82 results for 'filedAt:"2023-10-02"'.
J. Menendez-Miro grants summary judgment to an employer in this matter surrounding termination. An employee was terminated from his position as an electrical and mechanical production technician when he allegedly failed to comply with the company’s Covid-19 protocols, and was absent from work for a seven-day period. The employee’s union filed a grievance that went to arbitration, but the arbitrator found the union and the employee failed to follow complaint and filing procedures outlined in the collective bargaining agreement, rendering the matter as not procedurally arbitrable. The instant court agrees with the arbitrator’s findings.
Court: USDC Puerto Rico, Judge: Menendez-Miro, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1506, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Kennelly splits competing summary judgment motions between a Northwestern University professor pursuing FOIA requests, and several U.S. government agencies seeking to block those FOIA requests. The professor is conducting research into the government’s practice of deporting its own citizens and in pursuit of that research filed FOIA requests with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Justice, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The agencies didn’t respond to several of these requests, so he filed suit. The court partially resolves the dispute by dismissing the DOJ and DHS as defendants, ordering the remaining agencies to provide some the information the professor requested, while allowing them to withhold other information. The court will also allow the professor to replead her case for several of the FOIA requests the court denied in this ruling.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5072, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, Immigration, Public Record
J. Snyder grants an insurance company's motion for partial summary judgment regarding an insured's bad faith claim stemming from the insurer's initial failure to defend the insured in an underlying action. The insured has a general liability coverage policy and forwarded counterclaims in a construction defect suit to the insurer, who replied that it had no duty to defend due to a "property damage caused by your work exclusion." There must be a "causal connection between the insurer's bad faith and the insured's damages." It would be inappropriate to allow the insured to bring a bad faith claim "since there has been no excess judgment or functional equivalent."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Snyder, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv9329, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Howell awards only $9,500 in attorney fees, rather than the requested $50,800, to a masonry worker who won $4,300 in his labor case against his employer. The awarded fees are "based on the time reasonably and meaningfully spent" on the worker's case.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv2789, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Attorney Fees, Labor
J. Winmill denies in part a data analytics company's motion to dismiss consumers' allegations that the company's geolocation data could allow a third party to track them “to and from sensitive locations.” The company aggregates and sells "data collected from billions of mobile devices across the world." The class alleges violations of several state statutes. The consumers have standing and have made plausible claims for unjust enrichment and violation of the California Data Access and Fraud Act. The consumers are granted leave to amend their Washington Consumer Protection Act and California’s Unfair Competition Law claims with factual allegations.
Court: USDC Idaho, Judge: Winmill, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv58, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud
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J. Huff grants preliminary approval to a $5.69 million settlement in a class action accusing the credit reporting company of reselling inaccurate information with false notations stating that the consumer was deceased. In addition to the monetary award, defendant will also be required to improve its reporting practices to more clearly state that the data it is reporting is precisely the data it received from the nationwide credit reporting agencies and that the company cannot evaluate its content. Class members will each receive pro rata payments from the net settlement fund.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Huff, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv498, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Settlements, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Loken finds a lower court properly imposed a revocation sentence and no contact order on a defendant who was convicted for domestic abuse of his fiancée. The defendant, who abuses alcohol, argued that the order is unreasonable because they own a restaurant together. However, the government presented sufficient evidence in court that an imposition of Condition 8, a ban on the defendant from communicating with his fiancée during supervised release, would likely protect her from future abuse. Affirmed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Loken, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 22-3443, Categories: Probation, Domestic Violence
J. Williams denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling that while they had a valid search warrant, it included only the first-floor apartment of the building, which allows the second-floor resident who was taken from the shower and required to sit naked for 90 minutes during a search of her home to bring Fourth Amendment and emotional distress claims.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Williams, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv950, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Emotional Distress
Vice Chancellor Will dismisses shareholder derivative claims challenging an insurer's decision to issue policies to larger health care providers because nothing indicates the decision had been made in bad faith or that false disclosures had been made with scienter.
Court: Delaware Chancery Court, Judge: Will, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2022-0034-LWW, Categories: Fiduciary Duty
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that defendant was properly convicted of weapons charges and using drug paraphernalia since defendant failed to preserve certain arguments and evidence does not indicate he received ineffective assistance. Meanwhile, surveillance video caught defendant firing a weapon at two men after waiting outside of a store for them to arrive. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: KA 20-00982, Categories: Drug Offender, Evidence, Weapons
J. Rickman finds the trial court erred by denying defendant's motion to suppress evidence of a shotgun found in his home by police while they were responding to a reported domestic disturbance, which led defendant to be convicted of firearm possession as a felon. The evidence does not show the officers were justified in re-entering defendant's home without a warrant after the disturbance had been de-escalated, the victims were safely removed from the house and defendant was gathering his belongings to leave, making the search which uncovered the shotgun illegal. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Rickman, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: A23A1128, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Search
J. Feuer finds the trial court improperly dismissed this insurance dispute over coverage for lost business income occurring due to Covid-19 lockdowns and delays. The inclusion of the term “virus” in the definition of a contaminant does not transform an exclusion applying to environmental pollution into one that encompasses the spread of a virus due to the normal human activities of breathing and touching surfaces, as argued by the insurance companies. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Feuer, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: B321806, Categories: Insurance, Business Expectancy
J. Growcock finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of misdemeanor trespass. A witness's testimony that defendant was too "unruly" for police to take a booking photo was not unduly prejudicial. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Growcock, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: SD37531, Categories: Trespass
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly revoked supervised release and returned defendant to prison for violations including the assault, strangulation, and rape of his then-girlfriend. Although the new four-year sentence was higher than the recommended guidelines range, the term was not substantively unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 21-3076-cr, Categories: Parole, Sentencing
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims contending attorneys and mortgage servicers acted illegally during foreclosure proceedings because the borrower lacked a private right of action to bring contempt claims contending defendants ignored a bankruptcy discharge order. Meanwhile, defendant was not a state actor and thus a civil rights violation had not occurred. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 22-1528-cv, Categories: Civil Rights, Contempt, Foreclosure
[Consolidated.] J. Zamora finds that to comply with New Mexico law regarding insurance policy disclosures, insurers must include language about stacking underinsured motorists benefits in policy application forms to give policyholders adequate information before they select coverage. Therefore, decisions in the two cases where policyholders were denied stacking coverage will be vacated and the cases remanded for further development. Reversed in part.
