41 results for 'judge:"Conley"'.
J. Conley denies the state military affairs department's motion for summary judgment in the federal government's lawsuit on behalf of an employee claiming the department discriminated against her by offering her a lower salary for a promotion than the male applicant it ultimately hired for the position. There is enough evidence in the record at this point for a reasonable jury to find that the employee's sex motivated the department to use pretexts to offer her a $78,000 salary, which was below the posted minimum of $79,040, then offer her the minimum and pay the male applicant it hired $85,000 for the same job when she turned it down. The employee's motion to file a sur-reply brief is granted.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: May 9, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv60, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Conley denies the construction company's motion to dismiss claims from a class action from employees in part alleging they were not paid their full pay rate or overtime wages for time spent loading trucks and driving to and from job sites. The company's motion to dismiss the employees' state-law claims based on an argument of preemption under the Labor Management Relations Act is premature. The company's motion to stay proceedings pending resolution of a union grievance is denied, as it's not clear how intertwined the grievance and the lawsuit are such that the lawsuit needs to be stayed. The employees' motion to strike the company's reply brief is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv461, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Conley grants the food packager's motion for summary judgment in the kosher food company's breach of contract lawsuit, in which the company claims the packager refused to honor the parties' pricing and product agreement and the packager counterclaims $51,000 in outstanding invoices. The company's claims fail in part because of the clear language in a valid release clause in one of the parties' agreements relieving the packager of liability, which the company cannot prove it signed under duress. The packager prevails on its counterclaim for the unpaid invoices, and the company is ordered to pay the packager $56,421.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv115, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract
J. Conley denies health care providers' motion to dismiss an estate's claims. A man hung himself with a bedsheet and died in his cell, while in the custody of the county jail. The estate filed a lawsuit against the court, jail employees, and healthcare providers who treated the decedent, but later amended the complaint to include additional health care providers. The providers motioned to dismiss the matter claiming the estate did not exercise due diligence in identifying all of the decedent's health care providers, and that it exceeded the statute of limitations when it amended the complaint to name them. It is possible that the amended complaint was timely filed.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 23cv167, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Tort, Negligence
J. Conley partially grants motions in limine from the police officer and the citizen in the latter's lawsuit claiming he was stopped and had his car searched without reasonable suspicion, was subjected to excessive force during his arrest and that false pretexts were used to secure a warrant to search his hotel room. The citizen's motion to bar the officer from introducing evidence of his five previous felony and misdemeanor convictions is partially granted, and the officer's lawyer is only allowed to ask him if he has been "convicted of five crimes punishable by imprisonment for more than one year," unless the citizen's answer opens the door to further inquiry. In part, the officer's motions are partially granted in that he can only inquire about the citizen's brother's past convictions in a similar way and the citizen is barred from making a "golden rule" argument asking the jurors to put themselves in his shoes.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: April 8, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv65, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Police Misconduct
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J. Conley grants the union's motion to affirm an arbitration award in its favor in a dispute with the paper mill owner over the union's demand for vacation pay during the indefinite idling of the mill, which lasted from August 2020 until the mill permanently closed in October of that year. There is no serious error, breach of authority or other cause to overturn the arbitrator's decision, so the decision is affirmed, judgment is entered in the union's favor and the clerk is directed to close the case.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv194, NOS: Labor/Management Relations - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, Labor / Unions
J. Conley denies motions for summary judgment from the employee and the paper manufacturer in the employee's lawsuit claiming he was unlawfully disciplined and fired because he needed accommodations at work limiting his physical movement because of chronic ankle pain and medical leave to have two surgeries on the ankle. Factual disputes over the manufacturer's alleged retaliation against the employee and its reasonable steps to accommodate him require the employee's claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act to proceed to trial.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv686, NOS: Family and Medical Leave Act - Labor, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment Discrimination
J. Conley partially grants motions for summary judgment in the citizen's lawsuit against the police officers claiming unlawful search and seizure, illegal use of force, racial discrimination and other charges in connection with a traffic stop in which the citizen, who is Black and was on probation at the time, was pulled over after leaving a hotel known for illegal drug activity and had his car and hotel room searched, leading to drug and weapon possession charges against him. In part because genuine disputes of fact exist regarding whether the officer who originally pulled the citizen over had reasonable suspicion he had done anything illegal, that officer's motion for summary judgment is denied. Three other officers are granted summary judgment because they are entitled to qualified immunity, and two more officers are also awarded summary judgment because they were not involved enough in the citizen's claims.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv65, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Police Misconduct
