14 results for 'judge:"Blackwell"'.
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. Blackwell grants the nurses' motions for partial summary judgment and class certification in their suit alleging that they were misclassified as ineligible for overtime pay. The nurses, hired as "utilization reviewers" to determine whether medical treatments are necessary, are not exempt under either the administrative or learned professional overtime exemptions, and their proposed class is sufficiently numerous, their claims sufficiently common and typical, and their proposed representative plaintiff adequate.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 0:21cv2283, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Class Action
J. Blackwell grants judgment on the administrative record to the employee in her suit alleging that her long-term disability benefits for suspected post-COVID-19 symptoms were improperly terminated. The employee remained disabled under her disability-benefits policy until she returned to full-time work, and she is entitled to benefits for that period totaling $71,649.90, plus prejudgment interest to be calculated.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1736, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Covid-19
J. Blackwell grants summary judgment to the life insurance company in its interpleader action seeking to be discharged from a dispute over the proceeds of a deceased father's policy between his children and his ex-domestic partner. The domestic partner's counterclaim is dismissed, and the proceeds are distributed between the sons after deducting attorney's fees and costs for the life insurance company. A reasonable jury could not concur with the partner's claims that the decedent's decision to change the beneficiaries of his life insurance shortly before his death was unduly influenced by the sons and that the insurance company failed to investigate that possibility.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: January 8, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv605, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
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J. Blackwell partially grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss a class action alleging that it improperly linked patients' private health information and healthcare-related web activity to their Facebook profiles. Minnesota Health Records Act, invasion of privacy, breach of implied contract, unjust enrichment, negligence and Wiretap Act claims survive, as does one under the Minnesota Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Claims for breach of fiduciary duty and breach of confidence are dismissed, since the patients have not alleged that the healthcare provider was a fiduciary nor that Minnesota courts have recognized a common law "breach of confidence" claim of this kind.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv267, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Fiduciary Duty, Privacy, Class Action
J. Blackwell partially grants the city and police officers’ motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death suit brought by the family of a man shot and killed by police in a highly publicized incident. A Fourth Amendment excessive force claim related to less-lethal munitions is dismissed as to the officers who used lethal munitions, and a substantive due process claim is dismissed because it is subsumed in Fourth Amendment claims. The motion is otherwise denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv1508, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Blackwell grants summary judgment to the property owners in their suit against the city arguing that the placement of bollards in front of the owners' driveway was an unlawful taking. The owners have a protected property interest in their access to the city's road, and the bollards' only function is to interfere with that access. Any money damages award would hinge on fact issues better evaluated by a jury, but injunctive relief is granted to the property owners and the city is ordered to remove the bollards.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1446, NOS: Land Condemnation - Real Property, Categories: Municipal Law, Property
J. Blackwell dismisses the permanent residency applicant and her husband's suit seeking to overturn the denial of their application. The District of Minnesota lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to review the denial, and while the husband has standing on the couple's remaining claims, and the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in finding that the husband's 2010 sex-offense and failure-to-register conviction was a "specified crime against a minor," that error was not prejudicial since the circumstances that the couple have alleged disprove "predatory intent" required for such a finding are insufficient to show prejudice. Due process claims are also not adequately pleaded.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: September 18, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1698, NOS: Other Immigration Actions - Immigration, Categories: Administrative Law, Immigration
J. Blackwell denies the cookie dough franchisor's motion for a preliminary injunction preventing its former franchisee from operating a competing cookie dough business. The franchisor has not established harm from consumer confusion, and its current inability to sell franchises in Minnesota means that any frustration of that ability caused by competition is speculative. A claim that irreparable harm will result from other franchisees taking the franchisee's lead in disregarding the terms of their agreements is similarly speculative. The franchisor's likelihood of success on the merits of its claims is also diminished by a lack of clarity as to whether the noncompete provision serves a legitimate purpose when the franchisor cannot compete in Minnesota.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1552, NOS: Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - Property Rights, Categories: Contract, Injunction
J. Blackwell largely dismisses the prisoner's complaint claiming that two sheriff's deputies violated his rights by preventing him from attending a bail hearing. The presence of the prisoner's counsel at the bail hearing is not sufficient to preclude his claim of a loss of court access, and he has plausibly pleaded that he would have posted bail sooner had he been able to attend the hearing. He has not, however, plausibly pleaded that a policy or custom was involved in the alleged deprivation of his right to court access. His conspiracy claim is plausibly pled only as to his individual-capacity claims against the deputies, and not against the county or its former sheriff.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1309, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Due Process, Prisoners' Rights
J. Blackwell largely grants the employer's motion to dismiss the employee's suit alleging that his termination for refusing Covid-19 vaccination constituted religious and disability discrimination. A Title VII failure-to-accommodate claim relating to the denial of the employee's request for a religious exemption survives, since the employee's claims that he holds a sincere religious belief which conflicts with vaccination requirements, that he informed the employer of this belief and that he was terminated for his choice not to be vaccinated is uncontested, and the employer has not clearly established that accommodating the claimed belief would create an undue hardship. The employee has not, however, sufficiently pleaded his separate claims of direct religious discrimination, improper religious inquiries or disability discrimination.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: June 9, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv3039, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Blackwell finds the trial court properly divided certain jointly titled real estate and bank accounts as marital property in this divorce decree. The parties’ prenuptial agreement is characterized as not being particularly strong, stating an intent not to create joint property, but also contemplating transfers that could be considered to that ends. The question of intent as to the property had more than one possible answer, hinging mostly on the parties’ testimony. There is insufficient basis to overturn the ruling. Affirmed.
Court: Oklahoma Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Blackwell, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 119055, Categories: Family Law, Property, Contract