281 results for 'court:"USDC Minnesota"'.
J. Tostrud partially grants the insurer's motion for summary judgment in the homeowners' association's suit seeking reimbursement for the cost to replace undamaged, non-color-matching siding on buildings damaged by hail. There is no genuine dispute of material fact that the association did not actually and necessarily spend more than the value of its loss, and it filed suit more than two years after providing notice of its claim, precluding pre-award interest. An appraisal panel's award and subsequent clarification on the issue of whether the association is entitled to matching costs for the siding were ambiguous, so that issue remains live.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2027, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Doty partially grants the wire service's motion to dismiss the oil and gas company founder's suit alleging that a story the wire service published incorrectly implied that he had been convicted of criminal activity rather than saying that he had been held civilly liable. It would be premature to determine on the current record whether the founder is a limited-purpose public figure, but he has nevertheless plausibly alleged actual malice. He has adequately pleaded defamation, defamation per se and defamation by implication, but has abandoned an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Doty, Filed On: April 17, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv2983, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation, Emotional Distress
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J. Menendez grants the fringe benefit plan trustees' motion for default judgment and an injunction against the employer in their case alleging failures to make fringe benefit contributions and reports required under collective bargaining agreements. The facts alleged in the trustees' complaint, accepted as true, provide a basis for a breach of contract action, and given the employer's nonresponse to the complaint, it is liable for delinquent contributions, interest and liquidated damages. It is also ordered to submit contribution reports or payroll books and records.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv1273, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Labor
J. Docherty denies the pillow magnate and his company's motion to reconsider an order on their earlier motion to compel, partially grants their separate motion to compel, and grants their motion to amend the scheduling order in the voting machine company's suit against them alleging that they made defamatory claims in disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election. The original ruling on the earlier motion to compel was not in error, and the motion for reconsideration is not properly before the court. The motion to compel is timely as to four of its requests for production, but not for two others, and of the four timely-challenged requests, the voting machine company must supplement its disclosures for one.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv98, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Elections, Defamation, Discovery
J. Wright grants the bank's motion to strike the mortgagor's complaint seeking to invalidate two foreclosure sales of a duplex. The mortgagor, proceeding pro se, has not complied with the court's rules and orders, forcing the bank to delay discovery.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Wright, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv271, NOS: Foreclosure - Real Property, Categories: Banking / Lending, Foreclosure
J. Docherty grants the insurers' motions to compel discovery and a deposition and denies the driver's motion to compel a deposition in the driver's suit arguing that he was improperly denied a policy for a classic car because he does not own a daily-use car. The driver failed to comply with meet-and-confer requirements and has not fully responded to discovery requests, and the insurers' requests seek relevant information, and are proportional to the needs of the case.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Docherty, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv525, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Insurance, Discovery
J. Menendez affirms the magistrate judge's protective order, and overrules the auto company's objections. The protective order, which excluded the auto company's in-house counsel and paralegal from seeing certain materials, was not clearly erroneous or contrary to law.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1681, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Foster denies the patent claimant's motion to compel and partially grants the patent defendant's motion to compel in a suit alleging infringement of a patent for a miniature cellular modem. The information the claimant seeks is no longer relevant to any of this case's active claims following a finding that its asserted patents are invalid. The defendant seeks documents related to legal advice on the patent, investor presentations and the patent claimant's attorney's billing records. The request for billing records is granted, and the claimant shall also direct its attorney to produce documents to the extent that they may relate to inequitable conduct, prior art or possible prior art, or any decisions to omit or disclose that art to the patent office.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Foster, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2345, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Discovery
J. Foster grants the pornographer's motions to serve third-party subpoenas seeking information on various unknown internet users in 12 cases alleging that the users unlawfully downloaded and distributed its copyrighted movies. Expedited discovery is warranted because the requests are specific in that they seek only the users' names and addresses, the pornographer has stated an actionable claim, there are no other ways to obtain this information, the case cannot proceed without it, and appropriate guardrails can be, and hereby are, put in place to protect the users' privacy.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Foster, Filed On: April 11, 2024, Case #: 0:24cv1060, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Privacy, Discovery
