16 results for 'judge:"Flaum"'.
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly dismissed a worker's lawsuit against a barge company stemming from his slip and fall on ice on the deck of a barge, leaving him in the freezing February waters of the Mississippi River for 12 minutes. The complaint fails to connect his fall with any breach of duty owed to him by by the barge company, as his injury was not foreseeable. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-2348, Categories: Tort, Negligence
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly sentenced defendant on gang-related RICO charges. The court properly calculated defendant's offense level including his responsibility for a man's murder, because the crime was a jointly undertaken criminal activity and he was directly responsible under Illinois law even if defendant was not a gang leader. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 23-1236, Categories: Sentencing, Racketeering, Gangs
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly found for the state agency in a suit filed by a businessowner alleging it violated her occupational liberty by telling a potential customer that her company engaged in a kickback scheme that violated the law. Government entities ceased doing business with the company as a result, but the company stayed afloat and the businessowner remained as CEO after being acquitted on bribery charges. The company always had private clients, even before the state's investigation began, and the businessowner has no constitutional right to work for a particular customer. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 22-3108, Categories: Civil Rights, Business Practices
J. Flaum finds that a woman cannot sue the employer of the man who sexually assaulted her under the guise of hiring her to do modeling work. No one at the company had any knowledge that of the man's promises to hire her as an independent contractor, and she was never entered into the payroll system. Therefore, she cannot hold the employer liable for its employee's actions. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 23-1320, Categories: Employment, Tort
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's habeas petition stemming from the state court's decision to answer a jury question ex parte during defendant's criminal trial on robbery charges. The communication did not have a substantial an injurious effect on the jury's verdict. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 22-3082, Categories: Habeas, Robbery, Jury Instructions
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J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly found for the state employer in a race and sex discrimination suit filed by a job applicant. There is no evidence the employer changed its hiring criteria for the position after the applicant applied to them as a pretext for not interviewing her. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 22-3275, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to various drug and firearm charges. Defendant did not argue or show that he would present different or additional evidence to show that he was justified in possessing the firearm. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 22-3024, Categories: Firearms, Plea
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of disorderly conduct after he threatened a security officer at the VA hospital because he was upset that test results did not show he had sleep apnea. The hospital is a non-public forum, and reasonably prohibits shouting, abusive language, and other conduct that disrupts care for veterans, so defendant's First Amendment challenge to his convictions fails. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 22-3264, Categories: Constitution, Assault
J. Flaum finds that the lower court improperly sentenced defendant on multiplicitous firearm convictions, but properly sentenced him for drug offenses. Defendant's two firearm convictions should have been merged for sentencing purposes. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: November 13, 2023, Case #: 22-2805, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiring to distribute meth. Defendant did not receive ineffective assistance due to counsel's failure to call a witness who might have testified the attorney pressured him to change his testimony. Even if the attorney was personally motivated not to call the witness, it was certainly in the defendant's best interest not to call the witness because of the risk's his testimony might have posed to her defense. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 22-2922, Categories: Drug Offender, Ineffective Assistance, Witnesses
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly dismissed two individual's claims against the Director of Illinois' Department of Employment Security stemming from their unprocessed applications for unemployment benefits that left them benefit-less through the Covid-19 pandemic. Mandamus provides an adequate state-law remedy in this case, so the individuals fail to make a valid claim for federal procedural due process violations. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: August 7, 2023, Case #: 22-2859, Categories: Administrative Law, Due Process, Agency
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly rejected a state attorney candidates' civil rights lawsuit against various public officials following his loss to the incumbent. The town chief of police did not violate any law by posting a photo on the official police department Facebook page endorsing the incumbent candidate. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: July 21, 2023, Case #: 22-2404, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Technology
J. Flaum finds that the lower court improperly found for the police officer on wrongful death claims stemming from a pretrial detainee's death in custody. A jury could reasonably find that the officer's delay in responding to the cellmate's distress call diminished the detainee's chances of survival, as jail personnel did not reach the cell until he had stopped breathing entirely. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 22-2958, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal based on an entrapment defense. Defendant was convicted of attempted enticement of a minor after he used a dating app to arrange a sexual encounter with a 15-year-old boy. The FBI agent posing as a 15-year-old gave defendant multiple opportunities to "walk away" from the encounter by waiting long periods of time to respond to messages, but defendant persistently engaged the agent even after he knew the purported minor was underage. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: June 29, 2023, Case #: 22-1808, Categories: Child Victims, Entrapment
J. Flaum finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of conspiring to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. The government expert's testimony, which defendant objects to, was not critical to defendant's conviction. Further, several witness's references to defendant's incarceration did not prejudice the jury. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Flaum, Filed On: June 22, 2023, Case #: 22-1691, Categories: Drug Offender, Witnesses, Experts