319 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of Louisiana "'.
J. Barbier grants a request by a FEMA contractor conducting post-hurricane disaster mitigation work, dismissing breach of contract claims totaling $129,000 by a subcontractor hired to clear mud and debris. The amount in dispute arose from work the subcontractor���s workers mistakenly performed at the direction of an individual who turned out to be representing another subcontractor at the same work site. The subcontractor sent corresponding invoices to the disaster mitigation business only to discover the FEMA contractor was not invoicing or receiving payment for the litigant-subcontractor's services. A mistake by one company���s employees is not enough to show the contract had been orally modified.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1580, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Contract
J. Papillion grants a university's motion to dismiss the age discrimination complaint against the president-chancellor and other college officials by an 82-year-old white, formerly tenured associate professor. The professor alleges the reasons for his firing - student complaints of allegedly racist and sexually inappropriate comments in class - are a pretext for age bias. Supervisors cannot be held individually liable under federal age discrimination law, and he has not exhausted his administrative remedies for his claims against the school.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Papillion, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1423, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Education, Employment Discrimination
J. Zainey denies a request by an insurer to strike a jury demand by the owner of a fire-damaged vessel who originally sued the insurer in state court for bad faith insurance practices. The insurer has no right under federal law to a bench trial and the court is persuaded it would commit reversible error by denying the vessel owner its Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Once the insurer removed the vessel owner���s suit to federal court, its dissatisfied client was entitled to a jury under the Seventh Amendment.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2796, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Jury, Choice Of Law, Business Practices
J. Currault grants a discovery request by an intervening law firm seeking to recover a lien amount from a male former client named G.K. who won a judgment against another man on allegations of false representation of his HIV status to induce unprotected sex resulting in the former client���s infection. The intervening firm says its seeking information about another lawyer or lawyers it says represented G.K., resulting from the firm���s withdrawal in the H.I.V. case. G.K.���s unsubstantiated objections are improper, and he must produce the requested documents, if they exist.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv2242, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Discovery, Attorney Fees
J. Guidry finds for a downtown New Orleans taxing district, dismissing its white former security guard���s Title VII complaint concerning his black supervisor���s alleged continual breakroom tirades against racist white people, the K.K.K., Donald Trump and "'racist white police officers that shoot [b]lack people because they hate them���.��� Even assuming the supervisor���s remarks can constitute race-based harassment, the conduct the ex-officer alleges pales in comparison to the kind of verbal harassment circuit courts have held support a Title VII hostile workplace claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv1323, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Employment Discrimination, Police Misconduct
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J. Fallon grants summary judgment to a New Orleans area river transportation company on its argument any liability it may incur for damage to steel coils shipped from Korea is limited to no more than $500 per coil, pursuant to provisions of a barge transportation agreement with an intermediary hired to transport the cargo from New Orleans to Illinois and Ohio. Because both barge transportation companies expressly agreed to the terms, the New Orleans-based business may enforce the limitation provision.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv27, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Maritime, Contract
J. Vitter grants a request by a driver suing a sheriff's department, excluding the testimony of a veteran narcotics officer with ���expertise in olfactory science��� who claims a deputy could smell marijuana coming from the litigant���s car because the drug has an unmistakable odor that ���becomes part of the user���s life.��� None of the the opinions by the expert meet federal standards for reliability and relevancy, as his opinions do not assist the trier of fact and are not the product of reliable principles and methods. ���No expertise is needed to understand that the opening and closing of a car door may allow odors contained within the vehicle to escape.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv1275, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Police Misconduct
J. Meerveld grants a request by a chemical plant, dismissing complaints of First Amendment violations by a self-represented former employee of American Indian descent. The company is a government contractor but not a ���government actor��� and, therefore, his First Amendment claim fails. Further, he has failed to allege facts sufficient to support a Title VII claim for a hostile work environment based on race, racial discrimination or retaliation, or for disability discrimination related to an alleged brain injury.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Van Meerveld, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv23, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. Morgan denies immunity to four prison officers who allegedly violated an inmate���s constitutional right to basic hygiene and sanitation during his four-day confinement to a ���dry cell.��� The officers suspected the inmate stored contraband in his rectum, repeatedly ordered him to ingest laxatives, perform bowel movements in full restraints, submit to strip-searches, and undergo x-rays; however, no contraband was found.
According to the inmate���s undisputed account, he was denied a shower, not allowed to wash his hands or brush his teeth, and had to eat near an open bucket of human waste.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morgan, Filed On: March 13, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2680, NOS: Prison Condition - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Lemelle denies requests by an association of ship loaders to reconsider a court ruling denying its request for arbitration of a longshoremen���s union complaint, according to which it is owed $2.8 million due to the association���s complete withdrawal from the union pension fund. Neither the stevedoring association nor its insurer initiated arbitration before the statutorily defined deadlines. No withdrawal-liability payment was ever made. If the companies desired to contest the withdrawal-liability calculation, they could have done so through ERISA���s compulsory arbitration scheme.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2566, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, Evidence, Labor / Unions
J. Jolivette Brown denies a request by insurers to exclude the damage estimates of a certified public accountant for a high school suing a flooring company for fire damage to its gymnasium. The insurers argue a reasonable juror is capable of adding numbers and calculating the soft costs element, which requires one act of multiplication to obtain a 10% sub-amount. While a jury may be capable of adding and multiplying numbers, the fact that a ���soft costs��� calculation requires a 10% sub-amount is not within the common knowledge of lay person. As such, the expert���s testimony will assist the jury.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5292, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Experts
J. Vitter denies a request by the owner of an offshore oilfield platform to exclude the testimony of an injured worker���s liability expert because his opinions are allegedly based on insufficient facts or data. The expert���s testimony will help determine the facts in dispute at the non-jury trial. "It is the role of the adversarial system, not the court, to highlight weak evidence."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1222, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Maritime, Experts
J. Morgan grants a discovery request by suburban New Orleans area residents suing landfill operators for foul odors emitted from 2017 to 2019. The landfill owners are ordered to turn over documents they had declared protected from disclosure by the attorney work product doctrine. Following a private review of the requested records, 22 withheld invoices and certain documents contain no ���mental impressions, conclusions, opinions or legal theories of an attorney.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morgan, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: 2:18cv7889, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Civil Procedure, Environment, Discovery
J. Long grants requests by two wholesale and retail car sales businesses to seal records because of unspecified information in a contract suit. The heavily redacted ruling indicates the widow of the founder of one business sued the other business on behalf of herself and their minor children for failure to pay $1.6 million required by an agreement. The resulting financial pressure allegedly caused the business founder to take his own life in 2022.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Long, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1885, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Jury, Business Practices, Covid-19
J. Ashe grants a request by an alleged police brutality victim, awarding civil penalties in the total amount of $17,000 for the city���s failure to timely respond to his state law public records requests for interviews by internal affairs investigators, 911 call materials and police body-worn camera footage. The city acted unreasonably or arbitrarily by failing to give any explanation for its seven-business-day delay in responding to the litigant���s first public records request, instead stating he did not suffer any injury due to the de minimus delay. A civil penalty is not awarded based on the injury suffered by the requestor; it is awarded when a custodian unreasonably fails to timely notify the requestor of the availability of records, advise of an exception for their production or provide an estimated completion date.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:19cv11803, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Public Record, Damages, Police Misconduct
J. Currault grants summary judgment to the Secretary of the Army, dismissing an engineering technician���s Title VII employment claims of sex, religion, age, and disability discrimination and complaints of a hostile work environment. The Corps of Engineers has presented substantial evidence, including sworn declarations of the technician���s supervisors, coworkers and HR representatives, that undermine her allegations. The technician failed to come forward with any evidence in response.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3333, NOS: Federal Employers’ Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Government
