183 results for 'filedAt:"2023-08-31"'.
J. Frank denies the employer's motion to compel arbitration or to stay proceedings in the employee's suit alleging that it failed to address sexual harassment that ultimately escalated to a sexual assault by a coworker, and terminated her after she reported the assault. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 applies to the employee's claims, since it concerns "a dispute involving a nonconsensual act or sexual conduct," namely the employee's suit against the employer in state court.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1127, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Spain finds that the trial court properly ruled in favor of the property owners who sued a manufacturing facility that was allegedly responsible for the flooding of their homes during Hurricane Harvey. There was sufficient evidence that the facility's negligently-built drainage system caused the flooding. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Spain, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00013-CV, Categories: Property, Water, Negligence
J. Hassan finds that the trial court improperly denied the university's plea to the jurisdiction in an employment retaliation suit brought by a former business administrator who alleged she was fired for complaining of race-based discrimination. The former employee did not show that the university's given reasons for terminating her were false and pretextual or that her protected activity led to her firing. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Hassan, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00453-CV, Categories: Employment, Immunity, Employment Retaliation
J. Spain finds that the trial court properly dismissed the individual's claims alleging that a county's electronic-voting system violated the Election Code and her constitutional rights. The individual lacks standing due to the "generalized nature of her claims" and the fact she has not alleged a "concrete and particularized" injury. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Spain, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00678-CV, Categories: Elections, Jurisdiction
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J. Rambin finds that the trial court properly dismissed the suit filed by the residents of a city's extra-territorial jurisdiction, in which they "bring a facial constitutional challenge to the city's ability to regulate private property outside of its territorial borders." The issue raised by the residents is a "nonjusticiable political question" that cannot be addressed "without violating the separation of powers." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Rambin, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 06-22-00078-CV, Categories: Constitution, Municipal Law, Property
J. Quraishi denies without prejudice the employer's motion to compel arbitration for claims brought by one of its former employees in a suit stemming from a data breach, finding that such questions cannot be resolved without considering the arbitration agreement at issue, which is evidence extraneous to the current pleadings. The parties are ordered to conduct expedited discovery on that issue and the employer may file a renewed motion to compel arbitration. Claims brought by a non-signatory to the arbitration agreement are stayed until resolution of this issue, and the employer's motion to dismiss is otherwise denied.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Quraishi, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv6739, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Arbitration, Privacy, Class Action
J. Shipp grants the employer's motion for summary judgment in the employee's suit alleging age discrimination. The employee has failed to provide evidence that he was qualified for two of the positions the employer declined to promote him to, and so has failed to state a prima facie age-discrimination case as to those positions. He has stated such a case for a third position, but has not shown that the company's decision to select what it considered a more qualified individual for that position was pretextual.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Shipp, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv19599, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Williams grants the employee's motion to remand his case against the employer to the Superior Court of New Jersey in Burlington County. The employer has failed to demonstrate that the employee had no reasonable basis to bring a claim against a workers' compensation physician alleging that he conspired with the employer to obstruct his workers' compensation claim, and so the physician was not fraudulently joined to this case. This court therefore does not have subject matter jurisdiction over this action, since the physician is, like the employee, a citizen of New Jersey.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Williams, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv7340, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Jurisdiction, Workers' Compensation
J. Brooks grants a social media trade association’s preliminary injunction stopping a state law from taking effect that would have required social media users to verify their age and have minors receive consent from an adult before accessing the platforms. Companies argued the law is too broad to enforce, stifles freedom of speech, and does not directly translate to protecting minors from the harms of social media. "Age-gating social media platforms for adults and minors does not appear to be an effective approach when, in reality, it is the content on particular platforms that is driving the State's true concerns."
Court: USDC Western District of Arkansas , Judge: Brooks, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv5105, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Communications, Constitution, Injunction
J. Seeger mostly denies a group of food companies’ motion to exclude grocers’ testimony from an antitrust trial over egg producers’ alleged scheme to artificially inflate the price of eggs in the U.S. The producers claim that they had fewer eggs to sell domestically in part due to installing larger enclosures for egg-laying hens as part of an animal welfare reform effort, and that grocers themselves urged the producers to install the larger enclosures in response to consumer demand for more humane treatment of farm animals. The food companies claim grocers’ testimony to that effect would be irrelevant and prejudicial, and while the court disagrees generally, it will also rule on the admissibility of any particular deposition on a “line-by-line basis as necessary.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:11cv8808, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Agriculture, Antitrust, Animal Cruelty
J. Brown finds that defendant was properly convicted of third degree rape. The victim was properly allowed to testify about her speculation that she had been drugged by defendant despite the results of her toxicology report showing that there were no date rape drugs in her system. The record shows that the jury was informed that the victim had no formal education in toxicology and that the basis of her knowledge was from television. Further, the jury was clearly aware that the toxicology results did not show the presence of a date rape drug. Also, an expert was properly allowed to testify as to how much alcohol the victim had in her system at the time the rape occurred because the expert was qualified as an expert in toxicological analysis, and there was sufficient evidence to support that there was a ten-hour window between the victim's last drink and the time she submitted to a forensic exam. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2023-KA-0040, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Kruger finds that a sex offender's due process rights have not been violated even though a trial on a petition to indefinitely recommit him to the state hospital as a sexually violent predator has been pending since 2007. Constitutional speedy trial rights apply to petitions to recommit sex offenders under the Sexually Violent Predator Act, but a trial has not yet been held on a petition to recommit the offender that was filed in 2007.