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court, Judge: Zamora, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: S-1-SC-36580, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Conrad adopts the magistrate judge’s memorandum and recommendation because neither party in this breach of contract suit has challenged it. One party, a pharmaceutical supplies distribution firm, moves to dismiss allegations brought by the other, a medical supplies manufacturer, regarding an agreement they made to capitalize on supplies during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The manufacturer claims the firm expressly went against the contract by seeking out one of its clients to do business directly and sell billions of dollars’ worth of tests, but the firm argues that the manufacturer directed it to do so. While the manufacturer did put the two in touch, the firm fails to evidence that the manufacturer directed it to contract with its client. Thus, the manufacturer’s claim survives the motion to dismiss.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv501, NOS: Recovery of Overpayment & Enforcement of Judgment - Contract, Categories: Enforcement Of Judgments, Contract
J. Wilson finds the district court properly dismissed the improperly joined, nondiverse defendant strictly on the basis of admiralty jurisdiction. The marine towing company whose towing line was broken due to the wake of a passing cruise ship was improperly joined as a defendant in the state court petition. When Royal Carribbean Cruises removed the case to federal court, the district court properly dismissed the towing company, disregarded its citizenship and denied the wounded sailor’s motion to remand. Once the towing company was dismissed and no defendants remained, the district court properly severed and dismissed the state petition.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 23-30112, Categories: Admiralty, Tort, Jurisdiction
J. Zainey grants summary judgment to the husband of a woman who died in Italy and against her nephew and niece, who argued her spouse exerted undue influence, pressuring her to sign the change of beneficiary insurance form in his name when she was incapacitated. “Undue influence” is not a viable method for challenging beneficiary designations on insurance policy contracts under Louisiana law. Therefore, the husband’s request for summary judgment is granted to the extent it is asserted as a “standalone claim.” The ruling finds “no meaningful difference” between the laws of Italy and Louisiana in the case, so Louisiana law will apply.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv919, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, Choice Of Law
J. Nagala denies the boarding school's motion for summary judgment, ruling it could be held liable for the sexual assaults on the student by its dean because it was aware the dean would give physical displays of affection and had access to students as a dorm parent and coach, while the school's administrators also allegedly failed to properly investigate claims of assault when they were first made.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Nagala, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv1822, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Education, Negligence, Emotional Distress
J. Castro finds the lower court properly convicted defendant of vandalism and violating probation after he hit an airport office window with a rock. The crime was clearly done with intention and the Northern Mariana Islands’ laws do not conflict with federal laws for crimes occurring at an international airport. Defendant was given due process during the trial, where he had access to an interpreter for oral statements and did not particularly need a written translation for the proceedings. Affirmed.
Court: Northern Mariana Islands Supreme Court, Judge: Castro, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2022-SCC-4, Categories: Jurisdiction, Due Process, Vandalism
J. Gwin grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling its failure to take any corrective action against the supervisor who sexually harassed the waitress is not actionable because the waitress did not report the harassment until after she resigned. Additionally, the waitress cannot establish a prima facie case for retaliation because without taking any protected action to report the harassment, she cannot prove the employer deliberately allowed intolerable working conditions that forced her to resign.
Court: USDC Northern District of Ohio, Judge: Gwin, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1896, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Jordan finds defendant's petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision calling for his removal as an aggravated felon must be partially granted. The petition fails in one respect because, despite his arguments, defendant's Massachusetts conviction for armed robbery constitutes both a "theft offense" and an aggravated felony under federal statutes, but his petition is granted in the sense that both parties agree the case needs to be remanded to the BIA to consider withholding removal, though it is determined defendant, a citizen of Sierra Leone, is ineligible for asylum.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Jordan, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 21-12743, Categories: Immigration, Robbery
J. Dietz denies an aerospace company's motion to complete the administrative record regarding its decision to award Boeing a contract for arm assemblies because the aerospace company failed to allege bad faith regarding the procurement decision, and discovery was not warranted.
Court: Court of Federal Claims, Judge: Dietz, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 23-0688, Categories: Discovery, Contract