43 results for 'judge:"Howell"'.
J. Howell grants the employer's motion for summary judgment in the employee's suit alleging failures to provide a computer with enlarged font after the surgical removal of her eye and to grant her adequate leave during the Covid-19 pandemic, along with a failure to promote her which she argues was discriminatory. The employee has not shown that the employer's stated reason for failure to promote her, namely a poor interview performance, was pretextual, nor that its reason for terminating her, namely repeated failures to provide medical documentation required for accommodations including leave, was pretextual. The employee's failure-to-accommodate claims also fail, since the employee has not alleged that, when told that the computer they provided was inadequate, her supervisors refused or failed to follow up on her objections or that it did not engage in a good-faith dialogue with the employee as to her leave requests.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1507, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Howell denies, in part, the district's motion to dismiss a former black records manager's employment discrimination claims. She sufficiently alleges her claims for gender discrimination and retaliation, disability retaliation and failure to accommodate.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1488, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Howell mostly dismisses defamation claims against the widow of the former CEO of a game publisher following a dispute between that publisher and a video game developer over “persistent issues” with the game, “The Outbound Ghost.” The developer can proceed with one part of its defamation claim after the widow claimed on social media that the developer had “sabotaged” efforts to fix the game, which “both parties seemingly agree” is not true.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1302, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Defamation, Contract
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J. Howell denies, in part, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's motion for summary judgment on a nonprofit's Freedom of Information Act case seeking certain FERC commissioners' calendars and phone records. The name of a lobbyist who had lunch with a chairman on a certain date must be released, as the agency concedes it "'should definitely not have [been] withheld.'"
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3420, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, Public Record
J. Howell dismisses an internet user's action against the publisher of the Washington Examiner under the Video Privacy Protection Act. She fails to show she was a subscriber to the Examiner's video goods and services and, therefore, fails to show she's a consumer, as defined by the Act.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv345, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Communications, Privacy
J. Howell denies a former graduate student’s attempt to disqualify counsel of another party — an allegedly abusive teaching assistant — after the graduate student brought a civil rights suit against the University of Texas. The graduate student argues the counsel should be disqualified because she had contacted the firm before filing her suit, creating a conflict. Disqualification is not mandatory in this case, because while the grad student argues this court should use its discretionary power to disqualify the attorney anyways, the danger of prejudice is “exceedingly minimal” and the law firm has “done everything within its power” to prevent it.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1040, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Education
J. Howell denies a company’s motion to disregard jury findings and amend judgment after it was sued by a former employee who alleged he was abruptly fired after loaning the company a large amount of money. At jury trial, jurors ruled mostly but not entirely in favor of the employee. They were “presented with sufficient evidence justifying the exact figure they chose,” and the company has not provided adequate basis for overturning their findings.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv331, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Jury, Contract
J. Howell mostly dismisses a motion for summary judgment by an employee after he was sued by his former company for allegedly misappropriating company property and information after failing to “close a single deal from any lead derived on his own” despite being director of sales for the company. The worker is entitled to summary judgment on a claim for alleged blackmail brought under the Anti-Cyber Squatting Consumer Protection Act because the company “abandons this claim” after failing “show the existence of a distinctive mark” that the worker could have infringed on, but the motion is denied in all other respects.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: November 2, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv20, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trade Secrets, Trademark, Technology
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. Howell refuses to quash subpoenas a company seeks in connection with its $541 million judgment against the Republic of Djibouti. The subpoenas, which seek messages of at least $25,000 that refer to entities and individuals associated with Djibouti, are proportional to the company's attempts to enforce its judgment.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 1:23mc83, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Enforcement Of Judgments
J. Howell approves a $6 million settlement of employment discrimination and retaliation claims involving a class of 85 black and Hispanic employees. The settlement follows serious, non-collusive negotiations, and is fair, reasonable and adequate.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv2132, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Howell denies a motion by a protester to exclude the testimony of a former Dallas deputy police chief in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from injuries the protester sustained during a demonstration in 2020. The protester argues the cop plans to offer "unsubstantiated" opinions, including his view that the Austin Police Department is "progressive," but because the protester disputes the cop's opinions rather than his underlying facts or data, the protester can push back on these arguments "through the adversary process and not through exclusion."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv249, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Police Misconduct
J. Howell grants default judgment against Giuliani in a defamation case as a sanction for his discovery violations, and is also ordered to pay more than $130,000 in attorney fees. "Giuliani has given only lip service to compliance with his discovery obligations and this [c]ourt’s orders by failing to take reasonable steps to preserve or produce" the electronically stored information at issue.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Howell, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv3354, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Sanctions, Defamation, Attorney Fees
J. Howell grants summary judgment to a debt-collection company in a dispute with an alleged debt holder. After being sued for collection, the man countersued and argued the company had violated fair debt-collection practice laws, including because limitations had expired on this debt, but the debt had not in fact expired when the company first sued.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1304, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law, Banking / Lending