The length of the delay indicates that both the state and the trial court should have worked harder to ensure the offender's due process right to a timely trial. But the offender did not demonstrate that he sought a trial on the petition before 2018 or that he suffered prejudice by the delay. Affirmed.
Court: California Supreme Court, Judge: Kruger, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: S273391, Categories: Sex Offender, Speedy Trial, Due Process
J. Barbier denies requests by four law enforcement officers to dismiss excessive force claims by the daughter of a visibly distressed armed man who they fatally shot, allegedly firing a majority of their 36 shots after he dropped his gun and fell to the ground, incapacitated. The facts raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence that one of the officers, a Louisiana State Police trooper, fired his weapon at the gunman after he no longer posed a threat. The Fifth Circuit has held that police excessive force claims are fact-intensive inquiries, requiring an examination of the totality of circumstances to determine whether an officer in the same situation would have concluded that a threat existed justifying the particular use of force.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4587, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Immunity
J. Lin denies Home Depot's motion to exclude the testimony of one of the customer's treating physicians from the customer's lawsuit alleging that the negligence of Home Depot's employees allowed a cart to strike and injure the customer. Although the customer's disclosure of the physician's report was delayed, Home Depot waited until the day discovery closed and motions to exclude experts were due to seek a sanction, so it lacks good cause to do so. The delay is also harmless because Home Depot had almost a month to prepare a rebuttal report and seek a remedy, as well as two months to seek additional discovery related to the physician's proposed testimony.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv5694, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Sanctions, Experts, Discovery
J. McFarland grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the employee's second failed drug test gave it a legitimate reason to fire him, and because he has no evidence of an ulterior motive for the termination, the race discrimination and retaliation claims must be dismissed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: McFarland, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv486, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Johnson, in this interlocutory permissive appeal, finds the trial court improperly denied the insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in the suit brought by the utility district seeking reimbursement for its hiring of separate counsel to defend officials in a lawsuit challenging the results of a board of directors’ election. The insurance company originally offered defense by its own attorney, which was rejected. The company had a reasonable basis to deny reimbursement as there was no conflict of interest between the petition and the policy or the officials. Claims for bad faith and code violations are ancillary and not certified by the trial court. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 09-22-00252-CV, Categories: Elections, Insurance, Contract
J. Rushing finds the lower court improperly denied the defendant's motion to suppress evidence from an allegedly unlawful seizure leading to his conviction for possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user. A postal inspector called his friend from the police department after he saw a man he found suspicious walking through an alleyway near an unoccupied home with an "Oh, no, I’m caught” look on his face. The postal inspector spotted him. The police searched the defendant despite not having any evidence of him committing any wrongdoing, leading to them finding a gun and prescription drugs. Vacated.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Rushing, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-4063, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Firearms
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Albert Braccini should be disbarred. Braccini, who no longer works in private practice after starting up with a state agency, was cited for misconduct for neglecting a client's divorce action to the point of its dismissal; he also presented a fraudulent judgment of divorce to the client with a forged judicial signature. Those actions, as well as past discipline for similar conduct, render disbarment an appropriate sanction.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: PM-197-23, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Gonzalez grants Allstate's motion for judgment on the pleadings, ruling the policyholder's Trade Practices and Fraud Act and contract claims are barred by the 4-year statute of limitations, which ended more than two years prior to the filing of the lawsuit. Furthermore, Allstate is entitled to sanctions, as the lawsuit was baseless and arguments made by the policyholder were legally unsupported and frivolous.
Court: USDC New Mexico, Judge: Gonzalez, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv968, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Sanctions, Contract
J. Copenhaver grants in part and denies in part the Coalition's motion for summary judgment in its suit challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 "Parking Lot" amendments to the West Virginia Business Professional Liability Act that prohibits property owners from banning firearms on the parking lots of their premises. The Inquiry and Take-No-Action provisions of the amendments "facially violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech," as "the term 'any action against' is not defined, its scope is unknown and serves to chill any comment or conduct," and "property owners may certainly inquire into the presence of a firearm in order to prepare for and provide for the safety of their customers, employees and invitees and do so without intending to banish or discriminate against the possessor." The West Virginia Attorney General is enjoined from further enforcement of two provisions.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv434, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Firearms
J. Kovner rejects a challenge to the constitutionality of New York City’s Senior Affordable Rental Apartments financing program, claiming it violates due process and equal protection rights. A property developer, who is in the process of developing an affordable housing projected aimed at the elderly homeless population. The developer says the program denied its request to waive its acquisition cost policy which limits financing to the amount equal to the property’s appraisal value at the time it was purchased. The court finds the property developer does not have a protected property interest to the additional financing that it requested.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Kovner, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3080, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Housing, Due Process, Equal Protection
J. Bush finds the trial court properly applied a managerial role sentencing enhancement after defendant was convicted of drug trafficking. Although he was not the ringleader of the trafficking operation, he received a larger share of profits than others in the outfit and coordinated meetings to exchange wholesale shipments of heroin for cash. Meanwhile, a firearm enhancement was also proper based on evidence obtained from jail calls defendant made to his girlfriend, during which he told her a gun was hidden under the porch of his home, a statement sufficient to prove constructive possession of the weapon. Affirmed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Bush, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 22-5600, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing