15 results for 'judge:"Rosenbaum"'.
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly convicted defendant, the ex-sheriff of Clayton County, Georgia, of using his position to deprive pretrial detainees in his custody of their constitutional right to be free from excessive force. On six occasions, defendant had non-violent, compliant detainees handcuffed and confined to restraint chairs for hours without bathroom breaks. Defendant had fair warning that his conduct was unconstitutional. Restraint chair use qualifies as "force" and defendant's use of force was objectively excessive since the detainees were not actively resisting. There was sufficient evidence to allow the jury to find that defendant's conduct had no legitimate nonpunitive purpose and caused the detainees injuries including open wounds and scarring. The district court correctly questioned a juror after receiving reports that they refused to follow the law and properly issued two Allen charges during deliberations. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 23-10934, Categories: Constitution, Jury, Civil Rights
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly ruled in favor of the secretary in a race discrimination and employment retaliation action brought by the nurse after she was not chosen for a promotion. The nurse, a Black woman, failed to point to any genuine dispute of material fact as to whether she experienced race or national origin discrimination. Other people were chosen for the position based on their management experience and certifications. The removal of the hiring panel's only Black member for scheduling conflicts also did not disadvantage the nurse. The nurse failed to show that any workplace hostility was causally connected to her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 21-14185, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Rosenbaum finds that the lower court improperly granted defendants summary judgment on a speech pathologist's traditional hostile work environment claim. Considering a major's statement that she intended to "get" the plaintiff, the major's race-baked remark, and failure to take action on an allegedly race-based patient-diversion scheme, a reasonable jury could find that the major pursued the pathologist's HIPAA violation "so vigilantly" at least partly because of her race. Vacated in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 21-12332, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly ruled that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act preempted the consumer's failure-to-warn claim regarding packaging or labeling of the weedkiller Roundup in a product liability action against Monsanto arising after the consumer developed cancer. Neither the Act or the EPA's registration process preempts the consumer's state law failure-to-warn claim. Monsanto failed to show that the EPA would not have approved the warning label proposed by the consumer concerning the ingredient glyphosate's potentially harmful effects. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 21-10994, Categories: Product Liability
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly ruled in favor of the parents in an action brought by the nanny for unpaid overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The district court incorrectly found that the nanny resided in the parents' home. The nanny was not a live-in domestic service employee. The nanny had a separate home and was a night-shift worker for the parents. She was on duty for 79 hours each week, even while sleeping at the parents' home. A genuine issue of fact exists as to whether the parents or two LLCs funded by them were the nanny's employer. Reversed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 22-13669, Categories: Labor
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J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly upheld the bankruptcy court's grant of the debtor's motion to revive an $893,000 judgment against the individual arising from an adversarial proceeding brought by the debtor for tortious interference with contract. The district court correctly found that the debtor did enough to satisfy Georgia's judgment-revival procedure despite failing to strictly follow traditional procedures or file a new judgment to seek revival. The debtor substantially complied with Georgia's scire facias statute by timely filing the revival motion and by mailing the motion and notice of a hearing to the individual at multiple addresses. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 22-10819, Categories: Bankruptcy, Enforcement Of Judgments
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly dismissed the attorney's challenge to the bankruptcy court's order finding him in contempt. The district court incorrectly found that the attorney's appeal was untimely. The attorney filed his appeal within the 14-day period after the bankruptcy court entered a fee order sanctioning him by awarding the company attorney fees and costs for the filing and prosecution of its contempt motion. Although the bankruptcy court issued an earlier order generally awarding the fees, the contempt decision did not become final and appealable until the issuance of the later order which actually set the amount of attorney fees to be awarded. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: December 5, 2023, Case #: 22-11389, Categories: Contempt, Attorney Fees
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly found defendant in criminal contempt of an injunction barring a company's employees from distributing certain stun guns and cartridges that infringed on a competitor's intellectual property. Defendant was not a party to the injunction because she was not an employee of the company when it distributed items which were enjoined by the injunction. Defendant also did not aid or abet a named enjoined party because the company no longer existed at the time of her actions. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 22-10949, Categories: Contempt
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly ruled in favor of a police officer on an individual's false arrest claim in a civil rights action arising from the individual's arrest for operating a vehicle without a valid license and cocaine possession. The officer had probable cause to arrest the individual. A video of the moments before the arrest shows that the individual exited the driver's door of the vehicle immediately after the vehicle was parked and that the individual admitted to not having a driver's license with him. However, the district court incorrectly ruled in favor of the officer as to the individual's excessive force claim. There is no video evidence that the individual posed a threat to the officer such that it would be reasonable for the officer to slam the individual into the patrol car or overtighten the handcuffs. Affirmed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 21-10590, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly dismissed the individual's civil rights action against the county and two jail employees after the jail required him to open his legal mail in the employees' presence when he was a pre-trial detainee and scan it into a computer that contained a memory chip. The district court incorrectly found that the individual failed to state a claim under the First Amendment against the jail employees alleging that the mail-scanning policy infringed on his free speech rights. However, the district court correctly dismissed the individual's claim for violation of his due process rights arising from an employee's refusal to allow the individual access to outdoor recreation for two years. The individual failed to sufficiently allege that the employee intended to punish him or that the two employees retaliated against him for filing grievances. Reversed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: August 8, 2023, Case #: 21-14230, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Prisoners' Rights
J. Rosenbaum remands back to the 11th Circuit panel a class action brought by consumers alleging that web-hosting company GoDaddy violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending them unwanted automated telemarketing text messages. The panel previously dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction and vacated the district court's decision to grant final approval of the settlement. Consumers who received a single unwanted text message suffered a concrete injury and therefore do not lack standing.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: 21-10199, Categories: Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly ruled in favor of the waterpark operator in an action brought by the guest alleging that the waterpark violated the ADA and the Florida Civil Rights Act by imposing discriminatory eligibility criteria for riding a waterslide. The guest was told he could not ride a waterslide because he was born with only one hand. Florida law requires the operator to abide by the waterslide manufacturer's ridership eligibility criteria, which says the guest cannot get on the ride because he does not have two grasping, natural hands. However, the waterpark operator's compliance with Florida law does not qualify as "necessary" under the ADA and did not relieve it of its obligation to follow the ADA. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 22-10646, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of healthcare fraud offenses for billing insurance companies for physical therapy which was unnecessary and not actually received by patients. There was sufficient evidence to show that defendant aided and abetted the scheme by recommending unnecessary physical therapy for patients after performing cursory examinations and by giving insurers fake reports showing that he reevaluated the patients and they needed more physical therapy. The district court correctly sentenced defendant to 48 months in prison and ordered him to pay $1.1 million in restitution. Affirmed.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: May 31, 2023, Case #: 21-10461, Categories: Fraud, Sentencing
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly granted the employer's motion for judgment on the pleadings in an action brought by the employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employee claimed that the employer reduced his regular hourly rate to an artificially low rate to avoid paying him overtime compensation. The employee plausibly alleged that the employer cut his non-overtime rate to avoid paying him an overtime rate which would have been equal to one-and-a-half times his established hourly rate. Vacated.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: May 18, 2023, Case #: 21-10954, Categories: Labor
J. Rosenbaum finds that the district court improperly dismissed the former inmate's claims against two correctional officers alleging that his First and Eighth Amendment rights were violated when they sprayed him with a chemical agent while he was in his prison cell. The inmate also alleged that a supervising officer instructed prison staff not to feed him for two days in retaliation for filing grievances. The district court incorrectly found that the inmate's excessive force claim was barred under U.S. Supreme Court precedence in Heck v. Humphrey. Even though the inmate was convicted of tampering with a sprinkler, his action against the officers could succeed if they used more force than was permissible in stopping him. The district court incorrectly dismissed the inmate's claims for compensatory and punitive damages but properly found in favor of the supervising officer. The inmate is entitled to leave to amend the complaint. Affirmed in part.
Court: 11th Circuit, Judge: Rosenbaum, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 20-14247, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment