226 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of Texas "'.
J. Moses grants summary judgment for several officers who were sued by an arrested man following a report of a suspicious vehicle at an abandoned property. The man, who arrested in the vehicle and ultimately charged with driving while intoxicated, was later determined to have had permission to be on the property. The man argued that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated, but he had ���parked in an ���open field��� rather than parking his truck within the house���s curtilage��� and therefore did not have the same Fourth Amendment rights as if he had been fully within private property.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Moses, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv4, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Pulliam finds a San Antonio officer is entitled to qualified immunity in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from a deadly police shooting. The victim in the shooting, a young woman who was walking near a school with a BB gun, may have had ���no malintent��� in reaching for the BB gun during a police encounter, but regardless she made a ���clear, deliberate and indisputable effort to reach for it,��� giving the officer probable cause for use of deadly force.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 5:21cv281, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Counts grants an insurance company's motion to dismiss a case after it was sued by a check-cashing company seeking damages for a fraudulent Covid-19 relief payment check-cashing scheme that the company said cost it more than $70,000. The check-cashing company has failed to show why any of its fraud- or crime-related insurance clauses cover this crime, because while the company may have cashed the checks, the ultimate target of the fraud was the U.S. Treasury.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Counts, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 7:22cv221, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Government, Insurance
J. Pitman finds in favor of the Department of Labor in a lawsuit over a new minimum-wage rule brought by a small-business owner who owns several burger restaurants, including 13 Dairy Queen franchises. He opposes the rule because "it requires him to either pay his managers higher salaries than he would prefer, or else demote some of them into a non-exempt role," but the DOL had "statutory authority to promulgate the final rule," and the rule is "not a new approach" but rather a continuation of rules the DOL has imposed for over seven decades.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv792, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Employment, Agency, Labor
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. Ezra declines to dismiss the gun store owner's complaint alleging that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' recent "official guidance on how to implement" the Gun Control Act of 1968 violated the Second Amendment as well as the Gun Control Act itself. Specifically, the man argues that the guidance could hold him liable for "non-willful actions" such as "inadvertent paperwork errors," which would result in the revocation of his license. The man has standing and is "not challenging a hypothetical policy but a final agency action," and therefore dismissal is not appropriate at this time.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: September 20, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1063, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Agency, Firearms
J. Pitman rules on several post-verdict motions after one company prevailed against another in a contract dispute stemming form the first company's attempt to purchase a property owned by the second company that had previously been used "to house oilfield workers and detain immigrant children." The second company owes additional costs and sanctions due to its deception, "bad faith conduct" and a "sordid scheme of deliberate misuse of the judicial process" by deliberately not complying with previous court orders in this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: September 19, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv560, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Sanctions, Contract
J. Albright grants a preliminary injunction to a group of booksellers and publishers who sued Texas over a new law restricting children's access to so-called "sexually explicit" books. While the state no doubt has a strong interest in protecting children from "obscene content," this new law imposes "a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements," including by "abdicating its responsibility" to regulate obscenity and instead placing the burden on third parties like booksellers. Texas is temporarily barred from attempting to enforce the bill, HB 900.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv858, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, First Amendment
J. Hightower issues a discovery order in a civil rights lawsuit brought by a former volunteer chaplain at the Austin Fire Department who alleged his civil rights were violated when he was dismissed over his complaints about what he describes as "men competing against women in sports." Some of the former chaplain's requests are overly broad and should be denied, but he may depose the fire chief again. While the city complains that the chief has already given "extensive" testimony, "a second deposition is not improper when a witness is deposed first in an individual capacity and then in a representative capacity."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv835, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Discovery, First Amendment
J. Ezra mostly adopts a report and recommendations and dismisses a lawsuit brought by Tesla shareholders who alleged the company's board of directors had caused "financial harm and irreparable damage" to the company's reputation by permitting a "toxic workplace culture grounded in racist and sexist abuse and discrimination." The suing stockholders have failed to show that their claims are viable. Their claims of wrongdoing are not sufficiently "particularized" and incorporation documents "[exculpate] Tesla���s directors from liability for all but breaches of the duty of loyalty."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv592, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Business Practices
J. Howell denies a motion by a protester to exclude the testimony of a former Dallas deputy police chief in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from injuries the protester sustained during a demonstration in 2020. The protester argues the cop plans to offer "unsubstantiated" opinions, including his view that the Austin Police Department is "progressive," but because the protester disputes the cop's opinions rather than his underlying facts or data, the protester can push back on these arguments "through the adversary process and not through exclusion."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howell, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv249, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Police Misconduct
J. Pulliam declines to dismiss a lawsuit brought against a financial company by a consumer who alleges the company and others unfairly dinged his credit and tried to collect debts from him that stemmed from identity theft. Amendment is more appropriate than dismissal at this stage because the consumer needs to better clarify which claims he is seeking against which companies, and because the company in this motion has not provided adequate basis for dismissal under the shaky argument that it is a creditor rather than a debt collector.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv1204, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Fraud, Banking / Lending
J. Howell denies a motion by a protester to exclude the testimony of a former Dallas deputy police chief in a civil rights lawsuit stemming from injuries the protester sustained during a demonstration in 2020. The protester argues the cop plans to offer "unsubstantiated" opinions, including his view that the Austin Police Department is "progressive," but because the protester disputes the cop's opinions rather than his underlying facts or data, the protester can push back on these arguments "through the adversary process and not through exclusion."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Howelll, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1087, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Police Misconduct
J. Albright denies Samsung's motion to transfer a case to the Northern District of California after it was sued for alleged infringement of a variety of patents on wireless devices and systems. There are more relevant witnesses located in Texas and Texas has a local interest in this litigation because the inventors of the asserted patents reside in Texas.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv701, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Venue
J. Albright denies an alert company's motion for attorney fees on the grounds of an "exceptional case" after it was sued by another company for alleged infringement of several patents. The alert company was awarded attorney fees from the suing company in another case, which should be "sufficient both to discourage such conduct" and to prevent the alert company from suffering a "gross injustice."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv387, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Attorney Fees
J. Pitman mostly denies a motion for summary judgment in a complex contract dispute between several parties over investment and real-estate deals that went sour. The investors seeking summary judgment are right that they cannot be sued for fraudulent inducement due to waivers included in relevant contracts, but those suing can still bring other claims, including breach of contract claims and other claims of fraud.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1247, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Ezra orders Texas to move controversial buoy barriers placed in the Rio Grande to block migrants coming from Mexico and enjoins the state from "further constructing or maintaining structures or obstructions in the navigable waters of the United States." The barrier undermines U.S. treaty obligations and is becoming an international issue, as "Mexican officials have also raised humanitarian 'concerns at the highest diplomatic levels.'" The United States is likely to succeed on its claims, not least because Texas has been unable to present "any credible evidence" that the buoys have even "significantly curtailed" border crossings.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv853, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Immigration, International Law, Injunction
J. Guaderrama grants summary judgment to the El Paso chief of police and closes a case in which a disability-rights group argued the chief was in violation of the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act following the injury of a person experiencing a mental-health crisis. The relevant and "flawed" laws do not give the advocacy group the right to investigate any alleged abuse or neglect nor to collect records related to the incident, and while there "may be a remedy here...it is with Congress."
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Guaderrama, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv211, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process, Police Misconduct
J. Ezra grants a preliminary injunction to a group of porn-industry insiders after they sued the interim Texas attorney general over a new state law that ���restricts access to pornographic websites by requiring digital age verification methods and warnings about the alleged harms caused by pornography.��� While the state ���has a legitimate goal in protecting children from sexually explicit material online,��� the law violates the First Amendment and Section 230 in a number of ways, including by requiring porn websites to publish speech that is ���deeply controversial��� and ���unduly burdensome,��� including ���somewhat deceptive��� claims about the alleged dangers of pornography.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Ezra, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv917, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, First Amendment
J. Pitman finds that a ���blackout period��� imposed by Austin on campaign fundraising by city-level candidates is unconstitutional under the First Amendment after a city council candidate and a person who wanted to donate to her campaign sued over the restrictions. While the candidate has shown her rights were infringed because ���she could not communicate as robustly as she desired,��� and while both citizens are entitled to damages, the requests for injunctive relief are moot because the former candidate is neither ���presently a candidate for Austin elective office��� nor currently trying to campaign and raise money.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv271, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, First Amendment
J. Hightower grants the employee's partial motion for summary judgment in a negligence action brought by the driver arising from a car collision. The driver's gross negligence and negligent hiring claims are dismissed. The driver failed to show that the employee's acts or omissions involved an extreme degree of risk or that he knew risk was involved but proceeded anyway with conscious indifference to the welfare of others. The driver also failed to present evidence showing that the employer breached its duty to properly hire, train or supervise the employee or that the employee was an incompetent driver.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1063, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence
J. Albright grants Apple's motion to transfer venue in a patent infringement action brought by the patent owner to the Northern District of California. The owner alleges that Apple's iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch products infringe on a number of patents related to enhancements in mobile device communication functionality and other technology. The Northern District of California is a more convenient forum than the Western District of Texas because 10 of Apple's likely witnesses live in California and Washington and Apple's documents related to the design and development of the accused products are likely located in California.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Albright, Filed On: August 28, 2023, Case #: 6:21cv603, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Venue
J. Pulliam rules in favor of the police officers in a civil rights action brought by an individual and his family members challenging the officers' arrest and prosecution of the individual as well as the search of the family home. The officers are entitled to qualified immunity because they had probable cause to believe the individual, a Second Amendment activist, violated the law by bringing a firearm into a building in which municipal court was being held. The individual failed to offer evidence showing that the gun was fake and a video recording shows that he did not directly tell officers that the gun was fake. Even if the gun was fake, the individual admitted he painted it black so people would think it was real.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pulliam, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv642, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Montalvo partially grants the employee's motion to amend the final judgment in an employment and sexual harassment action. A jury found that the employee was sexually harassed and awarded her a total of $500,000 in damages but the award was later reduced to $75,000 upon the company's motion for judgment as a matter of law. The individual should have been given a choice between accepting the remittitur or seeking a new trial on damages. The employee's real-time experiences were properly considered in the decision remitting her damages.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Montalvo, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv283, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Damages
J. Hightower grants the companies' and individuals' motion to stay proceedings in a fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy class action brought by investors pending resolution of a related criminal case. The investors allege they are victims of a $1.8 billion Ponzi scheme. The indictment against two individuals overlaps significantly with the conduct alleged by the investors. The investors' interest in a speedy resolution to the case is outweighed by the individuals' constitutional interests. The individuals are unlikely to be able to effectively defend the instant civil case without being pressured into waiving their Fifth Amendment rights.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 1:19cv1050, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Fraud, Class Action
J. Hightower recommends that the district court rule in favor of the county and corrections officer in a civil rights, disability discrimination, negligence and battery action brought by the individual alleging that he was denied PTSD medication and his CPAP machine while in jail. The individual also claimed the officer slammed his hand in a holding cell door. The officer did not use excessive force and she is entitled to immunity because the individual's assault claim against her is based on conduct that allegedly occurred in the scope of her employment and could have been brought against the county. The evidence supports the officer's claim that she accidentally closed the door on the individual's finger. The individual also failed to show that county employees did not provide him with his medication or CPAP machine by reason of his disability.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Hightower, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv615, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Prisoners' Rights