly argues that the manager did not have the skill set for those positions, and the manager accepted the role offered. The manager also fails to present any evidence of race discrimination or sufficient evidence for wrongful termination after he resigned.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv345, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Flanagan grants a municipality’s motion to dismiss wrongful termination and gender and race discrimination allegations brought by a former parks and recreation director. The director, a Black woman, alleges that after a series of discussions and emails regarding her conduct, her supervisors became increasingly hostile and fired her without warning or explanation. She makes reference to several other employees’ actions that did not result in their termination, but the information she provides is too vague to proceed under a Title VII claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv630, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Flanagan partially denies Aramark’s motion to dismiss allegations of discrimination and retaliation brought by a former office assistant and cashier after Aramark fired him. The assistant claims that based on his age and race, Aramark did not give him proper training, then refused to rehire him in the next academic year “because of COVID.” The assistant alleges this excuse is pretext for discrimination after he had emailed Aramark detailing various incidents of harassment he experienced at work, and had filed for a right to sue with the EEOC. His retaliation claims under Title VII therefore will proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv200, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Dever grants the U.S. Department of Commerce’s motion to dismiss antitrust and tort claims brought by a former patent examiner. The examiner alleges that the department, her former employer, was unfair in its performance reviews and removed credit for the work she did for it, thereby damaging her career. However, her claims must by dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the department retains sovereign immunity.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv495, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Antitrust, Tort, Immunity
J. Dever denies an electric company’s motion for judgment on the pleadings for breach of contract allegations it brought against its insurance firm after the company’s owner crashed his boat into another, killing three people. The owner, who was not engaged in business while driving his boat intoxicated, was not covered in this case because the insurance only applies to his business endeavors. For the same reason, the estates of the three people who died fail in their attempt to sue the firm for damages and funeral expenses.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 7:22cv78, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Flanagan grants a community college’s motion to dismiss allegations of fraud and Fifth Amendment violations brought by a barber academy. The academy’s owner claims the college pressured him to give up his barbering license after it was suspended because the college could not get a barber school license without owning a barber school, and the owner did own one. Then, someone from the college allegedly sent the college’s board a fraudulent application, falsely claiming that the college owned the barber school on the owner’s property. However, the claims against individuals these for actions, all apparently committed before 2014, are time-barred. Claims against the college and board are dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv80, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Fraud, Jurisdiction
J. Devers dismisses a motorcycle dealer as a party to this suit and affirms the other parties’ claim that the dealer was fraudulently added. A couple bought a motorcycle elsewhere and noticed it was leaking oil, then took it to the dealer for repair. After a successful repair, the couple crashed when part of the braking system failed, killing the wife and causing serious injury to the husband. The other parties argue the husband and his wife’s executrix added the dealer to foil diversity jurisdiction because they could not claim negligence against the dealer. They then tried to remand the suit, but as they are found to have fraudulently added the dealer, and because diversity jurisdiction still exists, the dealer is dismissed and the motion to remand is denied.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv591, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fraud, Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Dever grants a hospice care company’s motion to dismiss False Claims Act (FCA) allegations brought by a former home hospice case manager. The manager claims the company committed Medicare fraud by falsely reporting hospice patients’ medical conditions in order to recertify them. However, as this is a qui tam claim and other managers already initiated similar actions previously, the FCA’s first-to-file rule applies and the manager’s suit is barred.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 7:20cv90, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fraud, Health Care, Medicare
J. Dever grants in part a ticket booking firm’s motion to dismiss allegations of breach of contract and fraudulent inducement, among others, brought by the organizer of the Voices of America Country Music Festival. The organizer claims that the firm created over 5,000 duplicate tickets and over 1,800 duplicate parking passes, valued at over $1.4 million total. This is a clear breach of contract, but the firm presents sufficient evidence that its errors were unintentional, so all other claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv676, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Trade, Contract
