63 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Virginia"'.
J. grants the Virginia couple's motion to compel the Afghanistan couple to Identify each biological parent and each paternal or maternal sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle of themselves and the three-year-old whose parents were killed in a raid. The Afghan couple, now in the U.S., says they are the child's rightful family and accuse an American Marine and his wife, who adopted the girl in Virginia, of unlawfully taking custody of her.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Hoppe, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv49, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Military
J. Urbanski denies the college baseball coach's motion to dismiss. The college baseball player claims that the coach targeted the minorities on the team by grouping the lockers of minority players, informing all players that they were required to stand during the national
anthem to remain in good standing, directing only the players of color to get haircuts prior to team pictures, prohibiting players from attending a racial justice rally on campus, and referring to an Asian American player on the team as "Kim Chi," rather than by his name. The player complained to the school's athletic director, who ignored the allegations, giving the coach the lead way to continue harassing the minority players until cutting the player from the team, taking a year of his college eligibility and his scholarship. The player alleged enough facts to support that the coach's actions adversely affected the player.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Urbanski, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv29, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, First Amendment
J. Ballou denies the Republican electoral board members' motion for judgment on First Amendment violation claims. The members allegedly voted not to reappoint the general registrar because of her political views. The members claimed the Eleventh Amendment barred the suit because the state is the real party of interest. Still, they can be held liable because it is a personal-capacity claim, not an official-capacity claim.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Ballou, Filed On: November 16, 2023, Case #: 6:23cv35, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Elections, Government, First Amendment
J. Cullen denies the food manufacturer's motion to dismiss. The customer claims she swallowed glass while eating a veggie burger from Burger King and sued both the manufacturer of the meatless burger and the restaurant that sold it to her, contending that at least one of them was negligent by allowing the glass to make its way into her food. The manufacturer argued that because she doesn’t know how the glass got into her Impossible Whopper she is barred from suing but no reasonable interpretation of the federal rules of civil procedure requires that a plaintiff know precisely how its injury occurred.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv16, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence, Product Liability
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J. Cullen grants the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency employees' motion to dismiss. The former county executive director alleged she was fired in retaliation for reporting evidence suggesting that some farmers were submitting fraudulent applications for the forage program, which operates effectively as an insurance program for farmers to cover losses from low crop yields. Despite the availability of USDA administrative hearing and appeal procedures, the former director failed to allege that she pursued these procedures before bringing this
action.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen , Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv13, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: False Claims, Whistleblowers, Employment Retaliation
J. Dillon denies the child protective services employee's motion to dismiss a due process claim. A mother entered a medication-assisted treatment program to combat a substance abuse disorder and to prevent the infant from being exposed to harmful substances. The employees forcibly removed the parent's infant from their custody while at the hospital, claiming the couple had lied about drug use and whether they had prior run-ins with CPS. The employees had no evidence of abuse to the child or the mother taking illegal drugs during the pregnancy or post-birth.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Dillon, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv196, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Due Process, Agency
J. Moon grants the newspaper's motion to dismiss defamation claims. The paper wrote an article critiquing the conspiracy theorist physician who significantly spread misinformation regarding COVID-19 vaccines. None of the statements made in the article can be proven as false and they are opinions in a scientific debate.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Moon, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv46, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Defamation, Covid-19
J. Urbanski grants the county's motion to dismiss. The president of Black Lives Matter Shenandoah Valley sought monetary relief after he and fellow protestors were arrested while protesting the county's sheriff's department following the killing of George Floyd. The sheriff ordered his deputies to arrest the protestors for noise ordinance violations. In Virginia, a county cannot be held liable for the policies or practices of independent constitutional officers, such as the local elected sheriff, because those officers do not depend upon the governing bodies of their counties or cities for their authority.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Urbanski, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv63, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Moon grants the city and a handful of police officers' motion to dismiss an excessive force claim. The car owner allegedly had 14 officers pointing their guns at him because they believed his vehicle was at the scuffle scene between police and Black Lives Matter protestors from the night before. The officers have qualified immunity for their actions. The car owner failed to allege facts showing that the officers engaged in unconstitutional conduct or that the city maintained a discriminatory policy.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Moon , Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv31, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Immunity, Equal Protection, Police Misconduct
J. Moon denies the prison doctor's motion to dismiss. The prisoner contends that the doctor was deliberately indifferent to the prisoner by discounting his anticoagulant medication resulting in him suffering from deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism, and the doctor waited six days to see the prisoner who was suffering from a broken arm. There is still a dispute as to whether the prisoner exhausted all remedies before seeking litigation and whether those administrative remedies were made available to him.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Moon, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv48, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Remedies, Prisoners' Rights
J. Cullen dismisses the former student's Title IX violation claim. The student was accused of sexual assault, and the university found him guilty and suspended him for two years. Even if the student's allegations were sufficient to permit an inference that the university acted in a biased manner against him, he does not allege facts that suggest that any bias was attributable to his gender rather than other non-protected factors.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv28, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Negligence, Due Process
J. Dillon grants the supermarket's motion to compel arbitration for the defamation, false imprisonment and civil rights violation claims stemming from a family being accused of stealing despite having a receipt proving their innocence. The mother of the family works for an app contracted with Walmart to supply shopping and delivery services for retailers and consumers. To sign up to be a delivery driver, the mother signed a nondisclosure agreement that contains an arbitration provision.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Dillon , Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv568, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Rights, Defamation
J. Cullen denies the janitorial services company's motion to dismiss. The dispute arises from and slip and fall suffered by a factory worker who claims the janitorial services company failed to provide warnings or signage indicating the locker room was wet or slippery following being mopped. The company contends that the factory worker cannot state a claim for negligence because it only owed a contractual duty to her employer and did not owe a common law duty of care to her. The existence of that contract does not vitiate the company's duty to exercise reasonable care while performing its services.
due to a lack of signs cannot state a claim
for negligence because it only owed a contractual duty to White’s employer and did not owe a
common law duty of care to her (or any other employee)
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Cullen, Filed On: July 10, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv267, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, Negligence
J. Hoppe grants the student's motion to compel for discovery from the university, particularly the race and other factors of a select group of students the student may want to use as comparators for racial and disability discrimination purposes. The university is accused of dismissing an African-American student who suffers from anxiety from a program despite allowing white students to stay in the program under similar circumstances. The student is entitled to review underlying records so he can decide for himself, rather than the university, if any comparators exist and, if so, whether he
those comparators’ experiences should be used to prove disparate treatment, pretext, or both.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Hoppe, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv73, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education
J. Dillon grants the government's motion to dismiss federal tort claims arising from an allegedly negligent clean-up of
hazardous substances for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The property owners claim the government executed an unwarranted and fraudulent response action that damaged the property. Federal courts do not have jurisdiction over actions against the U.S. unless Congress has expressly waived the federal government’s sovereign immunity, which they haven't for this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Dillon , Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv40, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Property, Jurisdiction
J. Moon grants the nonprofit's motion for judgment on hostile work environment claims. The nonprofit's actions after a Black employee received anonymous racist letters from a coworker, including adding security cameras, complying with an FBI investigation, and allowing the employee a flexible schedule to accommodate her physiological needs, were reasonably calculated to end the harassment.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Moon , Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv41, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Urbanski denies the officer's motion to dismiss excessive force claims in a wrongful death suit stemming from a fatal police shooting where an officer shot and killed an unarmed suicidal man. Under the circumstances alleged, the officer did not have reason to believe deadly force was necessary and he is not entitled to qualified immunity. Further, the family may pursue a Monell claim against the county for its failure to discipline the officer despite numerous reports of his use of excessive force.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Urbanski, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv588, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Jones denies the construction company's motion to dismiss the lawsuit seeking damages for breach of contract, negligence, and fraud in relation to the renovation and restoration of the consumer's home. The company allegedly caused the disposal of lead paint residue and dust in the consumer's home. The consumer sufficiently pleaded their claims.
Court: USDC Western District of Virginia, Judge: Jones, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv10, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Negligence, Contract