54 results for 'judge:"Russell"'.
J. Russell finds that the lower court properly convicted defendant of assault after admitting a surveillance video into evidence. The video was on a motion-sensor system, so it did not record continuously through the incident, but only in 30-second clips, which partially captured the incident. The rule of completeness does not apply to this evidence because there was no greater whole video of which the 30-second clips were a part. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Russell, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: SC100188, Categories: Evidence, Assault
J. Russell denies the defendant insurance company's motion to exclude certain expert testimony in this breach of contract lawsuit involving damage to a boat dock. The court finds that the expert is "qualified and his methodology is reliable." However, the court will partially grant the company's motions in limine. Specifically, the expert cannot define the company's "duty of good faith and fair dealing" or provide an opinion "on the ultimate conclusions" as to whether the company acted in bad faith.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 4:18cv504, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Experts, Contract
J. Russell partially grants the school resource officer's dismissal motion in this lawsuit brought by high school students alleging that they were subjected to sexual harassment by an assistant basketball coach and that the officer knew about the inappropriate behavior. The official capacity claims against him are dismissed, along with the students' substantive due process claims. However, their equal protection claim based on an alleged "failure to report or investigate" survives against the officer.
Court: USDC Northern District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv240, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education
J. Russell grants, in part, a manufacturer’s motion to dismiss this products liability, tort, and contract dispute brought by several solar companies. The solar companies request punitive damages and allege the manufacturer sold defective electric power safety cutoff devices, which overheated and failed in multiple projects, creating a high risk of fire and electrocution. The solar companies failed to allege they had a fiduciary or confidential relationship nor that the manufacturer mislead partial or fragmentary statements. Therefore, the fraudulent concealment is dismissed, and the manufacturer must answer the amended complaint. The court will deny the request punitive damages because the burden at this stage has been met on clear and convincing evidence.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1606, NOS: Contract Product Liability - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Russell partially grants cross-motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim in this ongoing suit concerning breach of contract and trade secrets between an insurer and a former employee. The employee argues the non-solicitation restrictions shouldn’t be enforceable because Maryland courts generally do not favor “agreements that restrict former employees from soliciting all clients of a former employer, rather than only those with whom the former employer worked directly.” However, the company does not allege the employee’s position within the company, her sales or exposure to customers making the agreement overbroad and unenforceable as matter of state law. The employee must answer the complaint.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv961, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trade Secrets, Contract
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J. Russell mostly declines the stepfather's motion to dismiss in this fraud and fiduciary duty lawsuit concerning the administration of the mother's trust. The brothers have sufficiently alleged that the stepfather breached his fiduciary duties as the trustee by selling the house below market value, issuing an unsecured loan to his own son, and failing to pay ad valorem taxes on behalf of the trust. However, the brothers' claim for accounting is dismissed.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv917, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Trusts, Fiduciary Duty
J. Russell grants, in part, a retirement communities’ motion to dismiss allegations of religious discrimination, retaliation, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act violations and ADA violations when they imposed a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for all employees brought by former employee. The employee states she submitted medical and religious exemption requests before she was fired for not complying with the mandate. She fails to exhaust her remedies for the GINA and ADA retaliation claims. The rest of the claims are denied, and the communities must answer the complaint as required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and this court’s local rules.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv12221, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Covid-19, Employment Retaliation
J. Russell grants two corporate officers’ motion to dismiss this ERISA lawsuit brought by a pension fund, alleging the officers and a corporation failed to pay into its union fund as required under the collective bargaining agreement. Corporate officers “do not become fiduciaries solely by virtue of their corporate position, even if the corporation is a fiduciary, ‘unless it can be shown that they have individual discretionary roles as to plan administration.’” The corporation argues the claim to seek an audit should be dismissed due to the audit request being a remedy and not a cause of action. Therefore, the court finds the complaint does not allege the officers were fiduciaries under ERISA, but the fund and corporation clearly permit an audit of its books and records. The corporation’s motion for partial dismissal is granted.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv440, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Pensions
J. Russell grants a credit union’s motion to dismiss in this vehicle loan dispute brought by a buyer. The buyer says the credit union did not provide the correct disclosures, violating Truth in Lending Act, and that he filed to rights of recission letters that were not answered. He fails to establish an claims under the Act or for unauthorized use. The credit union’s motion to strike the purchaser’s surreply is denied.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3247, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Banking / Lending
J. Russell grants, in part, a mortgage company’s motion to dismiss this RESPA case regarding a class of homeowners’ escrow accounts. The homeowners allege and shows the mortgage company failed to pay property taxes from the escrow accounts. The homeowners failed to show any damages as the mortgage company failing to respond to QWR letters. Therefore, the motion to dismiss the QWR letters is dismissed.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2933, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Real Estate, Banking / Lending
J. Russell grants the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s motion to dismiss this employment dispute brought by a former logistics management specialist alleging discrimination, failure to hire and unlawful termination due to her race, sex and autism disability. The specialist’s claims are untimely and unexhausted making dismissal appropriate. Therefore, she cannot exhaust administrative remedies her motion to amend pleading is denied.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2355, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
J. Russell denies a husband’s motion to dismiss this lawsuit alleging defamation and invasion of privacy. The husband’s wife had an extramarital affair with a man she met on a dating website; after she reconciled with her husband, the paramour had to get a peace order against the irate husband. After the peace order expired, the police stated to the paramour he was under investigation for circulating videos of his sexual encounters with the woman without her consent, but the allegations were later shown to be false. The husband and wife made a website to make false accusations regarding the lover and several of his friends. Since the statements were known to be false, they were made with actual malice, and the defamation and false light invasion of privacy claims persist.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3124, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, Privacy
J. Russell grants summary judgment in favor of a restaurant group in civil rights dispute brought by a Black mother, her son and her friend. The mother alleges that the three of them went to have dinner at one of the restaurants and they were singled out, because of their race, and asked to change her son’s shorts or leave the restaurant. She observed another child that was of the white race wearing a similar outfit, when she asked why it was OK for that child, she was told they were different outfits. The posted dress code allowed for the white child’s khaki shorts, but not the Black child’s basketball shorts.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv2226, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence
J. Russell grants the National Security Agency’s motion for summary judgment following two requests for the disclosure of records under the Freedom of Information Act suit brought by a man seeking intelligence records. The man argues that the agency withheld the records in bad faith. The court sees no bad faith and finds the agency did cooperate by sending him many letters informing him they needed additional information.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv2412, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Public Record
J. Russell grants a title insurance company’s motion to dismiss this titling insurance dispute brought by developers. The insured developers allege three residential lots they had title to were complied with the zoning code. A neighbor filed a claim alleging the property could not be developed as envisioned under the city’s zoning law; the title company then refused to defend the marketability of the developers’ title, so the property could not be sold at a profit. The court finds the insurance claim is not covered by the policy. Therefore, the insureds’ cross-motion for partial summary judgment is denied.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1877, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Property
J. Russell grants the Texas residents' dismissal motions in this case concerning an individual's estate based on a lack of personal jurisdiction. The complaint alleges that an attorney and his wife, along with a paid caretaker, "engaged in a conspiracy to siphon money" from the individual, who is 91 years old and suffering from Alzheimer's. However, the "focal point of defendants' alleged actions was Texas."
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv499, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Conversion, Jurisdiction
J. Russell denies the dismissal motions in this civil rights lawsuit alleging that a pretrial detainee was denied adequate medical care, after falling down a set of concrete stairs. The complaint contends that he was sent to the hospital "eight days after his fall" and that he ultimately died from his injuries. The allegations sufficiently state a claim for deliberate indifference against the medical staffing company, as the detainee was allegedly "turned away from the jail infirmary after he was carried there by a cellmate."
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv1060, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care
J. Russell partially grants the defendant school district's dismissal motion in this lawsuit brought by a former high school student alleging that he was sexually harassed by a teacher. The complaint contends that school officials had previously received reports of the teacher engaging in "inappropriate behavior," and that the school district's indifference allowed the student "to become another victim." The student's Section 1983 claim based on a "state created danger theory" will be dismissed, however, along with his Title IX claim, due to a failure to state a plausible claim.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv473, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Education
J. Russell grants, in part, a nursing home’s motion to dismiss in this lawsuit brought by a former employee alleging race discrimination and retaliation. The former cannot establish that other similarly situated employees were treated more favorably than her to support her race discrimination claims. She has plead prima facie that the adverse reaction of retaliation happened after the nursing home became aware of the protected activity. Therefore, the motion to dismiss discrimination is granted. The retaliation claim is denied, and the nursing home must answer the complaint.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv43, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Russell finds that the commission properly found that the worker's applications for review of an administrative judge's decision to deny her worker's compensation benefits were timely filed. Based on the credible testimony of witnesses, the commission reasonably found that the worker put enough postage on the envelope nd delivered it to the Post Office before the statutory deadline. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Russell, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: SC99995, Categories: Civil Procedure, Workers' Compensation
J. Russell finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's post-conviction motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel at both his guilty plea and sentencing proceedings. Counsel testified that he was aware of defendant's past competency issues, but said defendant was able to consult with him rationally and understood the proceedings. Further, the court observed defendant at both proceedings and said he did not appear erratic or confused. Affirmed.
Court: Missouri Supreme Court, Judge: Russell, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: SC100084, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sentencing, Plea
J. Russell partially grants the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority's dismissal motion as to certain claims against it in this class action concerning an alleged data breach, in which the student plaintiffs' personal information was allegedly "obtained by malicious actors." The plaintiffs' claims for negligence per se and invasion of privacy are dismissed against the OSLA. Their claims for negligence and negligent hiring, training and supervision survive dismissal.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv99, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Education, Negligence, Banking / Lending
J. Russell partially grants the defendant servicing company's dismissal motion in this class action concerning an alleged data breach. The student plaintiffs' invasion of privacy claims will be dismissed against the company, as they fail to properly state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Their other claims survive, however, including their claims for negligence and negligence per se, with respect to the Federal Trade Commission Act.
Court: USDC Western District of Oklahoma , Judge: Russell, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv99, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Education, Negligence, Banking / Lending