135 results for 'filedAt:"2024-02-16"'.
J. Axon grants, in part, the city’s motion for summary judgment and motion to strike certain evidentiary exhibits in this employment dispute brought by a former police officer. The Black officer worked for the special investigations unit when he was told by supervisors that he was being reassigned because special assignments only last five years. However, this rule was not enforced for white officers, and his new assignment constituted a demotion. The retaliatory hostile work environment claim is denied and will proceed to trial. The motion to strike is denied as moot as to all evidence the city objects to.
Court: USDC Northern District of Alabama , Judge: Axon, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv178, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Watson partially dismisses a school janitor’s claims that the Hawaii education department refused to hire him on a full time basis because he is Black. The department and the individual school staff have sovereign immunity on liability claims. Claims against some of the school staff regarding aiding and abetting discrimination may proceed, as the janitor showed they were directly involved in the decision not to hire him.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Watson, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv294, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Immunity, Employment Discrimination
[Consolidated.] J. Cassel finds the county court properly determined the sanitation district cannot levy a special assessment on property adjacent to, but not located within, its boundaries. A particular statute argued by the district authorizing a levy where exempt property has been “specially benefitted” by the district applies only to “property by law not assessable," and not to that outside the district. No reversible error is found as to the district's making a condemnation taking of part of the property or the jury's award to the owner for that taking. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Cassel , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: S-22-688 , Categories: Administrative Law, Municipal Law, Property
J. Miller-Lerman finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for second-degree murder. Surveillance video and witness testimony shows defendant, during an extended gun battle occurring between a house and vehicles, shot and killed the victim. The trial court properly denied his motion to withdraw his no contest plea, while the record is insufficient to consider claims of ineffective assistance or discharge on speedy trial grounds. Affirmed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Miller-Lerman, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: S-23-124, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Speedy Trial
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Southwick finds the district court properly held a mineral lease is not yet in effect such that the developer has standing to pursue constitutional takings claims against the parish. The clear text of the lease shows the developer has not secured necessary governmental approvals. Therefore, the developer has no vested interest in the property at question or its clay deposits. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Southwick , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-30084, Categories: Constitution, Energy, Property
J. Smith finds the district court improperly determined that legislative privilege did not apply to discovery documents sought by the migrant worker advocacy group. The documents were exchanged between the Texas legislature and members of the state executive branch, and involve elections integrity. The advocacy group alleges the legislature enacted the relevant elections integrity bill intending to discriminate against minorities. This fails to implicate federal interest beyond constitutional or statutory claims of racial animus. Legislative privilege was properly invoked and protects the documents. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-50201, Categories: Elections, Immigration, Privilege
J. Taranto finds that the district court improperly ruled in claims concerning a patent for speech recognition services because the court incorrectly construed certain claim terms.
Court: Federal Circuit, Judge: Taranto, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-1939, Categories: Patent
J. Hicks grants the Securities and Exchange Commission's motion for partial summary judgment in its case against a bestselling author and wealth coach that sold oil and gas securities as an unregistered broker. No question of material fact exists that she acted as an investment adviser who failed to disclose conflicts of interest such as her entitlement to compensation for the sales. Claimed exclusions do not exempt the coach and her associates from their fiduciary duties.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Hicks, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv269, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Fiduciary Duty
J. Furman sanctions plaintiffs counsel for failing to comply with nearly every deadline the court has set in this case. The attorney must pay $5,000 for wasting the court's time, and complete two additional hours of continuing legal education on issues relating to law office management given his inability to keep up with deadlines, not only in this case, but his extremely large docket in New York federal courts. Further, this matter is referred to the court's Committee on Grievances to determine if the attorney's conduct across the board violates the rules of professional conduct.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Furman, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3516, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Sanctions, Attorney Discipline
J. Wall finds a lower court properly convicted a defendant for commercial sexual exploitation of a child. The defendant, who paid a 17- year-old female to have sex with him after contacting her on Snapchat using the name "Wamma Jamma," argued that he was deprived of a speedy trial. However, the government sufficiently showed in court that the "crowded-docket exception" allowed it to order a single continuance for 30 days. Affirmed.
Court: Kansas Supreme Court, Judge: Wall, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 123687, Categories: Sex Offender, Speedy Trial, Child Victims
J. Garcia dismisses as moot a nonprofit's challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's grant of an energy company's request for a ruling that it's planned facility, which was to be built in Port St. Joe, Florida, fell outside the agency's regulatory jurisdiction. The company is not longer planning to build the facility.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Garcia, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-1251 , Categories: Administrative Law, Energy
J. Childs upholds the district court's ruling the government properly redacted the names of certain low-level employees from a spreadsheet of salaries of those who worked on former President Trump's outgoing transition teams in a news publication's Freedom of Information Act case. The redactions were proper under exemption 6 under the Act, as release of the information would have been an invasion of privacy. Affirmed.
Court: DC Circuit, Judge: Childs, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-5330 , Categories: Elections, Public Record, Privacy
J. Huie grants the shareholder $520,000 in attorney fees after a jury found in its favor in a lawsuit seeking to recover short-swing profits that the President and CEO of Franklin Wireless Corp. realized in two securities transactions. The shareholder requested $700,000 in fees, equating to 35% of the jury's $2 million award, but the amount is reduced to 26% of the recovery due to the short duration of the trial and the relatively simple issues in this case.
Court: USDC Southern District of California, Judge: Huie, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv1316, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities, Attorney Fees
J. Reiber finds the trial court improperly dismissed a man’s charges of aggravated sexual assault and lewd or lascivious conduct with a child under 13 after a pre-indictment delay of 19 years. The man has not proved a sufficient claim of denial for any speedy trial violations. Therefore, the trial court’s dismissal of charges must be remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Reiber, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-050, Categories: Sex Offender, Speedy Trial
J. Campbell finds the lower court improperly determined that the decedent’s attorney-in-fact’s action of signing an arbitration agreement upon his admittance to an assisted living center was outside the scope of her power of attorney and was a health care decision. The instant court finds that the arbitration agreement was a stand-alone agreement and the decedent’s admission to the center was not contingent upon the signing of the agreement, therefore it was a legal decision and fell within the parameters of the the attorney-in-fact’s authority. As such, the arbitration agreement is binding in its terms, extending beyond the signing parties to the decedent’s other surviving family, including his son, and requires the wrongful-death claims to be submitted to arbitration. Reversed.
Court: Tennessee Supreme Court, Judge: Campbell, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: M2021-00927-SC-R11-CV, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, Wrongful Death
J. Crenshaw denies the defendant trucking company's motion to dismiss for improper venue or, alternatively, to transfer venue. The plaintiff insurance company seeks a declaratory judgment regarding its duty to defend or indemnify the company in an underlying state court case. The incident at issue in the underlying case allegedly occurred at a truck stop in Tennessee, and the case is "pending in Tennessee state court."
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Crenshaw, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1059, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Tort, Venue
J. Wolford rules in part against a school district accused of placing an assistant principal on administrative leave and forcing her into retirement based on her age, as well as testimony contending witnesses observed elementary school students sitting on the head principal's lap. The assistant principal contends she was barred from school premises and activities while on leave, that the school tried to rescind her license, and that she had been threatened with legal action. However, the assistant principal decided to transfer to another assignment despite repeated inquiries into her retirement, and her salary and benefits were not reduced.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Wolford , Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv6308, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Dato finds the trial court properly denied a continuance in this guardianship dispute when the father’s counsel withdrew. The father requested sole and physical custody of the children. The court issued a proposed decision giving the mother sole custody of the children with the parties having equal physical custody. The husband failed to show the denial affected the outcome of proceedings and both parties shall bear their own costs in this appeal. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Dato, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: D080977, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Jenkins vacates the resentencing of defendant to life imprisonment because the district court did not comply with the statute requiring consideration of aggravating and mitigating factors. Further, the district court did not allow any argument on the merits of defendant's motion to reconsider sentence. Vacated in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Jenkins, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-0605, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sentencing
J. Bell grants a holding company’s motion to dismiss allegations of breach of contract, bad faith and unfair trade practices brought by the wife of a company client. After the client passed away, the wife claims the company began charging too much on the client’s life insurance policy. However, the wife’s claims are barred by a settlement agreement reached after a class action alleging the company of the same behavior was settled in 2023.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 5:23cv145, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Trade, Contract
J. Brown, ruling on the oldest active case on Eastern District of New York’s docket, affirms in part a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and trims a 17-count complaint down to a manageable eight counts. The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2008, alleges a small village in Nassau County violated a Jewish institution’s religious freedoms when it imposed additional building requirements on a proposed synagogue, which was to be located in a residential area. The court agrees with the magistrate’s conclusions that the claims are ripe and present facial challenges to the village’s Places of Worship law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Brown, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2:08cv5081, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Zoning, First Amendment
J. Stafford finds the lower court properly denied a petition to terminate a mother’s parental rights to her minor child. Despite finding that grounds for termination for failure to support and failure to visit were supported, it determined that termination of the mother’s parental rights is not in the child’s best interest. Because the instant court finds that the standard of clear and convincing evidence for termination of parental rights was not met, it affirms the lower court’s decision to dismiss the petition. The instant court finds there is insufficient evidence to support the lower court’s finding of persistence of conditions and reverses that finding. Affirmed in part.
Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals, Judge: Stafford, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: E2023-00042-COA-R3-PT, Categories: Family Law
J. Kennedy finds that Marion County Common Pleas Court Judge Jason Warner will be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law for felony convictions related to a hit-and-run car accident that occurred after he and his wife left a party where they had been drinking alcohol. Although Warner was not the driver of the car, he left the scene and waited more than nine hours to call law enforcement, but because the misconduct was not committed in his judicial capacity, he will be suspended and not disbarred.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-551, Categories: Judiciary, Sanctions, Attorney Discipline
J. Bolden denies, in part, the police officers' motion for summary judgment, ruling the false arrest claim filed by the female occupant of the vehicle will proceed. Although she was not charged with a crime and was released on the same night as the confrontation, a jury must determine whether the officers' decision to handcuff her for several hours and transport her to the police station constituted an arrest. Meanwhile, the officers are entitled to immunity on the male occupant's excessive force claim as it relates to their initial use of pepper spray because the officers told the occupant to exit his vehicle at least 12 times over a minute-long period before they used the pepper spray, which made that use of force reasonable.
Court: USDC Connecticut, Judge: Bolden, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 3:20cv1766, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Immunity