23 results for 'judge:"Ashe"'.
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to a shoreside employer and against its loader-operator on spud barges, rejecting the employee’s claims he is entitled to a seaman’s status and benefits after he was knocked into a canal while unloading limestone from a barge. The employee is not a seaman because he did not engage in sea-based or seagoing activity and did not sail with his employer’s vessels. The undisputed evidence shows that the employee nearly always worked on vessels that were only a gangplank away from shore.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2570, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Maritime
J. Ashe grants a request by Arkansas-based Walmart to dismiss a Florida resident's claim for punitive damages in a slip and fall action. Louisiana law prohibits the award of punitive damages unless they are expressly authorized by statute, and, in this case, that Walmart is a Louisiana domiciliary.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv7230, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Damages, Choice Of Law
J. Ashe grants a request by the president and majority owner of an oilfield services company, dismissing on jurisdictional grounds its fired COO’s suit to dissolve the company, and for an accounting and access to company records. The president, a citizen of Florida, and the ex-COO, the company’s minority owner, is a citizen of Texas, so the company is a citizen of both states. The minority-shareholder's suit must be dismissed because it cannot proceed without the company, but adding the company would destroy the diversity of citizenship required for federal jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6409, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Corporations, Partnerships
J. Ashe denies summary judgment to an insurer on its refusal to cover a church's hurricane-related coverage request for a full replacement of its approximately 42,300 square-foot roof, including a warehouse. The insurer has failed to sustain its burden of demonstrating there are no disputed issues of material fact concerning whether the building needs an entire roof replacement. As to the church's bad-faith claims, genuine issues of material fact remain with respect to the timely payment of undisputed amounts, and the timeliness and sufficiency of the insurer's investigation and adjustment of the church's insurance claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3130, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Experts
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J. Ashe denies summary judgment to the former employee of an environmental services company in the oil and gas industry on his argument that while his post-resignation tank-cleaning activities constitute a breach of the no-compete and non-solicitation provisions of his employment contract, those provisions are legally void and unenforceable because his old boss was not operating in any of the 64 Louisiana parishes and 150 Texas counties listed in their agreement at the time of execution. Because the restrictive covenant of the employment agreement complies with the law by listing specific areas where the former employee is prohibited from competing and because he engaged in tank cleaning in six of the listed areas when his employment was terminated, their employment agreement is valid.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv5042, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Contract
J. Ashe denies summary judgment to a surplus line insurance company on its request to dismiss a property owner’s breach of contract and hurricane damage claims on grounds there is no evidence there was a storm-created opening in the roof that caused damage to leak into the building’s exterior. Although one of the policy holder’s insurance adjusters cannot offer opinion testimony, the sum of other expert testimony creates a disputed issue of material fact as to the cause of the water intrusion and whether it is covered by the policy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 23-3292, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Damages, Experts
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to an insurer and dismisses bad faith claims by a property owner seeking policy coverage for $298,000 in hurricane damages to a 30-year-old metal roof. The insurer did not act in an arbitrary and capricious when it denied the policyholder’s claim because it had just and reasonable grounds, including its experts’ investigations and opinions, to believe the policy exclusion applies.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv3292, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Damages
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to an insurance company on its argument that the romantic partner and beneficiary of a taxi driver who died as the result of a single-car, no-passenger accident is not entitled a 20% of his $325,000 accidental death policy. The accidental death benefit applies only to an insured injured while driving of driving in a “private automobile.” The policy’s definition of a private automobile is unambiguous and does not include a taxicab.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1438, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Transportation
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to a Chevrolet dealership, dismissing the age discrimination claims of a 62-year-old service manager who was fired and replaced by a 41-year-old employee he trained for the position. The older worker had 14 years of managerial experience and he was certified as a master mechanic, unlike his younger replacement, who had two years of experience as service manager and no comparable training as a mechanic. However, the younger manager supervised more employees and had twice the vehicle repair volume and twice the revenues. The fact that the older manager had unrequired certifications does not in itself prove that he was clearly better qualified. He has simply not met his burden of proving that no reasonable person could have chosen the younger manager over him.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1145, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Business Practices, Employment Discrimination
J. Ashe dismisses an employment discrimination suit against a now-retired New Orleans Criminal District Judge by a former secretary she fired for recording her conversation, allegedly at the direction of a human resources staffer for the court. The former subordinate reiterates sexual harassment and gender discrimination claims without referencing a constitutional violation as required by Title VII. The secretary alleged the judge gave her a suggestive gift at a Christmas party at the elected official’s home and asked her to spend the night with her and her husband.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv428, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Ashe grants a request by a company that provides information technology and internet phone services, dismissing unfair trade practice claims brought by two former employees who started a rival business. The ex-employees allege their old bosses are suing for theft of trade secrets as a way to “destroy” a competitor in the absence of viable non-compete agreements. Given the facts and circumstances of the case, particularly the ex-employees' failed request for summary judgment, the filing of the IT company’s theft claims against them does not rise to the level of an unfair trade practice under state law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1486, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition
J. Ashe denies summary judgment to Walmart in a slip-and-fall suit by a customer who says she fell in water that accumulated near a laundry detergent aisle from a leaking roof, resulting in injuries to her neck, spine and side. The evidence shows that Walmart knew the roof was leaking but allowed customers into the store without warning of potentially wet floors. With this evidence, a reasonable jury could find that the shopper slipped on water from a roof leak and that Walmart created the condition.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv210, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Premises Liability
J. Ashe reverses a bankruptcy court’s order, holding that the discrimination claims of a potential class of school-age children with disabilities against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese would not be subject to a stay order. The disabled children do not seek to possess or control the property of the bankruptcy estate nor are they undertaking “collection efforts.” Instead, the children seek to halt allegedly discriminatory and unlawful conduct by requiring the Archdiocese to refrain from asking prospective students about their disabilities. Therefore, the bankruptcy court order does not apply to the children’s claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4552, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education
J. Ashe denies summary judgment to the City of New Orleans on claims of negligent retention, training and supervision of two off-duty cops fired for the severe beating of a bar patron in July 2018. The alleged police brutality victim has produced evidence that the City could have fired one of the two officers immediately after a separate incident four months earlier because he was still on probationary status as a recruit, but the City failed to do so and could not offer a clear rationale for its inaction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: July 5, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv11803, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Negligence, Police Misconduct
J. Ashe denies requests by oceangoing shippers, freight handlers and their insurers to dismiss claims by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company holding them responsible for water damage to two shipments of processed natural rubber from Thailand and Indonesia to New Orleans. Goodyear alleges that the bales of rubber were damaged during ocean transit and upon being stored outdoors and uncovered at the port of New Orleans. Goodyear has sufficiently alleged that it entered into a contract by email with the foreign carriers for the transport and handling of the rubber. Whether the litigants formed a contract, the terms of that contract and whether fraud is involved are all issues that may be resolved by discovery and possibly further litigation. At the current stage, Goodyear has alleged sufficient facts to state a claim that a contract was formed and breached.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4561, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Admiralty, Maritime, Discovery
J. Ashe denies a request by a contracting company to halt enforcement of a monetary judgment against it and in favor of its surety for a construction project, pending the company’s appeal of an adverse trial verdict. The contractors failed to provide satisfactory evidence of collateral security totaling $2,563,930 to satisfy judgment. Further, the bulk of the collateral security that the surety now holds is not cash but property, including personal cars, a boat and retirement accounts. That property could “rapidly depreciate or dissipate” during the time it will take for resolution of the contractors’ appeal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv2885, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Insurance, Enforcement Of Judgments
J. Ashe denies a request by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans to dismiss disability discrimination claims against it in bankruptcy court by parents of disabled children seeking to enroll in New Orleans-area Catholic schools. The archdiocese unpersuasively argued that the parents’ complaints are moot because the archdiocese has voluntarily removed the allegedly biased questions from school admissions applications. The district court has no jurisdiction over the parents’ claims against the church, which are pending both in state court and in bankruptcy court.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: June 23, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4552, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction
J. Ashe affirms a bankruptcy court ruling ordering an attorney for alleged victims of clerical sex abuse to pay $400,000 in sanctions for leaking confidential case information about an accused priest to a journalist. The court cannot condone an attorney’s deliberate decision to violate a court order, no matter how noble his motivation, so it has no reservation in upholding the bankruptcy court’s finding that the plaintiff attorney’s conduct was “contemptuous, wasteful, and warranted the imposition of sanctions.” Affirmed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1740, NOS: Bankruptcy Appeal 28 USC 158 - Bankruptcy, Categories: Bankruptcy, Contempt, Sanctions
J. Ashe denies requests by contractors on public construction projects in Louisiana to dismiss claims by a surety that issued performance and payment bonds for the developments. Pursuant to their agreement, the contractors are required to indemnify the surety against losses arising from their failure to complete five of the eight construction projects. In addition, the contractors as indemnitors have failed to demonstrate that the project owners and creditors are required contributors to their agreement with the surety.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1097, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Construction, Indemnification, Injunction