72 results for 'judge:"Rice"'.
J. Rice holds that the district court properly concluded that a one-year statute of limitations applied to a county's contract claim against the state corrections department over the $69 daily rate cap for county jail reimbursement costs. The county failed to show a special relationship with the department to support its bad faith claim, as the county has the corporate power to enter contracts, was represented by counsel and any damages could be recouped without seeking tort damages. The county's unjust enrichment claim also failed because it cannot seek equitable relief after letting a valid contract claim expire. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0427, Categories: Tort, Contract
J. Rice finds that the district court properly upheld a state board decision to grant forced pooling and risk penalties to an oil and gas well operator. The operator made an unsuccessful, good faith attempt to have the owner of the mineral interests voluntarily agree to pooling, as required by law before seeking forced pooling. And the operator made valid written demands giving the owner the opportunity to particpate in the costs of drilling before seeking risk penalties. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0289, Categories: Energy, Property
J. Rice dismisses UPS's affirmative statute of limitations defense against the package car cover driver's complaint alleging that UPS's superiors assigned him to less desirable routes, overloaded him with work and tried to uncover unfavorable information about the driver because of his race. The statute of limitations for Washington Law Against Discrimination and related state law tort claims is three years, and the driver filed this lawsuit in October 2022 so his claims can only go as far back as October 2019, but the acts that happened before October 2018 involved the same people named in the driver's lawsuit. As such, the driver can introduce evidence of acts that happened before Oct. 18, 2018, to support his hostile work environment claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3149, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Rice denies the county summary judgment for the family member's claim that the regional justice center's medical staff did not properly check on or care for the detainee, leading to her death. The family member can hold the county liable under a Monell theory of liability, specifically for its ratification of a policy that does not train its staff to treat and monitor inmates for detox and withdrawal. Also, the death of another inmate, who died under similar circumstances in the county's custody, is admissible evidence.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv308, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Wrongful Death
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J. Rice denies the IT company's motion to compel arbitration in the job trainee's complaint that the IT company fired her for unapproved absences while she took maternity leave. Although the job trainee signed the arbitration agreement on her first day of work, she lacked a meaningful choice because none of the information that the IT company gave her contained information about arbitration, and it subjected her to time pressure to sign the documents on the first day.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv17, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Rights, Employment
J. Rice finds that defendant's conviction for stealing social security cards was based on strong circumstantial evidence of her contemporaneous theft of the victims' credit cards. But a restitution award for the cost of Lifelock subscriptions for the victims was not supported by a close connection to an actual economic loss. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0699, Categories: Theft, Restitution
J. Rice dismisses without leave to amend the healthcare workers' complaint that Gov. Inslee violated the healthcare workers' civil rights by requiring them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, resulting in their termination when they refused. Inslee is entitled to qualified immunity on these claims because the healthcare workers cannot claim that Inslee and others unlawfully "subjected" them to any investigational medical product or procedure as the healthcare workers undisputedly rejected the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv295, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Covid-19
J. Rice finds that the district court properly denied a mother's claim for reimbursement of expenses from her deceased daughter's estate. She failed to support her claim with evidence that would allow the district court to determine the reasonableness of claimed costs. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: DA 23-0300, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Rice denies the winery's motion for a preliminary injunction in its complaint alleging that the restaurant and others planned to use the winery's "Revelers" mark in connection with a vineyard two miles from the winery's vineyard. A preliminary injunction is not necessary because the winery did not take enough action to fight for its mark, as it claims that it learned about the restaurant's infringement in 2018 even though evidence suggests that the restaurant infringed on its mark long before that.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv5110, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Injunction
J. Rice finds that the district court properly concluded that a title company was not contractually liable to provide title insurance based on pro forma documents it created showing that it would issue title insurance on the subject properties. The documents expressly instructed that insurance would be issued only after further requirements were met. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0486, Categories: Insurance, Property, Contract
J. Rice denies the insureds' motion to remand their complaint alleging that the insurance company wrongfully denied the insureds coverage after they underwent independent medical examinations following their involvement in a roll-over automobile accident. The insureds' argument that the insurance company's estimation of damages is too speculative is also based on conjecture. The insurance company has successfully established diversity of the parties and that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv341, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Rice finds the trial court was within its discretion to admit evidence of prior domestic violence in a trial that ended with defendant's conviction for felony Partner or Family Member Assault. The prior act evidence showed his specific hostility toward the victim and provided context for the victim's reluctance to talk to police. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: DA 21-0586, Categories: Evidence, Domestic Violence
J. Rice dismisses a complaint alleging that the county's police deputy groomed the alleged abuse survivor, who had a meth addiction, to pressure her into a sexual relationship by bringing up her criminal history and telling her that no one would believe her if she spoke up. The alleged abuse survivor's Washington Law Against Discrimination claim is time-barred under the three-year statute of limitations because the alleged abuse survivor states that she knew there was a power imbalance and that the relationship was based on a quid pro quo pattern.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv280, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Rice grants the plasma machine seller's partial motion to dismiss, ruling that although the machine did not work as intended, the buyer's fraud claim fails because no specific representations were made by the seller about types of cuts, nor did the seller know the machine would not perform to specifications. Additionally, the existence of a valid contract between the parties precludes an unjust enrichment claim, which will also be dismissed.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv333, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Rice grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the bus driver's disability discrimination claims fail as a matter of law because his request for an accommodation in the form of driving only diesel buses infringed on the rights of drivers with more seniority and, therefore, was unreasonable. Meanwhile, the employer is entitled to judgment on retaliation claims because it not only granted several requests for FMLA leave, but also attempted to have the driver return to work several times before his termination, requests that he ultimately refused.
Court: USDC Southern District of Ohio, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv151, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Rice grants the family's motion to amend their complaint against a security guard service company alleging that a security guard broke the speed limit to follow the family's truck, got out of the vehicle once they all parked, and assaulted one of the family members for allegedly trespassing on a property. The family seeks to amend their complaint to name the security guard service's parent company and the security guard at the heart of this lawsuit, and the security guard services company does not oppose this motion.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv338, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Tort
J. Rice declines to dismiss the investors' lawsuit accusing the law firm of sending the former's $1 million investment to an untrustworthy bank, resulting in the funds going missing. The investors establish an injury-in-fact by showing that the untrustworthy bank did not return the money, with nine of the 11 investors losing $100,000 or more, while the rest lost between $25,000 and $50,000. The law firm accepted responsibility for overseeing the money and assuring the investors that it could not be withdrawn or misused without the investors' express authorization.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv227, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Negligence, Legal Malpractice
J. Rice denies third-party plaintiff Travelers' motion for summary judgment for the lawsuit asserting that third-party defendant Flawless Walls must indemnify the former for the loss it incurred when settling the bond in an underlying lawsuit. Flawless produces sufficient evidence to question whether Travelers acted in bad faith in the underlying lawsuit, such as producing statements of position that it provided to Travelers describing how it managed to substantially perform the work despite the "rocky and tenuous working relationship" with Jackson Contractor Group.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv178, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Rice grants the homeowners' motion to remand their case to the Spokane County Superior Court, as their lawsuit accuses the interstate insurance exchange of wrongfully denying full coverage for the homeowners' claim for damage caused by sewage water flooding the entire lower level of their home. The interstate insurance exchange's office is located in Texas, but because it is an interstate insurance exchange structured as an unincorporated association, its diversity is not complete. The homeowners residence in Washington state helps justify remanding their case to the Spokane County Superior Court.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv294, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Property, Jurisdiction