J. Currault grants requests by the former owners of a bankrupt clinical laboratory, ordering a creditor suing them for fraud to respond with full and complete answers to discovery questions for the owners��� counterclaims. The creditor���s reference to court filings and memoranda are improper. Complaints and briefs are not verified and, therefore, do not provide admissible evidence, unlike a response to an interrogatory.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2570, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Evidence, Discovery
J. Jolivette Brown grants a request by an insurance company, dismissing a homeowner���s contract claims arising from her hurricane-related property damages. The policy was issued to the mortage lender. The homeowner, as mortgagor, has not established she is entitled to any benefits from the policy. She unsuccessfully argues the remaining balance on the mortgage is $695,000 and, because the policy limit of $1 million exceeds the mortgage balance by $387,000, the lower, remaining amount is intended to benefit her. The policy does not contain a provision stating that any excess payment would be given to the mortgagor.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6691, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Fiduciary Duty, Contract
J. Papillion grants summary judgment to a children���s hospital, dismissing an employee���s Title VII religious discrimination complaint arising from her nine-day suspension for failing to get a Covid-19 vaccination. Her suspension was lifted and accommodations were made after the last of her four affidavits articulated a bona fide religious belief that conflicted with the hospital���s vaccine requirement. The first three sworn statements included largely disjointed legal maxims, bible verses and portions of the Nuremberg Code on human experiments. The successful fourth affidavit finally stated the employee believes she is ���a creation of the one true Creator Almighty,��� and that ���the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and as such should not be used for medical experimentation.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Papillion, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv4757, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Health Care, Covid-19
J. Van Meerveld grants a request by developers and a flooring company to dismiss civil racketeering claims by the father and son owners of a construction company, alleging they were defrauded into investing in a business deal to purchase, renovate and sell real estate. The litigants��� allegations are insufficient to show the necessary predicate acts, or independent illegal activity, required for a RICO claim. Not one allegation in the suit identifies a fraud or misrepresentation. Instead, the alleged acts can only reasonably be interpreted as preliminary negotiations of a legitimate business deal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Van Meerveld, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv565, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Evidence, Business Practices, Racketeering
J. Currault denies a request by a Chevron plant to dismiss a 52-year-old white supervisor���s employment discrimination claims based on his race, sex and age. He alleges he was subjected to increased scrutiny, disparate treatment and required to work excessive shifts to force him out so his employer could further its diversity efforts by promoting younger minority workers. At the current stage of the litigation, his allegations allow him to proceed on his discrimination claims based on race, gender and age.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv7203, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Evidence
J. Zainey denies summary judgment to an insurer on its argument that its policy for an aircraft does not cover approximately $79,000 worth of repairs. The damage falls within a wear-and-tear exclusion, not as the result of ���a single-recorded incident which requires immediate repair.��� The policy fails to define the term ���single-recorded incident��� and ���immediate repair;" therefore, the ordinary meaning of the terms control. Because both the insurer and the policyholder offer reasonable interpretations of the terms, the policy is ambiguous under state law and must be interpreted in favor of the policyholder.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Zainey, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv4603, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Aviation
J. Lemelle denies summary judgment to the city of New Orleans and rules in favor of a group of property owners seeking short-term rental permits for lodging offered on internet platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The ruling bars the city from excluding surviving spouses and trust beneficiaries, such as adult children, as residential STR owners and operators, as their exclusion "has no lawful rational basis.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:19dv13773, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Government, Property, Housing
J. Milazzo denies summary judgment to a white police officer on his request for immunity from excessive force claims by two black men. They were seriously injured when he fired four shots into a silver Camaro, one of three cars that had been ���doing donuts��� on the lakefront. Taking together the assumptions the two men were attempting to flee the parking lot to evade arrest, were under suspicion of reckless driving - a relatively minor crime - and the officer was not in immediate harm, a jury could reasonably find the degree of force used the officer was not reasonable.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv333, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Immunity, Police Misconduct