J. Frank denies the guarantor's motion to dismiss the lender's suit against him for forum non conveniens or a stay pending resolution of another action in California. The parties' agreement includes a valid forum-selection clause, and it is unclear whether the financing involved in the California case are related to the loan at issue here. Public-interest factors have not been shown to sufficiently support dismissal, and it is unlikely that the California action will dispose of any of this case's issues.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv2244, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Venue, Contract
J. Blackwell dismisses the doctor and former gubernatorial candidate's suit alleging that the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice sought to chill his speech by investigating complaints against him for his comments on the Covid-19 pandemic and the incumbent governor's response to it. The candidate has not established an injury in fact, since he has not alleged any instances in which the board's investigations prevented him from speaking on those topics. His challenges to Minnesota statutes granting the board regulatory authority also fail since he has not identified how he was impacted by the statute in ways different from third parties. He also has not adequately pleaded that he suffered differential treatment during the investigation process.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv1689, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Administrative Law, Civil Rights, Constitution
J. Davis partially grants the auditor's motion to dismiss its client's counterclaims in a case arising from the parties' relationship in the years leading up to the client's entry into rehabilitation. Minnesota law governs the motion to dismiss, and the client's claims related to a collection of 2016 investments are time-barred. Other claims, stemming from a 2016 reinsurance transaction and the appointment of an actuary in the same year, are not time-barred. Claims for breach of fiduciary duty are dismissed for failure to state a claim, as are claims alleging fraudulent concealment.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Davis, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv3132, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Choice Of Law, Contract
J. Schiltz grants the data aggregators' motion to dismiss the consumer's suit alleging that a now-defunct company they sold her data to damaged her reputation by claiming on its website that she had a poor "reputation score." The consumer has alleged an injury-in-fact, traceable to the aggregators, that could be redressed with a favorable judgment. She has not, however, sufficiently pleaded that the defunct company was acting as an agent of the aggregator. Her federal claims fail on that basis, and the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over her state-law claims.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv1769, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Consumer Law, Privacy, Class Action
J. Tunheim grants motions for summary judgment brought by the EPA, state regulators and major iron and steel industry players in the Native American bands' suit alleging that the agency failed to consider impacts on wild rice and fish protected by treaty rights when it approved Minnesota's 2021 water quality standards. The agency's decision was based on science and data in which it and one of the state regulators are experts, and therefore its decision was not arbitrary or capricious. Minnesota's alleged struggles to implement and enforce those standards are also not a factor that the agency must consider in deciding whether to approve them.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1783, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Native Americans
J. Menendez grants summary judgment to the defendant ladder maker in its competitor's suit alleging patent infringement. No reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant's ladders infringe a limitation in the plaintiff's patent requiring that "a substantial amount of the first bracket is disposed within a cavity defined by the first component" of the ladder. The defendant ladder maker's motion to exclude expert testimony is also granted in part, since the expert failed to apply the court's claim construction in his opinions regarding the cavity limitation.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:20cv2497, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Experts
J. Schiltz dismisses the insured's suit seeking indemnification for losses caused by a fraudulent wire transfer. The insured's loss stemmed from "social-engineering fraud," and it has failed to allege that it followed an "established and documented verification procedure" before obeying the fraudster's instructions. It therefore fell under an exclusion under the insured's policy.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv510, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Menendez partially grants the medical technology company's motion to dismiss the shareholders' suit alleging that it misrepresented a product's progress toward FDA approval to investors. The shareholders have not alleged facts showing that any of the company's backward-looking statements about the product were false statements of material fact or actionable omissions. Other statements the shareholders point to are inactionable opinions, and their complaint does not include any statements by the company or its officers guaranteeing or assuring that the product would be approved by the FDA, at all or on a particular timeline.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2197, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Class Action
