114 results for 'court:"USDC Southern District of Georgia"'.
J. Hall grants the citizen's motion to dismiss a civil rights and breach of contract action brought by the individual arising from a dispute over a property easement. The individual claimed the citizens made misrepresentations with respect to a third party's interest in his property and then gave the property to the third party. The individual failed to sufficiently allege his citizenship and failed to show that the instant court has diversity or subject matter jurisdiction over his claims. The individual's claims arise from state property law and do not involve federal law.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv131, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Property, Jurisdiction
J. Ray denies the employer's motion to exclude an independent medical examiner and a vocational evaluator as experts in a negligence action brought by the individual arising from injuries he suffered in a vehicle collision with the employee. Although the individual failed to properly disclose the evaluator and examiner, the error was harmless. The employer's motions to exclude the testimony of a collision investigation expert and to exclude or limit the testimony of a financial loss expert are also denied. The individual's motions to exclude the testimony of the employer's damages expert and biomechanics expert are denied. The damages expert's testimony is relevant and helpful.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Ray, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv62, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, Experts
J. Wood partially grants the county administrator's, the county's, the ambulance service's and the 911 dispatchers' motions to dismiss a wrongful death and negligence action brought by a widow after her husband went into cardiac arrest and died from an anoxic brain injury. An ambulance did not arrive in response to the widow's 911 calls. The widow's state law claims against the county and other parties in their official capacities are barred by sovereign immunity. However, the widow's claim that the dispatchers deliberately lied in telling her an ambulance would arrive is enough to show an intent to cause harm and a violation of the husband's rights. The widow also sufficiently alleged a causal connection between the supervisors' conduct and the violation of the husband's rights.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv27, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Negligence, Due Process, Wrongful Death
J. Wood grants the individual's motion to remand a putative negligence, invasion of privacy and breach of fiduciary duty class action against the hospital back to Coffee County superior court. The individual claimed the hospital violated HIPAA rules and FTC standards by disclosing confidential and protected health information to third parties, including Facebook and Google, via tracking technologies on the hospital's website. Although the individual's action references federal law, the hospital failed to show that the individual's state law claims raise a federal issue. The individual's motion for attorney fees is denied.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 5:24cv5, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Privacy, Class Action
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J. Hall grants the insurer's and the beneficiaries' joint motion for discharge, dismissal and disbursement of $87,000 in interpleader funds to the new primary beneficiary in a life insurance dispute. Judgment is entered in favor of the insurer against the initial primary beneficiary as to the interpleader relief and in favor of beneficiaries on their crossclaim. The initial primary beneficiary failed to respond to the action or the crossclaim. There is no evidence the decedent was incompetent at the time he executed a third change of beneficiary request form, therefore the form is valid and the new primary beneficiary is entitled to the funds.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv63, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Wood partially rules in favor of the employee and the executive in a breach of contract and fiduciary duty action brought by the insurance brokerage firm for violating their employment agreements. The employee's motion for summary judgment is granted as to the firm's claims for breach of non-compete covenant and breach of confidentiality and non-disclosure covenants regarding all clients except one. However, the employee's motion is denied with respect to claims for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of non-solicitation, employee non-interference and confidentiality covenants for information on one client. Genuine issues of fact exist as to whether the employee breached his non-solicitation covenant but undisputed evidence shows that the executive did not breach hers. There is a factual dispute as to whether the executive violated her confidentiality and non-disclosure covenants.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv54, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Fiduciary Duty, Contract
J. Hall grants the insureds' motion to exclude certain costs from the insurer's bill of costs after a ruling in the insurer's favor was entered in a breach of contract action. Costs for e-discovery processing, data hosting fees, vendor research, postage, copying and document loading fees are not taxable. The clerk is ordered to tax costs in the amount of $883 against the insureds.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv19, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Contract
J. Wood rules in favor of the city, police colonel and police chief in a malicious prosecution action brought by the individual arising from his arrest for swinging a bottle towards the colonel. The assault, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct charges against the individual were eventually dismissed. The colonel and the police chief are entitled to qualified and official immunity. The colonel had probable cause to arrest the individual and the police chief cannot be held liable under supervisory liability. There is no evidence that either the colonel or police chief acted with actual malice or an actual intent to harm the individual.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:22cv63, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Malicious Prosecution
J. Ray grants the company's motion for leave to amend an answer to the driver's action arising from spinal injuries he suffered in a car collision with the company's truck driver. The driver's motion to strike the company's notice of non-party fault is denied. The driver had notice that the company was likely to pursue a defense of non-party fault regarding the decision by the driver's doctor to perform a surgery on the driver which the company's expert deemed unnecessary.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Ray, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv62, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence
J. Hall grants the county's, sheriff's and board of commissioners' motion to dismiss the widower's civil rights action arising from his wife's death in a car collision with a deputy. The deputy was driving at fast speeds to respond to an emergency call. The county had no authority to control the deputy and therefore cannot be held liable under a theory of supervisory liability for his actions. The deputy and the sheriff are entitled to immunity from the widower's civil rights claims.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv112, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Rights, Negligence
J. Hall denies, in part, the county and other defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this dispute brought by an abortion protester arrested for criminal trespass. A new ordinance “survives intermediate scrutiny and passes constitutional muster as a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction.”
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv149, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Baker grants the waste collection and disposal services’s company’s motion for summary judgment on employment discrimination claims brought by a female employee, finding she failed to support sufficient evidence that she suffered sexual harassment constituting an actionable hostile work environment, or that the company discriminated against her based on her age, or retaliated against her.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv156, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Hall grants the insurance company’s motion for summary judgment, finding it did not breach a policy in this suit arising from a car accident involving a person whose name was listed beneath a line on the policy that says “Additional information: Named Insured.” This person’s portion of the “Drivers and resident relatives” section does not include a line indicating she is also a named insured.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv85, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Hall partially overrules the county's objection to the magistrate judge's order and finds that the amended civil rights complaint brought by Ahmaud Arbery's mother is the operative pleading in the case except for a deliberate indifference claim, which is struck. The majority of the mother's amendments serve to bolster her already existing claims and are based on facts which were not available to her when she initiated the action. However, the mother improperly delayed in bringing her deliberate indifference claim against the police officer since his name was mentioned in at least one news article and she should have known she had a potential claim against him. The police chief's renewed motion to dismiss is granted.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv20, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Hall denies the insurer's motions for summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action claiming that it has no duty to defend or indemnify the insured in an underlying lawsuit arising from defects in a mobile home assembled by the insured. The insurer failed to show that the home was defective before the insured assembled it or that the damage to the home was not property damage under the policy. The insurer also failed to show that business risk exclusions in the policy apply to the underlying claims against the insured. A question of fact exists as to whether the insured had complete dominion over the home and it is not clear that the damages claimed were to the part of the home the insured assembled.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv43, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Hall grants the law firm's renewed motion to dismiss the individual's RICO, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract action alleging that the firm stole nearly all of his incentive award from an underlying lawsuit. The court lacks personal jurisdiction over the firm, which is in California. The firm agreed to represent the individual in the then-pending California case while the individual was still living in California. The parties' interactions afterward with the state of Georgia resulted only from the individual's move to Georgia.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv178, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, Jurisdiction
J. Wood partially refuses to find in favor of the city and two police officers in a civil rights and negligence action brought by the father after his son's death. The son crashed into a tree during a high-speed chase that occurred after he was stopped by police for a broken tail light. The city is not entitled to sovereign immunity from the father's claims. A reasonable jury could find based on body camera footage that one officer lied about the son having and pulling a gun out of his pocket during the traffic stop. A reasonable jury could also find that the other officer knowingly adopted and perpetuated the first officer's alleged lies and that the officers engaged in the high-speed chase with an intent to physically harm the son. However, the city's motion for summary judgment on the punitive damages claim is granted.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv30, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Police Misconduct
J. Wood adopts the magistrate judge's recommendation and grants the healthcare provider's and doctor's motion to dismiss the couple's medical malpractice action as a sanction for fabricating evidence. The action arose from injuries the husband allegedly suffered after a doctor left gauze inside his nasal cavity following a septoplasty. The couple's objections to the magistrate judge's findings, including that a cell phone video taken by the husband showing bloody materials in a basin after his doctor's appointment was fabricated, are overruled. The couple "abused the judicial process and committed a fraud upon the court" by staging the video with fake, bloody items and submitting it to the provider and doctor during discovery as a "centerpiece" of their case. The provider and doctor proved the husband did not record the video in a specific exam room.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv21, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Sanctions, Medical Malpractice
J. Epps recommends that the former teacher's civil rights and unfair credit reporting action against the investigator, deputy, county, company and other parties be dismissed. The action arose after the deputy filed a police report and the investigator obtained an arrest warrant for the teacher based on allegedly false identity fraud accusations made by the teacher's daughter. The teacher fails to properly state a conspiracy claim against anyone. The action fails to allege communications between any of the parties that resulted in an agreement to deny the teacher any constitutional right.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Epps, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv148, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process