46 results for 'filedAt:"2023-07-03"'.
J. Wright grants a bourbon marketer and seller's motion for default judgment in a trademark infringement dispute. The seller alleges that an alcoholic beverage re-seller advertised and sold its trademarked bourbon in miniature bottles, but the bourbon seller has never produced or sold miniature bottles of bourbon. The seller sent a cease-and-desist letter and the re-seller removed the items from its website, but did not respond to the trademark infringement or counterfeiting complaint. The seller "sufficiently states claims on which it may recover for trademark infringement, counterfeiting, false designation of origin, and unfair competition." Nothing in the record suggests that the re-seller's failure to appear is due to excusable neglect. The seller is awarded $30,000 in statutory damages.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Wright, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv8467, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark
J. Brann allows a customer service rep from American Home Patient to bring race discrimination claims against her employer because the rep, American Home's only Black employee, sufficiently demonstrated her supervisor created a hostile workplace environment by calling her "coon" and "nigger" while her coworkers laughed.
Court: USDC Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Brann, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv1683, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Ikuta finds that the district court improperly dismissed a complaint alleging an unconstitutional restriction of protected speech which generally prohibits unannounced recordings of conversations, subject to several exceptions. Project Veritas, a non-profit, undercover investigative journalism group claims that it documents matters of public concern by making unannounced audiovisual recordings of conversations, often in places open to the public. Oregon does not have a compelling interest in protecting individuals’ conversational privacy from other individuals’ protected speech in places open to the public, even if that protected speech consists of creating audio or visual recordings of other people. Reversed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Ikuta, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 22-35271, Categories: Constitution, Privacy
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J. King partially grants the insurance agency's motion to dismiss the asset-based lender's claim that the agency improperly calculated the end-of-term value in the lender's insurance policy. It is unclear if the lender based its contract claim on the theory that Endorsement D's prefatory language defines the valuation method, which is part of a previously failed argument.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv756, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Moore finds the county court, sitting as juvenile court, properly terminated a mother's parental rights. A family friend contacted human services with concerns about the children's well-being. Human services filed a petition alleging the mother's drug use, erratic behavior, mental health issues, lack of stable housing and a history of leaving the children with others for extended periods. The mother failed to complete the court-ordered psychological evaluation and was becoming verbally and physically violent during visitation. All evidence supports termination. Although grounds existed to terminate the father's parental rights, the Nebraska Court of Appeals finds that the guardian has not met its burden to prove that he is unfit, has forfeited his rights or that termination is in the child's best interests. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part.
Court: Nebraska Court Of Appeals, Judge: Moore , Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: A-22-893, Categories: Family Law, Guardianship
J. Phillips finds that the lower court properly allowed a native tribe to conduct gaming operations on a 10-acre lot in Kansas that the tribe bought in the 1990s. The Kansas government has opposed the gaming operations, but the tribe has met all of the legal requirements under the law, namely that the land has been taken into a trust and was properly acquired. Affirmed.
Court: 10th Circuit, Judge: Phillips, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 21-3097, Categories: Government, Native Americans
J. Kim finds that the the trial court erred in finding a school district liable for a knee injury that a student suffered when tackled by a fellow student during physical education. There was no evidence that the district knew or suspected the fellow student had engaged in conduct that would trigger the mandatory duty to report his intimidating and disruptive conduct to the injured student's teachers. Also, there was no evidence that any failure to report was the proximate cause of the injury. On remand, the trial court must apportion fault for noneconomic damages between the fellow student and the physical education teacher. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Kim, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: B317548, Categories: Education, Negligence
J. Rothstein denies summary judgment to the family for Phoenix Protective Services' affirmative defense of vicarious liability from the family's lawsuit, which alleges that the state's Department of Children and Families and Phoenix wrongfully put the children in the state's custody. Phoenix's affirmative defense, stating that it is not liable for damages based on its supervisory capacity or role as an employer, stands because there are still material disputes of fact over whether an entity rendering services qualifies as an employee or an independent contractor, and thereafter if those actions are within the scope of employment.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Rothstein, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv1263, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government
Per curiam, the Ninth Circuit remands a matter to the district court for further proceeding to be consistent with the Supreme Court ruling of Gonzalez v. Google LLC. The Gonzalez Supreme Court ruling concerns the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and its impact on the algorithmic systems companies use on their social media sites.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 18-16700, Categories: Communications
J. King grants the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) participant's unopposed motion for preliminary approval of class action settlement, which arises from his claim that the credit union denied his second auto loan application after accepting his first because his DACA documentation was "not acceptable for financing," and that the credit union wrongfully conducted hard credit pulls that lowered his and other non-citizen residents' credit scores. The credit union has agreed to change its lending policies so that non-citizens will not be required to show documentation that they can legally remain in the United States through the loan's maturity date, and they will be evaluated for loan eligibility equally to applicants who are U.S. citizens.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv5148, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Settlements, Class Action
J. Stratton finds that the trial court properly held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear defendant's motion to withdraw a no contest plea after finishing probation on an assault conviction. Though full jurisdiction was transferred to the county where his probation was supervised, the trial court in the county where he was tried, convicted and sentenced maintained jurisdiction over non-probation matters, including the motion to withdraw the plea. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Stratton, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: B315243, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Probation, Jurisdiction
J. Bright finds the lower court properly terminated the father's parental rights. He not only failed to engage with in-person and virtual visitation during his 3-year case plan, but also tested positive for cocaine, became aggressive with several family services workers, and refused to engage in counseling and parenting services. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Bright, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: AC45822, Categories: Evidence, Family Law
J. Patterson finds the appellate division properly convicted defendant of burglary after he was arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with a series of burglaries in that state. Defendant had to be brought to trial by August 2018 after he requested disposition of his New Jersey offenses in February 2018. Defendant had been "unable to stand trial" while his motions remained pending for 53 days, tolling the 180-day period and shifting the final deadline to October 2018. Jury selection began in June 2018, in advance of that deadline. Affirmed.
