J. Garcia finds that the appellate division properly dismissed employment discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliatory termination claims an adjunct professor brought against the university, its administrators, and her colleagues. The district court found for defendants in the original federal claims, and the nearly identical state court action was barred by collateral estoppel. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Garcia, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 37, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment Discrimination
J. Nivison grants in part a behavioral health and education company’s motion for the exclusion of certain expert testimony and the reimbursement of attorney fees after they were sued by the parents of an adult who defendant allegedly failed to provide appropriate care for. The parents’ expert witness designations are adequate but it is inappropriate that counsel attempted to influence the expert testimony.
Court: USDC Maine, Judge: Nivison, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv54, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Attorney Fees
J. Rodriguez denies an organization’s motion for an injunction and temporary restraining order after it sued the city of Kerrville, arguing local ordinances on “peddlers and solicitors” and “electioneering” violate the First Amendment. Despite expressing “generalized” concerns about the ordinances, the suing parties have not shown specific plans to engage in proscribed conduct and therefore lack standing for a restraining order.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 5:24cv403, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, First Amendment
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Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Demetra Agriantonis may be reinstated following her January 2014 suspension for failing to meet registration requirements because she demonstrated compliance with the suspension order and possessed the requisite character to practice law.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: PM-70-24, Categories: Attorney Discipline
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Sabrina Alyce Nelson may be reinstated following her May 2019 suspension for failing to meet registration requirements because she demonstrated compliance with the suspension order and possessed the requisite character to practice law.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: PM-72-24, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Bonilla finds for the U.S. in claims seeking relief following plaintiff's discharge from the Coast Guard for misconduct because the decision to deny plaintiff under the second chance program was reasonably justified. Affirmed.
Court: Court of Federal Claims, Judge: Bonilla, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-1689C, Categories: Veterans
J. Freudenberg finds the district court improperly dismissed the apartment owner's complaint. The owner alleges that a notary public covered under the surety company’s bond improperly altered a property deed upon which the apartment owner is a grantee, and the court dismissed for failure to join the notary as a necessary party. Commas separating "notary" from “sureties” in the guiding statute suggest the legislature did not mean to require such a claim to group the notary public and the surety together in the same action. Reversed.
Court: Nebraska Supreme Court, Judge: Freudenberg , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: S-23-357, Categories: Administrative Law, Property, Fiduciary Duty
J. Womack finds the trial court properly convicted defendant for aggravated residential burglary, theft of property, and capital murder. Defendant murdered the owner of the house he was living in after the owner kicked him out for beating his estranged girlfriend. DNA evidence supports the conviction. The probative value of evidence of defendant's assault on his girlfriend, as related to his intent and motive was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Supreme Court, Judge: Womack , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: CR-23-400, Categories: Burglary, Murder, Assault
J. Smith finds the district court properly convicted defendant for distributing child pornography. A large collection of pornography was found at the home defendant shared with his parents after agents detected suspicious activity from an IP address in the home. Though defendant had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia, he was found competent to stand trial. The Fifth Circuit describes a "genuinely mixed bag" of evidence from skilled witnesses as to the nature of defendant's mental illness, providing for no plain determination, and defers to the district court’s "reasonable assessment of the complex record." The more than 157-year sentence is vacated. Affirmed in part. Vacated in part.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-50987, Categories: Competence, Sentencing, Child Pornography
J. Bulla finds the district court improperly dismissed the professional negligence action. The spinal surgery patient experienced pain, numbness, and paralysis in his left leg after surgery, filing suit more than two years after an MRI showed the presence of a hematoma. Irrefutable evidence does not support that the patient was placed on inquiry notice at this time. The patient's degree of diligence was diminished while under the surgeon's care, being continually reassured that his condition would improve. Reversed.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Bulla , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 86005-COA, Categories: Negligence, Medical Malpractice
J. Ho finds the district court improperly certified the class of investors alleging the petroleum corporation fraudulently misrepresented the value of its oil field project. During certification proceedings, the investors presented new evidence in a reply brief involving an after-hours disclosure of a dry well, giving the corporation no fair opportunity to address it. The district court failed to permit the corporation to file a sur-reply responding to the evidence. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Ho , Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-20424, Categories: Energy, Fraud, Securities
J. Trauger grants the restaurant defendants' motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit brought by a former employee alleging age discrimination in connection with his termination. The former employee, who worked as a general manager, fails to show that his termination was due to his age. The defendants cited "his restaurant's culture, as evidenced by the complaints," and he does not establish that the reason was pretext for discrimination.
