28 results for 'judge:"Morris"'.
J. Morris denies in part summary judgment in an employment dispute between a former warehouse manager and an employer who fired him. The employer says he was fired for violating a policy against retaliation regarding a conversation with another coworker, but the former manager says he was fired for his challenges with mental health. At this stage, there remains a dispute over which version of events holds the most truth.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 4:22cv111, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Employment
J. Morris allows some claims to proceed against the owner of a "condo hotel" regarding allegations that the hotel uses exclusive leasing arrangements that essentially function as unlawful "tying arrangements." There is enough on the record at this stage to suggest that the owner has used unlawful property declarations regarding their rental management and condominium ownership agreements to which customers have had to agree. While antitrust claims fail for not showing evidence of market power, claims related to the property declarations may proceed to determine if they are unenforceable.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv95, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Antitrust, Property
J. Morris denies a motion for a preliminary injunction against the owner of a golf course after an environmental group claimed there were ponds on the course that were being improperly filled with reclaimed water, among other claims of improper water usage. The group is not likely to succeed on the merits of its case, largely due to the fact that it has not been able to show that the ponds constitute "point sources" that discharge pollutants. Without any more specifics that would bolster the case, the group has not met the high bar of justifying a preliminary injunction.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv26, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Water, Injunction
J. Morris dismisses all class insurance and RICO claims against several medical service providers and medical lien companies from consumers who say the companies use practices that prevent them receiving notification of any medial liens against them. The complaint, which has already been tossed twice, fails to point to a single "legally cognizable injury" that was born from the companies breaking the law. With no standing or opportunities to amend left, the complaint is tossed in its entirety and the case is directed to be closed.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv92, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Insurance, Class Action, Racketeering
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J. Morris denies an environmental group's request for a preliminary injunction against the owners of a ski resort and golf course over claims that the owners discharge nitrogen pollution into the Gallatin River. The court has already ruled against the environmental group on the grounds that their claims are barred by a prior consent order, and their request for an injunction is equally barred. Any attempts to make future similar motions, without any new facts to support them, will be "construed unfavorably."
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv28, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment
J. Morris finds that the trial court improperly suppressed statements defendant made during a church meeting on grounds of clergy-penitent privilege in defendant's trial for lewd and lascivious molestation of a child between the ages of 12 and 16. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Morris, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 2D22-3707, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender
J. Morris finds in favor of Spanish Peaks after environmentalists claimed they were discharging nitrogen into the Gallatin River and using sprinklers on ski runs to discharge wastewater. The claims are barred due to the fact that a consent order, into which the environmental group entered, had already settled the claims and shields the company from being sued again.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv28, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Settlements
J. Morris finds in favor of the native tribe in a dispute with a company that was leased Indian trust land to operate a campground near Glacier National Park. The campground operator eventually made a series of late payments, prompting a dispute with the native tribe as to whether the operator violated its lease and questions regarding what responsibility the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) had in the matter, given that they oversaw the lease agreement. While it is true that the campground operator had a history of delinquency in its ability to make full payments on time with the proper interest, the "incompetence of the BIA" must also be made clear. The BIA gave far too much leeway to the operator despite a long history of late payments, allowing the operator to use the ground even after the lease was seemingly cancelled. This further resulted in the native tribe missing out on years of free use of their land.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv93, NOS: Rent Lease & Ejectment - Real Property, Categories: Native Americans, Contract
J. Morris denies in part summary judgment to Butte-Silver Bow county officials from a former police officer who claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment due to her gender and disability. While some emotional distress claims are tossed for lack of standing, summary judgment on the remaining claims is improper because a reasonable jury could potentially find that the former officer was subjected to repeated instances of harassment, such as when fellow officers drew penises on her car and put tampons in her home and work mailboxes.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv60, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Morris finds in favor of a son who was providing in-home health care services to his father before his death and claims that an insurance company underpaid benefits owed to them. The son says the insurance company should have paid out benefits under an insurance rider from around 2013 to 2016, while the company only paid out a few months in 2016 after finding they were not qualified for the rest due to their family connection. Under Montana insurance law, however, health care services provided by a family member does not disqualify benefits under an insurance rider. Though benefits are not excluded under the law, further proceedings are called for to determine exactly what, if any, benefits they are entitled to receive.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv87, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Morris dismisses claims that sought to challenge the feds management of the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest. Environmentalists challenged the analyses of seven domestic grazing sites in the forest, such as their move to not prepare a supplemental NEPA analysis. But the feds have shown they completed all the required steps in their forest management, and the environmentalists cannot show why an additional hard look under NEPA is needed.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv12, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Agency
J. Morris grants in part summary judgment in favor of the estates which say that a railway company exposed the decedents to high levels of asbestos while they were transporting crushed vermiculite ore through their town. While the record needs to be fleshed out further to determine if the company's asbestos handling falls under the common carrier doctrine, the company is not allowed moving forward to argue that its handling "did not constitute an abnormally dangerous activity."
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv97, NOS: Asbestos Personal Injury Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Asbestos
J. Morris finds in favor of the representatives of two individuals who died from asbestos exposure while working in a railyard. The estate requests that the railway company not be allowed to assign the fault of the deaths to any nonparty, a request that is granted because the railway company has not fully identified what wrongful conduct from other parties could have contributed to the deaths that can come into play in this case.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv97, NOS: Asbestos Personal Injury Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Asbestos
J. Morris grants a temporary restraining order against a Montana law that criminalizes, among several other things, “drag story hours” in schools and libraries and prohibits minors from attending “sexually oriented shows.” The law is overly broad and vague, with the language of the bill failing to properly define most of the “lewd” content it tries to curtail. Given that Montana’s annual pride event was slated to start in less than two days from the issuance of the ruling, the law is enjoined until a decision on a larger preliminary injunction is made.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv50, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Lgbtq, First Amendment
J. Morris finds that the trial court properly dismissed negligence claims brought against a landscape company because the company did not have a duty to provide warnings about the hole in which a customer stepped because the hole constituted an open and obvious condition. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Morris, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 2D21-1621, Categories: Negligence
J. Morris denies summary judgment to both parties in a dispute between the Department of Health and Human Services and an individual over whether that individual owes a fine for terminating a contract under the loan repayment program while enrolled in the National Health Service Corps. The "limited record" before the court does not provide enough information to determine if the fine is excessive, so further proceedings are necessary.
Court: USDC Montana, Judge: Morris, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv55, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Contract