J. Dever dismisses with prejudice a former police chief’s motion to amend his complaint against a municipality and certain of its staff members, alleging they discriminated against him because he is Hispanic and blind in one eye. For instance, the town manager allegedly micromanaged the chief and made racist comments to him, such as “[you] should learn to dance the salsa.” The chief also cites not having been given a pay increase at the same time as others in similar positions, although he previously fought this and succeeded. He also claims constructive discharge based on his negative experiences, but the behavior of the manager and others does not rise to the level of discrimination under the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv446, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Equal Protection, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Dever grants a recycling processor’s motion to dismiss three out of four race discrimination allegations brought by a former recycling truck driver. The driver, a Black man, witnessed the processor’s supervisor randomly shooting a gun at trees, trash and other things at the facility and making racist comments, such as that he would “shoot any nigger, I don’t give a fuck,” in addition to using another slur at work. Later, the driver’s direct supervisor said he was being terminated for “poor job performance,” although previously he'd been rated as doing an excellent job. Then, the processor claimed the driver abandoned his job. The driver claims the processor’s supervisor recommended he be fired to the driver’s direct supervisor, but he provides only speculation about this. However, his claim of a racially hostile work environment will proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv601, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Boyle denies a mall property owner’s and security firm’s motions to transfer the venue of this case to the Middle District of North Carolina; the suit involves negligence claims brought by a patron who was shot in the crossfire during a robbery. The owner and firm, both foreign entities, claim that the patron fraudulently added the North Carolinian armed robbers to this action, but they have failed to demonstrate this. This case is remanded to Durham County Superior Court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv210, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Jurisdiction
J. Dever partially grants a bitcoin investment firm's motion to dismiss counterclaims of conversion, breach of contract and bad faith brought by a partner of the firm. The partner alleges the firm opened an account with a cryptocurrency trading platform where he could store personal investments worth over $220,000, then the firm blocked his access. The firm claims the platform blocked the partner, but the partner presents sufficient evidence that the firm is responsible for having changed his password without his consent. The conversion claim survives, but all other claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv 503, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Trade, Conversion
J. Dever partially denies the North Carolina Department of Corrections’ motion to dismiss ADA violation allegations brought by a former employee. The employee previously sued the state’s department of public safety, her technical employer and also party to this suit, after it allegedly wrongfully terminated her. Three years later, a judge ruled the department must reinstate the employee, provide her with reasonable accommodation and back pay or benefits. The department rehired her but did not provide anything else, then fired her again two months later. The employee has provided sufficient evidence of ADA discrimination to proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv673, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Dever partially grants the North Carolina Green Party’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs in ongoing litigation against the state’s board of elections after it initially failed to qualify the party and allow candidates to run in the 2022 election. The North Carolina Democratic Party and affiliates became intervenors for the board. The party correctly accuses them of frivolously hampering its efforts to get the required number of signatures for its candidates to run and is awarded partial fees and costs based on this action alone.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv276, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Elections, Government, Attorney Fees
J. Boyle partially denies a real estate broker’s partial motion to dismiss allegations of state vacation rental law violations brought by the administrator of the estate of a minor who drowned after he snuck into a swimming pool unsupervised. The broker argues that because it’s not a landlord, it isn’t beholden to any building or housing codes. However, the administrator correctly argues that under vacation rental law, the broker negligently maintained the property, exposing the minor to a drowning hazard.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv101, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Property, Negligence, Wrongful Death
J. Boyle grants 21 organizations’ motions to dismiss allegations of gender, age, national origin and disability discrimination brought by an accountant who was not hired by any of them. In this pro se action, the accountant fails to state anything more specific than the facts that he applied to the positions and was not accepted to them. This is not sufficient to state a discrimination claim in any instance.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv38, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Flanagan grants several emergency medical providers’ motion to remand this action to a county court after they sued Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) for failure to cover costs. The providers billed for an average of $2,656 per patient visit, but BCBS only paid out an average of $39, which is a little over 1% of the cost. Because the providers sue for unjust enrichment and violations of state deceptive trade laws, no federal question arises and the case will be remanded.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv1601, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Insurance, Trade