114 results for 'court:"USDC Southern District of Georgia"'.
J. Hall upholds the magistrate judge's order and denies the individual's motion for recusal as to all of the judges of the southern and middle districts of Georgia, including the instant judge. The individual failed to provide a sufficient basis for the instant judge's recusal. The allegations that the judge is biased against the individual based on his race and that the judge colluded with other federal judges and officers to help the opposing parties in the individual's cases are conclusory and unsupported in fact. The individual's motion for reconsideration of the order reassigning the case to the instant court is also rejected.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv161, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. Hall upholds the magistrate judge's order and denies the individual's motion for recusal as to all judges of the southern and middle districts of Georgia, including the instant judge. The individual failed to provide a sufficient basis for the judge's recusal. The individual's allegations that the judge is biased against him based on his race and that the judge colluded with federal judges and officers to help opposing parties in the individual's cases by ruling against him are conclusory and unsupported in fact. The individual's motion for reconsideration of an order reassigning the case to the instant court is also denied.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: October 30, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv176, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure
J. Ray partially grants the longshoreman's motion to exclude testimony from the ship owners' expert in a fraud and negligence action arising after he allegedly contracted Covid-19 on the ship. The expert's opinion that the longshoreman could have contracted Covid-19 from other sources, including from his girlfriend who was working as a waitress, is excluded. The ship owners failed to show how the expert relied on his experience as an epidemiologist and infectious disease doctor to identify other possible sources of the longshoreman's Covid-19 infection and why the expert's experience is a sufficient basis for his conclusion. Although the expert's report is deficient for failing to include references to information from the Center for Disease Control's website and data on Covid-19's incubation time, the deficiencies are harmless.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Ray, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 4:20cv236, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Experts, Covid-19
J. Baker grants the CEO's and the company's motions to dismiss patent infringement and fraud claims asserted against them by the counterclaiming competitors to the extent that the claims seek to hold them liable for the manufacturer's patent infringement or fraud based on an alter ego theory. The competitors claim that the manufacturer, company and CEO manufactured and sold desk converters that infringed on three patents. The competitors failed to plausibly allege that the CEO is the company's alter ego and failed to put forth facts to support piercing the corporate veil. The company's motion to dismiss is denied as to the infringement and fraud claims seeking to hold it individually liable.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: October 16, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv368, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Fraud, Patent
J. Baker rules in favor of the time charterer and the ship management company in a maritime action brought by the longshoreman arising from injuries he suffered in a fall when a gangway railing on a shipping vessel collapsed. There is no contractual provision under the agreements that would attribute liability to either the time charterer or the ship management company. The companies' motion for partial summary judgment is also granted as to the longshoreman's claim for loss of future earnings. However, the companies' renewed joint motion for summary judgment is denied. The longshoreman provided sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issues of fact as to whether the vessel negligently caused the gangway's handrail to collapse, whether the gangway was under active control of the vessel and whether the vessel had constructive knowledge of the hazard that led to the longshoreman's injuries.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 4:20cv91, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Maritime, Negligence
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J. Ray screens an amended action brought pro se by the employee alleging race discrimination against her employer and finds that the employee has presented sufficient facts to warrant service of her claims on the employer. The employee, a Black woman, claims she was unfairly transferred to a different location after reporting a verbal altercation with a white co-worker. The employee's claim under Title VII against her superior should be dismissed because the statute does not provide for individual liability.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Ray, Filed On: October 6, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv213, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hall rules in favor of the insurer in a breach of contract and declaratory judgment action brought by the insureds in a dispute arising out of two policies issued to the insureds before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The insureds alleged that sub-limits for communicable disease provisions in the policies apply on a per-location basis rather than globally. The policy sub-limits unambiguously apply globally and the insurer has paid out the maximum amount of coverage due under the policies.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv19, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19, Contract
J. Hall grants the prison officials' renewed motion to dismiss a civil rights and wrongful death action brought by the widow after her incarcerated husband was fatally stabbed by his cellmate. The widow failed to sufficiently allege that the officials knew the husband faced a risk of serious harm due to the cellmate's history of violent attacks and getting caught with contraband. There are no allegations that the supervisory officials directly participated in the alleged deliberate indifference to the husband. The supervisory officials are entitled to qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv80, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death
J. Baker partially grants the city's and officials' motion to dismiss a civil rights action brought by the business arising after the city council denied its application for a proposed multi-use development in the city. The motion is granted with respect to the claims against the mayor and city council members in their official or individual capacities. The motion is also granted with respect to the business's Fifth Amendment substantive due process claim to the extent that it is based on the council's denials of the remainder site plan. However, the motion is denied with respect to the business's Fifth Amendment taking claim. The business sufficiently alleged that the regulation and government actions at issue caused it to suffer an economic impact and interfered with investment-backed expectations.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv176, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Property, Due Process
