319 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of Louisiana "'.
J. Fallon grants a request by Ernst & Young and orders the regulatory Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to arbitrate its claims that the accounting giant failed to design audit procedures to discover fraud at a failed New Orleans bank. Government regulators specifically allege the firm���s breach of fiduciary duties resulted in the firm���s failure to detect a least $125 million in losses from the fraudulent conduct of the bank���s president and CEO. The FDIC-R, which is today ���standing in the [b]ank���s shoes��� as its receiver, would have been bound by an arbitration agreement between the accounting firm and the bank���s holding company.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Fallon, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv1259, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Administrative Law, Arbitration, Banking / Lending
J. Morgan grants a request by parish residents, ordering operators of a landfill to produce hundreds of documents without redactions for their suit alleging the dump fouled the air in their area from 2017 to 2019. Lawyers for the landfill argued with limited success that they properly withheld the records under attorney-client privilege doctrines. The requested records pertained to work the landfill operators performed during the ordinary course of business, rather than in anticipation of litigation, as attorneys for the dump unsuccessfully argued.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Morgan, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 2:18cv7889, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Communications, Environment, Government
J. Currault denies requests by Amazon and Whole Foods to bar counsel for parents of an autistic child from quizzing corporate representatives on specific topics in upcoming depositions for a baby food contamination suit. Considering the parents��� negligence and sale nullification claims against the food retailers are overly broad, the ruling restricts, rather than strikes, certain deposition topics, such as any due diligence the corporations performed regarding heavy metals in products that allegedly contributed to their child���s developmental disorder.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv551, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Evidence, Health Care, Negligence
J. Africk denies a request by the owner of a dredging vessel to exclude the testimony of a marine safety expert for a catering employee who alleges the owner���s negligence resulted in his disabling fall when he attempted to disembark from the dredge. The vessel���s owner relies on a case in another section of the court that held the expert could not testify because ���no expertise of any kind��� was required to render his opinion or to help the jury in that case. In the current suit, however, the same expert���s specialized knowledge and experience of maritime safety standards will help shed light on the issue of safe means of access to and from vessels.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1602, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Jury, Maritime, Negligence
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J. Jolivette Brown grants a request by domestic and foreign insurers to stay litigation initiated by a property owner, ordering him to arbitrate his storm-damage related claims. Although Louisiana law ordinarily prohibits enforcement of arbitration clauses concerning insurance disputes, an international treaty on arbitration supersedes state law. Furthermore, the McCarran-Ferguson Act, which the property owner cites, does not apply to an international treaty.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: January 19, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6464, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Insurance, International Law
J. Vitter denies a request by a Baton Rouge-based land and real estate services corporation whose name includes the legally protectable word ���Rampart��� for a court order barring a New Orleans property management company from using the same word due to the likelihood of public confusion. The litigant-corporation's evidence of actual confusion consists of a FedEx driver���s conflation of its office with that of the New Orleans company and seven phone calls received by the corporation at its Baton Rouge office. The corporation fails to meet the evidentiary burden for the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vitter, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv6895, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Corporations, Patent, Trademark
J. Jolivette Brown denies summary judgment to a flooring company on its argument the lessee of a gymnasium building, a popular Catholic high school, cannot recover for fire damage allegedly caused by the improper disposal of self-heating wood stain rags. The law is unclear as to whether St. Augustine, as a lessee, has a right of action to pursue a claim for property damages or loss of property value under these circumstances. Additionally, there are fact issues in dispute regarding the extent of the obligation assumed by St. Augustine by way of the lease agreement.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Jolivette Brown, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5292, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Damages, Product Liability, Experts
J. Papillion grants a request by a Louisiana corporate owner of a dock and barge on the Ohio River in Kentucky to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction claims by a marine transportation company that it is responsible for injuries sustained by its deckhand who slipped and fell into the water. The contacts of the Louisiana corporation���s subsidiaries cannot be imputed to it for purposes of jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Papillion, Filed On: January 16, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv3835, NOS: Marine - Contract, Categories: Admiralty, Evidence, Tort
J. Milazzo denies a request by the maker of an allegedly defective chemotherapy drug to vacate the multi-district court���s case management order in a mass product liability litigation. The pharmaceutical company unsuccessfully argued the lawyers for the cancer patient-litigants violated the multi-district litigation (MDL) court���s established procedure for controlling pretrial discovery by introducing new and previously excluded testimony. Out of 14 hours of preserved testimony, the drug-maker alleges only five violations, which can be cured by striking the improper testimony. The order specifically provides the MDL court will not decide issues related to admissibility of preservation deposition testimony at trial, which are reserved for the receiving courts.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 2:16md2740, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fraud, Product Liability, Discovery
J. Lemmon denies summary judgment to Union Pacific Railroad on the argument the company is not responsible for injuries a rail car inspector suffered when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car and drove off a road after completing a 16-hour shift. The railroad asserts the employee was not acting in the course and scope of his employment. While the accident took place two minutes after the worker left the railyard, the extreme fatigue occurred while he was on-duty and exposed him to danger not faced by the average commuter. Because the employee alleges the railroad was negligent per se in causing the car crash, the employee is relieved of proving the usual elements of duty and breach required by federal law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemmon, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv2045, NOS: Federal Employers’ Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Negligence
J. Vance finds for BP on an oil spill cleanup worker's claims following the deadly explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The worker fails to show the discovery he seeks will be important to develop the expert causation evidence required to help him demonstrate the chemical dispersant COREXIT can cause allergic rhinitis or chronic sinusitis in the general population. Since he cannot prove a necessary element of his claims against the oil giant, his claims must be dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: January 4, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1043, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Environment, Evidence, Tort
J. Currault grants, in part, a motion to compel filed by a Texas oil and gas pipeline company, ordering the lessee of 27 oyster beds in Louisiana to produce financial records for its eminent domain suit. The pipeline company, an affiliate of the leaseholder, seeks to condemn the lessee���s rights to oyster beds in a 69-acre area of coastal Louisiana in order to build pipeline facilities. The oyster leaseholder's historical financial information is relevant and proportional to the needs of the case.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: January 3, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv5291, NOS: Land Condemnation - Real Property, Categories: Energy, Environment, Discovery
J. Milazzo grants a request by a mortgage lender to dismiss a homeowner���s hurricane-related claims that it obtained insurance at above-market rates that exceeded the mortgage amount, failed to list her as a named insured and did not use policy payments to repair her home. The homeowner has not alleged facts that support her misrepresentation claim, or her allegation the lender failed to distribute insurance proceeds for repair of her property. Furthermore, the loan agreement does not obligate the mortgage lender to procure additional insurance proceeds to repair her property.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: December 28, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv927, NOS: Truth in Lending - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Property, Damages, Banking / Lending
J. Currault grants a request by a motorist suing a trucking business to recover damages in a car collision case. The litigant claims the accident was caused by the truck driver���s negligence and raises claims against the owner of the rig for vicarious liability, as well as claims for its alleged failure to adequately hire, train and supervise the driver. The company cannot limit the litigant���s discovery to lane change maneuvers, as it has not established the evidence sought could have no conceivable relevance to any pending claim or defense.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Currault, Filed On: December 27, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv4037, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Evidence, Discovery
J. Milazzo denies a request by state police to stay, pending appeal, a convicted sex offender���s suit alleging that since her intellectually disabling seizure, the state���s sex offender notification requirements have resulted in an unfair cycle of arrest, imprisonment and release for noncompliance. She now alleges the state requirements violate her constitutional rights to due process and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The state authorities fail to offer an argument on any of four factors required to obtain a stay pending appeal, including where the public interest lies in the litigation.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Milazzo, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv2371, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Ada / Rehabilitation Act
J. North grants summary judgment to a school board, dismissing the employment retaliation claims of a full-time high school English teacher who was relieved of his duties coaching the boys' basketball team after posting losing seasons. The teacher alleges he was fired from his coaching job in retaliation for filing a sexual harassment suit against the female school principal who previously investigated him for statewide violations of rules for student athletes. The board argued the teacher���s claims were unsubstantiated and the school superintendent gave the teacher a second chance at the coaching job, which he failed. Because the teacher cannot establish a clear case of employment retaliation, the school board is not required to offer a non-retaliatory reason for the adverse employment action against him as a basketball coach.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: North, Filed On: December 20, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1081, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Evidence, Employment Retaliation
J. Ashe grants summary judgment to an insurer and dismisses bad faith claims by a property owner seeking policy coverage for $298,000 in hurricane damages to a 30-year-old metal roof. The insurer did not act in an arbitrary and capricious when it denied the policyholder���s claim because it had just and reasonable grounds, including its experts��� investigations and opinions, to believe the policy exclusion applies.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Ashe, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv3292, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Insurance, Damages
J. Barbier grants a request by a Texas-based corporation to dismiss theft of trade secrets claims by a Louisiana based-HVAC goods and service business. The complaint does not explain exactly what actions or conduct by the Texas corporation could constitute egregious actions involving elements of fraud, misrepresentation, deception or other unethical conduct, which would violate Louisiana���s law against unfair trade practices. Instead, the HVAC business accuses it of stealing information about the design and production of its product without any supporting evidence, which is insufficient for a determination of whether the Texas company���s conduct was unfair and violative of public policy.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Barbier, Filed On: December 15, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1669, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition
J. Lemelle grants remand to the state of Louisiana and two parish governments, ordering various oil and gas industry producers and refiners to face joint claims their production activities resulted in pollution and subsequent wetland loss along Louisiana���s coastline. The oil and gas companies failed to establish they are entitled to federal-officer jurisdiction, as they do not show the complained-of production actions were associated with or connected to a federal officer.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv5213, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, Government
J. Guidry denies requests by a parish school board and a school bus monitor to dismiss civil claims he repeatedly sexually abused a severely intellectually disabled child under age 10, on the argument that sexual abuse does not qualify as actionable discrimination under federal disability discrimination laws. While the Fifth Circuit has not directly addressed the issue, based on persuasive evidence in circuit precedents, as well as the plain statutory language, the school bus monitor���s alleged sexual abuse of the disabled child may be actionable discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv1532, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Jurisdiction
J. Guidry denies a request by the Louisiana State Police to dismiss Title VII racial discrimination claims by a white former lieutenant who alleges two less qualified, non-white lieutenants were promoted ahead of him to captain in the department���s gaming enforcement division. The department unsuccessfully argues that although the lieutenant may have held the highest examination grade and had the most years-in-service, he was not necessarily more qualified because he had ���no actual gaming experience.��� While this may be true, and while the department may ultimately prevail, the lieutenant has set forth plausible allegations that he suffered race discrimination.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv772, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Government, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Zainey denies summary judgment to an ex-defendant whose murder conviction was vacated on constitutional grounds after he spent more than 28 years in prison. The former defendant cannot rely on the "self-flagellating��� post-conviction admissions of the New Orleans District Attorney in 2021 to fulfill his burden of proof in his civil rights suit against the DA's office, alleging prosecutorial misconduct by prior regimes. When the DA joined the defendant���s post-conviction appeal, he sought justice for the ex-defendant and he did so ���at the risk of his own office���s coffers, the protection of which would have better served his own office."
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 22cv15, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Malicious Prosecution
J. Africk denies an early request by the Louisiana Special School District to dismiss a self-represented black woman's race- and gender-based hostile workplace claims by its fired director of accountability, adding the district may prevail at a later stage of the litigation. Her complaint alleges her boss, the district superintendent, made derogatory comments about her hair, eyelashes and masculine demeanor, and that he told her to stop talking about her purported discovery that some employees were unqualified for their jobs because he was "not going to get rid of any white folks.���
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Africk, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv3083, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Vance denies a request by an insurance company to dismiss hurricane damage claims by an antique shop in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans. Because the insurers have not explained why dismissal, rather than a stay, is warranted, the court declines to dismiss the case pending arbitration.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Vance, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv4343, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Insurance
J. Guidry, ruling on remand from the Fifth Circuit, grants summary judgment to the medical manufacturer of an artificial shoulder. The patient cannot carry his burden to show the device was unreasonably dangerous due to failure to conform with any express warranty.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Guidry, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv2706, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Product Liability, Warranty