J. Walker grants a health insurance company’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by a hospital trying to have the insurance company cover healthcare services it provided to one of its insured. The hospital did not exhaust the administrative process in trying to get the insurance company to cover the cost of services it provided.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Walker, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv258, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Health Care, Insurance, Contract
J. Carlyle finds that the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the appellee in this dispute involving the validity of the parties' partition agreement. The appellant failed to address "each ground upon which the judgment could have been based." Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Carlyle, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 05-23-00844-CV, Categories: Family Law, Contract
J. Walker upholds the tax court's finding for the IRS on a Swiss couple's challenge to $500,000 in penalties assessed after they had voluntarily amended their tax returns to include millions in a Swiss bank account they had not previously disclosed. Contrary to the couple's argument, the corrected returns do not protect them from penalties and the assessments were not untimely. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 22-1308 , Categories: Administrative Law, Tax
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J. Randolph finds the lower court improperly found for a union on its claim the Federal Labor Relations Authority's decision to vacate certain arbitration awards in a government pay scale-related dispute was ultra vires. The lower court lacked jurisdiction and, upon remand, must dismiss the complaint. Vacated.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Randolph, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 22-5308, Categories: Jurisdiction, Labor / Unions
J. Segal finds that the trial court properly denied an employer's motion to arbitrate an employee's Private Attorneys General Act claims. The trial court had the authority to decide the arbitrability of his claims since the arbitration agreement the employee signed did not clearly delegate arbitrability decisions to an arbitrator. And the agreement itself excluded both the employee's individual and representative Act claims. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Segal, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: B328425, Categories: Arbitration, Employment
J. Huffaker grants, in part, the medical device maker’s motion to dismiss a product liability suit filed by a patient who claims that her Smart Port, implanted for the purpose of infusion therapy was defective. She alleges claims under the Alabama Extended Manufacturer’s Liability Doctrine as well as claims for negligence, breach of warranty and wantonness concerning the device’s catheter, which fractured near her heart. The patient’s claims have an articulated reasonable set of facts that could make the medical device maker’s liable for failure to warn. Therefore, the AEMLD, negligence and wantonness claims may proceed, and the patient concedes her warranty claim.
Court: USDC Middle District of Alabama, Judge: Huffaker, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv112, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Product Liability
J. Flanagan grants a municipality’s motion to dismiss wrongful termination and gender and race discrimination allegations brought by a former parks and recreation director. The director, a Black woman, alleges that after a series of discussions and emails regarding her conduct, her supervisors became increasingly hostile and fired her without warning or explanation. She makes reference to several other employees’ actions that did not result in their termination, but the information she provides is too vague to proceed under a Title VII claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv630, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Mawla finds that the state agency properly declined to reconsider an order in which the board of public utilities established siting requirements for the competitive solar incentive program for projects that exceed use on covered agricultural land or the county's 5% concentration limits. The program limits are not contained in separate sections of the underlying regulation, and state- and county-wide limits on farmland construction are contained in separate sections. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Appellate Division, Judge: Mawla , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-2232-22, Categories: Energy, Municipal Law
J. Gale finds for the commissioner in this tax liability dispute related to a corporate filing because the company improperly claimed a deduction in connection with distressed Brazilian trade receivables.
Court: U.S. Tax Court, Judge: Gale, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2024-50, Categories: Tax
J. Gratton finds that the trial court properly refused to suppress drugs and a firearm in defendant's home during a probation search prompted by a confidential tip. A probation agreement authorized law enforcement officers other than his own probation officer to conduct searches, and he did not preserve his challenge to the validity of the agreement or his claim that his probation officer must first request that he submit to a search. Also, the trial court's error in sustaining an objection to part of defendant's closing argument was harmless. Affirmed.
Court: Idaho Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gratton, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 50051, Categories: Drug Offender, Probation, Search
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court properly denied the former employee's claim to have a 65% ownership interest in the firm, but also denied the firm's motion to dismiss the claim that she was never given the value of her interest in the firm within 60 days of her resignation. The parties' agreement is ambiguous on the issue of what the employee is to be paid out for there interest in the firm, so this issue must go to a jury. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 02133, Categories: Employment, Contract
J. Troutman finds that defendant was improperly convicted of selling drugs based on an undercover officer's distant observation of a drug buy because the suppression hearing determined that probable cause had been insufficient to arrest defendant. Thus, a new trial must be held, preceded by an independent source hearing on the admissibility of the officer's in-court identification. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Troutman, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 38, Categories: Search, Identification
Per curiam, defendant's appeal is denied. Defendant was convicted on two counts of arson and one count of possessing a firebomb associated with his role attempting to burn the district attorney's garage and firebomb the district attorney’s home. He was sentenced to 35 years confinement followed by 15 years extended supervision for the arson convictions, and a consecutive two-year sentence followed by three years extended supervision for the firebomb conviction. Defendant argues his sentence should be modified since he assisted law enforcement in the prosecution of a fellow inmate, but the lower court found that it did not constitute a new factor, and is therefore not eligible for sentence modification. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP002094-CR, Categories: Sentencing, Arson
A group of policemen and firefighters appeal the lower court’s decision to dismiss their action concerning retirement benefits. They began their employment in February 2000, while negotiations were underway for changes in retirement funds. When the existing fund rolled into the current fund, with the consent of the group and all other investors in the fund, certain additional benefits became available to invested employees who began working on or prior to January 1, 2000. Despite their employment beginning after that date, the group argues they are entitled to the additional benefits as if they were employed on or before the date. The lower court disagreed as does the instant court. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2022AP1401, Categories: Employment
J. Woods grants the employer's motion for summary judgment in an employment discrimination suit. The employee does not present sufficient evidence to support a claim she was fired for being a Black, female, Seventh-Day Adventist. Further, the negative comments she heard from supervisors were not connected to the employee's religion, race, or sex and were not objectively severe enough to support a hostile work environment claim.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Woods, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv9554, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment
J. Pirtle finds the county court properly divided the property in this marriage dissolution. Real estate conveyed to the couple by the ex-husband's parents was correctly found to be marital property, and the ex-husband was not entitled to a credit for the value of a vehicle that was paid off with proceeds from his workers compensation settlement. Affirmed in part.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-283, Categories: Family Law, Property, Workers' Compensation
J. Pirtle finds the trial court properly dismissed defendant's petition for postconviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. The 9-year-old victim reported defendant had sexually abused her when she was 3 or 4 years old, saying her mother made her available to defendant in exchange for drugs. Though information shared by the victim over several forensic interviews was not entirely consistent, defendant was not prejudiced by his counsel's not interviewing a previous forensic interviewer or another individual the victim had mistaken for defendant. The information would have been cumulative. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pirtle, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-230, Categories: Evidence, Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Bishop finds the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission properly reversed the board's acceptance of the county assessor’s recommended valuation for a hotel property. The owner presented expert testimony using a sales comparison approach, as well as actual income and expenses from the property and comparable properties to calculate a typical market average. The expert's $660,000 appraisal was clear and convincing evidence the board’s appraisal of $1.5 million was arbitrary or unreasonable. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bishop , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-661, Categories: Evidence, Tax
J. Welch finds the trial court properly convicted defendant, by no-contest plea, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, sentencing him to 6 to 8 years in prison. After responding to an early morning report of gunshots, officers found a bullet in the flat tire of a vehicle involved in the altercation. The gun connected to the bullet was later found in defendant's girlfriend's vehicle during a traffic stop. All sentencing factors were properly considered, including defendant's criminal record and claims of posttraumatic stress disorder. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Welch , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: A-23-817, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Sneed dismisses civil rights claims brought against a lengthy list of officials, including judges, prosecutors, and the state of Florida itself, as an impermissible shotgun pleading.
Court: USDC Middle District of Florida, Judge: Sneed, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 6:22cv2073, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights
J. Block preserves on a motion to dismiss a false advertising class action against the makers of Kerrygold Irish Butter alleging it misled consumers regarding the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” in the product’s packaging. The litigant bases the complaint on the premise that the chemicals can seep into the food itself, which the court finds as plausible. The court further finds a reasonable consumer would perceive the products as not containing harmful chemicals based on the “Pure Irish Butter” labeling.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Block, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1198, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Agriculture, Class Action, False Advertising
J. Godbey finds that a case, brought by the caretaker of an intellectually disabled man who was jailed because of a behavioral episode, can survive motions to dismiss for improper venue and failure to state a claim, as argued by the sued county, health care organization and physician. The venue is sufficiently convenient for all parties and the caretaker presented evidence that defendants provided insufficient mental health care, which caused harm, and that organizations and individuals responsible for mental health care at the jail were aware that all prisoners at the facility lacked proper access to mental health care.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Godbey, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1723, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Health Care, Jurisdiction
J. Anderson grants, in part, attorney fees, interest and conditional appeals fees to a company that filed a breach of contract claim in state court but then filed a motion to dismiss to file a new claim in federal court in which the company prevailed. The attorney fees and interest are not recoverable for the case in the state court because of the defendant’s LLC status, but the fees are recoverable in federal court. The requests for fees pertaining to the federal case are granted in full.
Court: USDC Southern District of Texas, Judge: Anderson, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv298, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Venue, Attorney Fees
J. Zimmerer finds that the trial court properly denied the city's plea to the jurisdiction in a flight attendant's suit after a slip and fall at Bush Intercontinental Airport. There is a fact issue on the challenged elements of the claim, including the city's knowledge of the alleged dangerous condition. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Zimmerer, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00319-CV, Categories: Tort, Immunity, Jurisdiction