187 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of North Carolina"'.
J. Dever grants the natural guardians of a disabled minor child their motion for partial summary judgment against a school board after the child’s educational assistant was convicted for assaulting her. The assistant, who was hired to support the non-verbal child with all tasks, reportedly beat her behind the cafeteria with a metal serving spoon so severely that the spoon bent. The board made several defenses including statute of limitations and immunity. Under the federal civil rights code the guardians invoke, the board is able to be sued just like a municipality and can therefore not use an immunity defense. Also, the guardians brought this litigation well within the statute of limitations and are thus allowed to proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv243, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Tort
J. Boyle grants an industrial equipment rental company’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of wrongful termination brought by a former delivery truck driver. The driver claims he reported multiple safety violations by the company which led it to unfairly fire him. However, the driver contacted only staff within the company about the violations and no outside entity such as the Department of Labor and shows no evidence that his complaints resulted in an investigation. Therefore, his activity is not protected under the state’s retaliation laws. He also fails to provide sufficient evidence to create a genuine dispute of the company’s arguments.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: November 27, 2023, Case #: 7:21cv89, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Employment Retaliation
J. Flanagan grants Florida’s Division of Emergency Management’s motion to stay proceedings until the settlement of its underlying appeal of a denial of its sovereign immunity in a contract dispute involving the purchase of Covid-19 tests. A staffing firm argues that the division breached the parties’ contract and that its appeal is frivolous. However, this is incorrect because the firm cannot apply the same argument regarding the underlying merits of the division’s original defense to a sovereign immunity appeal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv69, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Immunity, Covid-19, Contract
J. Flanagan partially denies a property development firm’s former accountant’s motion to dismiss allegations of conversion, fraud and breach of contract brought by the firm. The firm correctly argues fraud because the accountant falsely told a member of the firm that to get tax benefits, he would need to share ownership of the firm with the accountant. Thus, they created the firm as a 50-50 partnership. Then, the accountant fraudulently acquired a home on behalf of the member without his knowledge for almost $1 million. The accountant quit the firm and refuses to return the property to the firm. The firm’s claim that the accountant breached his fiduciary duty while acting as the firm’s agent and member will proceed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv1062, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Fraud, Real Estate, Contract
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J. Boyle grants a die cutting machine distributor's motion to dismiss a manufacturer's allegations of misappropriation of trade secrets and copyright infringement. The manufacturer claims that several of its employees left it for a new direct competitor and took trade secrets with them, with which the distributor helped them in order to expand its own customer base. However, the manufacturer fails to report specific information that was misappropriated and shows no plausible evidence that the distributor aided the former employees.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv134, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition
J. Flanagan grants a police officer and a county sheriff’s office’s motion for judgment on the pleadings following allegations of First and 14th Amendments violations brought by a man whom the officer arrested. The man claims the officer did not have good cause to arrest nor imprison him as he was not carrying a firearm. However, he failed to include allegations in support of his claim that the sheriff’s office — which itself is an entity not capable of being sued — fundamentally had something to do with the officer’s alleged maltreatment of him. His claims are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 7:23cv9, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Dever orders an injunction be placed on a person who, in conjunction with multiple other individuals and companies, allegedly used copyright-infringing software or machines in violation of state and federal laws. It is deemed proper that an injunction be used in this case, and this person has consented to it, stipulating that he no longer use, distribute or duplicate any intellectual property belonging to the two marketing and auctioneering firms that initially brought the claims.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv136, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Trademark, Injunction
J. Flanagan partially grants an insurance firm’s motion for a judgment on the pleadings in this complicated fraud and deceptive trade practices case. The owner of a commercial building filed a claim in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew damaged the property. The firm awarded the owner only part of the cost it claimed, then the building was further damaged during Hurricane Florence two years later. A dispute over the cost of damages followed, and although the firm did send another partial payment, following discovery, it is clear the firm had no intention of appraising the property after the owner requested it to do so. Therefore, the fraud and deceptive trade claims regarding Hurricane Florence may proceed. However, the bad faith and deceptive trade practices claims around Hurricane Matthew are time-barred.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: 5:19cv529, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, Trade
