388 results for 'court:"2nd Circuit"'.
Per curiam, the circuit finds that an interlocutory appeal must be dismissed in claims challenging a provision of New York election law that invalidates write-in ballots cast during party primaries for non-party candidates because the 2023 primary and general elections rendered the claim moot. However, a decision remains pending on the facial challenge to the constitutionality of the provision in claims seeking declaratory relief, and thus review would be inappropriate at this time.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-1305-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Elections
J. Lohier finds that the district court properly dismissed a trust's request for relief in the form of a declaration that a life insurance policy remained in effect after assignment and purported reassignment for lack of contractual standing to sue under New York law because the trust failed to notify the insurer that the policy had been reassigned to the trust by the policyholder. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lohier, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 19-87-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Contract
J. Sullivan finds that the district court properly dismissed claims that changes to village zoning law that make it easier to site Orthodox Jewish places of worship in neighborhoods violate the establishment clause by promoting religion because individual plaintiffs could show standing as municipal taxpayers harmed by a loss of village revenue attributed to the new zoning law, and the citizens' group lacked associational or organizational standing to sue. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-2710, Categories: Constitution, Zoning
J. Sullivan finds that the district court improperly found for a logistics company in an insurer's subrogation claims concerning damage sustained to cargo while being unloaded from a truck at an airport. The claims would be barred as untimely under the Montreal Convention's statute of limitations for contracting carriers, but questions remain unresolved as to whether the logistics firm qualified as such in its role in arranging transport through third parties.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 21-2132, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Transportation
Per curiam, the circuit finds that defendant was properly sentenced based on his guilty plea to drugging and sexually assaulting two women as part of a two-decade pattern involving 20 women in all while working with them at the U.S. Department of State or United Nations. Defendant contends the statutory maximum 15-year term was unreasonable, but it was not "shockingly high" given the number of victims, his pattern of predation, and the severity of the admitted crimes. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-2944, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
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[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds on remand that the district court improperly dismissed contract claims brought by high-ranking employees who had been fired from their jobs with a big city school district because the women's internship certificates had been discounted as meeting professional requirements for leadership roles under their employment agreements, even when state education overseers opined that the certificates rendered them qualified, raising questions of fact better left to trial.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-2810, Categories: Education, Employment, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly dismissed this challenge to Connecticut law banning firearms from being carried in state parks because plaintiff had standing to bring a pre-enforcement action since he stated an intent to carry his handgun to the park for self-defense, and nothing demonstrated that the state would refrain from prosecuting him for doing so.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 23-1023, Categories: Civil Rights, Firearms
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims seeking indemnification against class claims contending sanitizing wipes had been misleadingly advertised during the Covid-19 pandemic. The manufacturer, which lacked government review or approval, cited a disparagement clause in the insurance policy, but the claims did not present a possible factual or legal basis to support a defense for personal and advertising harm. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 23-1241-cv, Categories: Insurance, Indemnification, False Advertising
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims contending an employer withheld income taxes from an employee's paycheck because withholding is mandatory for employers under the internal revenue code, and thus written notice the employee provided to cease doing so had no effect. Meanwhile, the employee's request to amend the claim was properly denied as futile. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1201-cv, Categories: Employment, Tax
J. Menashi finds that an attorney's appeal from interlocutory orders on her claims of court misconduct should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. She alleged that a state trial court justice behaved inappropriately when she was his court attorney and that she had been harassed by court officers for reporting the behavior. However, her failure to comply with discovery led to dismissal as a sanction, and the "merger rule" that applies to interlocutory and final orders does not apply when sanctions are involved.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Menashi, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 23-437-cv, Categories: Sanctions, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly found for a manufacturer on product liability claims brought by plaintiff, a hair-care customer who contends she experienced hair loss after using a hair extension gel that hardened into a base, as the expert toxicologist she presented failed to provide evidence indicating the product ingredients caused plaintiff's hair loss. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2727-cv, Categories: Product Liability
J. Nardini finds that the district court improperly held that a supermarket chain had not exhibited discriminatory animus upon firing a store manager because her admission that she had falsified food logs did not resolve whether the stated reason for termination constituted pretext for discrimination, as the manager's claims that certain remarks by her direct supervisor indicated gender bias raised questions of "mixed motives," which, under precedent, may provide evidence of an adverse action against a protected class.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nardini, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 23-238, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Nardini finds that the district court properly held that an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applied when Manhattan homeowners sued for damages from construction work at the Sierra Leone Mission next door. The mission was entitled to sovereign immunity as an embodiment of a foreign state, but subject matter jurisdiction existed under the commercial activity exception because the mission acted as a "private player" in the market by engaging a contractor to carry out renovations. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nardini, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-1645, Categories: Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly declined to find for well-known beer brands Modelo and Corona on trademark claims brought against a U.S. licensee that put their names on non-beer products. Since the license language could be read to extend to beverages that do not use malt or hops in production, summary judgment was not appropriate, and a jury will have to decide whether flavored hard seltzers may carry the names. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 23-810-cv, Categories: Trademark
J. Lohier finds that the district court improperly held on remand that immigration officials had detained defendant in bad faith after he was ordered released under the Bail Reform Act pending criminal trial. A general rule established in the interim permits detention of criminal defendants ordered released under the Act, and the record did not indicate defendant's detention had been pretextual or geared toward prosecution rather than deportation. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lohier, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 17-3904-cr, Categories: Immigration, Bail
Per curiam, the circuit finds that a decision must be reserved and a question certified to New York's high court on whether a six-month waiting period established at the start of the state's Child Victims Act, which opened a two-year window to claims of childhood sexual abuse, created a statute of limitations defense. A claim filed by a former student who alleges abuse by a teacher in high school occurred ahead of the waiting period set for the legislation's start date, and was eventually dismissed as untimely. That holding did not come, however, until after the filing window closed, leaving plaintiff unable to refile under the Act.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-1442, Categories: Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction
J. Robinson finds that the district court improperly found in favor of the employer on claims of discriminatory termination brought by a food services company manager who alleges she was subjected to a sex-based hostile work environment. She sufficiently alleges that her termination was part of an "unrelenting course of mistreatment" that, under the continuing violation doctrine, created a hostile environment in which she was subjected to sex-based animus. Therefore, these claims are not time-barred. However, her state claims were properly dismissed because her primary work territory was in Virginia and West Virginia and her connection to New York was only tangential when she received permission to work from home for a time. Vacated in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 22-1237, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Parker finds that the district court improperly found for a police officer on excessive force claims in a fatal shooting. On initial appeal, the verdict for the officer was vacated with remand instructions to hold a new trial; instead, a motion for summary judgment on qualified immunity was entertained and granted. Because the instructions were ignored, and questions of fact still remained, remand for a new trial is again warranted. Vacated in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Parker, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 22-969-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Immunity, Civil Rights
J. Walker finds that the district court properly denied a preliminary injunction to enforce a duty to defend under a directors and officers liability insurance policy covering an independent director sued in an adversarial proceeding in bankruptcy court. No abuse of discretion occurred in the denial, as the director sought a mandatory injunction but failed to meet its heightened standards for a clear showing of likely success on the merits and of irreparable harm. Furthermore, the director's entry into a settlement agreement with the bankruptcy trustee did not moot the appeal. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 23-690, Categories: Bankruptcy, Insurance, Injunction
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims by six public university professors alleging that state law establishing their representative union violates their free speech and association rights. Precedent foreclosed their claims since the so-called Taylor Law, which permits the unionization of public employees, only recognizes the Professional Staff Congress as their bargaining agent, even if they quit the unit over disagreement with its stand on social issues. Furthermore, a section of Taylor Law that limits union representation of non-union employees also did not violate First Amendment rights. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 23-384, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Labor / Unions
J. Parker finds that the district court improperly dismissed antitrust and tortious interference claims by one drugmaker against another in a dispute over delivery of a prescription medication to treat an eye condition that can cause blindness. The product market to be considered should have been limited to the one-step prefilled syringe injection method, which plaintiff drugmaker claimed defendant drugmaker, working with a third-party "filler" they both used, attempted to dominate through anticompetitive, secret agreements. Furthermore, plaintiff drugmaker adequately alleges that it was kept from learning about defendant drugmaker's contractual interference until the statute of limitations expired. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Parker, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 22-0427-cv, Categories: Antitrust, Interference With Contract
J. Walker finds that the district court properly convicted defendant of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering in a large-scale scheme centered at his tax-prep business, where stolen children's identities allegedly were sold to clients who claimed them as dependent deductions. Defendant challenged the jury instructions on his argument that he withdrew from the conspiracy before indictment, making the charges untimely, but the instructions correctly stated the law and caused him no prejudice. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-2090, Categories: Tax, Identity Theft, Jury Instructions
J. Bianco finds that the district court improperly set a special parole condition following defendant's conviction on his guilty plea to possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. While a defendant can be subjected to random searches by probation officers, the need for such a condition must be sufficiently explained. On remand, rationale for the condition is needed, along with assurances that its imposition involved no greater deprivation of liberty than necessary. Vacated.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Bianco, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 21-2954, Categories: Drug Offender, Parole
J. Carney finds that the district court improperly dismissed claims of discrimination in hiring brought by a candidate for a New York City youth services job. The action was not redundant after a state court rejected the applicant's civil rights claims because he amended the federal filing to also demand damages, which could not be awarded in the state case. Vacated in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Carney, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-412, Categories: Damages, Employment Discrimination
J. Merriam finds that an interlocutory appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction in the case of a police officer who was denied qualified immunity in an excessive force action. The officer continues to assert disputed facts and presents no pure question of law for review, so he has failed to establish appellate jurisdiction.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Merriam, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-413, Categories: Immunity, Jurisdiction, Police Misconduct
J. Perez finds that the U.S. Maritime Administration properly held that a foreign company's expansion of its European river cruises to the U.S. market on the Mississippi did not violate federal maritime law. Although foreign firms are generally barred from transporting passengers and goods between U.S. ports, the company arranged for U.S. construction and operation of the cruise ship, providing only the entertainment, and approval of the arrangement as a permissible time charter was "reasonable." Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Perez, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 22-1029, Categories: Maritime, Unfair Competition
J. Wesley finds that the district court properly found for a luxury watchmaker accused of trademark infringement for ads containing the term "red gold," which luxury jewelry maker Solid 21 had trademarked more than a decade before, and which had been developed into an amber-hued brand denoting a combination of metals such as gold and copper, because evidence indicated the watchmaker's use of the term in advertisements and catalogues constituted a superior description and fell under fair use. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Wesley, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 22-366, Categories: Trademark
J. Chin finds that the district court improperly denied a pro se inmate's request to proceed in forma pauperis in civil rights claims on grounds that he already claimed indigence too many times in actions dismissed as frivolous. Inmates are allowed three "strikes" before being forced to post upfront filing fees, rather than having fees deducted from prison accounts over time, but the cases at issue should not have counted toward the inmate's total.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Chin, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 20-1644-pr, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Prisoners' Rights
Per curiam, the circuit grants the commissioner of internal revenue dismissal of an appeal from a finding that defendant untimely requested reconsideration of a notice on back taxes. According to the plain language of the governing statute, appellate jurisdiction is lacking on "small tax" cases when the owed amount is less than $50,000.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 23-1296, Categories: Tax, Jurisdiction
[Consolidated.] J. Jacobs finds that the district court properly held that dismissal of federal class investment fraud claims did not require exercising supplemental jurisdiction over analogous state class claims, as the existence of subject-matter jurisdiction did not require invoking such, especially when the request was time-barred. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Jacobs, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 21-2603-cv (L), Categories: Civil Procedure, Fraud, Jurisdiction