J. Menendez partially grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss the patient's proposed class action alleging that it improperly used the technology company Meta's tracking software to collect and transmit patients' data when they accessed its website. A claim under Minnesota's consumer fraud is dismissed, because the patient has failed to allege a misrepresentation connected to merchandise, and an invasion of privacy claim fails because, as alleged, any interception of the patient's data was Meta's, not the health care provider's. The patient has plausibly alleged claims under state and federal wiretap statutes, Minnesota deceptive trade practices and health records statutes, and for common law invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv440, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy, Class Action, Technology
J. Menendez partially grants the milking machine makers' motion to dismiss the dairy farmers' suit against them alleging misrepresentation of the machine's capabilities and a number of defects. Claims against two foreign entities and one domestic entity involved in the milking machine business are dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, since the farmers have not adequately proved their alter-ego, agency or conspiracy theories of personal jurisdiction. A third foreign entity's motion to dismiss is denied, since disputes persist as to whether it has sufficient contacts with Minnesota to warrant personal jurisdiction. The companies' motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim are denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1924, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Corporations, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Davis denies the government's motion for summary judgment in the deceased Vietnam veteran's wife's medical-malpractice suit on her husband's behalf, and denies the wife's motion for leave to file a motion to strike the government's expert physicians' surrebuttal declarations. The wife has exhausted her administrative remedies, since the Veteran's Administration took nearly two years to issue a decision on her claim, and did so after this litigation began. Additionally, questions of fact remain as to whether the wife can establish that the Veterans Administration's failure to dialyze the veteran led to his cardiac arrest. Finally, a prior order in this case did not bar admission of the expert surrebuttals.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Davis, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 0:21cv1431, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Experts, Medical Malpractice
J. Tostrud grants the former employee's motion for default judgment in suit against his former employer alleging retaliatory discharge under the False Claims Act and breach of contract. Taken as true, the employee's allegations satisfy all the elements of both claims, and the employer's failure to prosecute its counterclaims warrants dismissal of those counterclaims. Judgment is awarded in the amount of $1,821,620.68.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2145, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, False Claims
J. Tunheim partially grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss the patient's putative class action alleging that it improperly shared personal information with the technology company Meta through its website. The patient's claims for violations of the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Minnesota Consumer Fraud Act and for unjust enrichment survive, since the patient has plausibly alleged that the healthcare provider deceived patients as to the extent of its use of patients' data and a failure to comply with HIPAA, that his proposed class action would serve a public benefit, and that the healthcare provider receives benefits from the use of his personal information. His intrusion on seclusion claim fails because he voluntarily provided his data to the healthcare provider, and he has not provided sufficiently specific examples of his use of the website to support a Minnesota Health Records Act claim. He has also not pleaded an unlawful interception of data under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv482, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy, Class Action, Technology
J. Davis grants the insurer's motion for summary judgment in the disability benefits seeker's suit challenging the insurer's denial of long-term disability benefits on the basis that the benefits seeker's gunshot wounds and subsequent disability resulted from his commission of an assault, for which charges were later dismissed. The policy at issue's exclusion for disability resulting from the insured's criminal acts applies to the benefit seeker's injuries, which stemmed from an altercation in which he drove his truck into a group of people in a driveway and was shot by one of them.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Davis, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1918, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Contract
J. Frank grants the knee implant makers' motions to exclude expert testimony and for summary judgment in the implant recipient's suit alleging that her knee replacement loosened after implantation. The expert's opinion that the particular implant used is especially prone to debonding exhibits "several red flags" regarding her methodology, and at the time of implantation, no knee devices were on the market with the features the expert cites as necessary to prevent debonding. Since the implant recipient's claims regarding the device rely on the now-excluded expert testimony, those claims cannot survive summary judgment.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Frank, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv331, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts