66 results for 'court:"USDC Maine"'.
J. Woodcock denies an employer’s motion for summary judgment as it relates to its employee’s age and gender discrimination claims, but grants summary judgment in its favor on her negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract claims. The employer’s president said his company would never place a woman in the position that had previously been occupied by the employee’s supervisor, who left to work elsewhere, when it was suggested that she could fill the position. One of the people involved in the employee’s firing had told her, “You’re getting older, maybe the job is too much for you.”
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv87, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Nivison grants, in part, an ex-wife's motion for partial summary judgment pertaining to her former husband's res judicata defense to her personal injury claim. The parties' divorce decree did not decide issues related to her injury claim.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Nivison, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv452, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Family Law, Tort
J. Torresen denies in part an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment against one of its insureds who accidentally caused a tree to fall and both the tree and his father’s visiting friend to be dragged by his truck, seriously injuring his father’s friend. While the insurance company says it wishes to be exempted from defending its insured, it doesn’t articulate arguments to support such an exemption.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv148, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Negligence, Indemnification
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J. Torresen grants summary judgment in favor of a city and its firefighter who were involved in an unsuccessful rescue attempt where a man, who was off his medication and had assaulted his girlfriend and a bystander, stripped and ran into a body of water and eventually died of hypothermia or drowning. It is too speculative to claim that the firefighter’s statement to the man who drowned, that the firefighter would “kick his ass” if he came out of the water, caused the man to stay in the water long enough to die of hypothermia or drowning.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv267, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Negligence, Due Process, Wrongful Death
J. Woodcock dismisses former employers’ motion to dismiss claims brought against them by their former employee, who they allegedly failed to properly pay. Terminated employees are not barred from bringing claims under the Maine Timely Payment of Wages statute and it’s unclear if the former employee falls within an exception for salaried employees.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv334, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Labor
J. Woodcock partially denies an employer’s motion for summary judgment against its employee, who is suing it for multiple forms of discrimination, violation of the Equal Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Maine Family and Medical Leave Requirements, and the Maine Human Rights Act. The employee’s claims related to sex-based discrimination and the Maine Human Rights Act are not adequately alleged, while the others may proceed against the business.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv70, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Woodcock grants in part the government’s motion for partial summary judgment against a man, for federal income tax liabilities. The man owes the government $255,319.79.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv373, NOS: Taxes (U.S. Plaintiff or Defendant) - Federal Tax Suits, Categories: Tax, Enforcement Of Judgments, Federalism
J. Wolf grants a religious institution’s motion to permit their expert to conduct an independent mental examination of a woman suing the group for injuries she allegedly suffered because she was sexually abused by the group’s priests while living as an orphaned child under their care. Controversy exists over the woman’s condition because her medical records are mostly handwritten notes written by her expert witness, who is her treating psychiatrist and psychotherapist, which the religious organization’s expert found unhelpful.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Wolf, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv381, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Health Care, Experts
J. Walker denies two veterinary companies’ motion to refer questions to the register of copyright who registered one of a software company’s products. The veterinary companies fail to be persuasive that referring their questions to the register would have any beneficial impact on the litigation.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Walker, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv97, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Technology
J. Levy denies a doctor’s motion for summary judgment against a few care facilities who terminated their contracts with him. The doctor is not entitled to summary judgment because “whether Northbridge Company maintains an ownership stake in the Recapitalized Facilities” and “whether Executive Directors at the Original Facilities could make termination decisions without home office oversight” are items of dispute for a jury to determine.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Levy, Filed On: September 30, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv350, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Whistleblowers, Contract
J. Torresen denies in part a town’s motion to dismiss a town resident's lawsuit against it for allegedly violating his First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The town claims that the lawsuit violates their Eleventh Amendment protections as state officials but its unclear if the town’s State Trooper is being sued just in his official capacity or in his individual capacity, and if its the latter, then the Eleventh Amendment doesn’t apply.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv50, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Government, First Amendment
J. Singal grants two real estate companies’ motion for summary judgment against the tenant suing them for evicting her following her allegedly completing 10 lease violations, including exiting her unit through a window, not answering her door to allow maintenance to enter her apartment to resolve issues she reported to it, causing water damage by allowing her sink to overflow, two noise complaints and making false statements about maintenance and management. The companies did what they were supposed to in attempting to accommodate both her mold allergy and her hearing impairment. While they denied specific accommodations she suggested, they explained why and were open to alternatives and informed her of her right to appeal.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Singal, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv300, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Landlord Tenant, Housing
J. Levy denies a company’s motion for summary judgment against the woman suing it after one of its employees was in a head-on collision with, and killed, her husband and seriously injured her. It is not cut and dry that the employee was acting in a personal capacity, rather than in the scope of his employment, at the time of the collision.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Levy, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv343, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Vehicle, Wrongful Death
J. Torresen grants a former defendant's motion for judgment as a matter of law against an individual who previously sued her for breach of contract and promissory estoppel. A jury granted the individual $0.00 for her breach of contract claim and she argues that this is because the jury planned to award her damages for promissory estoppel, but because her contract claim and promissory estoppel claim were both based on a contract, a promissory estoppel claim doesn't apply.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv107, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Jury, Damages, Contract
J. Torresen declines to dismiss a convenience store employee’s suit claiming he was fired for enforcing the mask mandate during the Covid-19 pandemic. This caused a customer to swear at the employee, who swore back. While it is reasonable to fire an employee for swearing at a customer, there have been instances in the past where the employer has not fired an employee who swore at customers, suggesting the employee’s Covid-19 safety concerns were part of the decision to fire him.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv26, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Employment, Covid-19, Whistleblowers
J. Torresen grants in part a paper manufacturer's motion to dismiss class action claims brought against it by homeowners who live near its Old Town mill, which they claim has not been maintained properly, resulting in emissions of harsh rotten egg odors that are a nuisance and have devalued surrounding properties. The homeowners' nuisance claims cannot be dismissed based on their lack of regulatory claims. Whether the mill "has exceeded the standards for sulfur emissions or whether something else has caused the odor problem to worsen are open questions that may become clear after discovery."
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Torresen, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv305, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Tort, Zoning
J. Levy partially grants most, but not all of the federal agencies’ and agents’ motions to dismiss claims brought against them by three foreign crewmembers for detaining them without their consent. Two false arrest and imprisonment claims, an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim and an abuse of process claim are not dismissed. The government agencies and agents intentionally confined the individuals, who were aware of the confinement and had not consented to it, without sufficient reasoning to do so, after the individuals had already begun to address themselves that an engineer was illegally disposing of bilgewater aboard their vessel.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Levy, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv198, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Maritime, Emotional Distress, Due Process
J. Levy grants a company’s motion for summary judgment against a company suing it for alleged patent infringement based on a massaging device. Even if the company being sued started its design by looking at or mimicking the complaining company’s design, its finished design is different enough that an ordinary person would not confuse the sued company’s design with the complaining company’s.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Levy, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv91, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Health Care, Patent, Trademark
J. Singal partially grants some education professionals’ motion to dismiss claims brought against them by parents who wanted their child to attend school in person and be exempt from the Covid-19 vaccination requirement on religious grounds. The plaintiffs fail to provide substantial evidence that the law backed their viewpoints at the time the school officials did not allow their child to attend school without the vaccine based on a religious exemption.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Singal, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv251, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Health Care
J. Walker grants in part a large online retailer's motion to dismiss copyright claims brought against it and other large companies by an artist for failing to prevent foreign counterfeiters from using her copyright registered photographs in the companies' online marketplaces to sell knockoffs of her designs. The fact that the companies provide technology that can be used to infringe copyrights doesn't automatically make them liable for any copyright infringement using their technology if that technology can also be used, and usually is used, for activities that don't infringe on copyrights. However, the large online retailer may be liable for its failure to ensure that counterfeiters did not continue to infringe on the artist's copyrights after she reported them and the retailer initially removed their counterfeit content.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Walker, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv284, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Technology
J. Woodcock finds that a civil action against multiple companies allegedly involved in contaminating public water sources with hazardous chemicals called PFAs must be remanded to state court. Because the state has issued an "express and enforceable disclaimer against seeking recovery in this lawsuit from the defendants for claims relating to aqueous film-forming foam, the sole basis for federal jurisdiction," the federal court lacks jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: July 26, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv210, NOS: Tort Product Liability - Real Property, Categories: Water, Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Woodcock denies an employee’s motion for a new trial and motion for equitable relief. There was no error in the juror selection process or the instruction of the jury, the evidence submitted to the jury sufficiently supported the jury’s verdict and there was no juror bias meriting a new trial. The verdict should not be overridden on the basis of a quantum meruit claim, because quantum meruit is meant to be ruled on by a jury. The employee failed to meet the burden of proof necessary to support her claim against her employer for unjust enrichment.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Woodcock, Filed On: July 18, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv12, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Jury, Employment Discrimination