207 results for 'cat:"Agency"'.
J. Ripple finds that the lower court properly found for the employer on 40 black employees' race discrimination claims, and awarded damages to just one employee of seven who went to trial. Residents' repeated use of the N-word was "troubling" but was usually verbalized by patients suffering mental impairments and were not statements made by management or coworkers. These racist comments cannot be the basis to find employees were subjected to a hostile work environment or pervasive harassment. Affirmed.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Ripple, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 22-2806, Categories: agency, Employment Discrimination
J. Harpool finds for the nonprofit in a suit challenging Missouri's administration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which has understaffed the program's call center leading to unacceptable wait times and thousands of calls that cannot be completed. In 2023, almost 60,000 applications were denied for failure to complete an interview. These denials were not based on the merits of the applications but the failure of the system to offer a reasonable opportunity to interview. The agency must file a report within 30 days detailing the changes it will make to SNAP benefits reasonably accessible, as well as file monthly reports on the number of applications denied due to the failure to conduct timely interviews.
Court: USDC Western District of Missouri, Judge: Harpool, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv4026, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Administrative Law, Government, agency
J. Hicks grants the Department of the Interior's motion to dismiss. The nonprofit wild horse public education group challenges the government's proposed "gather" of excess horses for population control purposes. Certain federal code precludes liability in federal government actors, and cited case law remedies are not available against a federal agency. Relief specific to a concluded gather is moot, though not as to future gathers. The bureau's motion to dismiss the First Amendment cause of action is granted, as it fails to establish a qualified right to view “humane” gathers.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Hicks , Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv372, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, agency, First Amendment
J. Cronan finds for the agency in this SEC enforcement action and orders the manager of an investment club who engaged in fraudulent investment schemes to disgorge ill-gotten profits of $1.7 million, plus interest of $339,000. In addition, the manager shall be permanently banned from working in the financial sector again due to his conscious wrongdoing and the likelihood he will continue to violate federal securities laws.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Cronan, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:19cv10299, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, agency
J. AliKhan grants summary judgment to the FBI in the information seekers' Freedom of Information Act suit related to the 2012 attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya. The FBI has adequately established that withheld records are part of an ongoing investigation of the attacks, and existing public accounts of the attacks do not undermine the agency's concerns about interference with that investigation.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: AliKhan, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 1:14cv1589, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Public Record, agency
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J. Greer grants the government defendants’ motion for summary judgment in this lawsuit concerning a firearms dealer’s compliance with the “record-keeping requirements under the Gun Control Act” and its decision to revoke his license. The record indicates that the dealer was aware of his legal obligations but continued to violate regulations. As to violations involving Form 4473, for example, the court notes that the frequency of violations increased after the initial compliance inspection. Accordingly, the federal defendants are entitled to judgment, and the dealer’s license is revoked.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Tennessee , Judge: Greer, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv51, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Licensing, agency, Firearms
J. Contreras grants the secretary of the Treasury’s partial motion to dismiss a suit brought by individuals and business entities over the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s designation of the individuals as “specially designated nationals” on the “specially designated nationals and blocked persons list.” The court dismisses two counts asserting the department did not act within its authorities.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Contreras, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv285, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: agency
J. McHugh finds that a group of conservationists lack standing to challenge a series of agency decisions related to an easement for a property in Rio Grande National Forest that has been selected to become a ski resort village. The groups take issue with a series of biological opinions and other documents that were approved by the agency to green-light development of the project and a land exchange that would help make the property more accessible in the wintertime, but their claims lack merit. They have not been able to show any evidence of major errors in the documents, and even if they were able to show error, there is nothing on the record that suggests the error would have been harmful enough to justify tossing the entire development project. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: McHugh, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-1438, Categories: Property, agency
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that the lower court improperly granted the landlord's petition to impose rent increases based on the installation of major capital improvements. The city agency reasonably applied part K amendments from the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act when considering the landlord's applications. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 02003, Categories: Housing, agency
J. Mullen finds that the lower court properly affirmed the workers' compensation commission's decision denying the worker's claim for additional injuries after originally awarded him permanent partial disability benefits of $609 per week for 41 weeks. The commission reasonably relied on medical expert testimony that there is way that the worker's ankle injury would cause arthritis in his knee and hip. Affirmed.
Court: Illinois Appellate Court, Judge: Mullen, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 230180WC, Categories: agency, Workers' Compensation
J. Quattlebaum finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The creators of TImberland boots sought to register certain features from the design of its popular boot under the Lanham Act as trade dress. The law prohibits the registration of product designs that have not acquired a distinctive meaning identifying the product with its maker in the minds of the consuming public, including Timberland boots. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Quattlebaum, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 23-1150, Categories: Patent, Trademark, agency
J. Papillion denies a request by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction a Chinese citizen's claims concerning the delay in adjudication of her request for asylum. She alleges the agency has failed to comply with a non-discretionary requirement of federal agencies that requires adjudication of asylum applications “within a reasonable time.” The provision means jurisdiction exists as a federal question under a statute governing the administration of federal agencies.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Papillion, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv2, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Immigration, agency, Jurisdiction
J. Wilkinson finds the lower court properly granted summary judgment to the agency. Under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, a drug manufacturer that increases its prices faster than inflation rises must reimburse Medicaid for the difference. These reimbursements are paid via rebates. Primarily, each drug’s rebate amount is usually determined based on its own original price and inflation clock, but not always. Congress has instructed in the Medicaid statute that some “line extension” drugs can be on the hook not only for their own price increases but also for the price increases of the drugs they evolved from. The agency promulgated a regulation that set forth criteria for what constitutes a line-extension drug that the pharmaceutical company claims expanded the definition of a line extension beyond what the Medicaid statute permitted. Each departure of the regulatory text is patently superficial, with no discernable effect on the term’s reach. Affirmed.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Wilkinson, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1457, Categories: Government, Medicaid, agency
J. Lamberth grants a motion by the Department of the Interior and other federal defendants to sever the offshore wind farm opponents' action seeking to challenge approvals of two such projects into separate actions for each project, and partially grants the projects' developers' motion to intervene. Judicial economy and efficiency factors favor severance, and the claims to be severed do not present common questions of law or fact. The developer of one project is permitted to intervene in this case, but the motion to intervene is denied as to the other project's developer, given the severance of claims related to its project.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Lamberth, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv141, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, agency
J. Ramirez vacates the district court's denial of a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by Indian nationals who challenge the Secretary of State's distribution of visas. Because visa demand was high, the nationals' applications were held in abeyance until visa numbers were available - a delay they challenge. However, U.S. code governing discretionary relief prevents federal courts from hearing a challenge to the department's hold policies, as the actions are left to the discretion of the Attorney General. Vacated.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Ramirez , Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 23-40398, Categories: Government, Immigration, agency
J. Gibbons finds the district court properly dismissed this land and civil rights dispute. The landowner claims the Bureau of Land Management harmed his property rights by canceling his grazing permit for a portion of land over which he says he has right-of-way, as well as water and grazing rights. The road builder and users of the road built on the land were variously improperly served. The property owner also failed to correctly allege civil conspiracy claims and filed other claims outside limitations. Affirmed.
Court: Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge: Gibbons , Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 85779-COA, Categories: Property, Water, agency
J. Floyd finds the Fourth Circuit lacks jurisdiction over the immigration appeal. The Yemen native was a member of the Yemeni Socialist Party, actively fought in Yemen’s civil war in 1994 where he was imprisoned. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services denied his application for asylum status on terrorism grounds. Congress provides that court have no jurisdiction over decisions the authority for which is specified to be in the discretion of the Attorney General.
Court: 4th Circuit, Judge: Floyd, Filed On: April 3, 2024, Case #: 21-2010, Categories: Immigration, agency, Jurisdiction
J. Smith dismisses claims by a mother who says her daughter was wrongfully removed from her care by the Hawaii County police officers and the state’s human services department. The actions of each of the state agencies and the individual members of those agencies stemmed from reasonable belief that the child should be removed, and the mother could not provide evidence that showed otherwise.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv104, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Family Law, agency, Police Misconduct
J. Contreras offers a mixed bag to both the National Parks Conservation Association and the Department of the Interior, which the association is suing for allegedly failing to protect Florida’s Biscayne National Park. ON the one hand, the federal government has delayed the implementation of a marine reserve zone for too long, but on the other, it has not issued a final agency action that the court can review for being arbitrary and capricious. The association is owed FOIA attorney fees. The government is ordered to propose a zone designation as soon as it can.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Contreras, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv3706, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, agency
J. Du grants the animal rights activists' motion for summary judgment. The activists allege the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior, and the Nevada Bureau of Land Management violated the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by a recent roundup of wild horses. Reducing livestock grazing to increase wild horse management levels was not reasonable because it would have undermined the roundup's stated purpose to “prevent undue... degradation...and to restore ecological balance.” The bureau must prepare a herd management area plan and reanalyze foreseeable effects and significance of its roundup alternatives on wildfire risks.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Du, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv34, NOS: Environmental Matters - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, agency
J. Failla denies the crypto-asset trading platform's motion to dismiss the SEC's suit accusing it of violating federal securities laws by offering its services without registering with the SEC as an exchange, broker, or clearing agency. Many of the transactions on Coinbase's platform constitute "investment contracts," which federal securities laws have long recognized as securities subject to SEC regulation. However, Coinbase is entitled to dismissal of the claim that it acts as an unregistered broker by making its Wallet application available to customers.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Failla, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv4738, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities, agency
J. Wilson vacates the Environmental Protection Agency's order prohibiting the plastic container manufacturer from producing toxic long-chain perfluoroalkyls through its fluorination process. The EPA exceeded its statutory authority, and it may not skirt Administrative Procedure Act framework by arbitrarily deeming the company's decades-old fluorination process a “significant new use.” Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Wilson , Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 23-60620, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, agency
J. Neubauer finds the circuit court properly reversed the tax appeals commission's conclusion that the cheese manufacturer's equipment, machinery and tools were exempt from taxation. The equipment, machinery and tools in question were correctly found to be "manufacturing property" as outlined in Wisconsin statutes properly determined to be ambiguous and, considering the statutes in conjunction with the relevant legislative history, the equipment, machinery and tools must be assessed for taxation. Affirmed.
Court: Wisconsin Court of Appeals, Judge: Neubauer, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 2022AP001909, Categories: Tax, agency