Court: New Jersey Supreme Court, Judge: Patterson , Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: A-9-22, Categories: Speedy Trial
J. Slaughter finds in favor of the county for the family’s claim that deputies fatally shot the sovereign citizen via a sniper rifle after he could not hear their surrender orders. The deputies did not violate the sovereign citizen’s Fourth Amendment right, because he was armed, previously refused to comply with orders, and had a bag that was sufficiently suspicious enough for the deputies to believe that it contained a bomb.
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Slaughter, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 5:20cv2602, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Feldman finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a defense based on alleged defective design in a dispute between a construction company and King County. The county sued the company after a pipeline built by the company broke. The company is entitled to use a defective design defense because, under legal precedent, it should not be responsible for damages caused by a design it simply followed. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Feldman, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 83787-7-I, Categories: Contract
J. Frimpong preliminarily certifies one of three proposed classes and equitably tolls the statute of limitations for opt-in plaintiffs in part, starting from December 12, 2022, regarding a county employee's allegations of violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employee has provided "sufficient evidence for preliminary certification of the unpaid overtime wage class prior to extensive discovery." For opt-in plaintiffs, "it is appropriate to toll the statute of limitations for the period of time that this preliminary certification Motion has been pending."
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Frimpong, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv2623, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action
J. McGee finds the lower court properly affirmed the decision of the Metropolitan Historic Zoning Commission (MHZC) to disapprove a homeowner’s application for demolition of the historic home he owned. Though the owner had plans for creating additional living space in the home, the contractor he hired jeopardized the home’s structural integrity. The MHZC then voted to require reconstruction of the home using specific criteria. The owner then conveyed the property to his son who then submitted his own application for demolition of the property. The MHZC considered the application a request for rehearing and denied it. The lower court supported the decision, as does the instant court. Affirmed.
Court: Tennessee Court of Appeals, Judge: McGee, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: M2022-00850-COA-R3-CV, Categories: Real Estate, Zoning
J. Colloton finds a lower court properly dismissed an energy company's motion to enjoin a preliminary injunction concerning its request to obtain right-of-way access onto Native American land for lack of jurisdiction. The energy company argued that the Bureau of Indian Affairs falsely promised to ban employees from smoking cigarettes on the work site and right-of-way land. However, the energy company failed to exhaust its remedies in tribal court before moving ahead in the federal arena. Reversed.
Court: 8th Circuit, Judge: Colloton, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 22-202, Categories: Property, Native Americans, Injunction
J. D'Auria finds the appeals court properly overturned the trial court's decision to grant the bank's motion for a judgment of strict foreclosure. The borrower made a timely and sufficient objection to the amount owed on the mortgage. The borrower provided yearly statements that created a question of fact regarding the tax liability on the property. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: D'Auria, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: SC20662, Categories: Evidence, Real Estate, Banking / Lending
J. Fields finds that probable cause and particularity supported a geofence warrant that yielded location data from Google that put defendant at the scene of a murder. The geography and time frame of the warrant was narrow enough to avoid identifying uninvolved people. The novelty of geofence warrants at the time it was issued satisfies the good faith exception to warrant requirements. The warrant met the particularity requirements of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and violations of the Act's notice provisions do not require suppression.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Fields, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: E078954, Categories: Murder, Search
J. Seabright dismisses an amended complaint by a former Republican candidate for governor claiming that Hawaii’s current governor and lieutenant governor were illegally sworn into office while their elections were supposedly still being contested. The former candidate is still unable to state a claim beyond a “generalized grievance.” His former candidacy in the primary elections does not grant him standing to challenge the general election.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Seabright, Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv528, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections
J. Rakoff finds that the district court properly determined that an inmate's claims for injunctive relief were moot because two of the named wardens in the matter were no longer in position to grant relief regarding the inmate's challenge of a phone time limit, claiming the limit unconstitutionally infringed on his First and Fifth Amendment rights to familial association with his three children. However, the lower court incorrectly dismissed the matter on the alternative ground that the inmate failed to state a claim. Affirmed in part.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Rakoff , Filed On: July 3, 2023, Case #: 21-15073, Categories: Prisoners' Rights