34 results for 'judge:"Shea"'.
J. Shea grants the employer's motion to compel arbitration, ruling the contract at issue in this case is between two business entities and, therefore, is not covered by any exemption to the Federal Arbitration Act, including the exemption involving workers engaged in interstate commerce, such as the delivery drivers who brought the suit. Additionally, the fee-shifting provision of the arbitration clause does not render it unconscionable because the drivers have not shown arbitration costs would be prohibitive, while the bold and large type on the contract negates any argument the agreement was deceptive.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1695, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Labor
J. Shea holds that the district court properly found that statutory savings and retroactivity clauses did not apply to an electric utility's 2015 and 2016 applications for Community Renewable Energy Project waivers. It also properly found that the public service commission erred in granting the utility a waiver of its Project obligation for 2015. However, further proceedings are needed to determine whether the commission properly waived its Project obligation for 2016 and whether the utility must pay a penalty. Vacated in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0436, Categories: Administrative Law, Energy
J. Shea finds that the district court properly determined that immunity applies only to individuals and not the state in a case alleging that the state's Health and Human Services Department failed to protect an infant from permanent injuries. But it was error to find that the injuries were foreseeable and the state was liable as a matter of law, so a jury must determine if the state's child abuse investigation was negligent. Also, the district court's sanction for spoliation over some missing photos of bruising was disproportionately harsh since there was no evidence of bad faith and other evidence was available to show bruising. The jury's $16.6 million damages award is vacated in light of the new trial order. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: DA 22-0018, Categories: Sanctions, Immunity, Negligence
J. Shea denies the credit agencies' motion to dismiss, ruling that even though the borrower's settlement and revocation of acceptance with the car dealer do not objectively show a transfer of the debt, the "60 days late" statements on the borrower's credit report are objectively inaccurate and give him standing to pursue Fair Credit Reporting Act claims.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv518, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, Consumer Law
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J. Shea denies, in part, the insurer's motion to dismiss, ruling that although the Covid-19 testing provider has not supplied evidence of the insurer's denial of other companies, its proof of hundreds of denied claims for reimbursement of its own testing services is sufficient to establish a plausible claim for an unjust business practice under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv83, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Health Care, Insurance, Covid-19
J. Shea grants Yale University's motion for summary judgment, ruling the employee's performance issues over a number of years, including many problems she admitted to during her deposition, gave the university a legitimate reason to fire her despite her claims of age and race discrimination.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1552, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Shea denies, in part, the bank employees' motion to dismiss, ruling the bank's allegations of a scheme by which the employees submitted expense reports for a marketing company they owned meet the heightened pleading requirements of its fraud claim, which will be allowed to proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv609, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Shea grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the Muslim employee cannot establish a prima facie case for race and religious discrimination. The paid leave following his reporting of racist comments by coworkers does not constitute an adverse employment action, while his resignation in the weeks that followed was entirely voluntarily and not based on any intolerable conditions created by the employer. Meanwhile, even though the employee's reporting of racist comments can be considered protected activity to support a retaliation claim, the supervisor's negative performance review and request for disciplinary action was based on past performance issues of the employee and is insufficient to be considered an adverse action.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv946, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Shea finds that attorney Meghan Doud misappropriated client funds, charged unreasonable fees, and failed to maintain signed fee agreements, reconcile client trust accounts or keep clients updated. She is disbarred and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: PR 21-0081, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Shea denies the client's motion for a new trial, ruling the jury's finding of a willful and malicious breach of its services contract with the law firm is not against the weight of the evidence, which indicated the client was happy with the firm's performance up until it learned of the adverse jury verdict in the underlying Kentucky trial and then simply refused to pay its legal fees. Meanwhile, because the question of whether the firm and other litigants can seek punitive damages on a contract claim outside the context of an insurance dispute is unsettled in Connecticut, the issue must be certified to the Connecticut Supreme Court for consideration.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv1124, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Damages, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Shea grants Anheuser-Busch's motion for summary judgment, ruling that while its agreement with the distributor gives it significant influence over day-to-day operations, it does not grant control of the company as understood by the Connecticut Liquor Control Act because the distributor is able to appoint its own management team and control the sale of its ownership stock, which renders the agreement enforceable.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1003, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Shea grants, in part, the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee who missed a month of work after she tested positive for Covid-19 cannot bring disability discrimination claims. The illness did not involve serious or prolonged symptoms that required accommodations upon her return or could otherwise be considered a disability. However, the temporal proximity between the employee's protected activity under the Family and Medical Leave Act and her termination immediately after returning to work is sufficient to allow the FMLA retaliation claim to proceed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv123, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Covid-19, Employment Discrimination
J. Shea finds that the district court properly held that a prescriptive easement was established to a ranch road for agricultural, recreational and residential purposes. But the lack of open and notorious use barred the establishment of a prescriptive easement for the use a second ranch road. Reversed in part.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: November 28, 2023, Case #: DA 21-0360, Categories: Property
J. Shea holds that the trial court properly reopened an estate for a subsequently discovered asset. The estate's personal representative believed a stock pledge agreement between the decedent and his grandson was valueless when the estate was closed. Reopening is allowed because the representative had diligently contacted the stock issuer and the grandson, but the issuer had no record of the agreement and the grandson refused to take the representative's calls, so the representative's belief the agreement had no value was due solely to the grandson's stonewalling. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: DA 22-0744, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Shea grants the debt collector's motion to dismiss, ruling the consumer fails to state a plausible claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The single collection notice did not contain any threatening language, was sent directly to the consumer in a typical fashion, and was not misleading or confusing in any way.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv221, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law
J. Shea finds that the trial court properly denied a motion to suppress methamphetamine found in defendant's home during a probation home visit. Defendant allowed her probation officer and other officers to enter her home, where they saw a meth pipe in plain view, which gave them the requisite cause to conduct a more thorough search. Affirmed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: DA 21-0248, Categories: Drug Offender, Probation, Search
J. Shea denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling disputes of fact regarding the traffic stop of the black driver for use of his cell phone, including whether he actually used his phone while driving and how much activity the officers observed before initiating the stop, prevent judgment in their favor or the application of qualified immunity on the driver's Fourth Amendment claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv452, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Immunity
J. Shea denies the tenant's motion for a new trial, ruling the jury's finding of liability on the landlord's part for emotional distress and slander did not require an award for damages. The jury instructions explicitly separated liability and damages on each count, which allowed for a verdict in favor of the tenant without damages, especially considering the tenant failed to provide concrete evidence of any damage to his reputation.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv756, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Damages, Emotional Distress
J. Shea grants, in part, the debt collector's motion to dismiss pro se claims, ruling that all claims related to the business credit card account must be dismissed because they do not involve a consumer debt, while the collector's inclusion of the owner of the credit card debts on collection notices does not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Additionally, the credit card statements sent by the collector qualify as verification of the debts and so any claims related to verification will also be dismissed.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv116, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law
J. Shea grants the employer's motion for summary judgment, ruling the black employee's lack of interpersonal skills and frequent use of abusive language gave the clinic a legitimate reason to reject her application for several supervisory positions and requires dismissal of her race discrimination claims. Furthermore, the retaliation claim also fails because the employee suffered no adverse employment action after she filed a complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv503, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Shea grants the governor and other officials' motion to dismiss, ruling the disabled students lack standing to bring declaratory judgment claims for the state's closure of public schools during the Covid-19 pandemic because they seek only to redress past harms and allege no imminent or future injury. Meanwhile, all of the claims brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act must be dismissed either for a failure to exhaust administrative remedies or a failure to plead a plausible claim, given the disabled students were treated the same as non-disabled students and the system-wide change to homeschooling did not constitute a change in educational placement under the Act.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv1431, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Jurisdiction, Covid-19
J. Shea grants the university's motion for summary judgment, ruling the former student athletes fail to state a plausible promissory estoppel claim. The statements made by coaches and administrators during the school's transition from Division I to Division III did not constitute a promise regarding their experience at the school. The student athletes did not have their scholarships reduced or rescinded, and failed to provide any evidence their experiences at the university fell below the standard promised by administrators.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: July 31, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv934, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Education, Evidence, Contract
J. Shea grants the employer's motion to dismiss, ruling the employee's allegations of aggressive language and the raised voice used by his manager before his termination do not support his claim of wrongful termination. Furthermore, he never complained about the workplace environment to anyone outside of the company, while it was also not a matter of public concern, which prevents him from bringing a First Amendment claim.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Shea, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1005, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Shea finds that the trial court erred in imposing sentencing conditions restricting defendant's access to the internet and possession of certain electronic devices. A complete prohibition on internet access and using devices without the consent of a parole officer is not reasonably related to his criminal history. Reversed.
Court: Montana Supreme Court, Judge: Shea, Filed On: July 25, 2023, Case #: DA 21-0326, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender