508 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Washington"'.
J. Chun denies the university president's motion to dismiss the retaliation claim in the school faculty member's complaint alleging that the university president wrongfully fired the faculty member for putting a statement in his class syllabus, emails and outside his faculty office door about the Coast Salish tribe's claim to land that read, "I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington." The school faculty member plausible states a First Amendment retaliation claim, because the school faculty member's speech concerned a matter of public concern, and the court cannot employ the applicable Pickering balancing test at this stage.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Chun, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv964, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Employment Discrimination
J. Zilly partially stays the company's infringement claims relating to its '229 and '668 patents that were allegedly infringed on by the the video game company. The company sufficiently represents that the '229 patent "does not add appreciably to the case" if the inter partes review estoppel applies to the '525 patent, which is described as "a hand held controller for a game console." The company will show why its claims involving the '229 patent should not be dismissed with or without prejudice within 35 days of this order.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Zilly, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 2:17cv1182, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Bryan denies the government's motion to dismiss the family member's complaint that the wife died after being exposed to asbestos fibers while doing laundry for her husband, who was an enlisted navy machinist mate and came into contact with asbestos at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The government argues that the discretionary function exception applies because it covers certain "governmental decision-making from judicial second guessing of legislative and administrative decisions," but it is uncertain if two of the navy's regulations related to asbestos were mandatory directives that required action and if the government failed to follow those directives.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Bryan, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv5701, NOS: Asbestos Personal Injury Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Wrongful Death, Asbestos
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J. King partially grants the city's motion to stay the family's complaint alleging that the city's employees killed the decedent by placing a spit mask on him after they choked him. The police officers plan to assert their Fifth Amendment rights for the potential federal charges against them, and their depositions are the only identified discovery that the family does not have, so a stay is appropriate. Unless the stay goes on beyond six months, the parties shall notify the court when the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington decides whether to pursue federal criminal charges against the police officers within 30 days of notification.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv5692, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Wrongful Death, Discovery, Police Misconduct
J. Evanson grants the consumer's motion to amend his class action alleging that Amazon entered into an agreement with Apple to ban third-party Apple vendors from Amazon's marketplace, forcing the consumers to spend more on Apple's products. Despite their arguments to the contrary, Amazon and Apple do not show that the consumer's potential inadequacy as a class representative qualifies as an inherent defect, and there is no undue delay in amending the complaint.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Evanson, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1599, NOS: Antitrust - Other Suits, Categories: Antitrust, Class Action
J. Evanson denies summary judgment to the music photographer for his complaint that the music streaming service used his licensed photo of Jamaican musician Lincoln Barrington “Sugar” Minott without permission. Neither the music photographer nor the music streaming service are entitled to summary judgment because there are factual disputes as to whether the music streaming service's owner had the right to use the photograph by implied or expressed license.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Evanson, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv470, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright
J. Chun declines to dismiss the school faculty member's retaliation claim in his complaint alleging that the university president wrongfully fired the faculty member for putting a statement in his class syllabus, emails and outside his faculty office door about the Coast Salish tribe's claim to land that read, "I acknowledge that by the labor theory of property the Coast Salish people can claim historical ownership of almost none of the land currently occupied by the University of Washington." The school faculty member plausibly alleges a First Amendment retaliation claim as his speech “related to scholarship or teaching." While the university and its president cite the "Johnson v. Poway Unified School District" decision that allows discipline of speech on school grounds, that case's analysis focuses on secondary school education, not college education.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Chun, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv964, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Jones orders the insureds to respond to two of the insurance company's interrogatories for the insureds' complaint alleging that the insurance company must fully cover the insureds' underinsured motorist claim. One of the interrogatories is relevant to the case because it deals with employment history and the insureds claim that they lost substantial wages, while the other interrogatory deals with why the insureds think that the insurance company violated the Insurance Fair Conduct Act, and the insureds cannot delegate their duty to respond on their expert witness.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Jones, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv420, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Experts, Discovery
J. Peterson declines to dismiss the former employee's complaint alleging that the healthcare company eliminated her position and knowingly fired her for using the grievance procedures of her union's collective bargaining agreement with the healthcare company. The healthcare company argues that dismissal is appropriate because a federal court must interpret the CBA, but the CBA is based on state law and thus does not require interpretation in this court. This action is remanded to the Clark County District Court.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 3:24cv5138, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Jurisdiction, Labor / Unions
J. King grants the gas company's motion to amend its complaint that the county denied the gas company's request for reconsideration even though the gas company expressed concerns about how the approved renewal permit would "have a material adverse impact on BEW, and, if implemented by the County, would effectively deprive BEW of the lawful use of its property.” The gas company may add its Section 1983 claim, which alleges that that the county violated due process by not giving the gas company notice of the application for a renewed industrial wastewater discharge permit, because the county does not show how the gas company's alleged failure to exhaust makes the claim futile.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv542, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Contract
J. Pechman denies the electronic financial services company's motion to dismiss the consumer's class action alleging that the company substantially assisted its user in sending the consumer unsolicited text messages inviting her to sign up for the company's Cash App services, in violation of the Washington Consumer Electronic Mail Act. The consumer sufficiently alleges that the company gave its user substantial assistance in sending the unsolicited texts because its "Refer a Friend" program process creates easy steps for its user to follow in order to send the referral message.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1969, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Communications, Class Action
J. Rothstein dismisses the job applicant's class action alleging that the furniture company violated Washington law by not posting the wage scale or salary of its job opening. The job applicant fails to state his claim because while intangible injuries like the omission of statutorily required information can be concrete, the job applicant actually alleges a technical violation because the job posting's lack of information does not harm or create a material risk of harm to any single person's concrete interest.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1742, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Class Action
J. Cartwright grants the hotel partial summary judgment for its claim that the insurance company wrongfully denied the hotel coverage for property damaged caused by water on the basis that the damage occurred before the policy date. Undisputed facts show that some damage happened after the police period began, such as the new instances of interior damage that began in heavily trafficked areas of the hotel, which is enough to trigger coverage.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Cartwright, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1344, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. King awards each of the survivors $150,000 in liquidated damages for their complaint asserting that they should receive damages for the convicted having images depicting the sexual abuse of the survivors as children. The survivors are entitled to default judgment because they prove that they suffered damages from the existence and possession of these images, and the convicted's lack of participation in this litigation will prejudice the survivors if they do not receive default judgment.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv803, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Damages
J. Lasnik dismisses a lawsuit in which the former chief of inventory management for King County Metro Transit accuses the county of not accommodating her religious exemption to the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, placing her on administrative leave and then firing her. The former chief did not give the county timely notice of a religious conflict, because she makes no attempt to explain how a Covid-19 vaccine injection qualifies as a defilement of God's temple while vaccine injections for other illnesses do not, and she acknowledges that neither injections nor vaccines are forbidden in her belief system.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lasnik, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv823, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Covid-19
J. Estudillo denies the high school student default judgment for his complaint accusing the school district of not taking enough action to stop a fellow student from saying homophobic slurs to the high school student, who is queer and gender fluid. The high school student does not adequately allege that the school district did not provide him services comparable to non-disabled students, because it is possible that the school district fails to stop all bullying regardless on the protected class status of the victim.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Estudillo, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv5717, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education
J. Lin grants Amazon default judgment for its complaint that the sellers sold counterfeit products bearing the grill manufacturing company's trademark. Amazon and the grill manufacturing company will face prejudice without default judgment, because the sellers did not appear or participate in this litigation despite being personally served. Also, the grill manufacturing company presents a sufficient trademark case, because it alleges that it owns the "Weber" trademark that the sellers used without authorization.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv1512, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Peterson grants the resident partial summary judgment for her Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) claim in her complaint accusing the housing authority of evicting her from its Alderwood Apartments without notice after her abusive husband, a veteran who obtained housing with a Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher, removed her as a beneficiary of his VASH voucher with the housing authority's help but without notifying the resident. The housing authority claims that it had no obligation to give the resident notice of its actions because she was not the head of the household or the VASH voucher holder, but the VAWA requires that all adult tenants are sent notice of such actions.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Peterson, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1757, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Housing
J. Lin grants the consumer's motion to consolidate her class action alleging that the beverage container manufacturer did not inform consumers that its popular Stanley tumbler products contained lead. The beverage container manufacturer argues that a stay or dismissal is more appropriate than consolidation, because consolidation will require conducting discovery with all named plaintiffs instead of just the top plaintiff, but this argument "strains common sense" as the beverage container manufacturer would already likely seek depositions against multiple class members in the event that the consumer's lawsuit was the only action.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv191, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Civil Procedure, Product Liability, Class Action
J. Rothstein dismisses the job applicant's complaint that the temp agency violated Washington law by not disclosing the wage scale or salary range of its job openings. The job applicant alleges a technical or procedural violation, which does not qualify as a concrete injury, and he must allege at least that he and others applied for the job with good faith intent and suffered risk of harm by that violation.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1680, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment
J. King finds in favor of the city against the protester's complaint that several of the city's unnamed officers used unreasonable force against her during a Seattle protest against George Floyd's murder on the night of June 7, 2020. The protester's First Amendment claim fails because he was not protesting or filming for journalistic purposes, he violated dispersal orders, and he does not produce any evidence that the police retaliated against him or the crowed for protected activities.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv1343, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Jones denies the father's petition seeking the return of his child to Mexico under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Although the family "see-sawed" between Mexico and the United States since the child's birth, the majority of the child’s school and medical connections are in Washington, and the father looked at various houses to purchase in the United States. Because the child's habitual residence is the United States, the father's petition is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Jones, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1655, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Family Law, International Law
J. Pechman grants the petition of Julie Su, Acting Secretary of Labor of U.S. Department of Labor, to enforce an administrative subpoena seeking information about the amounts paid to various Amazon officers, managers and supervisors in 2021 to 2022 to go to Staten Island, New York to convince Amazon employees not to unionize. The information about the names and job positions are relevant to the investigation, because that will help determine if these individuals acted outside their normal job duties or if they acted in their individual capacities.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv270, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Discovery, Labor / Unions
J. Estudillo amends the employee's judgment to $5,400 in economic damages for her complaint alleging that the supervisor and the city did not prove her promotional opportunities and fired her because of her gender. The supervisor and the city agree with the employee's contention that the parties stipulated to economic damages if the jury found liability for the retaliation claim, which they did.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Estudillo, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:19cv5002, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Damages
J. Robart denies Boeing summary judgment for the trade secrets misappropriation claim in the aircraft manufacturer's complaint alleging that Boeing infringed on the manufacturer's hybrid-electric and electric aircraft technology. Boeing argues that the manufacturer does not present expert testimony to back its claim, but the substance of the expert's report establishes a genuine dispute as to whether the alleged trade secrets were readily ascertainable.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Robart, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv896, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Trade Secrets, Experts
J. Pechman declines to dismiss the personal representative's federal claims that the sheriff's deputy shot and killed Joshua Sarrett on Sep. 19, 2020, while Sarrett was "unarmed, intoxicated and was only suspected of being a harm to himself." The personal representative adequately alleges that the deputy's decision to seize Sarrett was unreasonable because the deputy did not investigate any crime at the time and the deputy did not ask Sarrett if he was armed.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1316, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct