144 results for 'court:"USDC Hawaii"'.
J. Gillmor grants summary judgment to the manufacturer of a helicopter involved in a fatal helicopter crash in negligence and product liability claims. The family of a man who died in the crash cannot show that the manufacturer knowingly caused or concealed flaws that may have led to the crash. There is also no evidence that a provision of a statute, governing liability of aircraft manufacturers even after many years following delivery of the aircraft, applies. The helicopter was delivered 18 years before the crash and there is no evidence of a design defect in replacement components installed in 2018 altered the helicopter to the extent that the rolling provision applies.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv193, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Gillmor denies summary judgment to the government in a negligence claim for a fatal helicopter crash. Questions of material fact as to the cause of the crash, and whether the Federal Aviation Administration properly oversaw a helicopter company, remain. The government concedes that it did not perform check of the pilot of the helicopter or owner of the helicopter but there is not enough on the record to determine if the government was a substantial factor in the crash.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv193, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, Wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Kobayashi dismisses a complaint that accuses the state of providing pornography to minors through its public library system, finding that the woman’s claims that children have been sexually abused at state libraries are not detailed or backed up by facts. Other claims she made also do not relate to each other or the library. Further, she does not have standing to bring claims on behalf of unnamed minor children as she does not assert any relationship with them.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv101, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government
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J. Kobayashi dismisses a homeowner’s trespass and nuisance claims against Airbnb for allowing illegal rentals to proliferate in his neighborhood, but allows his false advertising claim to remain. The trespass and nuisance claims fail because the homeowner does not establish a link between Airbnb and the subcontractors he says are making noise that trespass on his property. However, Airbnb is not immune from the homeowner’s false advertising claims, despite their assertion that they only play host to rental owners, as the homeowner “challenges content created by Airbnb itself, not content created by a third party,” in reference to Airbnb’s promotion of itself. Its advertising promotes rentals on their site as legal, and Airbnb is not immune to claims made against its own content.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv243, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Property, False Advertising
J. Watson dismisses a complaint, filed by the owner of a controversial vanity license plate reading “FCKBLM,” against Honolulu for attempting to revoke the plate. Vanity license plates are a form of government speech that are subject to rules about profanity that are not too vague. Those regulations do not restrict messages based on viewpoint, as the owner suggested, and the letters FCK can be interpreted as an expletive and are not in themselves a protected viewpoint.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv407, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, First Amendment
J. Seabright refuses to dismiss part of a fired employee’s complaint against state deputy attorneys general for informing his Japanese employer about his previous litigation history. One of these attorneys general does not have qualified immunity as there is evidence of the deputy attorney general contacting his former employer. There is also evidence of malice and that she would have known about the employee’s employment contract at the Japanese company. Emotional distress claims are dismissed, however, as the act was not “outrageous.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv359, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Interference With Contract, Employment Retaliation
J. Seabright denies reconsideration and a motion to stay an order to quash issued against owners of a copyrighted film that subpoenaed the communications company for its subscribers’ information. The communications company merely assigning IP addresses to its users does not constitute a referral to copyrighted material nor does not preventing its routing or filtering equal transmitting the material. Because the communications company has previously worked with the owners and committed to preserving the information regardless of subpoenas or quashes, staying is not necessary.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv426, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Communications, Copyright, Evidence
J. Gillmor denies summary judgment to the employer of a worker whose was injured when her arm was sucked into an industrial vacuum while working on board a U.S. Navy vessel. There are genuine issues of material fact as to if the worker was considered a “seaman” under the definition of the Jones Act when the injury occurred as there are questions as to if the worker’s efforts to protect the ship from corrosion should be contributed to the operation of the vessel as well as questions about the extent of the injuries and the relationship of all the parties to each other. The worker’s declarations are not a “sham” as the employer does not show how different instances of her testimony contradict each other.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv275, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Maritime, Tort
J. Kobayashi partially grants a motion in limine by the government regarding testimony by doctors and other experts in a case where military families accuse the government of causing jet fuel contamination in their drinking water. A physician can testify to one families’ treatment and causation as long as it corresponds with the previous medical record. The families’ toxicology expert may only testify on diagnoses and prognoses, but not causation. A pair of life planners can rely on medical records in their testimony, as it is common practice in their industry.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv59, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Experts
J. Gillmor dismisses a complaint by a former government accusing her union of filing a grievance on her behalf when she was fired over Covid-19 vaccination requirements. The employee does not make any direct claims of religious or otherwise discrimination that led to the union not filing. The employee’s complaint is more focused on her actual employer, who is not a defendant, and barely addresses the union’s role.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv335, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Covid-19, Employment Discrimination, Labor / Unions
J. Kobayashi partially grants summary judgment to the U.S. Navy in for part of negligence claims against it by military families who became sick after jet fuel leaked into the water system. The families did not provide sufficient causation evidence for their special damages claim related to medical monitoring and testing for the risk of future health effects. However, summary judgment is denied for claims of fear of future injury.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Water
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords, who evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv585, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords, who evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv587, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords that evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv588, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords, who evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv584, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords, who evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv583, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi remands to state court a case brought by families against their landlords, who evicted them from their homes after their water was contaminated by the U.S. Navy’s jet fuel leak. Despite the landlord’s relationship with the military under residential agreements, the landlords themselves are not military and therefore do not fall under federal jurisdiction. Bringing in the U.S. as a third-party defendant does not grant jurisdiction because “a defendant may not create subject-matter jurisdiction by filing a third-party complaint — that is not a voluntary act by plaintiff.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv586, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Government, Landlord Tenant
J. Kobayashi partially excludes reports and testimony from a doctor and toxicology expert who assessed military families who are bringing claims against the U.S. Navy for jet fuel water contamination. The doctor’s opinions on the contamination causing the families’ short term medical issues are admissible as long as they do not rely on studies done exclusively on animals. The doctor cannot testify as to the long term effects, however, as he does not establish specific causation to the jet fuel.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Government, Water
J. Kobayashi partially excludes reports and testimony from three psychologists who assessed military families who are bringing claims against the U.S. Navy for jet fuel water contamination. Testimony from two of the doctors are admissible, as they did conduct full interviews of their patients, including the minors. Information gathered from the parents about their children is admissible as first-hand knowledge when minors are involved is not required. A third doctor is not a physician or military medicine expert so portions of his testimony are excluded, but his testimony on the families' trauma is admissible.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Government, Water
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses a Big Island resident’s claims against the government surrounding safe driving conditions on the island, along with several claims related to his arrest. The government and its agents have immunity in their official capacities but, even in their individual capacities, the resident does not show how they are responsible for what he says is a lack of streetlights and unfair vehicle safety inspections. Claims stemming from his arrest are also denied as he should challenge those in the pending criminal case.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv390, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Negligence, Police Misconduct
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses the insurance company’s counterclaims in an underlying action involving a construction project at a correctional facility completed by the developer. The developer does not show with any specificity that it would not have entered into a settlement agreement in the underlying case, had it received final drawings of the project during discovery.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv117, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Settlements, Discovery, Contract
J. Seabright partially dismisses parts of a wrongful termination suit against the orchestra and the musicians’ union by a former flutist with the orchestra, which fired her after she did not get a Covid-19 vaccine. The flutist’s claim that the union aided and abetted the firing is preempted by labor laws. In claims against the orchestra, claims related to religious and disability accommodations are not dismissed, as the orchestra did not engage in an interactive process with the flutist who attempted to bring evidence of her religious beliefs and documented sensitivity to vaccines to the orchestra before her firing. Retaliation claims do partially survive though, as the flutist was subject to adverse action without even going through the interactive process.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv415, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Covid-19, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Smith dismisses claims by a mother who says her daughter was wrongfully removed from her care by the Hawaii County police officers and the state’s human services department. The actions of each of the state agencies and the individual members of those agencies stemmed from reasonable belief that the child should be removed, and the mother could not provide evidence that showed otherwise.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv104, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Family Law, Agency, Police Misconduct