388 results for 'court:"2nd Circuit"'.
J. Walker finds that the district court improperly upheld an enforcement action against a senior partner at a private equity firm accused of breaching fiduciary duties to funds he advised because he could not have reasonably foreseen that his expense reports for phony business expenditures would be paid by the funds and not by his then-employer. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 20-4080-cv, Categories: Securities, Fiduciary Duty
J. Jacobs finds that the district court properly dismissed claims contending a town illegally took land two local businessmen intended to use for a big box hardware store because facts supported the contention that putting a park on the site constituted pretext to block use, but when eminent domain is invoked for a public purpose, courts may not inquire into motives. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Jacobs, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 22-2722, Categories: Property
J. Lynch finds that the district court properly denied defendant habeas relief from his murder conviction after an eyewitness recanted testimony and two new alibi witnesses came forward. Details of the 30-year-old case are "troubling" and the conviction was "weakly supported," but deference should be given to state's denial of post-conviction vacatur and the inmate's claim of actual innocence was insufficient. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 21-2582-pr, Categories: Habeas, Murder, Witnesses
J. Lynch finds that the district court properly denied federal whistleblower claims against a drug distributor but improperly dismissed similar state actions because the qui tam relator failed to demonstrate the distributor knowingly violated federal law in allegedly providing business management tools to customers at no charge as kickbacks for making commitments to purchase drugs. However, analogous state claims should not have been rejected based solely on federal anti-kickback provisions because their statutes may be different. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 23-726-cv, Categories: Business Practices, Whistleblowers
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly upheld default judgment obtained by a liquidating trustee in bankruptcy court. The judgment returned a $23.7 million mortgage to the debtors' estate that had been purchased for $3.8 million by an entity associated with an ex-officer of one debtor, which received notice of service of judgment and of being added to the case. The entity's failure to respond was determined to be willful, and the bankruptcy court had personal jurisdiction over the parties. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 23-311-bk, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Jurisdiction
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J. Livingston finds that the district court properly denied an application for U.S. discovery for use in France in a nonprofit association's challenge to a 2020 advance purchase agreement between Covid-19 vaccine developers and the European Commission. The appellate court rebuffed arguments on the hold harmless provisions on grounds that Belgium was the proper jurisdiction, and thus discovery would not be of practical use unless further appeals were accepted to the French high court. The request may be refiled since the U.S. dismissal was made without prejudice. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Livingston, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 23-380, Categories: International Law, Discovery, Covid-19
J. Sullivan finds that the board of immigration appeals properly held that plaintiff, a Hong Kong native, was deportable for theft and forgery as crimes of moral turpitude. In the action, the agency defined "conviction" as indicating that the predicate proceedings included constitutional protections for the accused, such as speedy trial and confrontation rights, and determined those circumstances had been present. Meanwhile, the statutory phrase "crime involving moral turpitude" is not unconstitutionally vague. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: 22-6185, Categories: Constitution, Immigration
J. Menashi finds that the district court improperly dismissed an indictment charging that former state senator Brian Benjamin committed bribery and honest services wire fraud during his unsuccessful campaign for New York City comptroller and covered up the indictment during a background check when he was nominated to be New York's lieutenant governor. The indictment sufficiently alleged an explicit quid quo pro in directing $50,000 in state grant money to a nonprofit controlled by a local real estate developer in exchange for matching, small-dollar campaign contributions. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Menashi, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 22-3091, Categories: Evidence, Fraud, Bribery
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class claims challenging the conversion of a subsidized New York City housing complex from public ownership to private ownership. The class lacked standing because details of the conversion were so financially complex they could not feasibly be undone, and thus alleged injuries could not be resolved by a favorable ruling. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 23-397, Categories: Housing, Class Action
J. Nathan finds that the district court improperly dismissed extraterritorial class claims brought against international crypto exchange Binance for the sale of allegedly unregistered securities called "tokens." The transactions were domestic since the buyers made irrevocable purchases from their home states on servers operated by the exchange in the U.S., and the claims were not untimely because they did not accrue until after the purchases were made. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nathan, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 22-972, Categories: Civil Procedure, Securities, Class Action
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly issued a preliminary injunction to a nurse from the Philippines who challenged an arbitration clause contained in his work contract because he raised serious questions on the narrow issue of whether the "loser pays" provision would deter someone from pursuing arbitration due to potential costs. However, more detailed findings on the merits are required on remand, including information about the nurse's financials, potential costs in arbitration, and the likelihood of incurring such costs. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 23-303-cv, Categories: Arbitration, Employment
J. Robinson finds that the district court properly dismissed discrimination claims against a Pfizer fellowship program designed to increase minority employment for excluding white and Asian-American student applicants. In seeking a preliminary injunction, plaintiff failed to identify a member who had been injured by the program by name rather than pseudonym. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 23-15-cv, Categories: Civil Rights, Jurisdiction
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly convicted ex-attorney Michael Avenatti of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in diverting a publisher's advance to client Stormy Daniels for a tell-all memoir about her life in the adult film industry and purported sexual encounter with Donald Trump. Avenatti contends the jury had been provided confusing and prejudicial instructions about the professional obligations of lawyers, but any error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence against him. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 22-1242(L), Categories: Evidence, Identity Theft, Jury Instructions
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly convicted defendant based on his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine. Defendant claimed the plea was involuntary because he expected a below-guidelines sentence, but that belief had been subjective since the plea colloquy clearly confirmed that no particular sentence had been promised. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 22-1539-cr, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing, Plea
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class claims alleging deceptive trade practices concerning the package labeling for Craftsman vacuums. The class contends the vacuums could not achieve peak horsepower as advertised, but an asterisk on the label pointed out that peak horsepower had been achieved during lab tests rather than ordinary use. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 23-735-cv, Categories: Consumer Law, Business Practices
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court failed to resolve whether two New York City restaurants violated federal wage laws upon paying subclasses of current and former employees. Prior to trial, the parties agreed to submit only state labor law claims to the jury, which found for the workers, but the status of the federal claims should be clarified on remand since those claims had not been formally dismissed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 22-1558, Categories: Employment, Jurisdiction, Class Action
J. Perez finds that the district court properly denied judicial assistance to aid U.S. discovery for a lawsuit brought in the United Kingdom against Morgan Stanley and its executive chairman because the court properly weighed precedential factors to determine that documentary and testimonial evidence would be duplicative to evidence provided by Morgan Stanley's subsidiary in England. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Perez, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-7635, Categories: International Law, Discovery
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed a lawyer's collections claims for consulting services allegedly provided to former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama because the lawyer had not entered a contract with the Obamas, and the demand for payment for work performed during a pro bono externship with a New York City law firm was untimely under the state statute of limitations. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-1178-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed human trafficking claims in an identity-swapping scheme to defraud the government of financial aid because plaintiff failed to demonstrate he had been threatened into forced labor under the scheme. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: 23-339-cv, Categories: Fraud, Banking / Lending, Labor
J. Kearse finds that the district court improperly dismissed workplace discrimination and retaliatory termination claims because the employee raised triable issues of fact in hostile work environment claims and claims contending she was retaliated against by being transferred to work in a city 160 miles away from her family. She also presented triable issues in claims contending she suffered discriminatory termination and was paid less than an identified male coworker.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Kearse, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 20-3599, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Livingston finds that the district court properly declined to suppress evidence in defendant's trial for producing child pornography. Digital data seized under a valid search warrant in connection with a prior prosecution against defendant for possessing child pornography led to the discovery of a cell phone video in which defendant was seen rubbing his penis on his young daughter's buttocks and ejaculating, which fell outside the prior agreement that no future prosecution would occur on possession charges. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Livingston, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 22-1086, Categories: Search, Plea, Child Pornography
J. Chin finds that the district court improperly dismissed claims brought under the Federal Employers' Liability Act concerning an injury after initially declining to find for the transit agency. Two years after the initial decision, and just days before a bench trial, the court reconsidered and granted summary judgment without providing the parties notice or allowing the employee to oppose the finding.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Chin, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 22-1921-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment, Tort
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court should have modified a special condition of supervised release that prohibited direct contact with minors without probation office approval because barring defendant from living in the family home with his own children exacerbated problems with securing permanent housing. On remand, reconsideration is recommended, and the court must present a more thorough explanation of its rationale.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 27, 2024, Case #: 23-6145, Categories: Probation
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly held that partial tuition reimbursement was owed to parents who enrolled their autistic daughter in private school after the public school failed to meet her special needs because a separate analysis had not occurred before accepting the hearing officer's findings, which were entered without determining whether private placement met the girl's needs.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 22-2636, Categories: Education
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly denied ineffective assistance claims contending a federal public defender ignored instructions to file an appeal to correct resentencing documents because doing so without fact-finding constituted an abuse of discretion since defendant was adamant that he requested the appeal, even if when and how he made the request remained unclear.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 22-2026, Categories: Ineffective Assistance
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly granted a union dismissal of claims contending an employee's grievance over the amount of office space she was required to clean had not been taken to arbitration on grounds that she was Hispanic. The employee failed to demonstrate the union acted with animus by choosing to arbitrate a similar grievance filed by a non-Hispanic coworker because the coworker's claims concerned greater surface are and constituted a stronger complaint. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 22-2753-cv, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Labor / Unions
J. Sullivan finds that the district court properly dismissed claims contending the village exercised discriminatory animus in denying building permits for five lots in a planned 181-unit residential subdivision to be marketed to Hasidic Jews. The claims were not ripe since the developer had not appealed the denial to the village zoning board and had not sought a variance, even if such steps were not expected to be successful. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-1047, Categories: Zoning, Housing, Equal Protection
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly declined to dismiss excessive force claims brought against three municipal police officers who claimed qualified immunity. Questions remain unresolved as to whether officers used an unreasonable degree of force in abruptly pulling plaintiff from her home when she agreed to cooperate and sending her, handcuffed and head-first, into the back seat of a police cruiser, causing head injuries. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 22-3162 (L), Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Police Misconduct
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed objections brought by LGBTQ advocates concerning changes in federal grant rules that barred recipients from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. While the advocates lobby on behalf of the LGBTQ community and provide education and training to organizations that directly serve LGBTQ-identifying people, they could not allege injury-in-fact to establish standing. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 22-1174, Categories: Civil Rights, Lgbtq