236 results for 'court:"USDC Western District of North Carolina"'.
J. Whitney grants a county sheriff’s office its motion to dismiss an amended complaint brought by a business owner after his store manager embezzled money and the owner couldn’t pay rent, prompting the landlord to evict the business. During proceedings after the business owner contested the eviction, he claims that a law judge allowed someone in the court to laugh and make fun of him because his son needed to translate for him. He also claims the judge threatened the him, saying that he would not allow any court to vacate his judicial orders. However, in this case, the owner sued this judge, and a few others, in their official capacities only, not in their individual capacities, so the judges maintain sovereign immunity.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Whitney, Filed On: October 27, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv561, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Landlord Tenant, Immunity
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J. Boyle grants a class of migrant farm workers’ motion for certification in this Fair Labor Standards Act suit against their employers, which allegedly did not pay for their temporary work visas, travel or the wage agreed upon for hours worked, and the employers allegedly confiscated the workers’ Social Security cards and passports. The class members have shown sufficient evidence of the employers’ violations of Act and are also granted their motion for disclosure of contact information of potential opt-in class members.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: October 25, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv491, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action, Labor
J. Cogburn partially grants a restaurant its motion for summary judgment in this class action against it brought by current and former shift managers alleging the restaurant routinely forced them to work unpaid hours. A specific class member also claims gender discrimination based on his manager’s reprimands for his “mannerisms” as a gay man and his long acrylic fingernails, as well as the manager’s alleged refusal to pay him equally to straight staff or promote him. This member also claims he was fired for being gay. Although this member has failed to produce convincing evidence of most of sexuality discrimination claims, the restaurant has not demonstrated sufficient proof to claim summary judgment on his disparate discipline claim nor the class’s wage discrimination or wrongful discharge claims.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: October 20, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv266, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Class Action, Labor
J. Conrad grants members of a class of employees its settlement for Coca-Cola’s failure to pay them after payroll software company Kronos was hacked and offline for over two months in 2021 and 2022. The settlement and attorney fees and costs motions are unopposed and, therefore, granted.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: October 18, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv214, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Attorney Fees, Class Action, Labor
J. Conrad adopts the magistrate judge’s memorandum and recommendation because neither party in this breach of contract suit has challenged it. One party, a pharmaceutical supplies distribution firm, moves to dismiss allegations brought by the other, a medical supplies manufacturer, regarding an agreement they made to capitalize on supplies during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The manufacturer claims the firm expressly went against the contract by seeking out one of its clients to do business directly and sell billions of dollars’ worth of tests, but the firm argues that the manufacturer directed it to do so. While the manufacturer did put the two in touch, the firm fails to evidence that the manufacturer directed it to contract with its client. Thus, the manufacturer’s claim survives the motion to dismiss.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv501, NOS: Recovery of Overpayment & Enforcement of Judgment - Contract, Categories: Enforcement Of Judgments, Contract
J. Conrad partially grants a former CEO of a data analytics firm that he founded his motion to dismiss an apparent claim of disgorgement because it is actually a request for a remedy in this trade secrets suit brought by the firm. The CEO suggested beginning a subsidiary of the firm based in China because the firm was struggling to succeed in that market. The CEO then secretly began a separate, Chinese-based company without notifying the firm’s board. Although he is granted dismissal as to engorgement, he is denied as to unjust enrichment for the profits he secretly made for years before the firm’s board found out.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Conrad, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv683, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Trade Secrets, Business Practices
J. Reidinger grants summary judgment to a group of sheriffs and deputies following a host of allegations including battery, assault and Fourth Amendment violations brought by a man police day assaulted an officer with a firearm. The man, intoxicated, walked out of the woods holding a rifle and his unleashed dog running beside him. The man had shot the gun at some point, but not in the presence of the officers. Multiple officers then proceeded to force the man to the ground and arrested him as he physically resisted them. One officer who was worried about the man’s dog possibly biting someone shot it dead during the arrest. All the actions of the officers the man claims injury about are determined justifiable given the situation, and the officers maintain sovereign immunity in the tort claims’ context. Also, according to state law, the officers’ counterclaims of assault and battery are considered legitimate.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Reidinger, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv217, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Tort, Firearms, Assault
J. Whitney declines to remand and partially dismisses a libel lawsuit between two formerly married people involved in a separate civil conspiracy lawsuit alleging fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and invasion of privacy.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Whitney, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv230, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fraud, Defamation, Privacy
J. Cogburn grants an automobile association’s motion for summary judgment following wrongful denial of severance benefits allegations brought by a former vice president of talent development. The association recruited the VP to work internally in HR, which was a specialty of hers. However, after she relocated her family from Charlotte to San Antonio for the job, the association allegedly assigned her tasks vastly different than the ones they had initially discussed. After switching her job positions twice during her six weeks of employment, the association fired her. According to the severance plan, the VP was not qualified to receive any because it fired her due to negative job performance, which does not qualify for severance.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv146, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Employment, Erisa
J. Cogburn grants a police officer’s motion for summary judgment in a suit brought against him by a driver alleging he used excessive force after he pulled her over for suspected drunk driving. Although the officer applied a breathalyzer and field sobriety tests, which were positive for alcohol content, the charges of driving while impaired and reckless driving were dropped. When he tried to arrest her for drunk driving, she refused until he used an arm-bar takedown technique to get her on the ground to handcuff her. The driver claims she suffered multiple injuries as a result, including herniation of spinal discs, a black eye, and cuts and bruises all over her face, breasts, legs, and back. Although the driver invokes her Fourth and Eighth Amendment rights, they fail in the face of the officer’s state sovereign and qualified immunities.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv166, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Tort
J. Bell denies an electrical contractor’s motion for judgment as a matter of law or, alternatively, a motion for a new trial in a breach of contract suit against a building technologies corporation. The suit was already presented as a jury trial and legitimately favored the corporation, so there is no need for a new trial. Also, the corporation’s motion for fees and costs is denied as it did not specify “attorney’s” fees in this motion, although it knew how to and could have done so.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv506, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Cogburn denies a female police officer and the City of Charlotte their motion for summary judgment after the female officer shot a male officer in an attempt to serve a search warrant on a known violent criminal. Several officers arrived the house where they intended to serve the warrant. After the officers used a battering ram to knock a door down, shooting came from inside and the male officer was hit. In apparent confusion, the female officer shot at the male officer 14 times before someone identified him as an officer. His injuries required multiple surgeries and he is unable to return to work as an officer. His bulletproof vest with the word “police” across the back were obscured by a jacket, which puts his claims of negligence, assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress into question. Therefore, summary judgment is not possible at this stage and the case will proceed to trial.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Cogburn, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv60, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Negligence, Assault
J. Reidinger denies the Labor Department’s motion to dismiss allegations of Administrative Procedures Act violations after the department published a final rule on how it sets wage rates for temporary farm workers who are not U.S. citizens. A group of farms argues that the rule has already, and will continue to, hurt them financially by drastically increasing labor costs. They have already shown evidence that this is the case, so their complaint is not dismissed at this stage.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Reidinger, Filed On: September 26, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv96, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Agriculture, Labor
J. Keesler partially grants an ex-wife's motion to quash subpoenas of several attorneys to testify on her behalf after she alleged a separate law practice defrauded her out of $550,000 by persuading her to sign an amended alimony agreement in her divorce settlement. She is correct in arguing that only information pertaining to the marriage and divorce should be used by the attorneys, not any other personal information such as descriptions of her mental and emotional states. Relevant information is needed, so the subpoenas will not be quashed but modified.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Keesler, Filed On: September 22, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv387, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Experts, Discovery, Legal Malpractice
J. Bell partially denies summary judgment to a police department following race discrimination and hostile workplace allegations brought by a former police officer. The Black male officer claims the department forced him to take frequent drug tests and that two women in HR falsely accused him of being aggressive during a meeting, which led directly to a negative review and decrease in pay. While the officer provides no concrete evidence of race discrimination based on the drug testing, which was random according to the department, he has sufficiently argued hostile workplace and may proceed on this claim.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Bell, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 5:22cv32, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Reidinger grants a petroleum carrier company's motion for partial summary judgment following allegations of gross negligence brought by a driver after the company's truck caused a crash. The driver, whose car was hit by another car that was in turn hit by the truck, sustained severe injuries and incurred $230,000 in medical costs. However, even though the truck driver was distracted by a cell phone call in a construction zone, he was not speeding and made his best efforts to stop as soon as possible. Therefore, the car driver cannot proceed on his claims.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Reidinger, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv158, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Vehicle, Damages, Negligence
J. Keesler grants a hospital system its motion to compel and its motion for protective order following allegations of medical malpractice brought by a husband and wife after the husband allegedly had two strokes under the hospital’s care. It was found that the husband and wife have not answered all the requests for discovery from the hospital, so they are ordered to complete discovery. Also, the husband and wife’s counsel have allegedly sent threatening emails to the system and thus are ordered to stop under the protective order.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Keesler, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv317, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Discovery, Medical Malpractice
J. Whitney grants in part a motion to dismiss a second amended complaint against the brother of a man who claims his siblings cheated him out of his inheritance after their father died. The man alleges that the siblings took his portion of their father's estate, including $1 million, land and businesses. However, as legal proceedings in the father's country of origin, Colombia, have not yet been settled, the man's claims are not able to be corroborated yet. The man's brother seeks dismissal with prejudice, but it will only be granted without prejudice because it needs to be refiled in a court with the correct jurisdiction.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Whitney, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv640, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Sanctions, Jurisdiction
J. Rodriguez denies two NASCAR shareholders’ counterclaim for summary judgment after they did not comply with an indemnity agreement with a stock car racing team that purchased a charter. When the team discovered a security interest in the charter, it refused to pay the second half of $2 million but eventually did pay after two shareholders signed an indemnity agreement. But a third shareholder did not sign, which the other two argue means that the agreement is unenforceable. But, in North Carolina, the shareholders’ subjective belief about this and their lack of action based on that belief is not sufficient to warrant summary judgement.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv138, NOS: Recovery of Overpayment & Enforcement of Judgment - Contract, Categories: Commerce, Enforcement Of Judgments, Contract