25 results for 'judge:"Chambers"'.
J. Chambers grants in part the in-home respiratory care provider’s motion for summary judgment in the former Huntington branch manager's retaliatory discharge suit. While there are disputed issues of material facts on her two claims of retaliatory discharge in violation of the West Virginia Patient Safety Act, the company, despite lying to state and federal regulators why they fired her, did not terminate her employment "in an atrocious, intolerable, or extreme way."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers , Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv109, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Health Care, Employment Retaliation
J. Chambers grants the transgender woman's motion to amend her complaint to include a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and grants in part the West Virginia Department of Health Service's motion to dismiss the initial complaint seeking injunctive relief for her health maintenance organization to pay for three "medically necessary surgeries" through the state Medicaid program. In addition to demonstrating her ADA claim has merit, the woman makes a plausible denial of equal protection claim when WVDHS "took the 'previously unheard-of step of asking a state court to overturn'" its own Board of Review's eligibility review based solely on her sexual orientation.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv450, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Lgbtq
J. Chambers grants the recreational vehicle manufacturer's motion to dismiss the customer's breach of warranty suit claiming a 2022 Forest River Sandpiper he purchased from a dealer in Ashland, Kentucky, was defective and that multiple attempts to repair the RV were unsuccessful. The court finds the customer signed the warranty registration when he purchased the RV which contained the "magic words" in the forum selection clause that any action must be filed in Indiana. The court stays enforcement of its order to allow the customer to file a motion to transfer.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv570, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Business Practices, Warranty, Contract
J. Chambers grants the Canadian shoe cover manufacturer's motion to dismiss the registered nurse's product liability suit claiming work-issued shoe covers she wore at the Hershel “Woody” Williams Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Huntington caused her to slip and fall "hard on her left side," injuring her left hip. shoulder and ulnar nerve. The court lacks personal jurisdiction to hear the case since the company not only "did not purposefully avail itself of West Virginia," but also "had no clue its shoe covers would end up in the Mountain State."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv88, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Product Liability, Jurisdiction
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J. Chambers grants in part the residential mortgage servicer's motion to dismiss the homeowner's complaint claiming it improperly foreclosed on the home she inherited from her parents three years earlier without confirming her status as successor-in-interest, then three months later transferred the mortgage to another servicer without still confirming her status as successor-in- interest or responding to her application to assume and modify the loan. Since she fails to allege she is a "borrower" or a "confirmed successor in interest" or meets the definition of a "consumer", her claims under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection acts are dismissed. However, the homeowner has demonstrated the company caused her harm when it intentionally interfered with the deed of trust securing the home to confirm her as successor in interest and assume the parents' home loan, and restricted her ability to qualify for loan mitigation options.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: February 21, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv525, NOS: Foreclosure - Real Property, Categories: Property, Business Practices, Foreclosure
J. Chambers grants summary judgment to the commission and seven deputy sheriffs in a couple's complaint alleging the deputies violated their constitutional rights after they were dispatched to the couple's home in response to two brief 911 calls. After the husband was charged with domestic battery and interfering with a 911 call, deputies returned to the home in April 2022 to execute a search warrant and check on the two daughters' welfare when the mother failed to answer subpoenas to testify. The couple failed to establish the deputies engaged in any unlawful activity during their investigations.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv277, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Police Misconduct
J. Chambers finds that the lower court properly found the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law requires a beer importer, which acquired its importation rights relating to a particular beer brand directly from the manufacturer, to honor a wholesale distribution agreement entered into by the prior importer of the same beer brand. Under the language of the law, the importer is a "successor to a brew" even where there is no relationship between the prior importer and the new importer. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 00067, Categories: Administrative Law, Commerce
J. Chambers grants in part the motions to dismiss by the City of Huntington, Cabell County Commission, Cabell County Emergency Medical Services, and Cabell County Sheriff Chuck Zerkle from a Huntington couple's suit brought as executors of their daughter's estate. The couple claimed first responders violated the daughter's civil rights when they refused to have her evaluated after expressing thoughts of suicide, which she acted on later that day. After finding the couple failed to provide any facts as to how any of the defendants violated her rights to due process, the City's motion is granted on the other counts of state constitutional violations, tort of outrage and reckless infliction of emotional distress, ordinary and/or professional negligence, and disability discrimination under both the West Virginia Human Rights and the American's with Disabilities acts since they owed the daughter no "special relationship." While dismissing the Commission and CCEMS from the state law and constitutional claims, the couple have provided enough plausible facts to demonstrate Zerkle's policy of not responding to mental hygiene calls on Sundays discriminates against those with mental Illnesses.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv13, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Government
J. Chambers finds that the lower court improperly ruled a vehicle transporting construction materials for use in an ongoing road repair project is "actually engaged in work on a highway," such that the driver is exempt from ordinary rules of the road and held to the "reckless disregard" standard. Driving a work vehicle to or from a worksite does not constitute actual engagement in work on a highway, and one would anticipate such work to be accomplished while obeying the rules of the road. Reversed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 06395, Categories: Construction, Vehicle
[Consolidated.] J. Chambers grants the former Cabell County Clerk's motion to dismiss civil rights suits claiming the failure of both her office and the Cabell County Commission to have an accurate map of magisterial districts in place by the filing deadline of the 2022 primary election resulted in candidates' removal from the ballot. In addition to the candidates' failure to provide any facts that the magisterial district in which they were running was hastily redrawn as " 'a subterfuge from eliminating [them] from the ballot'", the former clerk did not violate their rights to due process since they "do not have a property or liberty interest in any political or elected office."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv129, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Elections, Government
J. Chambers, on remand from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, awards $343,871 in attorney fees and costs to the automotive dealer for the work "necessary to obtain payment of the insurance proceeds" following a settlement reached prior to trial in the dealer's breach of contract claim against its insurance carrier for denying coverage for the fraudulent purchase of a car.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 3:19cv477, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Chambers grants the Barboursville motel’s renewed motion to dismiss a Georgia man’s suit claiming he sustained permanent and disabling injuries on Sept. 29, 2020, when during a dive excursion at Coco View Resorts in Honduras he was struck by the propeller of one of the motel’s ships it has docked at the resort. After giving the parties a 90-day period to conduct limited discovery following the filing of an amended complaint, the court finds, despite some evidence of a business relationship, the man can’t show the motel and the resort are one in the same.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: October 4, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv417, NOS: Marine - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Maritime, Tort, Business Practices
J. Chambers denies, in part, an insurer's motion for summary judgment in a couple's car collision coverage dispute. Questions of fact remain whether the insurer unreasonably delayed making a settlement offer.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers , Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv637, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Business Practices, Contract
J. Chambers denies, in part, the state of West Virginia's motion to dismiss the drug manufacturer's suit challenging the constitutionality of the Unborn Child Protection Act on the grounds the 2022 law restricts the sale of mifepristone, the first in a two-step abortion medication regime. The risk evaluation and mitigation strategy promulgated by the Food and Drug Administration on mifepristone preempts the Act on restricting its prescription via telemedicine.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv58, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Commerce, Constitution, Health Care
J. Chambers grants in part and denies in part the motions by the school board and five special education teachers and aides at Huntington High School to dismiss a couple’s civil rights suit claiming school abused and neglected their disabled 15-year-old son by barricading him in a corner, depriving him of food and drink, and leaving him to sit in his urine and feces for extended periods of time. The court dismisses their negligence per se, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional spoliation claims because West Virginia law does not support a cause of action for negligence per se, the couple have not pleaded sufficient facts to establish they witnessed the alleged injuries to their son, and the Board is immunity from liability its employees’ intentional acts. The couple’s equal protection, Americans with Disabilities Act, false imprisonment and negligent hiring/retention claims survive.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 3;22cv592, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities - Other - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Education
J. Chambers grants a trans woman’s motion for temporary and preliminary relief compelling the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to carry out its Board of Review’s decision approving three medically necessary surgeries scheduled for September for treatment of her gender dysphoria. Determining it has subject-matter jurisdiction and she is likely to prevail on the merits of her case, the court finds her interest in receiving the surgeries outweighs the state's in appealing the Board's decision to the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals since it is “measured only in money.”
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv450, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Health Care, Injunction
J. Chambers grants the pre-med student’s motion for leave to file an amended and supplemental complaint for civil rights violations for the Title IX coordinator’s faulty investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him, but precludes him from asserting a violation of due process claim since the university decided to scrap the coordinator’s investigation, terminated her employment and selected a new investigator to perform a completely new investigation and issue a final report.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv346, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process
J. Chambers denies the nonprofit corporation’s motion to dismiss the city’s suit for declaratory judgment that the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act do not exempt the nonprofit’s 14 sober living homes from inspection by the city fire marshal under municipal building and fire codes. The court finds “that a judgment in the case would likely ‘serve a useful purpose’ in settling the issue of whether The Lifehouse may avoid Huntington’s inspections and regulations in totality.”
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv402, NOS: Housing/Accommodations - Civil Rights, Categories: Municipal Law, Zoning, Housing
J. Chambers denies the school garage parts supervisor's motion for summary judgment on the remaining count of civil conspiracy in a couple’s civil rights suit claiming the supervisor improperly influenced sheriff deputies’ investigation into missing parts at the bus garage that resulted in their suspension and arrest for embezzlement. The court finds the supervisor is not entitled to qualified immunity since “it is clearly established beyond debate that government employees may not subject individuals to malicious prosecution, false arrest or imprisonment, or unreasonable searches and seizures.”
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: July 6, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv423, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Immunity
J. Chambers grants the modular home manufacturing company’s request in its complaint to compel arbitration in the Putnam County couple’s claim of defects in the construction of their home, finding any decision on whether the parties satisfied the mediation prerequisite in the sales agreement is one for the arbitrator to decide. Since he was neither a signatory nor an indispensable party to the contract, the court grants the husband’s motion to dismiss himself from the suit.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: June 26, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv504, NOS: Arbitration - Other Suits, Categories: Arbitration, Housing, Business Practices
J. Chambers grants in part and denies in part the Wayne County municipality’s and two of its police officers’ motion for summary judgment in a mother’s civil rights suit claiming her son died due to head trauma following the officers’ excessive use of force. The court finds sufficient material issues of facts for a jury to decide whether one of the officers had probable cause to believe the decedent posed a threat of serious harm to him and as to whether the officer’s actions were reasonable, and on the state law claim against the chief of police for spoliation of evidence.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Chambers, Filed On: May 19, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv197, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Police Misconduct