J. Dever denies a recreational and competitive flag football organization its claims of fraud, breach of contract and deceptive trade practices against the former owner of a similar enterprise. The organization bought the enterprise from the owner with the agreement he would not compete with it for at least five years. As part of the contract, the organization hired the former owner, but he resigned after just under two years and began to compete. However, under state law, the agreement must still be intact to enforce it, and since the owner resigned, he is no longer subject to it.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv172, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Trade, Contract
J. Flanagan denies the administrative director of the North Carolina Office of the Courts’ motion to dismiss First Amendment claims brought by Courthouse News Service (CNS), this news media organization. CNS argues the North Carolina courts, particularly those in Johnston, Harnett and Wake counties, denied it access to new civil complaints as soon as the courts posted them live online. According to previous litigation, it has been established that the press and general public must have as immediate access as is possible to complaints filed in order to improve the quality of the judicial system. Therefore, the director’s argument that CNS failed to state a case fails.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv280, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, First Amendment, Technology
J. Dever grants a fastening and packaging distributor’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of age and national origin discrimination brought by former service technician, who was 52 years old at the time of hire. The technician was unable to produce evidence that the distributor discriminated against him because even though he is Latino and some white men were kept on when he was laid off during the early days of Covid-19, these men were not in a similar position as he and cannot be considered in comparable situations. Also, the technician reportedly acted outside the bounds of his position and refused to recognize a new manager’s authority among other complaints. Therefore, the distributor fired him for allegedly legitimate reasons.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv21, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Boyle denies a mortgage lender’s motion to dismiss a couple’s amended complaint alleging a kickback scheme between the lender and a realty company resulting in $20,000 in illegal, so-called “referral fees.” The couple correctly argues that the lender has caused them injury as a lack of competition among realtors tends to cause settlement costs to increase, and the couple has evidenced that the lender violated RESPA and other consumer protection laws.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv336, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Antitrust, Real Estate, Consumer Law
J. Boyle grants the customer of a women’s clothing company his motion to remand a case in which he and a class of customers sued the company for including 10 of the 16 digits on their credit card on their receipts, in violation of a credit transaction law. The company removed the suit to federal court, claiming that because the customers suffered injuries, the case must be tried there. However, the customers have not yet suffered concrete injuries because their credit information was not compromised despite the potential. Therefore, the lead customer is correct to request remand because the federal court does not have subject matter jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 5:23cv261, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Consumer Law, Jurisdiction
J. Flanagan adopts a magistrate judge’s recommendation to grant sanctions to a county school board by dismissal of a job discrimination complaint brought by a former employee. The employee presently moves to schedule a pretrial hearing and “to note the race of every potential juror examined in this case.” However, as the employee demonstrated bad faith in failing to appear at two depositions, thereby hampering discovery, her motions are dismissed.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv595, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Discovery, Employment Discrimination
J. Flanagan grants Freddie Mac and two other mortgage providers’ motion to dismiss a homeowner’s claims that the providers induced her to make fraudulent payments on an alleged mortgage modification. Her motion for remand on the federal RESPA claim is denied because this court has original jurisdiction. Under her state RESPA claim that the providers requested the wrong escrow amount in her mortgage payments, she cannot proceed because under the provision she specifies, she has no private right of action.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv31, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Flanagan grants FedEx’s motion for summary judgment following allegations of race, gender and age discrimination brought by a former operations manager. The manager filed complaints against several supervisors, with whom she worked directly or indirectly, following an incident where she got into a verbal argument with a third-party employee. The manager claims that the supervisors set her up and persuaded other staff to blame her for instigating the fight. FedEx disciplined the manager for this, and later again for another argument, this time with a package handler, after which it fired the manager. Summary judgment is awarded because the manager fails to state a claim on all counts.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv120, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Flanagan denies a homeowner and her counsel and appraiser their motions for judgment on the pleadings in a suit they brought against the homeowner’s insurance company over water leak damages following two separate hurricanes. The homeowner sued for over $1 million and denies that it owes the insurance company discovery because the homeowner’s counsel conducted arbitration with the company and should, therefore, be exempt based on North Carolina’s arbitration act. However, this is incorrect because the state does not extend the act to insurance appraisals.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv42, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Discovery, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Dever partially grants a group of citizens' motion for class certification in its suit against DuPont and related companies and individuals for their alleged pollution of a major North Carolina river going back to the 1970s. The class claims DuPont dumped chemicals into the river for years, including perfluorinated compounds or PFCs, which are toxic to humans and last for up to 2,000 years in the environment. DuPont challenges the certification, arguing that individual suits would be more efficient. However, since there are potentially over 100,000 class members in this case, and the awards they might receive are relatively small, class certification is much more appropriate.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Dever, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 7:17cv189, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Tort, Class Action
J. Boyle denies Citibank’s motion to dismiss violations of a law protecting military service personnel from legal and financial penalties during active duty brought by a class of servicemembers after the bank subjected them to what it calls “veteran penalties.” The servicemembers claim that Citibank, although it touts itself as supportive of military personnel, gouged them with exorbitant fees. The bank argues this claim cannot survive based on personal jurisdiction. However, this is incorrect as Citibank, although not based in North Carolina, has a number of corporate offices there and representatives with enough authority to be served with a complaint.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv383, NOS: Banks and Banking - Other Suits, Categories: Jurisdiction, Banking / Lending, Military
J. Flanagan partially grants a school’s partial motion to dismiss a second amended complaint alleging disability discrimination against a minor student. The student’s public accommodation claim is inappropriate because the student and his parents are not seeking injunctive relief, which is exactly what Title III of the ADA aims to do. However, the school is incorrect in asserting that just because the student’s original claim did not include intentional infliction of emotional distress that the school cannot be liable, so this claim survives.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv201, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education, Tort
J. Flanagan partially dismisses, for procedural reasons, a family’s lawsuit against their son’s private school for infliction of emotional distress. Because the boy no longer attends the school, he has no standing to sue under Title III of the ADA, as he cannot show the threat of future harm. Negligence claims against the school fail because the family alleges intentional conduct just by two employees. Several retaliation, contract and negligence claims survive the motion.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv201, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Education, Tort, Negligence
J. Boyle declines to dismiss, for lack of personal jurisdiction, allegations against Citibank brought by a putative class of borrowers who are servicemembers and veterans. They say the bank has deprived them of benefits owed to them under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or only offered nominal and “illusory” benefits.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv383, NOS: Banks and Banking - Other Suits, Categories: Consumer Law, Banking / Lending, Military
J. Flanagan partially grants a farmer's motion for summary judgment following breach of contract allegations he brought against an insurance company after it refused coverage for fire damage. The farmer lost a combine and other equipment in the fire, for which the company owes him restitution. However, the farmer's claim that the company should cover costs he incurred hiring labor to harvest his crops as a result of his equipment loss is not the company's responsibility.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: September 25, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv25, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Contract
J. Myers partially denies a university's motion to dismiss gender discrimination and retaliation allegations brought by a women's volleyball head coach after the university fired her and replaced her with a man. Although the coach had a stellar track record regarding team wins, she complained multiple times of Title IX violations by the university, which she claims consisted of higher amounts of funding and facility renovations for men's teams. At the same time, student athletes accused the coach of creating a toxic culture through intimidation and manipulation. The university fired her on the grounds of toxicity, but she states a reasonable claim of discrimination and retaliation since the university replaced her with a male coach with very little experience shortly after she complained.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Myers, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv30, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation