17 results for 'judge:"Copenhaver"'.
J. Copenhaver grants the Board of Education's motion to dismiss the elementary school counselor’s suit claiming the Board violated her right to freedom of speech and the West Virginia Whistleblower Act. The counselor alleged the Board and school officials took retaliatory action against her by, among other things, formally reprimanding her and removing her as the coordinator of the standardized test after she expressed concerns to school officials as well as gave an interview to a Charleston television station about the resumption of a national standardized test to occur on school premises in April 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The court finds since her pleading is grounded in her capacity as a public employee and not a private citizen, she has failed to state a claim on which relief can be granted, and the Board's interest in effectively and efficiently administering the standardized test outweigh the counselor's public airing of her concerns.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv314, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Covid-19
J. Copenhaver grants the insurance carrier’s motion for summary judgment in the property management company's suit seeking declaratory judgment the carrier was obligated to defend it in a counterclaim Union Carbide filed against the company claiming it bore partial responsibility for damage to not only its property, but also the nearby Davis Creek Watershed from the run-off of toxic chemicals. Since the company has failed to not only prove the existence of a policy from 1987 through 2005, but also any of the policy's material terms, the carrier has no duty to defend or indemnify it.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver , Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv135, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Business Practices, Contract
J. Copenhaver denies the homeowner's motion to remand back to Kanawha County Circuit Court her suit seeking to halt the non-judicial foreclosure of her South Charleston home by the deed holder and the substitute trustee. The homeowner's attempt at remand by filing an amended complaint removing a claim under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is futile since the court's original jurisdiction was fixed once the deed holder filed its notice for removal, and judicial economy is best served by the court retaining supplemental jurisdiction on her state law claims.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: April 18, 2024, Case #: 2:24cv103, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Consumer Law, Housing, Jurisdiction
J. Copenhaver grants in part the motions of the former Wood County sheriff, his chief deputy and the county commission for summary judgment in a former deputy sheriff's suit for sexual discrimination and retaliation. In addition to her failure to establish a prima facie case for retaliation, the court finds the commission is an improper party on that claim and that the former chief deputy is an improper party to her claim of sexual harassment. The commission and former sheriff remain as defendants on the deputy's remaining claim for sex discrimination by way of a hostile work environment under the West Virginia Human Rights Act.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv388, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Employment Discrimination
J. Copenhaver grants the financial services company's motion for summary judgment in the homeowner's petition to quiet title over a reverse mortgage he signed personally, and as attorney-in-fact of his mother in 2017, finding since the homeowner knew what he was signing, he cannot effectuate his right of rescission without tendering the loan proceeds, plus the current value of the home, to the lender. The court sets for trial the remaining issue of the lender's dispute on the timeliness of the homeowner's rescission notices.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: January 17, 2024, Case #: 2:17cv3857, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Housing, Business Practices, Banking / Lending
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J. Copenhaver grants in part the coalition's motion for an award of attorney fees and costs in its suit challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 "Parking Lot" amendments to the West Virginia Business Professional Liability Act that prohibits property owners from banning firearms on the parking lots of their premises. Following the Sept. 1 opinion finding the Inquiry and Take-No-Action provisions of the amendments "facially violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech," the Coalition is entitled to receive a total of $85,476 in attorney fees and in costs and expenses.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver , Filed On: December 11, 2023, Case #: 2: 19cv434, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Firearms, Attorney Fees
J. Copenhaver grants the telecommunications service provider's motion to partially vacate his order granting the technology solutions company's motion for summary judgment as to liability on Count VII of its qui tam suit. The company accused the service provider of defrauding the federal government through approval of its grant application to build an open-access, middle-mile broadband internet network in West Virginia with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. Since a settlement was reached prior to trial in December, vacatur is warranted since "Frontier stands to suffer the material reputational consequences of False Claims Act liability upon a tiny fraction of the case to the same degree as if it had been liable for the case in its entirety."
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: November 7, 2023, Case #: 2:14cv15947, NOS: False Claims Act - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Communications, False Claims, Technology
J. Copenhaver grants the government's motion to dismiss the insurance company's petition under Rule 6(e) of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to disclose the grand jury transcripts in the criminal case against the company's former bookkeeper convicted in 2021 for embezzlement. The company sought the disclosure of the documents to aid its defense of not only an action by the Internal Revenue Service for unpaid taxes, but also a civil suit in state court by an amusement company that also was victimized by the former bookkeeper. The company has not provided specifics on how release of the transcripts could "potentially" benefit it in its defense of the amusement company's civil suit.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 2:23mc128, NOS: Miscellaneous Cases - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Procedure, Government, Business Practices
J. Copenhaver grants the law firm's motion for summary judgment in the medical supply company's breach of contract suit against it and their client - a medical products distributor - for unauthorized disbursement of the lion's share of a $364,000 cashier's check that was to be held in escrow for payment of personal protective equipment. There is no genuine issue of material fact that the contract was between the company and the distributor, and the law firm was only acting as the distributor's agent.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: October 5, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv400, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Business Practices, Covid-19, Contract
[Consolidated.] J. Copenhaver, following an 18-day bench trial from July 6 through Aug. 3, 2022, finds the chemical and polymer producer violated the Clean Water Act by discharging unpermitted stormwater across adjacent industrial property owned by the management company and into the Davis Creek watershed via shallow ditches and culverts at its technical center in South Charleston.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv1230, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Environment, Property, Tort
J. Copenhaver grants in part and denies in part the Coalition's motion for summary judgment in its suit challenging the constitutionality of the 2018 "Parking Lot" amendments to the West Virginia Business Professional Liability Act that prohibits property owners from banning firearms on the parking lots of their premises. The Inquiry and Take-No-Action provisions of the amendments "facially violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech," as "the term 'any action against' is not defined, its scope is unknown and serves to chill any comment or conduct," and "property owners may certainly inquire into the presence of a firearm in order to prepare for and provide for the safety of their customers, employees and invitees and do so without intending to banish or discriminate against the possessor." The West Virginia Attorney General is enjoined from further enforcement of two provisions.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 2:19cv434, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution, Firearms
J. Copenhaver denies the former employee’s motion to file an amended complaint in his age discrimination suit against the automotive parts manufacturer. The court finds since the employee knew on May 4 — the day the manufacturer filed its motion for summary judgment — of another potential claim, the timing of his July 27 motion for leave to amend “would lead to increased litigation costs for defendant and would further delay the resolution of this matter” because it comes only eight days before a pretrial conference and 26 days prior to trial.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv262, NOS: Other Labor Litigation - Labor, Categories: Discovery, Employment Discrimination, Labor
J. Copenhaver grants the proposed settlement reached between the owners of a Charleston Barbeque restaurant and one of its employees seeking unpaid overtime and minimum wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under the March 23 agreement, the employee will receive an award of $7,500, and his attorney will be reimbursed $402 in court costs and $10,000 in attorneys fees to be paid in monthly installments.
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv111, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Settlements, Attorney Fees
J. Copenhaver grants in part and denies in part the motions of a former Wood County sheriff, the county commission and the prosecuting attorney to dismiss the respective claims alleged in a deputy sheriff’s suit for sexual discrimination and retaliation. The court dismisses the deputy sheriff’s Title VII claims against the prosecutor, former sheriffs and the commission in part because she failed to exhaust her administrative remedies when she failed to name them in her complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Finding she has alleged sufficient facts to satisfy all the required elements, the court rules the deputy’s suit may continue against not only the former sheriff on the grounds he created a hostile work environment, but also against him and the commission on a “discrete retaliation” claim because they allegedly acted in concert with the prosecutor to damage her reputation by placing her name on a “bad cop list.”
Court: USDC Southern District of West Virginia, Judge: Copenhaver, Filed On: July 12, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv388, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Employment Retaliation