Court: USDC Middle District of Tennessee , Judge: Trauger, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv885, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Employment Discrimination
J. Rakoff grants the borrower's motion to dismiss the lender's claim for breach of the implied covenant of good faith in a dispute over the repayment of a $4.3 million loan, but denied the motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim. The complaint adequately alleges the lender complied with its contractual obligation to negotiate in good faith, and the lender showed it suffered damages. However, the breach of implied covenant claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Rakoff, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv11230, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Easterbrook finds that the lower court improperly found for the school in a Title IX sex discrimination suit filed by a male medical student who was found to have physically abused a female student off-campus. The medical student was not expelled until he applied to the university's business school and described his mere suspension as an "exoneration," which the dean of the medical school found to be a falsification. The male student should have been given notice and an opportunity to defend himself before summary expulsion. However, in order to continue with this suit, the male student must disclose his full name, as he is neither a minor nor at risk of improper retaliation. Vacated.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Easterbrook, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 22-1576, Categories: Civil Rights, Education
J. Seeger partially grants a lending agency's motion to dismiss claims by a borrower that it disguised its consumer loans as business loans. The borrower brought three claims over this alleged financial deception; one for violations of the Illinois Interest Act, another for Electronic Funds Transfer Act breaches, and the third for violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The court dismisses portions of the borrower's Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act claim, but allows the rest of the complaint to move forward.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Seeger, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv15452, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Business Practices, Banking / Lending
[Consolidated.] J. Atkins finds that the trial court should not have found for a tax sale purchaser of a property on its petition to annul judgment rendered in favor of the original owner's exception of no right of action on the purchaser's petition to confirm title. In this case, the purchaser claimed that the owner clandestinely changed the address of its property after the tax sale purchase and failed to inform the trial court, which constituted fraud or ill practices. A determination of the intent behind the owner's failure to inform the trial court that it changed its property address hinges on questions of credibility and is a question of fact which is inappropriate for summary judgment. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Atkins, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0707, Categories: Property, Contract
J. Love finds that defendant was properly convicted of attempted manslaughter, simple kidnapping of a minor, and obstruction of justice arising from a second degree murder investigation. There was evidence presented that defendant smothered and choked the eight-year-old victim multiple times. Although, defendant eventually released the victim, it does not clear him of his guilt for attempted manslaughter. Further, even though the jury found defendant not guilty by reason of insanity for the shooting death of his grandmother, the evidence shows that the shooting occurred after he placed the eight-year-old victim in a car with instructions to be taken out of the state, and the two incidents did not occur within “a few seconds” of each other as defendant claims. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Love, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 2023-KA-0584, Categories: Evidence, Manslaughter
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that attorney Eric Plant may be reinstated following his October 2021 suspension for failing to meet registration requirements because he demonstrated compliance with the suspension order and possessed the requisite character to practice law.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: PM-76-24, Categories: Attorney Discipline
[Amended.] J. Meyer amends a previously published opinion to include the name of an additional attorney representing a neighbor in a dispute. The trial court properly ruled for a property owner who claimed his neighbor breached an agreement that settled their easement dispute. The neighbor refused to pay for an agreed-upon cattle guard and he placed a gate across an easement road, and then he failed to timely respond to the property owner's motion for summary judgment. However, the trial court erred in dismissing the neighbor's trespass claim on standing grounds. Also, an attorney fee award to the owner for pressing his summary judgment motion was proper but the owner was also entitled to fees for defending against the neighbor's motion for reconsideration. Vacated in part.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Meyer, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 49628, Categories: Property, Settlements, Attorney Fees
Per curiam, the Florida Supreme Court answers a certified question in the affirmative by holding that personal injury protection providers may pay 80% of a charge submitted by a medical provider even if the charge is for less than the amount reimbursable under the schedule.
Court: Florida Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: SC2022-0735, Categories: Insurance
J. Kasubhai denies a motion for judgment on the pleadings from Rocket Mortgage on the trustee's complaint alleging that the husband fraudulently conveyed his interest in the property to his wife to avoid the trustee's judicial lien on the property after a state court found that the husband had improperly spent trust assets to purchase the home. The trustee plausibly alleges that the husband's conveyance to his wife is void because it was done in bad faith, so Rocket fails to prove that the trustee's judgment lien did not attach to the husband's interest in the property.
Court: USDC Oregon, Judge: Kasubhai, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 6:23cv164, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Fraud, Property
J. Baker finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of capital murder. Defendant argues that errors in the abstract of the jury charge led to him being harmed, specifically the mention of "intentionality" in the course of determining whether someone has committed capital murder. While the abstract did contain errors, the rest of the abstract greatly outweighs any potential harm those errors could have had on defendant's case. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Baker, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 03-23-00044-CR, Categories: Jury, Murder, Robbery