389 results for 'court:"2nd Circuit"'.
J. Merriam finds that the district court properly found for snack foods producer KIND in class multidistrict claims alleging deceptive advertising based on product labels containing the phrase "all natural." Class experts were properly precluded as biased, and three classes of New York, California, and Florida customers were properly decertified. Meanwhile, the class failed to establish a reasonable consumer's understanding of the term "all natural." Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Merriam, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 22-2684, Categories: Experts, Class Action, False Advertising
J. Robinson finds that the district court properly declined to compel arbitration in fiduciary duty claims an employee brought against the company and the trustee of the contribution retirement plan. The arbitration provision was unenforceable under ERISA because the provision limited relief available to an individual's account and barred a plan-wide remedy. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 21-2891-cv, Categories: Erisa, Fiduciary Duty
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly sentenced defendant based on his guilty plea to possessing and conspiring to distribute cocaine, with an admission to participating in a murder to further the conspiracy. The prosecution challenged the time-served sentence as substantively unreasonable, and while the court cited defendant's success in turning his life around, the record did not fully explain the reasoning behind the below-guidelines term. Thus, remand for clarification is necessary.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 22-1707-cr, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Menashi finds that the district court properly revoked probation imposed upon defendant's conviction for drug trafficking and sentenced him to prison for violating the terms of release by repeatedly raping his teenage daughter over the course of a year. Defendant contends he received ineffective assistance at the violation hearing when counsel failed to present medical evidence indicating he was physically incapable of rape due to previous injuries, but he failed to demonstrate that any shortcoming had been prejudicial in light of his admission that he had sex with his wife on the same air mattress where some of the rapes occurred. Meanwhile, the sentence did not constitute an abuse of discretion. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Menashi, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-1775, Categories: Evidence, Ineffective Assistance, Probation
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly sentenced one of five defendants in an extended-family sex-trafficking organization convicted of smuggling young women from Mexico to the U.S., including minors, and forcing them into prostitution. Procedural error occurred in sentencing Abel Romero-Melendez in excess of the maximum allowed on a count charging illegal reentry, and remand is necessary for resentencing. For the others, sufficient evidence supported their convictions and their challenge to jury instructions lacked merit. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-333(L), Categories: Jury, Sentencing, Prostitution
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J. Perez finds that the district court improperly dismissed claims seeking to recover losses from the purchase of residential mortgage-backed securities related to 56 trusts administered by two U.S. banks. The investor was contractually barred from bringing claims against trusts with "no action clauses" without complying with pre-suit obligations, but this requirement must be weighed when parties with likely conflicts of interest are involved. On remand, a closer look must be made into whether pre-suit demands would be futile.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Perez, Filed On: April 30, 2024, Case #: 22-854, Categories: Civil Procedure, Securities, Contract
J. Park finds that defendant was properly convicted based on his guilty plea to aiding Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab in raids in Kenya and Somalia that killed scores of civilians, including Americans. Defendant contends the superseding indictment to which he pleaded fell outside the remand mandate of a prior appeal affected by intervening precedent, but nothing on remand blocked superseding indictments, and the initial plea agreement permitted new charges in the event that defendant's conviction was vacated for any reason. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Park, Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 22-2958-cr, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Plea, Terrorism
J. Nathan finds that the district court improperly granted injunctive relief to internet providers opposed to a new law that requires reduced broadband costs for qualifying New York households. The companies' federal preemption defenses cited the 1996 telecommunications act and a 2018 regulatory order classifying broadband as an information service, but neither of which were meant to exclude states from rate regulation. Reversed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nathan, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 21-1975-cv, Categories: Preemption, Consumer Law
J. Kahn finds that the district court properly held that a school district did not violate a student's due process rights by denying a medical exemption from the Covid-19 masking mandate because the student's fundamental rights had not been violated, and the mandate was reasonably related to legitimate health and safety concerns. However, the court improperly held that administrative remedies had not beeen exhausted when such was not required to bring disability claims alleging failure to accommodate the student's asthma. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Kahn, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: 23-582-cv, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education, Covid-19
J. Park finds that the district court properly denied defendant pretrial release from detainment for allegedly making interstate threats against Jewish students at Cornell University following the October 2023 Hamas attack against Israel because defendants may be detained pending trial on charges constituting crimes of violence. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Park, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 23-8081, Categories: Threats
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly denied defendant's request to vacate one conviction stemming from a terrorism-related plot to engage in coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system. Because defendant was convicted of possessing a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, he also was guilty of attempted terrorism as a crime of violence on the premise of aiding and abetting. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 21-1438, Categories: Terrorism
J. Cabranes finds that the district court properly held that defendant's three-year term of supervised release for firearms possession began when imprisonment ended, not upon release from federal custody. Defendant had been transferred to New York custody on state charges of attempted murder, the conviction of which was vacated based on procedural error, and he was eventually freed when charges were dismissed on retrial. Defendant sought release from probation after spending four years in pretrial detention, but precedent holds that "imprisonment" ends when federal supervised release begins. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Cabranes, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 23-6394-cr, Categories: Probation, Sentencing
Per curiam, the circuit finds that defendant's request to reinstate his appeal should be again remanded as brought from the lower court's refusal to modify a condition of probation that prohibits him from having direct contact with minors, including his own children, without approval. Action had not been taken on remand within 30 days, and the issue should be heard by a different judge this time around.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-6145, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Probation
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed class securities fraud claims brought after a spinoff of Honeywell International filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to legacy asbestos indemnity issues because the class failed to plead scienter with sufficient specificity to establish that the spinoff recklessly assured investors of its financial health while planning for bankruptcy. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 23-668-cv, Categories: Bankruptcy, Fraud, Securities
J. Walker finds that the district court improperly granted a preliminary injunction barring New York City from using the phrase "medical special operations" in conferences organized for first-responders, as sought by the rescue paramedic who initially brought the idea to the city after he parted ways with organizers. The paramedic had registered the phrase with the patent office, but the phrase was merely descriptive.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Walker, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 23-325-cv, Categories: Trademark
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly confirmed an arbitration award assessing withdrawal liability against a business that contributed to a multi-employer union pension fund. The ERISA exemption from liability did not apply when the business shut down because the firm and its predecessor-in-interest provided installation and maintenance for Time Warner Cable in the New York City area, services which were not part of the building and construction industry. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 23-647-cv, Categories: Erisa
Per curiam, the circuit dismisses an interlocutory appeal in claims brought against a police officer after plaintiff's arm was broken as he resisted being handcuffed following a domestic incident. The officer seeks dismissal based on qualified immunity, which had been granted to others who assisted in the arrest, but the district court held that issues remained unresolved as to whether the officer used excessive force.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-901-cv, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity
Per curiam, the circuit finds that an interlocutory appeal must be dismissed in claims challenging a provision of New York election law that invalidates write-in ballots cast during party primaries for non-party candidates because the 2023 primary and general elections rendered the claim moot. However, a decision remains pending on the facial challenge to the constitutionality of the provision in claims seeking declaratory relief, and thus review would be inappropriate at this time.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 23-1305-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Elections
J. Lohier finds that the district court properly dismissed a trust's request for relief in the form of a declaration that a life insurance policy remained in effect after assignment and purported reassignment for lack of contractual standing to sue under New York law because the trust failed to notify the insurer that the policy had been reassigned to the trust by the policyholder. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Lohier, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 19-87-cv, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Contract
J. Sullivan finds that the district court properly dismissed claims that changes to village zoning law that make it easier to site Orthodox Jewish places of worship in neighborhoods violate the establishment clause by promoting religion because individual plaintiffs could show standing as municipal taxpayers harmed by a loss of village revenue attributed to the new zoning law, and the citizens' group lacked associational or organizational standing to sue. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: April 5, 2024, Case #: 22-2710, Categories: Constitution, Zoning
J. Sullivan finds that the district court improperly found for a logistics company in an insurer's subrogation claims concerning damage sustained to cargo while being unloaded from a truck at an airport. The claims would be barred as untimely under the Montreal Convention's statute of limitations for contracting carriers, but questions remain unresolved as to whether the logistics firm qualified as such in its role in arranging transport through third parties.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 21-2132, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Transportation
Per curiam, the circuit finds that defendant was properly sentenced based on his guilty plea to drugging and sexually assaulting two women as part of a two-decade pattern involving 20 women in all while working with them at the U.S. Department of State or United Nations. Defendant contends the statutory maximum 15-year term was unreasonable, but it was not "shockingly high" given the number of victims, his pattern of predation, and the severity of the admitted crimes. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-2944, Categories: Sentencing, Sex Offender
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the circuit finds on remand that the district court improperly dismissed contract claims brought by high-ranking employees who had been fired from their jobs with a big city school district because the women's internship certificates had been discounted as meeting professional requirements for leadership roles under their employment agreements, even when state education overseers opined that the certificates rendered them qualified, raising questions of fact better left to trial.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 22-2810, Categories: Education, Employment, Contract
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court improperly dismissed this challenge to Connecticut law banning firearms from being carried in state parks because plaintiff had standing to bring a pre-enforcement action since he stated an intent to carry his handgun to the park for self-defense, and nothing demonstrated that the state would refrain from prosecuting him for doing so.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 23-1023, Categories: Civil Rights, Firearms
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims seeking indemnification against class claims contending sanitizing wipes had been misleadingly advertised during the Covid-19 pandemic. The manufacturer, which lacked government review or approval, cited a disparagement clause in the insurance policy, but the claims did not present a possible factual or legal basis to support a defense for personal and advertising harm. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 23-1241-cv, Categories: Insurance, Indemnification, False Advertising
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly dismissed claims contending an employer withheld income taxes from an employee's paycheck because withholding is mandatory for employers under the internal revenue code, and thus written notice the employee provided to cease doing so had no effect. Meanwhile, the employee's request to amend the claim was properly denied as futile. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 23-1201-cv, Categories: Employment, Tax
J. Menashi finds that an attorney's appeal from interlocutory orders on her claims of court misconduct should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. She alleged that a state trial court justice behaved inappropriately when she was his court attorney and that she had been harassed by court officers for reporting the behavior. However, her failure to comply with discovery led to dismissal as a sanction, and the "merger rule" that applies to interlocutory and final orders does not apply when sanctions are involved.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Menashi, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 23-437-cv, Categories: Sanctions, Jurisdiction
Per curiam, the circuit finds that the district court properly found for a manufacturer on product liability claims brought by plaintiff, a hair-care customer who contends she experienced hair loss after using a hair extension gel that hardened into a base, as the expert toxicologist she presented failed to provide evidence indicating the product ingredients caused plaintiff's hair loss. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 22-2727-cv, Categories: Product Liability
J. Nardini finds that the district court improperly held that a supermarket chain had not exhibited discriminatory animus upon firing a store manager because her admission that she had falsified food logs did not resolve whether the stated reason for termination constituted pretext for discrimination, as the manager's claims that certain remarks by her direct supervisor indicated gender bias raised questions of "mixed motives," which, under precedent, may provide evidence of an adverse action against a protected class.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nardini, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 23-238, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Nardini finds that the district court properly held that an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applied when Manhattan homeowners sued for damages from construction work at the Sierra Leone Mission next door. The mission was entitled to sovereign immunity as an embodiment of a foreign state, but subject matter jurisdiction existed under the commercial activity exception because the mission acted as a "private player" in the market by engaging a contractor to carry out renovations. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Nardini, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: 22-1645, Categories: Jurisdiction