J. Wood partially grants the motion to dismiss by the ship owner, charterer, operator and agent as to the local companies' claims seeking natural resource damages and subsistence use damages under the Oil Pollution Act in a negligence, trespass and public nuisance action arising after a shipping vessel capsized in the St. Simons Sound. Eight of the company parties did not present claims for property damages under the Act, therefore the motion to dismiss is also granted as to those claims. The Act also displaces the companies' federal maritime negligence claim against the ship parties and the agent. However, the motion to dismiss is denied with regard to property damages claims asserted by nine of the company parties.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv86, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Maritime, Negligence
J. Wood grants the motion to dismiss by the ship owner, charterer, operator and agent as to the shrimping and crabbing companies' claims for natural resources damages and subsistence use damages under the Oil Pollution Act in a negligence action arising after a shipping vessel capsized in the St. Simons Sound. The companies' federal maritime negligence claims against the ship parties and the agent are displaced by the Act, therefore the motion to dismiss is also granted as to those claims. However, the ship parties' motion to dismiss is denied as to the companies' claim for property damages under the Act. The agent's motion to dismiss is denied as to the companies' state law claims for negligence, public nuisance and trespass.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv85, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Maritime, Negligence
J. Bowen rules in favor of the insurer in a declaratory judgment action seeking affirmation that the limit of its obligation to indemnify the estate administrator in connection with a fatal car collision is $100,000 rather than the administrator's claimed liability coverage of $1 million. The insured chose two-tiered uninsured motorist coverage in its initial policy which applied in every renewal and executed a selection rejection form in three policy years demonstrating its intent to elect lesser coverage. The decedent is subject to the second tier of coverage and the insurer is therefore required to indemnify the insured for the collision in the amount of $100,000.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Bowen, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv4, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance
J. Hall partially grants the school district's motion for a more definite statement and to strike immaterial allegations from the employee's first amended complaint alleging civil rights and employment retaliation claims. The employee, a Black woman, claimed she was mistreated due to her race. The action has elements of a shotgun pleading which leave the school district and the officials unable to ascertain which claims are against them. The inclusion of historical facts from the last 136 years is also irrelevant. The employee is directed to file a second amended complaint within 14 days of the instant order.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv53, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Baker partially adopts the magistrate judge's recommendation regarding the construction of disputed claims in patents at issue in a civil conspiracy and declaratory judgment action brought by the manufacturer arising after the company got Amazon to remove the manufacturer's standing desk converter units from the site based on a patent infringement claim. Eight of the magistrate judge's recommended constructions are adopted. Constructions are not adopted as to some disputed terms, including a proposed construction for two terms which would limit the word "set" to "pair."
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv368, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Patent
J. Baker rules in favor of the Georgia Department of Corrections as to the former inmate's medical malpractice claims against it arising after his infected toe fell off while he was incarcerated. However, the board's motion for partial summary judgment is rejected as to the inmate's claims based on a doctor's alleged negligence. There is a genuine dispute of fact as to whether the doctor was a correctional healthcare employee or an independent contractor. The physician assistant failed to show that she is entitled to qualified immunity from the civil rights claim alleging deliberate indifference. The ex-inmate's motion to exclude portions of the experts' opinions is partially granted as to two doctors' opinions that the prison parties met the standard of care and as to one doctor's opinion that they did not cause the ex-inmate's injuries.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv277, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Experts, Medical Malpractice
J. Wood partially denies the motion by the ship owner, charterer, operator and agent to dismiss a negligence, trespass and public and private nuisance action brought by the county for damages arising after a car and truck shipping vessel capsized in the Saint Simons Sound and leaked thousands of gallons of fuel. The motion is denied as to the county's claim under the Oil Pollution Act. The county's presentment gave the parties enough information to enable them to investigate the claims and provided a fixed amount of damages from which settlement negotiations could begin. However, the motion to dismiss is granted as to the county's federal maritime negligence claim because it is displaced by the Act.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv28, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Negligence
J. Hall grants the city's motion to remand a trespass and continuing nuisance action against the companies back to Glynn County superior court. The action arose after the companies allegedly polluted waters and marshlands on the city's property by releasing mercury and other chemicals. The companies failed to show they were acting under a federal officer when they allegedly released the pollutants while under EPA supervision. The city's action does not state a federal question or challenge the sufficiency of the companies' remedial efforts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. The companies failed to show that the power company was fraudulently joined to defeat diversity jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv132, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Venue
J. Wood rules in favor of the county and the former elections supervisor in a civil rights action brought by the city commissioner alleging that a criminal trespass warning issued to her violated her First Amendment rights by banning her from all polling places in the county except to vote. The warning was issued after the commissioner and the supervisor got into an altercation stemming from the commissioner either asking questions about a voting machine's buttons or touching the buttons while assisting an illiterate voter. The commissioner was later arrested for refusing to leave. The warning was not drafted or issued by either the county or the supervisor. The commissioner failed to show that the warning issued by the city police officer is a policy or unofficial custom or practice of the county. The warning restricts speech in a nonpublic forum, is viewpoint neutral and was reasonable in light of the disturbance caused by the commissioner.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv151, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: First Amendment
J. Wood grants the hospital's motion for partial summary judgment in a medical malpractice and fraud action brought by the couple arising from chronic pain and other health complications suffered by the husband after a septoplasty and inferior turbinate reduction procedure. The couple also alleged the hospital altered and fabricated parts of the husband's medical records. The couple's informed consent, Georgia Health Records Act and punitive damages claims are dismissed. There is no genuine issue of fact as to the hospital's compliance with Georgia's informed consent law and there is no evidence showing that the husband was under anesthesia when he signed the informed consent form.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv21, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fraud, Medical Malpractice
J. Wood partially grants the department's motion to dismiss a civil rights and disability discrimination action brought by an individual arising from his DUI arrest after he failed three balance-oriented tests but registered a blood-alcohol content of zero on a breathalyzer test. The individual alleges that he was unfairly arrested due to the balance-impairing symptoms of his hydrocephalus disability. The ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims against the department for money damages are dismissed. However, the claims for declaratory and injunctive relief may move forward, as well as the civil rights claim against the police officer. The officer is not entitled to qualified immunity because he lacked arguable probable cause to arrest the individual. The commissioner's motion to dismiss is granted because the individual failed to properly serve him.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv107, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act
J. Baker partially grants the attorney's motion to dismiss the debtor's action alleging that the attorney's efforts to collect a purported debt for military memorabilia violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Georgia Fair Business Practices Act. The motion is granted as to the debtor's unfair business practices claim and unfair debt collection claim based on the attorney's sending of a collection letter. The claim arising from the collection letter is untimely. However, the motion is denied with respect to the debtor's unfair debt collection claim to the extent that it is based on the filing of the underlying collection action because that claim is timely.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Baker, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv236, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Business Practices
[Consolidated.] J. Boulee grants the renewed motions for preliminary injunction by the organizations and bars the officials from enforcing a provision of Georgia's voting law, S.B. 202, as it relates to initiating criminal prosecutions or imposing criminal penalties for passing out food and drinks to voters waiting in line at polling places. The organizations are likely to show that the practice known as "line relief" is expressive conduct under the First Amendment and that the ban on the practice is a content-based regulation of speech. There is evidence showing that reasonable people would interpret line relief efforts as conveying messages about community support. Long lines are likely to continue in the 2024 elections such that the groups will suffer irreparable injury without an injunction.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Boulee, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: 1:21mi55555, NOS: Voting - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, First Amendment
J. Hall denies the insurer's motion for summary judgment in a declaratory judgment action seeking an order affirming that it has no obligation to indemnify the insureds in an underlying negligence action arising from the death of an individual in a car accident. The insurer failed to show that the vehicle involved in the accident is a recreational vehicle under the policy and failed to argue that the policy exclusions apply based on the allegations of the underlying action.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv75, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Hall denies the employee's and employer's joint motion for entry of final judgment for one employee in a labor class action against the employer alleging violations of overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employee accepted the employer's offer of judgment in the amount of $18,000 plus $3,700 in attorney fees and filed a notice of acceptance. The parties failed to submit documentation supporting their proposed attorney fees and costs. The employees' motion for conditional class certification is denied because they failed to show that other employees want to opt in to the action.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv70, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Settlements, Class Action, Labor
J. Wood denies the home sellers' motion for summary judgment in a fraud, negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract action brought by the buyers arising after they discovered extensive water damages to the home. The buyers presented sufficient evidence that the sellers misrepresented the state of the home to create a genuine issue of fact as to their fraud claim. The buyers' partial motion for summary judgment is denied as to the sellers' liability for the fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims. However, the buyers' motion is granted as to sellers' malicious prosecution counterclaim.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv10, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Hall finds in favor of the prison officials in a civil rights action brought by the estate administrators after their father died from septic shock and Crohn's disease while in prison. Two officials were not in their respective roles during the period of the father's incarceration and a third official was not responsible for the father's treatment and medical supplies because his employment ended a few days after the father's arrival. The doctor did not personally provide the father with treatment and the co-administrators failed to show there was any history of widespread abuse sufficient to put the doctor on notice of a pattern of constitutional violations.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Hall, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv40, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Prisoners' Rights
J. Moore adopts the magistrate judge's recommendation and partially grants Georgia Power's motion to dismiss an action brought by an individual arising from interruptions to her electrical service. The individual failed to sufficiently allege that the disputed account with Georgia Power was an open-ended consumer credit plan subject to the Fair Credit Billing Act.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Moore, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 4:23cv34, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract