68 results for 'court:"USDC Eastern District of Washington"'.
J. Rice dismisses UPS's affirmative statute of limitations defense against the package car cover driver's complaint alleging that UPS's superiors assigned him to less desirable routes, overloaded him with work and tried to uncover unfavorable information about the driver because of his race. The statute of limitations for Washington Law Against Discrimination and related state law tort claims is three years, and the driver filed this lawsuit in October 2022 so his claims can only go as far back as October 2019, but the acts that happened before October 2018 involved the same people named in the driver's lawsuit. As such, the driver can introduce evidence of acts that happened before Oct. 18, 2018, to support his hostile work environment claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3149, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Rice denies the county summary judgment for the family member's claim that the regional justice center's medical staff did not properly check on or care for the detainee, leading to her death. The family member can hold the county liable under a Monell theory of liability, specifically for its ratification of a policy that does not train its staff to treat and monitor inmates for detox and withdrawal. Also, the death of another inmate, who died under similar circumstances in the county's custody, is admissible evidence.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv308, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Wrongful Death
J. Bastian dismisses the customer's Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim alleging that one of T-Mobile's retail store employees accessed her Snapchat account from her phone when she turned it in for repairs, and then disseminated explicit photos of her and a sex video of her and her partner. The customer does not allege sufficient facts to show that she suffered damage or loss because of the sales representative's conduct, nor does the customer allege any service disruption, as the statute for consequential damages requires.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv5166, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Damages, Consumer Law
J. Dimke grants the Belgian ice cream producer's second motion for default judgment for its complaint that the manufacturing company used a wrongfully obtained patent on ice-molds and related products, which caused non-party Amazon to remove the Belgian ice cream producer's "Combo Mold" product from its listings because of reports that the Belgian ice cream producer infringed on its own product. The manufacturing company's patents are invalid, because the Belgian ice cream producer has sold its Combo Mold since June 2015 and its Four Sphere Mold since August 2018, while the manufacturing company applied for design patent protection on Sep. 30, 2020 for seemingly identical product designs.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv29, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
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J. Bastian grants the clothing company default judgment for its complaint alleging that the beauty school opened with a mark similar to the clothing company's "Zara" trademark. "ZARA" is a famous and valuable brand that the clothing company owns, and the beauty school continues to infringe on that trademark even after the clothing company filed its complaint.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv46, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Dimke denies the health department's motion to dismiss the loss of consortium claim of the employee's complaint, which alleges that the health department fired her for sending an email to the Spokane Regional Health District's board members and its administrative officer objecting to the firing of one of its employees. The health department does not demonstrate as a matter of law or cite any legal authority that the employee cannot sustain her claim.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv46, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment
J. Bastian denies the publisher's motion to dismiss the professional photographer's complaint that the publisher used a copyrighted photograph of Kris Kristofferson on its website without permission. Although the photo went live on the website on Feb. 14, 2019, and the photographer first saw the copyright infringement during the same year, the applicable statute of limitations that bars copyright infringement discovered before 2020 does not apply because there was no reasonable way for the photographer to find the photo due to the lack of "storm warnings" alerting the photographer of the publisher's infringement. The publisher is based in the Pacific Northwest while the photographer is based in Kentucky, and the internet is so vast that it would take a long time to monitor the usage of a single image.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv25, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright
J. Bastian grants the sheriff's office summary judgment against the city administrator's complaint alleging that officers arrested him without a warrant for allegedly stealing public funds during his time as the city administrator for the City of Wapato, Washington. The city administrator claims that the sheriff's office should have known that its officers did not have probable cause because he likely did not have the stolen $100 on him a year after the theft, but continuous possession of misappropriated funds was not an element of the crime for which he was arrested, and the city administrator does not present any evidence that further investigation would have unveiled more information.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv3058, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Evidence, Police Misconduct
J. Rice denies the IT company's motion to compel arbitration in the job trainee's complaint that the IT company fired her for unapproved absences while she took maternity leave. Although the job trainee signed the arbitration agreement on her first day of work, she lacked a meaningful choice because none of the information that the IT company gave her contained information about arbitration, and it subjected her to time pressure to sign the documents on the first day.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv17, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Rights, Employment
J. Rice dismisses without leave to amend the healthcare workers' complaint that Gov. Inslee violated the healthcare workers' civil rights by requiring them to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, resulting in their termination when they refused. Inslee is entitled to qualified immunity on these claims because the healthcare workers cannot claim that Inslee and others unlawfully "subjected" them to any investigational medical product or procedure as the healthcare workers undisputedly rejected the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv295, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment, Covid-19
J. Dimke partially denies summary judgment to the family for their complaint that the school district's employee did not prepare an adequate emergency care plan for their child's asthma, which allegedly led to his death after 18 days on life support following a severe asthma attack. While it is undisputed that the school district had some knowledge of the child's asthma from previous school years, a dispute remains as to the extent and timing of this knowledge.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 4:19cv5038, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Negligence, Wrongful Death
J. Dimke dismisses the family member's complaint alleging that the hospital and others prescribed pain medication to the decedent, contributing to her addiction and her eventual death from “the toxic effects of multiple drugs.” The family member does not establish a proper basis for this court to exercise personal jurisdiction over the hospital, because although the hospital and others transmitted prescriptions to Washington pharmacies, the family member does not cite any authority supporting their argument that a prescription transmission to an out-of-state pharmacy at the patient's request is enough to show a purposeful direction.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv31, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Jurisdiction, Medical Malpractice
J. Dimke grants default judgment to the insurance company for its complaint that it has no duty to cover the insured's claim relating to a collision that occurred when someone else was driving his insured vehicle. The loss is excluded by the policy's employee exclusion clause, as the insurance company believes that the man who drove the car during the accident was the insured's employee. The insured's lack of cooperation in confirming or denying this prejudiced the insurance company in this case.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 4:23cv5043, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Vehicle, Contract
J. Rice denies the winery's motion for a preliminary injunction in its complaint alleging that the restaurant and others planned to use the winery's "Revelers" mark in connection with a vineyard two miles from the winery's vineyard. A preliminary injunction is not necessary because the winery did not take enough action to fight for its mark, as it claims that it learned about the restaurant's infringement in 2018 even though evidence suggests that the restaurant infringed on its mark long before that.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 4:21cv5110, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Injunction
J. Rice denies the insureds' motion to remand their complaint alleging that the insurance company wrongfully denied the insureds coverage after they underwent independent medical examinations following their involvement in a roll-over automobile accident. The insureds' argument that the insurance company's estimation of damages is too speculative is also based on conjecture. The insurance company has successfully established diversity of the parties and that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 14, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv341, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Rice dismisses a complaint alleging that the county's police deputy groomed the alleged abuse survivor, who had a meth addiction, to pressure her into a sexual relationship by bringing up her criminal history and telling her that no one would believe her if she spoke up. The alleged abuse survivor's Washington Law Against Discrimination claim is time-barred under the three-year statute of limitations because the alleged abuse survivor states that she knew there was a power imbalance and that the relationship was based on a quid pro quo pattern.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv280, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Dimke denies Daimler Truck's motion for a protective order over questions such as where the company placed "safety" among other criteria, as part of the family's suit accusing Daimler of not equipping its semi-truck with collision warnings and automatic emergency braking, resulting in the truck driver hitting and killing a pedestrian. Daimler argues that topics 1 through 4 should be limited at deposition because they seek information to leverage a juror to artificially increase a damages award, but its compliance with industry safety customs and ensuring its products were safe are relevant to this case.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Dimke, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3054, NOS: Motor Vehicle Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Rice grants the family's motion to amend their complaint against a security guard service company alleging that a security guard broke the speed limit to follow the family's truck, got out of the vehicle once they all parked, and assaulted one of the family members for allegedly trespassing on a property. The family seeks to amend their complaint to name the security guard service's parent company and the security guard at the heart of this lawsuit, and the security guard services company does not oppose this motion.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv338, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Procedure, Tort
J. Rice declines to dismiss the investors' lawsuit accusing the law firm of sending the former's $1 million investment to an untrustworthy bank, resulting in the funds going missing. The investors establish an injury-in-fact by showing that the untrustworthy bank did not return the money, with nine of the 11 investors losing $100,000 or more, while the rest lost between $25,000 and $50,000. The law firm accepted responsibility for overseeing the money and assuring the investors that it could not be withdrawn or misused without the investors' express authorization.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv227, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Negligence, Legal Malpractice
J. Bastian finds in favor of the U.S. Forest Service against the conservation organization's complaint that the agency wrongfully authorized the Twisp Restoration Project, violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by not properly informing the public about the project and not allowing meaningful public participation. The final environmental assessment fits with NEPA's requirements, because it identifies specific prescriptions for each authorized activity by disclosing the project area and where the project area vegetation treatment would be, and it details what to do if ground conditions differ from the expected conditions.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv293, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Environment, Government
J. Rice denies third-party plaintiff Travelers' motion for summary judgment for the lawsuit asserting that third-party defendant Flawless Walls must indemnify the former for the loss it incurred when settling the bond in an underlying lawsuit. Flawless produces sufficient evidence to question whether Travelers acted in bad faith in the underlying lawsuit, such as producing statements of position that it provided to Travelers describing how it managed to substantially perform the work despite the "rocky and tenuous working relationship" with Jackson Contractor Group.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Rice, Filed On: January 5, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv178, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract