66 results for 'court:"USDC New Hampshire"'.
J. McCafferty grants in part a college’s motion to exclude an expert, for a medical student it expelled for sexually assaulting another medical student, from providing testimony regarding the student’s lost wages and earning capacity. The expert is qualified to give the testimony and used a credible methodology, but her testimony regarding the student’s potential future career in cardiology should be excluded because he chose to pursue internal medicine rather than cardiology.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv18, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Health Care, Experts
J. McAuliffe grants in part a city’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by the buyer of a property for environmental contamination found on the property after it was indicated that the contamination had been remediated. While the buyer provides just enough information to support its Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 claims at this stage, it does not provide enough support of the idea that the city owes it a duty in its negligence claims.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McAuliffe, Filed On: October 13, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv573, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Property, Real Estate
J. Elliott denies all of a school’s motions to dismiss apart from the infliction of emotional distress claim its former employee agreed to dismiss. The school claimed it hadn’t discriminated against the former employee based on her pregnancy because it hadn’t been aware she was pregnant but it was aware at the time it fired her after her medical leave that her leave included a gynecological surgery, which it could have interpreted as pregnancy-related. Also, she has additional non-pregnancy discrimination claims which the school fails to provide substantial evidence to refute.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Elliott, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv104, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Employment, Health Care, Employment Discrimination
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J. McCafferty partially grants the government officials' joint motion for judgment as to a lawsuit brought by a woman alleging that she was wrongfully arrested for trespassing as retaliation for her criticism of city acts and officials. The woman fails to show that her free speech was chilled or that the disputes with her over Right-to-Know laws are adverse actions taken against her. However, her claim that her arrest was in retaliation for her protected activity withstands the officials' motion.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv326, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Laplante finds that a former employee's claims against his employer survive his former employer's motions for summary judgment, except his claim related to associational discrimination for hiring a disabled employee, which falls outside the ADA's association provision. His claim related to the Whistleblower Protection Act is dismissed because it relates to behaviors he engaged in after his employment ended and his state law claims are dismissed because he wished to have two companies recognized together as his single employer and New Hampshire doesn't recognize this definition of a single employer.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv968, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Whistleblowers
J. McCafferty grants a company accusing two other companies of breach of contract and bad faith's motion to exclude parts of the accused company’s expert’s opinion, and partially grants the accused companies’ motion to exclude the accusing company’s experts’ opinions. The fact that one of the accusing company’s experts relied in part on information he received from the other does not make his opinion inadmissable. The accused companies’ expert “cannot opine about what ‘is expected of damages experts’ as that is the court’s function as gatekeeper and then the jury’s function as the ultimate finder of fact.”
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv949, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Experts, Contract, Technology
J. McCafferty denies the motion to set aside the default of a Bow resident who failed to pay federal income taxes. The available evidence supports finding that his default was willful, that he provides no meritorious defense for his default, his explanation for the default is weak and includes health issues and financial issues which are unspecified, he has not shown that he acted in good faith and he didn't file his motion until 9 months after the deadline for it.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv271, NOS: Taxes (U.S. Plaintiff or Defendant) - Federal Tax Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Tax, Federalism
J. Laplante partially grants an insured’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by its insurers, who are seeking to avoid covering and defending the insured in 10 class actions against it. Some of the claims were filed by the insurers more than six months after the lawsuits were filed against the insured, so those claims are dismissed for their untimeliness, but the claims that were filed in a timely manner are not dismissed.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv79, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Class Action
J. Barbadoro partially grants a man’s motion for summary judgment against a woman suing him for trespass, nuisance, negligence and violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act in a dispute between the two over the boundary line between their properties. The woman’s trespass claim fails because she doesn’t offer evidence that the area being disputed actually belongs to her and she similarly fails to prove that she has a parking easement or that an easement is necessary for her. Since she fails to show the disputed portion of property belongs to her, her nuisance claim against the man for parking his construction vehicle there fails as well. However, the man fails to show that the woman is a mere trespasser on his property or that he couldn’t have predicted she’d try to park her car between the property she purchased and his construction vehicle.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Barbadoro, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv221, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Property, Emotional Distress, Housing
J. McCafferty grants a multinational company’s motion for summary judgment for two of the claims — one for misrepresentation and another for violation of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act — brought against it by a communications company. It denies the motions in regards to the communications company’s claims against the multinational company for breach of contract, acting in bad faith, promissory estoppel and negligence. The multinational company’s statements showed optimism about a deal between the two companies and flattery of the communications company but not liability under the Consumer Protection Act because making unrealistic assurances to placate unhappy customers doesn’t qualify as a liability for that Act, but might for breach of contract.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv949, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Consumer Law, Negligence, Contract
J. Laplante partially grants a large software company’s motion to dismiss a smaller company’s claims against it for poor performance and misrepresentation in its recommendation and implementation of new software at the smaller company. The smaller company’s contract, bad faith, negligence and part of its fraud claims are dismissed, while its New Hampshire Consumer Protection Act claim and part of its fraud claim are not, because the smaller company sufficiently supports the latter claims with facts.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: August 15, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Consumer Law, Technology
J. Laplante grants in part a motion for summary judgment from individuals and a church group against a reverend who is suing them for defamation. While they correctly identify the reverend as a limited-purpose public figure, the actual malice standard still applies to some of their allegedly defamatory statements.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv131, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Communications, Defamation
J. Elliott partially grants a former employee’s amended complaint against his former employer. In the amended complaint, he revised his claims and added someone he believed helped his former supervisor retaliate against him as a defendant. The addition of the defendant is barred by the statute of limitations, but the other changes in the amended complaint are acceptable.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Elliott, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv23, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. McCafferty grants a group of consumers’ motion to certify class and approves their class action settlement agreement in the class action they are taking against a credit union for violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, based on how the credit union assesses consumer overdrafts. The proposed settlement agreement is fair and unopposed and will go through a fairness hearing to be further explained and defended, so there is no reason to hinder it at this point.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: August 2, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv534, NOS: Banks and Banking - Other Suits, Categories: Settlements, Banking / Lending, Class Action
J. Laplante grants an attorney's motion for summary judgment against an individual he represented who is suing him for legal malpractice. The represented individual fails to show proof that the attorney's actions harmed him, because he continued to litigate after attorney withdrew, and he fails to provide an expert witness who can substantiate essential parts of his claims against the attorney.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: July 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv125, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Legal Malpractice
J. Elliott denies the 10th claim a previously detained individual filed for summary judgment over the refusal of government officials to correct an email that stated she had been arrested for prostitution. The government officials provided a letter regarding her arrest history which stated she’d never been arrested for prostitution and the previously detained individual was unhappy with it because it didn’t also state that she had never been arrested for any other crime, but the government officials were never obligated to provide any kind of correction for the mistake in the email because email archives are not protected under the Privacy Act.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Elliott, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv198, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Government, Privacy
J. Laplante grants a landlord’s motion to exclude its tenant’s gathered expert opinions regarding recommended HVAC repairs from what will be presented to a jury. The tenant planned to use the expert opinions to show that the landlord failed to make recommended repairs as part of the tenant’s defense for nonpayment of rent, but the tenant failed to disclose that it had gathered such expert opinions within the required timeframe.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1070, NOS: Rent Lease & Ejectment - Real Property, Categories: Evidence, Landlord Tenant, Experts
J. Laplante denies a Social Security benefits applicant’s motion to reverse and remand a Social Security Commissioner’s denial of his disability insurance benefits. While the applicant has obstructive sleep apnea, PTSD and degenerative disc disease, he is still able to work as a spooling machine operator. While the applicant has some limitations, as noted by the clinicians who evaluated him, they are moderate, not severe or extreme.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Laplante, Filed On: July 14, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv30, NOS: DIWC/DIWW (405(g)) - Social Security, Categories: Insurance, Social Security
J. McAuliffe grants a town’s motion for summary judgment against a police officer formerly employed by Salem, New Hampshire, who accused the town of defamation, infliction of emotional distress, conversion and unlawful disclosure of his confidential medical information after it denied him worker’s compensation benefits. The town did not commit defamation and is also not at fault for infliction of emotional distress, unlawful disclosure or conversion because the statements its agents made were to initiate further investigation as a normal part of judicial proceedings under a reasonable suspicion that the officer acted fraudulently.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McAuliffe, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv131, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Defamation, Conversion, Workers' Compensation
J. Barbadoro grants an injunction and $111,614 civil penalty against a user-owned digital content platform for offering unregistered crypto asset securities in violation of Section Five of the Securities Act. The platform continued to offer these unregistered securities even after the lawsuit against them was filed and it was clear that the SEC required that they register, which demonstrates a risk of future offending and makes the offenses that have occurred more serious than merely failing to register.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Barbadoro, Filed On: July 11, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv260, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities, Injunction
J. Barbador denies both parties’ motions for summary judgment in a case where real estate developers are suing a town for violation of the Fair Housing Act by placing a year-long moratorium on issuing new building permits and approving new site plans, as well as adopting an ordinance that limits new residential construction, directly following the real estate developers’ proposal to develop affordable housing. The town’s claims that the developers failed to submit a formal site plan and that their proposed project fails to comply with an ordinance that has nothing to do with the moratorium they enacted fail to stand up under scrutiny because both claims relate to the specific development plan that was rejected rather than the proposed development and its goals.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: Barbadoro, Filed On: July 7, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv770, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Real Estate, Zoning, Housing
J. McCafferty enters partial summary judgment for a company who was denied worker's compensation coverage of their worker's injuries in a car collision in New Hampshire. While the company's insurance provider's policies include a command that the provider be notified at once if a worker is injured in a state other than Florida or New York, this command doesn't specify in plain language what the consequences of not following the command would be. In another policy of the same insurance provider, loss of coverage is clearly stated as a consequence of non-compliance, which means that in sections where it doesn't specify the consequences of non-compliance, it is not reasonable to expect the insured to expect loss of coverage as a consequence.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv317, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract, Workers' Compensation
J. McCafferty grants in part a police chief's motion for judgment on a woman's claims after she was arrested for trespassing that her rights were violated in retaliation for her criticism of city officials and policies, after she sought information about why her home's tax assessment was raised by over 50% and officials failed to provide the information she requested. The woman's claims of violation of her substantive due process rights don't meet the high threshold of shocking the conscience required to be viable claims. She also fails to support some of her claims that her right to free speech and right to procedural due process were violated. Her argument regarding civil conspiracy of the chief and his employees is not viable because the chief and his employees work together, and therefore can't be considered conspirators with each other. However, her claim that the chief's arrest of her was a retaliatory arrest is not dismissable because the chief ordered her arrest by overruling the judgment of other officers, which suggests his choice to arrest her was not entirely objective.
Court: USDC New Hampshire, Judge: McCafferty, Filed On: June 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv326, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Due Process, First Amendment