140 results for 'court:"USDC Hawaii"'.
J. Gillmor dismisses excessive force, negligence, wrongful death and other claims by relatives of a man shot and killed by Maui police officers. The family does not identify any specific officers, any of their specific actions or any specific policy or practice that led to the shooting, and therefore do not have sufficient facts to support their claims. Only the man’s mother and father have standing to bring their claims; siblings and other family members do not. Only the mother’s excessive force claim remains.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv383, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Kobayashi grants summary judgment to the grocery wholesaler that an employee accuses of letting him go on the basis of age and race when the company downsized. The employee could not show that the wholesaler used its financial situation as pretext for his firing, and there is no evidence that his colleague, who has many of the same qualifications as the employee, was kept on for his race and age despite not meeting education and sales goal requirements.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv367, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Evidence, Employment Discrimination
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses failure-to-warn claims in a suit brought by military families who became sick after drinking water contaminated by jet fuel leaking from the Navy’s Red Hill storage facility. The lack of a water advisory after the fact constituted misrepresentation under the Federal Tort Claims Act, barring those claims. The failure-to-warn element of the families’ negligence claim survives since, under Hawaii law, a property owner has a duty to warn of any potential hazards to their lessees.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: January 11, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Tort, Water
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J. Gillmor declines to exclude testimony from two experts for a case where a water heater exploded and killed a mother and her infant daughter, finding that the fire and explosion expert and the engineer expert submitted by the deceased’s relatives are qualified by years of experience and certifications, and used reliable data to present relevant testimony.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv254, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Wrongful Death
J. Watson finds in favor of the alliance in its case against Honolulu challenging an amendment to an ordinance to increase the minimum rental period for a non-resort property from 30 to 90 days, which effectively outlaws rentals of 89 days or less. The ordinance violates a state zoning law restricting counties from passing zoning ordinances that conflict with prior lawful uses. The resulting permanent injunction enjoins the City and County of Honolulu from enforcing the ordinance insofar as it prohibits 30-89 day home rentals in any district on O'ahu.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv247, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Property, Zoning
J. Watson declines to dismiss claims brought by parents against the government and its hospital for negligence during the labor and delivery of their daughter, resulting in injury to the child. The parents' claims are timely even though the claims were brought more than two years after the birth. Hospital staff did not inform the parents at the time of the birth that a caesarian delivery should have been performed and only told the parents that the birth was complicated by the child's size and that she would fully recover, so accrual of the claim did not begin until the child was older and the parents noticed the effect of the injuries.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv300, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Medical Malpractice
J. Mansfield declines to sanction the government for the loss of text messages from two Navy captains regarding the water contamination by jet fuel from the military’s Red Hill storage facility. The text message evidence as to when the military knew of the contamination was lost in a reset of the phones prior to the litigation, but can be recovered from other parties, which the government has taken steps to preserve and hand over to those affected by the leak. There is no proof that key text messages about the contamination between the two captains of different commands exist and that the loss was anything but inadvertent.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Mansfield, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Environment, Evidence, Government
J. Seabright dismisses claims against the president, several states and their attorney generals blaming them for a self-representing individual’s student loan debt, finding that they all possess 11th Amendment immunity from the claims.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv470, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Debt Collection, Government
J. Otake denies class certification to former and current Hawaiian Airlines employees who were not granted medical or religious accommodation from the airline’s Covid-19 vaccination policy. Based on the wide range of how the airline determined their accommodation status, including variations of exact job positions and work locations, evidence for potential class members would not be the same and would still require individualized assessments.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Otake, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv532, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Covid-19, Employment Discrimination, Class Action
J. Mollway denies the planned community development’s motion to add a related company as plaintiff in its claims against the state for rezoning the development’s land from urban to agricultural, stopping development. Though the companies are essentially the same entity and have transferred various interests between them, “under the purported assignment in 2021 or 2022, Aina Le`a no longer has a property interest that was allegedly taken such that Aina Le`a should be in this case.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Mollway, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv113, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Property, Zoning
J. Watson dismisses the suing skydiving company’s complaint that the skydiving companies it’s suing are infringing on its trademark by using the term “skydive Hawaii” and similar phrasing in their advertisements and websites. Usage of these phrases is fair use, as the words are fairly common and are obvious descriptions of the companies’ services and location, not a distinctive mark.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: November 22, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv292, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Business Practices
J. Watson dismisses a complaint by a group of voters against the Hawaii Republican Party, the state office of elections, attorneys and judges. The voters’ claims that the party interfered with the results of the 2022 primary elections and that the state courts did not properly hear that claim should have been appealed in the original courts and the federal court does not have jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv370, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Government
J. Mollway dismisses a complaint from the discoverer of a shipwreck asking for ownership or a partial cut of any possible treasure excavated from a suspected sunken Spanish Galleon ship off the Big Island coast. As the discoverer has not been able to obtain the proper permits to excavate the wreck and insists that one permit obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should cover all excavation efforts for over 10 years, the complaint is dismissed for lack of any progress.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Mollway, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 1:12cv552, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Maritime, Property
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses the tech company’s counterclaim against the insurance company for refusing to produce documents during discovery of an underlying construction dispute. The tech company did not allege with enough specificity how the insurance company committed fraud by denying it access to final diagrams when the parties were settling on the underlying case. The tech company may file an amended counterclaim.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv117, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, Discovery
J Watson dismisses liability claims against Honolulu and several of its police officers for their involvement in removing an evicted tenant from a rental unit. The evicted tenant did not argue against the officer’s qualified immunity as they did not violate any of the tenant’s constitutional rights. The city also similarly dodges claims of negligent hiring and training, without any opposition by the tenant. Fair Housing Act claims against the landlords and the officers remain.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: November 13, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv491, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Housing, Police Misconduct
J. Gillmor denies a motion for recusal by a man formerly convicted of sexual assault of a minor, who now sues his accuser, her family and police and court officers involved in the conviction. The man’s claims of bias against him do not constitute a basis for recusal, as the purported bias stems from the judge’s rulings, rather than from outside the proceedings. “The fact the court has ruled against plaintiff, expressed an opinion about a matter of procedure or a point of law, or disagreed with plaintiff’s legal position is not a basis for recusal.”
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: November 9, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv461, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Judiciary
J. Kobayashi partially dismisses a complaint by the service on behalf of a woman who was killed near a police station after being released from custody by a man also recently released from police custody. As the woman was released over a day before the man, the city and the police did not have a special duty to her, since she was no longer in custody, and did not have a duty to take the unhoused woman to a safer location. Police officers, who are also not liable in their official capacities, did not act with malice as the service could not show officers knew the woman was still in the area and that she was in distress.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv127, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Negligence, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Gillmor dismisses several counts, including negligence and false arrest, against a Honolulu police officer that arrested a man for sexual assault of a minor in 2003. These claims, brought in 2021, exceed the statute of limitations because the initial arrest and conviction occurred almost 20 years ago, the man was released from prison nearly 10 years ago and the convictions were vacated over two years ago. A malicious prosecution claim against the officer remains however, as time for this claim only began accruing in 2020, when the circuit court dismissed the criminal case on remand.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv461, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Malicious Prosecution, Negligence
J. Gillmor defers ruling on the United States’ Daubert motion to bar testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man who was killed in a helicopter crash allegedly caused by the air traffic controllers. The government’s expert is permitted to testify at trial, allowing the court to determine the reliability and admissibility after the evidence and testimony is presented. The family’s motion to compel production of certain software are inadequately pleaded.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv266, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Experts, Wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Kobayashi grants in part Airbnb’s motion to dismiss in this trespass and nuisance lawsuit brought by a landowner, who owns land in and around the subdivision where an Airbnb property exists. The landowner alleges says Airbnb ads and its app “‘made possible’ illegal conduct, apparently including trespass, noise issues and violations of the Hawai’i County Code.” He fails to show facts to state his plausible trespass and nuisance claims. Airbnb is not entitled to immunity under the Communications Decency Act and that motion to dismiss is denied without prejudice. The landowner is granted leave to cure the defects of his claim.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv243, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Property, Real Estate
J. Kobayashi grants two state employee’s motion to dismiss a Hawaiian citizen’s second complaint allegations of due process violations and violations of his constitutional right to the free exercise of his religion after he was evicted from a small boat harbor. The citizen fails to identify an issue of fact whether his rights were violated, and the employees qualify for qualified immunity. Therefore, the citizen’s motion for partial summary judgment is denied as moot and this case is to be directed to the clerk’s office for final judgment.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Kobayashi, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv368, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process, First Amendment
J. Gillmor defers ruling on the United States’ Daubert motion to bar testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man who was killed in a helicopter crash allegedly caused by the air traffic controllers. The government’s expert is permitted to testify at trial, allowing the court to determine the reliability and admissibility after the evidence and testimony is presented. The family’s motion to compel production of certain software are inadequately pleaded.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv265, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Experts, Wrongful Death
J. Seabright denies the suing insurance company’s motion to dismiss a counterclaim for failure to plead a written agreement’s existence. The counterclaim does not allege that the reinsurance agreement is missing nor was it the only an oral contract. The sued insurer’s counterclaim is plausible, setting forth enough detail to explain the contract’s existence.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv198, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Gillmor declines to grant the United States’ Daubert motion to bar testimony in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of a man who was killed in a helicopter crash allegedly caused by air traffic controllers. The challenged expert is a pilot and has no training as an air traffic controller, so he may not testify on air traffic control, duties of care or protocols.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: October 31, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv265, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Experts, Wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Mollway denies an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in this dispute over coverage for grounding, salvage attempt and sinking of a yacht brought by the owner. There are questions of fact regarding whether two insurance companies were misclassified as to having a relationship and which one is the responsible company to pay the claims at the time of the grounding.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Mollway, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv221, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Insurance