J. Conley grants the patient's motion to remand back to the circuit court a class action claiming the health system, without consent, used tracking technology on its website to share patients' personally identifiable information and private health care information with third parties. The fact that the health system operates an online patient portal to access health care records does not mean it is acting under a federal officer or agency's authority and does not support removal of this lawsuit to federal court, even if the system did participate in the federal government's voluntary "meaningful use program" incentivizing giving patients online access to health care records. The case is remanded back to La Crosse County Circuit Court.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv694, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Health Care, Class Action
J. Conley partially grants the insurance company's motion for a declaratory judgment saying it is not obligated to indemnify or defend the metals manufacturer in an arbitration proceeding with a customer claiming the manufacturer provided defective dredge tanks. Although three categories of the customer's claims are not covered by a provision in the manufacturer's policy related to "manufacturer's errors or omissions," there may potentially be coverage for the customer's claims of breach of contract, negligence and negligent misrepresentation if arbitration breaks in its favor.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv443, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Insurance, Contract
J. Conley grants summary judgment to Target in a lawsuit from an intellectual property transfer company claiming Target violated six of its patents for technology to help customers locate products in a store using computerized systems. Because all of the patents in question are directed to the same abstract idea of "collecting, analyzing, retrieving and displaying information," and nothing else about the patent claims make them into something more than abstract ideas, the company's arguments fail. The company's motion for partial summary judgment is denied, and its other motions to strike, for claims construction and for a claims construction hearing are denied as moot.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv425, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Conley grants the retirement plan administrators' motion to dismiss the beneficiaries' class action claiming the administrators breached their fiduciary duties by selecting and retaining investments in index funds that perform poorly compared to other available funds. In part because the beneficiaries have failed to prove the disputed investments were made outside the administrators' "reasonable judgment," and because the investments did not always perform poorly during the class period, the beneficiaries have failed to a state a viable claim for breach of fiduciary duty. The beneficiaries' complaint is dismissed without prejudice, and they are given until February 26, 2024, to file an amended complaint, should there be a good-faith reason for it.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: January 26, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv449, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Fiduciary Duty, Class Action
J. Conley grants summary judgment to the insurance company in the beneficiary's lawsuit claiming it wrongfully denied her claim for long-term disability benefits after she stopped working in June 2022 due to cognitive issues, eye problems, hand numbness, shoulder pain, chronic kidney disease and other complications from diabetes. Through the denial of her initial claim and two subsequent appeals, the insurance company was not arbitrary and capricious in making its decisions based on the beneficiary's medical records and ability to perform her job in light of the combined effect of all her ailments, many of which the evidence shows were stable or improving.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: January 24, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv494, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Insurance
J. Conley finds that the medical provider was properly granted summary judgment for the patient's lawsuit alleging that he injured his ankle, underwent surgery, then allegedly reinjured it when a staff member pushed it into a desk while the patient was being transported in a wheelchair. The patient did not provide necessary expert medical testimony on causation. Reversed.
Court: Kentucky Supreme Court, Judge: Conley, Filed On: January 18, 2024, Case #: 2022-SC-0302-DG, Categories: Negligence, Experts
J. Conley finds for the federal government in a lawsuit from property owners claiming that trees on their property have been damaged by road salt running off from a neighboring VA medical center. The property owners have failed to bring sufficient evidence to support their takings and private nuisance claims such that a reasonable jury could determine the VA center's salt storage is responsible for the damage to their trees, so the government's motion for summary judgment is granted.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv395, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Constitution, Property, Tort
J. Conley finds partially in favor of Hyundai and Genesis in a lawsuit from a car dealer claiming they breached the parties' contract by essentially forcing the dealer to close its Genesis dealership on the eve of a sale its Genesis and Hyundai dealerships to a third party, ultimately costing the dealer $2 million in the sale. Summary judgment is granted to Genesis on all the claims against it because the dealer has failed to allege that it is liable for Hyundai's conduct, denied to Hyundai on all claims against it except a state-law claim regarding the timing of the notice given to the dealer regarding changes to their agreement and another state-law claim for intentional interference with contract, and denied to the dealer entirely. Genesis is dismissed as a defendant, and the remaining claims and parties will proceed to trial on January 22, 2024.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: December 8, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv322, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Tort, Contract
J. Conley denies the hospital's motion for summary judgment in an employment discrimination lawsuit from its former CEO, as the record has sufficient evidence that a jury could conclude the hospital fired the 75-year-old CEO because of age instead of his poor job performance, which the hospital claims included ignoring human resources concerns from hospital employees. The CEO's motion to supplement the record with the hospital's amended interrogatory responses is granted.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: November 29, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv375, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
J. Conley denies the hair care products company's motion to amend an injunction allowing the salon to be the exclusive distributor of its products in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. The motion, which would permit the company to sell its products on Amazon in the salon's territory, must be denied in part because the company has not met statutory notice requirements or shown good cause under Wisconsin's Fair Dealership Law. The salon's motion to amend its complaint to add the company's Swedish parent company as a defendant is granted, and the parties' joint motion to strike the case's schedule is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv695, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Commerce, Contract, Injunction
J. Conley finds against the U.S.-Syrian dual citizen and her Syrian national son in the dual citizen's petition for a writ of mandamus forcing the federal government to finish adjudicating her son's bid for U.S. citizenship before he turns 18 on November 11, 2023, and can no longer acquire automatic U.S. citizenship under applicable federal laws. The relatively short delay in adjudicating the dual citizen's son's case since his visa interview on August 30, 2023, which led a consular official to deny his application and forward his case for "administrative processing," is not egregious or unreasonable enough to warrant an injunction, so the motion is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: November 3, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv629, NOS: Other Immigration Actions - Immigration, Categories: Government, Immigration
J. Conley grants summary judgment to the university management board and university officials in a pro se lawsuit from a Black man who, at age 68, claims he was discriminated against for his race and age by being denied a University of Wisconsin faculty position he applied for. The evidence in the record shows no discrimination in denying the man's application, instead showing that it was purely problems with his application and lack of relevant experience that informed the officials' decision.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: October 3, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv175, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Employment Discrimination
J. Conley denies the club's motion to exclude the expert opinion of Thomas Maronick, who has worked as a marketing expert for the Federal Trade Commission, in a lawsuit alleging that the strip club used the models' images without authorization to promote the club. The club argues that Maronick's report is based on flawed methodology because he did not use the promotional materials using the models' images to gauge consumers' perceptions on the images, but Maronick did in fact apply his professional experiences when designing the survey that included the promotional materials and pictures in question.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 3:21cv657, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Trademark, Experts, Discovery
J. Conley finds in favor of the school district in the former teacher's lawsuit claiming he was forced from his job teaching fifth grade in part in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act because the district did not do enough to accommodate lingering issues from a concussion he suffered. Due to his extended absences from work and multiple performance issues with running and organizing his classroom and curriculum, it is clear the teacher was unable to perform the essential functions of his job with or without accommodations, and his claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act fail. The teacher's claims under the Family and Medical Leave Act and Health Information Portability and Accountability Act also fail for standing reasons, and the school district's motion for summary judgment is granted.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv247, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment
[Consolidated] J. Conley grants the federal government's motions to sever and remand in two lawsuits from a pro se citizen bringing multiple claims against state and federal employees, including allegations that they falsely called the police on him, disclosed his private medical records and wrongfully prescribed him medications for his mental illness. In one case the citizen's claims against a doctor are dismissed and all his motions for appeal are denied, and in both cases all of his remaining claims are remanded to state court. Overall, both cases and at least seven other pending lawsuits from the citizen are dismissed with prejudice as sanctions for his repeated incivility toward court officials and disregard of directives issued to him. The clerk of court is to forward any of the citizen's filings to the judge's chambers, and court staff are instructed to ignore the citizen's emails.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 3:23cv380, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Civil Rights, Sanctions, Medical Malpractice
J. Conley finds in favor of the Wisconsin-based biogas facility manufacturer on its partial motion to dismiss in a lawsuit from a Texas-based energy facility owner involving a contract dispute over failures during the construction by the former of a renewable natural gas facility for the latter. The 12 false, misleading or deceptive public statements noted in the owner's claim under Wisconsin's Deceptive Trade Practices Act are either time-barred or were made to the owner after it had entered a contractual relationship with the manufacturer and was no longer a member of "the public," so the claim under the Act, the sixth in the owner's complaint, is dismissed.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv538, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Fraud, Contract
J. Conley finds partially in favor of the Wisconsin artificial insemination company on its five counterclaims in the patent infringement lawsuit it faces from the Texas-based distributor of frozen bovine semen used in cattle breeding, the fourth such lawsuit since 2014. The record weighs in favor of the distributor on the company's two counterclaims under the Sherman Act alleging the distributor engaged in sham litigation in its previous patent lawsuits, as well as a counterclaim under Wisconsin's unfair competition law, and the two Sherman Act counterclaims are dismissed with prejudice and the state-law claim is dismissed without prejudice. The company's two counterclaims under federal antitrust law claiming the distributor's patents were fraudulently obtained and asserted in bad faith survive the distributor's motion to dismiss, as they are supported well enough by plausible allegations.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 3:20cv349, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Patent