24 results for 'judge:"Hollander"'.
J. Hollander grants the university’s motion to dismiss this employment dispute brought by a former Black assistant professor alleging retaliation, race discrimination and hostile work environment claims. Her teaching contract was not renewed after making a complaint to human resources regarding a supervisor directing her to work five days a week, but she could not because of a daycare situation. She fails to include allegations related to the retaliation claims, making it inconsistent with the discrimination claims for the exhaustion requirement.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv2272, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hollander denies, in part, a citizen’s motion to reopen discovery to conduct a deposition against a state trooper who pulled her over allegedly without reasonable suspicion and arrested her after finding a warrant for failure to return a rental car. The citizen must provide a response to interrogatories and request for production mainly the interrogatory to identify each health care provider who treated her in relation to her claimed injury. She originally answered this was a privilege claim, but the information is not protected by privilege. Once, the citizen fully answers all of the requested discovery the state trooper may be disposed.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv2568, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Discovery
J. Hollander denies an attorney and law firms’ motion to dismiss professional negligence allegations brought by a bankruptcy client. The client retained the attorney to represent her when she filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but he refused to seek relief from the stay and continued to bill her, prompting the current suit. The client has sufficiently alleged a claim to satisfy the standard that the attorney and its firm did in fact attempt to collect pre-petition debt.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: January 9, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv2639, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Negligence, Legal Malpractice, Contract
J. Hollander grants, in part, HBO’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim in this defamation suit brought by an exotic dancer. The dancer alleges the TV network showed a three-minute scene implying that she engaged in prostitution with a sergeant on a worldwide series titled “We Own This City” which shows a corrupt unit and now an inoperative gun trace task force of the Baltimore Police Department. The dancer has stated a claim of defamation and false light by HBO “implying that she engaged in prostitution” with the sergeant. HBO is granted leave to file a USB drive with the copy of the series.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: December 7, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv233, NOS: Assault, Libel, & Slander - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Defamation
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J. Hollander grants a marketing company’s motion to reopen discovery to conduct a deposition of a former employee in this employment dispute of the severance agreement being forged. The company alleges good cause to conduct the deposition due to the fact that the former employee had the opportunity to depose the company’s chief executive officer. The former employee’s motion for sanctions is denied.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv309, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Defamation, Discovery
J. Hollander denies a community justice group’s motion to alter or amend the courts motion to dismiss judgment in favor of the Baltimore City Law Department, including the police department and several of its officers and other staff, its allegations of First Amendment violations for not releasing public records. The group argues the department has condoned or ratified an unconstitutional viewpoint of discrimination in failing to consider factual allegations. Therefore, they have failed in two respects to allege that there was a practice of disfavoring and any policymaker had actual knowledge of the exercised deliberate indifference for the wrongdoing.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: November 17, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1901, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Public Record, Police Misconduct
J. Hollander denies a marketing company’s motion for judicial notice in this dispute arising from a former employee’s alleged defamation and severance agreement that was forged by a former administrator. The former employee was not part of the state defamation claims and he had no opportunity to contest the facts and the company cannot use collateral estoppel for his right to challenge. The company has failed to prove probable evidence.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv309, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Evidence, Defamation, Contract
J. Hollander grants in part a county school board’s motion to dismiss a mother’s amended complaint on allegations of negligence following the acknowledgment that a six-year-old girl had been sexually abused by two classmates while at school on five separate occasions. The school superintendent and principal did not communicate with the parent until a victim advocate reported the abuse to her. There is “no basis in the law to support a substantive due process claim against Ms. Peake in her individual capacity for acts involving third parties for which she had no notice and was not personally involved.” The allegations against the superintendent based on supervisory liability are dismissed due to failure to state a claim.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: October 12, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1102, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Education, Negligence, Assault
J. Hollander partially grants a motion to dismiss filed by the education board in this civil rights lawsuit brought by the parents of a student who was suspended on a determination that she engaged in racist conduct after she allegedly sent a “blackface” photo via Snapchat. The student’s invasion of privacy, defamation, and freedom from search and seizure claims will be dismissed. However, her negligence, fiduciary duty, free speech and First Amendment claims are denied on a theory of procedural due process violation.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: September 29, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv195, NOS: Education - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process
J. Hollander partially grants the Baltimore Police Department's motion to dismiss multiple allegations brought by a former sergeant. The sergeant, a Black woman, claims superior officers subjected her to abuse, favoring her subordinates to her detriment, demoted her to a front desk position, and refused to allow her lactation accommodation before and after she gave birth to a child. Despite the sergeant's arguments, she fails to demonstrate that the department had a pattern of discrimination against her, and the discrete instances she describes are not sufficient to establish discrimination.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1209, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hollander grants a customer service agent his cross motion for summary judgment in this ongoing suit concerning breach of contract and trade secrets. The agent's former employer, a temporary staffing firm, argues the agent broke its non-solicitation covenant when he started working for a competitor because he shared certain information with it and several customers followed him. However, without extensive modification of the language of the contract itself, which is unnecessary, the agent cannot be seen as having broken the covenant.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv686, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Trade Secrets, Contract
J. Hollander grants a customer service agent his cross motion for summary judgment in a suit against him for breach of contract and trade secrets. After the temporary staffing firm the agent worked for promoted him several times, it transferred him to work at a subsidiary under which his service territory was limited. Consequently, he sought work with a competitor and shared certain information with it from his old position, and several customers followed him. The firm argues this is a breach of its non-solicitation covenant. However, the agent's interactions with a third-party software company while an employee of the competitor was outside the scope of his work for the firm and did not breach the covenant.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv686, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Employment, Trade Secrets, Contract
J. Hollander denies the Baltimore County Board of Education’s motion for summary judgment after a former Marine Corps Junior Reserve instructor alleged the board forced him into early retirement based on age discrimination. Various board members made comments during the instructor’s last year of employment, including asking him if he’d like to retire and that he was “getting up in years.” They also made promises to two younger instructors, texting, “[The instructor] is a few hours away from being fired in order to make room for you.” The instructor’s argument of constructive discharge and discrimination based on age, and the board’s refutation, does not allow for summary judgment, so the instructor has sufficiently pled his case.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1006, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hollander grants the Baltimore Law Department, including the police department and several of its officers and other staff, its motion to dismiss allegations of First Amendment violations brought by a community justice group. The group has attempted on numerous occasions to gain access to records from the police department, particularly those reporting police misconduct. However, its claims are solely based on its assertion that it is being discriminated against based on the identities of its members, providing no evidence of this besides its own viewpoint. Also, the law department is an improper litigant.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1901, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Public Record, First Amendment, Police Misconduct
J. Hollander grants the United States its motion to dismiss a suit alleging violations of the Federal Tort Claims Act arising from an incident in which two civilians employed by the Army crashed into each other. Although neither of the civilians claimed injury, one of them brought a suit for $200,000 in damages. Federal civilian employees "may not file actions against the United States under the FTCA for work-related injuries." The U.S. Department of Labor found that the accident, which happened on the Army's property, was work-related. Therefore, the federal court is "stripped of its jurisdiction."
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: July 26, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv1547, NOS: Motor Vehicle - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, Tort, Jurisdiction
J. Hollander grants a former human resources director his motion to remand and denies a biopharma firm its motion to dismiss the director’s claims against it for retaliation and wrongful termination. The case was improperly removed to federal court because of federal question jurisdiction. Because the director has not pleaded that his claim that the firm violated ERISA as part of an inquiry or proceeding, it had no ground to remove the case to federal court. Thus, the retaliation claim cannot be resolved and is remanded.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv987, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Hollander partially denies a group of real estate owners’ motion to dismiss allegations of unfair debt collection and violations of consumer protections brought by a class of renters. The renters argue that the group wrongfully pursued more than 6% interest on rent debt and automatically raised rents with lease renewals. According to state law, landlords cannot charge more than 6% interest on rent. Also, the group unfairly charged renters who did not give two months’ notice of their intent to move an extra month’s rent.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv3228, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Property, Consumer Law
J. Hollander partially denies a university's motion for partial summary judgment in a suit brought by a former professor for disability discrimination. The professor claims that he was not physically able to complete certain tasks the university required of him without reasonable accommodation, which it did not provide. The university is granted judgment as to its failure to accommodate under state law because the professor has not exhausted administrative remedies, but otherwise, the professor's claims will proceed.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv656, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Hollander partially grants a life insurance firm’s motion to dismiss allegations of breach of contract brought by a class of consumers, specifically regarding a punitive damages claim. Maryland state law observes that parties can sue for punitive damages only in tort cases, not breach of contract. However, since the firm is based out of Missouri, and it was aware that it charged consumers for expenses unrelated to death, according to state law there, the consumers’ claim for punitive damages as related to conversion may proceed.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: June 7, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1100, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages, Contract
J. Hollander denies an attorney’s motion to dismiss professional negligence allegations brought by a bankruptcy client. The client retained the attorney to represent her when she filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but he refused to seek relief from the stay and continued to bill her, prompting the current suit. Although there had been a delay in the attorney being served, it was only a day late and the client has good cause in the suit, so she is given a retroactive extension of time to serve the attorney.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv2639, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Bankruptcy, Negligence, Contract
J. Hollander grants in part several motions in limine by a property preservation services firm after it was hired by PNC Bank to inspect and protect a foreclosed property. The property owners had defaulted on their mortgage, but they argue the firm unlawfully seized the home by preventing their entry. The firm moves to eliminate evidence from unrelated claims that the property owners presented during discovery, but the firm is correct because any proof of its wrongdoing in other cases does not necessarily demonstrate unlawful behavior in this case.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: May 26, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv3315, NOS: Torts to Land - Real Property, Categories: Property, Tort, Banking / Lending
J. Hollander denies a pharmacist his motion for partial summary judgment before discovery following the criminal prosecution of his former employer, a pharmacy owner, who submitted false claims to Medicare and TRICARE and a created a kickback scheme. However, because multiple documents remain sealed from the criminal trial, the pharmacist cannot prove himself as an original source of information, which the owner contests, so summary judgment cannot be awarded.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: May 24, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv2335, NOS: Qui Tam (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)) - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Medicare, Discovery, False Claims
J. Hollander grants Johns Hopkins Health Systems its motion to quash allegations of ERISA violations by a former hospital worker. When Johns Hopkins School of Medicine moved to Health Systems, the worker was offered “a paltry severance” in exchange for losing access to her full pension. However, Health Systems was not properly served with the worker’s complaint in the first place and so was not given the chance to respond. Also, the worker is granted leave to amend her complaint.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Hollander, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv701, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Pensions, Contract