280 results for 'court:"USDC Minnesota"'.
J. Richard Nelson grants the cyberattack target's motion to stay proceedings pending a decision by a Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation regarding whether to centralize this and several related actions arising from the release of personal information in a ransomware attack and transfer them to this District. The likely short duration of a stay minimizes any potential for prejudice against the alleged data breach victims, granting the stay would avoid the potential hardship of having to relitigate issues voided by centralization, and the stay would have minimal effect on judicial resources on its own but, in light of the numerous other ongoing proceedings, would reduce the risk of duplicative or inconsistent rulings on pending motions to dismiss.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Richard Nelson, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv533, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy, Class Action
J. Tostrud grants the general contractor's motion for partial summary judgment and denies the subcontractor's in the subcontractor's action seeking payment for its work on a project building a water main under the Mississippi River, denies the subcontractor's motion to exclude expert testimony, partially grants two of the general contractor's motions to exclude expert testimony and fully grants a third. Issues of material fact remain as to whether the general contractor is entitled to delay-related or liquidated damages, and the subcontractor has stipulated to the dismissal of the two counts for which the general contractor seeks summary judgment.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 0:21cv2218, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Experts, Contract
J. Tostrud partially grants the father's motion for a temporary injunction preventing the mother from removing their child from Minnesota pending proceedings in his action to return the child to Mexico. The child shall not be removed for fourteen days, since the father has shown that there is a significant risk that the mother, if given notice of his motion, would attempt to remove the child from the state and conceal their whereabouts and that he therefore faces a threat of irreparable harm greater than the financial harms likely to come to the mother if the injunction is granted.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv3911, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Family Law, International Law
J. Ericksen rules on several motions in limine in a patent suit regarding four patents related to artificial trees. The patent defendants may reference the existence and invalid status of eight underlying independent claims, but must avoid details of inter partes review proceedings leading to those determinations. They may also introduce evidence and testimony regarding their subjective beliefs and independent investigation into infringement and validity issues, sales data for unaccused products, and undisclosed prior art for invalidity defenses, but not evidence solely aimed at establishing inequitable conduct. The patent claimants, meanwhile, are precluded from presenting evidence or arguments regarding prior lawsuits, but may introduce evidence related to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's analysis of secondary considerations, along with evidence of inter partes review proceedings subject to an appropriate limiting instruction and some online comments, depending on context. A motion seeking cross-examination of the patent claimant's patent prosecution attorney is premature, and testimony and an agreement from one of the claimant's witnesses is excluded.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Ericksen, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 0:15cv3443, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Discovery
J. Wright denies the insured's motion to remand its action against its insurer to state court. The insurer's removal of the action to federal court was timely, since service did not occur until the Commissioner of Commerce, as a required statutory agent, was served. Equitable estoppel of arguments of timeliness is also not appropriate, since the insured does not allege that the insurer intentionally provided an incorrect address to the insured.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv2314, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Contract
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J. Schiltz finds that there is no possible viable construction of the term "substantially rigid portion" in the patent claimant's suit alleging that the Minnesota biotech firm's catheter infringes claims in several of the claimant's patents. The claims in which that term appears are invalid for indefiniteness.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 0:19cv1760, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Construction, Patent
J. Docherty denies the prisoner's motions for a preliminary injunction and to compel discovery in his case arguing that Minnesota prisons' policy regarding sexually suggestive photos violates prisoners' First Amendment rights. The prisoner is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claims, and he has not established that he will suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction nor that harm to him outweighs the harm the prison system could suffer with an injunction. Overturning the policy would also be contrary to the public interest. Finally, the interrogatory he seeks answers to in his motion to compel, asking for information on the religious beliefs of people charged with inspecting content for nudity, is irrelevant.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv3107, NOS: Civil Rights - Habeas Corpus, Categories: Civil Rights, Injunction, Prisoners' Rights
J. Wright approves a settlement between the tech firm and its shareholders. The terms of the settlement, namely the use of $300,000 for improvements to the company's risk management, are appropriate in relation to the merits of the shareholders' claims and manageable given the financial condition of the firm and its officers. The shareholders have also been adequately represented by the lead plaintiffs. Attorneys' fees of $1,600,000 and service awards totaling $15,000 are also reasonable.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 0:21cv1965, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities, Class Action
J. Frank denies the securities intermediaries' motion to dismiss the death benefit proceed claimants' suit seeking the proceeds of alleged stranger-originated life insurance policies for lack of standing. Insureds' estates may pursue claims to recover proceeds from policies alleged to have been wagers on their decedents' lives.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv45, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Insurance
J. Blackwell grants summary judgment to the life insurance company in its interpleader action seeking to be discharged from a dispute over the proceeds of a deceased father's policy between his children and his ex-domestic partner. The domestic partner's counterclaim is dismissed, and the proceeds are distributed between the sons after deducting attorney's fees and costs for the life insurance company. A reasonable jury could not concur with the partner's claims that the decedent's decision to change the beneficiaries of his life insurance shortly before his death was unduly influenced by the sons and that the insurance company failed to investigate that possibility.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv605, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Ericksen issues decisions on ten motions in limine in the patent claimant's suit alleging that competitors infringed on four patents related to artificial trees. One of the claimant's motions in limine is granted outright, and the competitors are precluded from presenting evidence or arguments regarding prior lawsuits. Two more are granted in part: the competitors may reference the existence and invalid status of eight underlying, unasserted independent claims, but should avoid discussing the proceedings that led to their dismissal and focus on how their invalidity impacts the obviousness analysis for remaining dependent claims, and while they may not introduce evidence specifically aimed at establishing inequitable conduct they may reference undisclosed prior art. They may also introduce evidence and testimony regarding their beliefs and independent investigation into infringement and validity issues, along with sales data for unaccused products. Four of the competitors' motions, meanwhile are denied, while one is partially granted. Deposition transcripts from those earlier proceedings are excluded, as are live testimony from a third-party witness and a license agreement which was disclosed several months after its execution. The competitor's motions are otherwise denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Ericksen, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 0:15cv3443, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Discovery
J. Tunheim denies the retailer's motion to certify two questions for interlocutory appeal in the state's action alleging that it knowingly sold firearms to straw purchasers. While the appeals concern questions of pure law, those questions are not controlling and the retailer has established no substantial ground for a difference of opinion for any of the issues except whether a negligent entrustment claim is preempted by federal law. The resolution of the questions would therefore not materially advance the termination of litigation.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: January 2, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2694, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Preemption, Firearms
J. Tunheim partially grants the retailer's motion to dismiss the produce supplier's suit alleging that it was underpaid for produce deliveries. A one-year time bar in the parties' contract requires dismissal of all of the supplier's claims except one breach-of-contract claim, which survives because the supplier has plausibly alleged that the retailer "strung it along" and can be equitably estopped from arguing that the claim is time-barred.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv370, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Blackwell partially grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss a class action alleging that it improperly linked patients' private health information and healthcare-related web activity to their Facebook profiles. Minnesota Health Records Act, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, negligence and Wiretap Act claims survive, as does one under the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Claims for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of confidence are dismissed, since the patients have not alleged that the healthcare provider was a fiduciary nor that Minnesota courts have recognized a common law "breach of confidence" claim of this kind.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv267, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Privacy, Class Action
J. Tostrud grants the chamber of commerce's motion for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a portion of a newly-passed law banning "foreign influenced corporations" from making political contributions and independent expenditures in state elections. While preventing foreign influences on elections is a compelling state interest, the challenged provisions are not narrowly tailored restrictions on the exercise of First Amendment rights.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv2015, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Injunction
J. Doty grants summary judgment to the employer and supervisors in the employee's suit alleging that he was constructively discharged for raising concerns about paramedic training practices, understaffing and the use of ketamine on unwilling patients. The employee's speech on those issues was not protected by the First Amendment, since all of the speech was in the course of his duties, and a performance improvement plan and a decision, after the employee quit, that he was ineligible for rehire are not sufficient to establish a constructive discharge. The employee also has not alleged a causal connection between his speech and these actions.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Doty, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1787, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Docherty grants the employer's motion to amend the scheduling order in a case brought by six employees alleging racial and disability discrimination and harassment, and partially grants its motion to compel production of previously requested material, allow continued depositions, permit third-party discovery and for an award of costs associated with late disclosures. The motion to compel is denied without prejudice as relating to communications with one employee prior to her retaining of representation, since acknowledging the existence of such communications would fall under Fifth Amendment privilege. Production of other requested materials is ordered. A motion for sanctions is granted since, if the employer is correct in stating that the employees intentionally concealed evidence, the employees have inexcusably sought to subvert the legal system.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: December 18, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1904, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Sanctions, Discovery, Employment Discrimination
J. Tostrud partially grants the employer's motion to dismiss its employee's suit alleging that his termination for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19 was discriminatory. The employee has not alleged facts plausibly connecting his termination to his race, age, perceived or claimed disability, sex or gender. "Stray remarks" on gender do not reach that threshold, and he has not exhausted his administrative remedies for several of those claims. Religious-discrimination claims survive, since he has adequately pleaded that his Catholic faith was not accommodated when his employer refused to grant a religious exemption to its vaccination policy.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1563, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Menendez grants the generator manufacturer's motion for summary judgment on the insurer's design- and manufacturing-defect claims stemming from an fire which the insurer alleged was caused by a defective generator. The insurer has not met its burden to prove the existence of an alternative, feasible, safer design for the generator, nor that the generator departed from its intended design or caused the fire.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1749, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Tort, Product Liability
J. Wright grants the pension benefit plan trustee's motion for judicial notice as to two exhibits, but denies it as to 18 more, and grants its motion to dismiss as to a claim of co-fiduciary liability brought by the employee but denies it otherwise. The exhibits for which notice is denied are largely unrelated to the parties involved in this case, but existence of the news report and website for which notice is granted are adjudicative facts for which notice can be granted. The co-fiduciary duty claim is dismissed along with claims against the employer's principal, which fail because they do not adequately allege a fiduciary role for him. Claims against the trustee for breach of duties of prudence and loyalty survive, as do claims against the employer for co-fiduciary liability and failure to monitor.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: December 12, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv301, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Fiduciary Duty
J. Tunheim denies the insurers' motion to stay proceedings pending its appeal of an injunction and underlying rulings that the insurers violated the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Proceeding with litigation on Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act claims will not modify the court's prior conclusions on violations of the No-Fault Act, which underlie its conclusions on the MDTPA and remaining claims under the Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act. Proceeding on remaining elements of the MCFA therefore will not impact an appellate court's ability to review the issues being appealed. A discretionary stay is also denied, since after four years of litigation "the case is getting old" and it is not in the Court's or the parties' interests to spend extra time on it unnecessarily.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 0:19cv3071, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance
J. Tostrud grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss counterclaims, along with the third-party defendant intermediary's motion to dismiss claims against it, all brought by the Armed Forces Office of the Saudi embassy in a suit initiated by the healthcare provider against it alleging unpaid medical bills. The Armed Forces Office has not plausibly alleged that it was damaged by either the healthcare provider or the intermediary's conduct, since the litigation the healthcare provider initiated is not a tort in itself and costs of being involved in litigation are not enough to claim damages. It also has not established that either party acted in bad faith, nor that any claimed breach of fiduciary duty caused damages.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv2666, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Debt Collection, Health Care, Damages
J. Wright denies the Arizona company's motions for judgment as a matter of law, for a new trial and to alter or amend judgment in its patent suit against its Minnesota competitor, along with the competitor's motion for attorney fees. A jury's finding that the Arizona company did not prove infringement by a preponderance of the evidence and that its patent claims were invalid was reasonable and supported by substantial evidence. The company also has not established that allegedly improper arguments changed the result of the trial, and while new non-infringement arguments introduced by the Minnesota competitor at trial should have been disclosed earlier, the Arizona company has not shown that they impacted the result enough to warrant a new trial. It also has not shown that jury instructions and evidentiary rulings were prejudicially erroneous. Claim construction disputes were resolved before trial and cannot justify a new trial. The Minnesota competitor, however, is not entitled to attorney fees since the Arizona company's case was not so weak, nor its litigation conduct so poor, as to warrant an attorney fees award, and "the relative resources available to each party weigh against rewarding Defendants for potentially overwhelming CellTrust in litigation."
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 0:19cv2855, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Jury, Patent, Attorney Fees
J. Foster grants the pornographer's motions to serve third-party subpoenas to internet service providers in its effort to identify several unidentified internet users who it alleges violated its copyrights. Expedited discovery is warranted in this case since the pornographer has stated an actionable claim, its requests are specific, there are no other ways to obtain required information for the case to proceed, and it has established appropriate privacy guardrails. In deference to the privacy interests of the internet subscribers to be identified, the court sets out a process for serving the subpoenas and for the subscribers to proceed in litigation anonymously.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Foster, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv2203, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Discovery
J. Schiltz grants the generic drug manufacturers' association's motion for a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a state law banning the imposition of "excessive" price increases for generic and off-patent drugs. The association has shown that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claim that the law violates the dormant Commerce Clause through its application to out-of-state drug sales, and that it is likely to suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction. The state's motion to dismiss, meanwhile, is partially granted and the association's claims for violation of separation of powers and for other civil-rights relief are dismissed.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv2024, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Commerce, Constitution, Injunction
J. Frank largely dismisses the arrested man's claims against the city, county and law enforcement officers stemming from his misidentification by the county's facial recognition software and subsequent arrest for a robbery in which he was not involved. A county policy prohibited the use of facial recognition software for positive identification, so the city and county cannot be held liable for the officers' alleged breach of that policy. The arrested man has also not identified other incidents to demonstrate that breaches of that policy were customary, nor that the municipalities failed to train law enforcement on the correct use of the software. A civil conspiracy claim and claims under the Minnesota Constitution fail for similar reasons, but a false arrest tort claim survives, since fact issues remain as to who determined that the arrested man was involved in the robbery, and therefore the county cannot claim vicarious immunity at this time.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1984, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Technology
J. Leung denies the declaratory judgment seeker's motions to strike portions of an expert report, expert disclosure, diligence documents and undisclosed testimony and partially grants its motion to compel production of notebooks kept by the patent holders' principal. The requested notebooks are relevant to the judgment seeker's claim that its product did not infringe the patent holders' patents, they need not be communications to be responsive, and it would not be unduly burdensome or untimely to produce them at this point, particularly since the judgment seeker first learned of them in the context of the principal's trial testimony. A motion to strike new infringement theories fails because no new infringement theory has actually been disclosed. A motion to strike a summary of anticipated expert testimony similarly fails because the summary does not alter the existing infringement theories. Finally, spreadsheets regarding the disputed software are demonstrative evidence and need not be excluded at this time.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Leung, Filed On: November 30, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv700, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Experts, Discovery