1,070 results for 'cat:"Government"'.
J. Watson dismisses a complaint, filed by the owner of a controversial vanity license plate reading “FCKBLM,” against Honolulu for attempting to revoke the plate. Vanity license plates are a form of government speech that are subject to rules about profanity that are not too vague. Those regulations do not restrict messages based on viewpoint, as the owner suggested, and the letters FCK can be interpreted as an expletive and are not in themselves a protected viewpoint.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv407, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: government, First Amendment
J. Taylor grants the Army Corp of Engineers' motion to dismiss certain claims. The contract for the design and construction of a special operations mountaineering facility at Fort Carson, Colorado was terminated for the contractor's alleged failure to finish the project by its completion date. The contractor sought equitable adjustment, though it failed to provide a sum certain amount for separate and distinct claims. Because the claims must first be presented to a contracting officer with a sum certain giving adequate notice for consideration and of amounts, certain paragraphs are struck to allow the contractor to properly present the claims.
Court: Armed Services Board Of Contract Appeals, Judge: Taylor , Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 63252, Categories: government, Due Process, Contract
J. Seabright refuses to dismiss part of a fired employee’s complaint against state deputy attorneys general for informing his Japanese employer about his previous litigation history. One of these attorneys general does not have qualified immunity as there is evidence of the deputy attorney general contacting his former employer. There is also evidence of malice and that she would have known about the employee’s employment contract at the Japanese company. Emotional distress claims are dismissed, however, as the act was not “outrageous.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv359, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: government, Interference With Contract, Employment Retaliation
J. Sweet grants the government's motion for summary judgment. The purchase order was made between the Marine Corps and contractor to provide perpetual software licenses and maintenance services for a year, and four option years of maintenance, which the Marin Corp declined. The contractor brought claims for breach of contract. There are no issues of material fact supporting the breach of contract, ratification, and part of breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing allegations. Because there is an issue of material fact as to an aspect of the breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing allegation, both parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment are denied as to that issue only.
Court: Armed Services Board Of Contract Appeals, Judge: Sweet , Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 63069, Categories: government, Contract, Technology
Per curiam, the circuit finds the district court properly dismissed civil rights claims filed by the individual against whom criminal trespass warnings were issued. He asserts more than 100 civil claims seeking millions of dollars in damages. Qualified immunity shields officials performing discretionary functions from civil liability. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-11190, Categories: Civil Rights, government, Damages
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[Consolidated.] J. Crain finds that the trial court should not have denied incorporation of the proposed City of St. George after voters approved the incorporation. The record supports the "reasonableness" of the incorporation as it relates to Baton Rouge because St. George is an identifiable area with a thriving business community, its own fire department, and the desire for its own school district. Further, the economic and population growth is unique to St. George and not dependent on Baton Rouge. Also, Baton Rouge can be positively affected by St. George’s growing population since money will stay in the parish, and the record shows that St. George can provide public services within a reasonable period of time. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court, Judge: Crain, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2023-C-01108, Categories: government, Contract
J. Cogburn grants the U.S. Postal Service’s motion to dismiss wrongful termination claims under Title VII brought by a former employee whom the service accused of theft. The employee denied the charge, but after an investigative interview, the service fired him. He was advised to sue the service federally within 90 days, but instead, he did so through state court 14 months later. Because he admitted the untimeliness of this, the service is granted dismissal.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv747, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, government, Employment Retaliation
J. Mcnulty grants the government's motion for summary judgment. The contractor contracted to build a new roof for the San Diego Naval Base Commissary. Requests for materials price increases were denied, being the contract was fixed price, and the contractor submitted a claim for $452,108 for materials price escalations. The claim is not dependent on whether the government was late in issuing the notice to proceed, due to COVID delays. The contractor's constructive change theory based on delays would be considered a new claim that the board does not have jurisdiction to consider.
Court: Armed Services Board Of Contract Appeals, Judge: Mcnulty , Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 63631, Categories: government, Contract
J. Green finds a lower court properly dismissed a Slovakian national's request for severed social security under universal credit. The Slovakian national argued that she is entitled to break up universal credit benefits between herself and her son. However, the work and pensions authority sufficiently showed in court that there is not an existing child element benefit that can be severed from a whole.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Green, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: CA-2023-1197, Categories: Employment, government, Social Security
J. Ezra partially grants Texas’ motion to dismiss after the federal government sued the state and Governor Greg Abbott over its “buoy barrier” in the Rio Grande, which was installed in the national water boundary “without any federal authorization.” While the United States can proceed with claims under the federal Rivers and Harbors Act, it cannot pursue claims based on the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo because the treaty is “not self-executing” and does not “provide any specific standard or rule of decision for a domestic court to follow.” Nonetheless, while Texas has asserted that it has “territorial rights” to protect itself from a migrant “invasion,” “the Founding Fathers conceptualized invasions as a part of war” and not due to migration.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv853, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, government, Immigration
J. Eyester denies the contractor's claim for price increases. Contracted for tree removal, pruning and roadside trimming at Lake O’ the Pines, Texas, the contractor claims the Army Corps of Engineers misclassified certain services causing a $7,117 increase in performance. While certain pruning services were removed from the contract and tree removal was increased due to a deep freeze, this does not establish a prior course of dealing eliminating performance on other task orders. There is no prior course of dealing evidencing the waiver of performance.
