143 results for 'filedAt:"2023-08-25"'.
J. Davies finds a lower court improperly dismissed a co- educational secondary school's claims that it was not vicariously liable for the assault and battery of one of its students. The student's representation argued that the school failed to intervene with a former student, now an adult, who sexually battered her. However, the school presented sufficient evidence in court that it was not responsible for the former student's actions because the assault took place well after he was enrolled. Reversed.
Court: Her Majesty's Court of Appeal, Judge: Davies, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: CA-2022-1876, Categories: Education, Negligence, Assault
J. Tunheim grants summary judgment to the patent claimant in its suit alleging that the patent defendant's firewood processing attachment for a skid steer loader infringes on the claimant's patent. The accused product falls within the limitations of all of the claimant's asserted patent claims, and the claimant has therefore proved literal infringement. The patent is also not rendered obvious by prior art identified by the patent defendant, since the defendant has not shown that the combination of the elements discussed in the prior art was obvious. The claimant's claims are also not barred by estoppel or waiver, nor by prior litigation related to a pivotally mounted loading apparatus since this patent concerns a rigidly mounted apparatus. Finally, the defendant has not shown that this case is exceptional or has been litigated in an unreasonable manner.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv801, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Schiltz partially grants the students' motion for summary judgment in their suit alleging that the state Department of Education improperly terminated their special-education services prior to their twenty-second birthdays. Prior to an amendment which came into effect this July, a Minnesota statute governing special education services which required the state to provide them only until the July 1 after a disabled child became 21 years old violated students' rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires states to provide a free appropriate public education to disabled students "through age 21." Minnesota's adult basic education programs fall under the umbrella of "public education," and thus must be offered to students with disabilities until they reach age 22.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Schiltz, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1837, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Government, Preemption
J. Tunheim denies the dust remover manufacturer's motion for summary judgment in the husband's suit against it alleging that a man who struck and killed his wife in a car collision was impaired after using the manufacturer's product as an inhalant. A reasonable factfinder could find that such misuse of the dust remover by drivers was foreseeable, and therefore that the manufacturer owed a duty to the deceased wife to take greater efforts to prevent such misuse. Similarly, a jury could reasonably find that the manufacturer's actions were a proximate cause for the wife's death, and material fact issues remain regarding failure-to-warn and design defect claims. Cross-motions to exclude expert testimony are both partially granted.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tunheim, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1499, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, Product Liability, Experts
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J. Contreras confirms a $70 million arbitration award in favor of a group of marketing companies in a fraudulent inducement case against an advertising company that convinced the companies to buy it after it misrepresented its database of email addresses, demographics and ability to target customers. The advertiser fails to establish a ground for vacatur.
Court: USDC District of Columbia, Judge: Contreras, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3278, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Fraud
J. Mitchell finds the lower court did not have the subject matter jurisdiction to issue a transportation company’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the state transportation agency to stop them from building a bridge, where the business alleges it was done in “bad-faith” to deter drivers away from their bridge avoid paying a toll. Reversed and remanded.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Mitchell, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: SC-2023-0354, Categories: Transportation, Agency, Contract
J. Mitchell finds that the lower court properly ruled when denying an property owner’s motion to vacate a decision that would result in her losing possession of land she had purchased from a company, who originally bought the land from a tax sale, as the county had failed to give proper notice of the tax sale to the original land owner. Affirmed.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Mitchell, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: SC-2022-1034, Categories: Property, Tax, Contract
J. Shaw finds the lower court improperly issued a stay in an insurance company’s motion for injunctive relief against prior employees who are accused of stealing customers. The stay was issued to allow counter claims filed by the prior employees to investigate criminal charges against the insurance but were found meritless.
Court: Alabama Supreme Court, Judge: Shaw, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: SC-2022-0939, Categories: Employment, Insurance, Injunction
J. Tharp denies a third party investment firm’s motion to compel arbitration in this RICO suit, finding it waited too long before making the motion. The court also finds that, as it was not a signatory to the underlying disputed loans between a lending firm and a borrower, it has not shown any nonparty enforcement doctrine under Illinois law that could compel arbitration.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Tharp, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv750, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Banking / Lending, Racketeering
J. Warner finds a lower court properly dismissed a farming operations owner's property rights claims. The owner of the faming operations argued that he was entitled to install two miles of pipeline to transfer "liquified hog waste" to fertilize his crops. However, his neighbors presented sufficient evidence in court that he violated nuisance rules when he failed to gain consent from other local farmers and landowners.
Court: Kansas Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Warner, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 125,274, Categories: Agriculture, Property
J. Boardman denies summary judgment to a driver after police officers pulled her over and allegedly assaulted her and unnecessarily arrested her. The officers claim the driver purposely drove on private property to avoid a “traffic control device,” drove while talking on her phone and had expired tags. One officer requested back up and the group eventually ordered the driver out of her car. She describes being afraid so she refused to exit. The officers allegedly cut her seatbelt with a knife and forcibly removed her from the car, then restrained her on the ground while arresting her. After review of the evidence including bodycam footage, it was found that officers behaved reasonably and that the driver’s claims lack merit.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Boardman, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 8:22cv1542, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Vehicle, Negligence
J. Bromberg finds that the trial court erred in dismissing a bribery charge against Apple Inc.'s head of security, who had agreed to donate iPads to the Santa Clara County undersheriff in exchange for concealed carry weapons licenses for Tim Cook's security team. Though defendant nixed the donation after the licenses were issued, “a public official may be bribed with a promise to donate to the official’s office.” Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bromberg, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: H049408, Categories: Bribery
J. Stadtmueller orders arbitration between the car finance company and the consumer who defaulted on her car payments but then sued the company over what she says were illegal actions in the company's collections process. A prior state court lawsuit the company initiated to get a civil judgment against the consumer did not, as the consumer argues, waive the company's right to arbitration, and because the arbitration agreement is otherwise valid the company's motion to compel is granted and the consumer's lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Wisconsin, Judge: Stadtmueller, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv520, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Consumer Law
[Consolidated.] J. Livingston finds that the district court properly convicted two Long Island county prosecutors for their roles in covering up an ex-police chief's assault of a man who had been placed in custody for burglarizing cars, including the ex-chief's vehicle, because subordinate police officers were properly allowed to testify that they feared retaliation if they failed to keep to the cover story. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Livingston, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 21-1999-cr (L), Categories: Obstruction, Conspiracy
J. Hamilton finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a prisoner's ADA claim alleging the prison improperly denied his request for accommodation of his injured knee. The complaint claims that the prisoner's prior prison had assigned him a lower bunk, but his current prison denied him a lower bunk causing him severe pain. This pro se allegation sufficiently states an ADA claim.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Hamilton, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 22-2458, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Prisoners' Rights
J. Boyle partially denies a municipality and its police chief their motion for summary judgment after a former sergeant filed multiple allegations including hostile work environment. When the sergeant, a woman, was still an officer, a fellow male officer allegedly flirted with her and insinuated he was her “gigolo” verbally and via text. She began to notice stuffed animals on her desk being arranged in lewd positions. After she confronted her coworker about it, the animals began to appear in murderous scenes with stuffing pulled out and “a red substance was applied to look like blood.” Her claims demonstrate a hostile work environment under Title VII.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv31, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Taylor sustains the contractor's appeal to recover partial termination for convenience, delay, and constructive changes costs, and the reversal of the government’s assessment of liquidated damages from a contract for the construction of oil water separator systems and the installation of new turbine pit sump pumps inside the powerhouse at the Lower Monumental Dam in Washington state. The government had used the original contract completion date to assess liquidated damages. That date was based on the contractor's installation of the main pump units. Following the partial termination, the contract no longer required performance of that work and the substantial completion date was no longer applicable, and no new contract completion date was established for the non-terminated work. The original completion date was no longer applicable, and the government is not entitled to assess liquidated damages based upon that date.
Court: Armed Services Board Of Contract Appeals, Judge: Taylor , Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 62957, Categories: Energy, Government, Contract
J. Clay finds the trial court erroneously failed to provide its own analysis and instead used the "crack-to-powder" ratio set by Congress to set the base offense level for defendant's sentence on drug and weapons charges. The trial court "failed to appreciate the scope of its discretion" to determine the proper ratio. The trial court also failed to respond to defendant's argument that anything other than a 1:1 ratio would result in an excessive sentence and, therefore, his sentence will be vacated and the case will be remanded for resentencing. Vacated in part.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Clay, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 21-1824, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Sentencing
J. Ramos grants the American charitable foundation's motion to dismiss the Israeli academic body's action seeking to compel the foundation to turn over charitable donations it allegedly received on the academy's behalf but never turned over. The academy does not have standing based on a "special interest" in funds held by the foundation, nor as a donor to the foundation. Rather, the attorney general is the appropriate plaintiff to enforce the rights of beneficiaries such as the academy.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Ramos, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv4810, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Civil Procedure, Contract
J. Wendlandt reverses and remands a judgment against the Secretary of the Commonwealth for exceeding his authority by accusing a stock brokerage firm of not living up to its fiduciary duty by encouraging inexperienced investors to make risky investments. Rules in place to prevent the government from exceeding its authority through requiring firms to abide by standards as fiduciaries do not take priority over protecting investors. Reversed.
Court: Massachusetts Supreme Court, Judge: Wendlandt, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: SJC-13381, Categories: Government, Fiduciary Duty, Banking / Lending
Per curiam, the court of appeals finds the trial court improperly denied a trustee’s motion to vacate a final judgement in a challenger’s favor for a property dispute, the challenger’s cross-appeal is dismissed as moot. “The longstanding policy in Florida is one of liberality toward vacating defaults, and any reasonable doubt with regard to setting aside a default should be resolved in favor of vacating the default and allowing trial
on the merits.” Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 6D23-385, Categories: Property, Injunction
J. Flanagan grants a county its motion to dismiss allegations of due process violations brought by a former library director after the county fired her unexpectedly. The director had an argument with a volunteer, and the volunteer met with the assistant county manager. The next day, he fired the director without explanation beyond “unsatisfactory job performance.” Because a reasonable person would not know that the director’s property rights under due process include her employment, her argument is not sufficient to overcome the manager’s protection under qualified immunity.
Court: USDC Eastern District of North Carolina, Judge: Flanagan, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 4:22cv130, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Employment
Per curiam, the Fifth Circuit finds the district court properly awarded attorney fees and court costs to the employee/servers who prevailed on most of their claims against the restaurant which deducted 3.25% from credit-card tips which were paid daily in cash to offset processing and cash delivery fees. The employees have not clearly pointed to an error in the court's determining their attorneys' reasonable hours. The court factored in appropriate considerations and acted within its purview in calculating the lodestar. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 22-50765, Categories: Employment, Attorney Fees, Labor
J. Smith finds that the district court properly denied a habeas corpus petition challenging defendant's California conviction for making criminal threats and assault with a deadly weapon. The victim was not authorized to reside in the United States at the time of the crimes and later received a U-Visa, which provides immigration benefits for victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement. At trial, the court barred defendant from cross-examining the victim about his U-Visa status, which defendant claimed was relevant to the victim's credibility. Affirmed.
Court: 9th Circuit, Judge: Smith, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 20-55816, Categories: Habeas, Immigration, Assault
J. Sharpe preserves First Amendment and equal protection retaliation claims brought by a female former special counsel of the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services against her supervisor. She alleges her supervision demoted her in retaliation for voluntary testimony she provided in an investigation into complaints that he was acting inappropriately towards female employees. The court finds her testimony relate to matters of the state and is therefore protected speech under the First Amendment. As well, the court finds the supervisor’s defenses for her demotion are undercut by allegations that parts of her testimony were corroborated by other employees, which could lead a jury to believe the reasons were pretextual and that her demotion was retaliatory.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sharpe, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv619, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Equal Protection, Employment Retaliation, First Amendment
J. Boatwright finds the trial court improperly awarded attorney fees to the real estate brokerage company in the lawsuit it faced from the property investments firm. Florida's First District Court of Appeals' prior rulings denying the company attorney fees established "the law of the case" before the company sought trial court attorney fees based on the same legal arguments, so the trial court should not have granted any fees. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Boatwright, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 23-0371, Categories: Real Estate, Attorney Fees