Court: Armed Services Board Of Contract Appeals, Judge: Eyester, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 63768, Categories: Environment, government, Contract
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the hospital's claim against the state because the private managed care organizations the state contracts with to pay Medicaid bills systematically delayed and reduced payments owed to the hospital for treating patients covered by Medicaid. The hospital has a viable right to have the state ensure timely payments from managed care organizations and this right is enforceable in this section 1983 actions against the state health agency's director. Reversed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 21-2325, Categories: government, Health Care, Medicaid
J. Dick grants a request by the state to dismiss as moot a voting rights suit by black litigants that preceded legislative enactment of a new congressional map containing two first-ever majority-black districts. The litigants do not oppose the new congressional map but argue their case is not moot due to pending legislation in the Western District of Louisiana. State officials have sufficiently shown the earlier redistricting conduct challenged by litigants will not recur with the state’s voluntary enactment of a new congressional map with two black-majority districts.
Court: USDC Middle District of Louisiana, Judge: Dick, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv211, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, government
J. Brobson finds that the commonwealth court improperly held that Pennsylvania constitution delegated unfettered authority to natural gas distribution companies to determine the location of gas meters in historic districts. The Pennsylvania General Assembly never enacted a statute imposing any duty on the commission to locate gas meters in historic districts. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Brobson, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: J-70-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution, government
J. Rodriguez denies an organization’s motion for an injunction and temporary restraining order after it sued the city of Kerrville, arguing local ordinances on “peddlers and solicitors” and “electioneering” violate the First Amendment. Despite expressing “generalized” concerns about the ordinances, the suing parties have not shown specific plans to engage in proscribed conduct and therefore lack standing for a restraining order.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 5:24cv403, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, government, First Amendment
J. Volk grants the government's motion for summary judgment in 27 former Beckley Veterans Medical Center patients' suits claiming they contracted infectious diseases from the uncredentialed use of acupuncture by Dr. Jonathan Yates. The 27 patients' claims are barred by res judicata since they all previously filed suits against Yates for malpractice and, prior to the government filing responsive pleadings, signed releases from any claims arising from Yates' medical negligence including those "unknown" or "unsuspected."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Volk, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv243, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, Health Care, Medical Malpractice
J. Davis finds the district court improperly dismissed the disabled, black employee's discrimination and retaliation claims. The employee was hired to work within the county's drug trafficking division. His request to work remotely in 2020, to avoid contracting COVID after throat surgery, being in remission from cancer, was denied by his supervisor. The employee was placed on administrative leave after complaining of this and an internal data breach involving his family, and was allegedly told to remove religious garments during a later discussion with his supervisor. The district court incorrectly determined that the employee failed to produce evidence that he informed the county of his disabilities or that he requested accommodation. Furthermore, the district court failed to treat the drug trafficking division as the same entity as the county. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Davis , Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-10872, Categories: government, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Fischer finds that while the port authority is an arm of the state, it is not exempt or immune from being assessed prejudgment interest in the current case, where the developer obtained a judgment as a creditor for the port's breach of a development contract. Therefore, the case must be remanded for a proper calculation of interest. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Fischer, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1501, Categories: government, Damages, Contract
J. Moss partially grants the FDA's motion for summary judgment and the tobacco vaporizer maker's cross-motion for summary judgment in a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by the vape maker seeking information on its denied premarket tobacco applications. The FDA's withholding of records under an exemption for "inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters" was proper because those documents were part of the deliberative process, regardless of the vape maker's various arguments that they were produced after the agency's decisions were made, because they were nevertheless produced before those decisions were finalized and published. Memos summarizing scientific data also are not privilege-free scientific reports in this case, since they were compiled for deliberative purposes. The agency has also established that the release of withheld memos would cause foreseeable harm and would chill the ongoing supervisory review process.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Moss, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2853, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, government, Public Record
J. Christopher finds that the trial court improperly sided with city officials in a dispute with taxpayers over the alleged underfunding of a drainage and street renewal fund. The officials "acted ultra vires by not making the proper allocations." Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Christopher, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 14-23-00550-CV, Categories: government, Tax
[Consolidated.] J. Recketenwald finds the lower tax court properly granted summary judgment to Maui County in a challenge by timeshare managers who say the county unfairly taxed timeshare visitors by creating a tax classification separate from existing hotel taxes. The creation of a timeshare tax classification is constitutional because it acts as a real property tax and does not actually tax individual timeshare unit users. “The Time Share classification and its rate act as a tax on real property based on the assessed property value, whereas the (transient accommodation tax) is a tax assessed on individual visitors and the value of their stay.” Affirmed.
Court: Hawai'i Supreme Court, Judge: Recketenwald, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: SCAP-22-587, Categories: government, Property, Tax
J. Kobayashi partially grants a motion in limine by the government regarding testimony by doctors and other experts in a case where military families accuse the government of causing jet fuel contamination in their drinking water. A physician can testify to one families’ treatment and causation as long as it corresponds with the previous medical record. The families’ toxicology expert may only testify on diagnoses and prognoses, but not causation. A pair of life planners can rely on medical records in their testimony, as it is common practice in their industry.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv59, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: government, Experts
J. Hutchison reverses the Intermediate Court of Appeals' decision affirming the West Virginia Workers' Compensation Board of Review's finding that the deputy sheriff should be awarded 13% permanent partial disability for injuries to his back after lifting a bomb-detecting robot from the back of a truck. Based on evidence the deputy submitted showing he has a 25% whole person impairment with 12% apportioned impairment to a pre-existing condition, the ICA's judgment is contrary to the plain language of the statute that "requires both proof of a preexisting condition(s) and proof of 'a definitely ascertainable impairment resulting from' the preexisting condition for the disability to be apportioned.'" Reversed.
Court: West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hutchison, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 23-43, Categories: Employment, government, Workers' Compensation
J. Moore finds the lower court erroneously granted the village's motion for summary judgment on constitutional claims filed by the advertising company. The "public-service" exemption included in the village's ordinance on off-site billboards is a content-based restriction that requires the application of strict scrutiny. Therefore, because certain types of signs, including those that do not advertise a service or consumer good, are treated differently than those designed to provide information to the public at large, the regulation is unconstitutional and the case will be reinstated to allow the lower court to determine if that portion of the ordinance can be severed. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Moore, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-3623, Categories: Constitution, government, First Amendment
J. Quereshi grants, in part, an estate’s motion to compel in this wrongful death of the decedent with mental illness. The estate alleges that the county’s police department failed to produce the internal affairs memoranda, demand documents and other communications concerning the shooting of decedent or similar cases. The police department opposes the motion, asserting the deliberative process and attorney-client privileges. The court previously found that the memorandum did not include any communications between the attorney and others and ordered the release of the material. Therefore, the production of a redacted and unredacted previous memorandums and materials must be released in its entirety along with documents of similar incidents.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Quereshi, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 8:22cv856, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: government, Wrongful Death, Privilege
J. Cobb grants the Campaign for Accountability’s cross-motion for summary judgment in its suit seeking to require the Department of Justice, Office of Legal Counsel to make certain records available to the public under the “reading-room” provision of the Freedom of Information Act. Deliberative process privilege “does not categorically protect the OLC’s formal written opinions resolving interagency disputes.” Thus, those opinions are subject to the “affirmative disclosure requirements of FOIA’s reading-room provision.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Cobb, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 1:16cv1068, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: government
J. Novak denies the department's motion to dismiss sex-based employment discrimination claims. The X-ray machines used on correctional officers can not differentiate between contraband and a menstruation product like tampons, pads, or IUDs. Every time the machine finds a foreign object, even if it is purely for menstruation, the correctional officers are subject to severely invasive strip searches. The department has failed to establish a policy that considers that its female employees will be subject to strip searches far more frequently than males purely due to sex-based characteristics.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Virginia, Judge: Novak , Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv757, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, government, Employment Discrimination
J. Aiken denies the government's motion to stay proceedings while its writ of mandamus is pending in the 9th Circuit. The young activists claim that the government knowingly destabilized the Oregon population's climate system by approving of the Jordan Cove Liquified Natural Gas Terminal in Coos Bay, which became the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in Oregon. The government and others repeatedly delayed the case from entering the evidentiary phase for almost 10 years, and they do not identify any new issues that would justify a further stay or convince this court that the 9th Circuit is likely to grant the petition for mandamus.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Aiken, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 6:15cv1517, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Environment, government