36 results for 'judge:"Kennelly"'.
J. Kennelly partially grants a rideshare company’s motion to compel arbitration against several of its drivers. The drivers wish to forward a class action against the company. They claim it wrongly classifies them as independent contractors rather than employees so as to avoid paying them higher wages and overtime, compensating business expenses and providing employee benefits. The court finds arbitration is appropriate for three of the plaintiff drivers but not for a fourth. The court also grants conditional class certification for “all drivers who have worked for Uber in Illinois during the last three years.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv17182, NOS: Labor/Management Relations - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, Class Action, Labor / Unions
J. Kennelly partially grants a former Chicago public school student’s motion for class certification, for all students who “participated in the Quiet Time program in Chicago Public Schools during Chicago Public School’s academic calendar” between 2015 and 2019, and turned 18 on Jan. 13, 2021, or later. The court finds the student has sufficiently alleged the public school system’s “Quiet Time” program had “hidden” Hindu religious elements, such as chanting Sanskrit mantras that honored Hindu deities.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 123cv218, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Education, Class Action, First Amendment
J. Kennelly partially grants account executive employees’ motion for sanctions against their employer, a logistics firm. The employees accused the firm of wrongly denying them overtime pay, and in subsequent proceedings a magistrate judge found the firm had violated its discovery obligations. This court affirms some of the objections the firm had raised to the magistrate judge’s sanction recommendations, but overrules others. The court also orders the firm to pay the employees almost $88,000 in attorney fees.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 15, 2024, Case #: 1:16cv7331, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Sanctions, Attorney Fees, Class Action
J. Kennelly partially grants Chicago’s motion for summary judgment on multiple employment discrimination claims from Black former employees of the Chicago Department of Water Management. The employees claims they faced racial discrimination, a hostile work environment, skipped promotions and missed overtime pay. The court finds for the city regarding the employees’ claims of discrimination involving missed promotions, overtime pay and poor shift assignments; it also dismisses three employees’ hostile work environment and discriminatory discipline claims. The remaining claims will proceed to trial.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 1:17cv4858, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Kennelly grants a baby formula manufacturer’s motion to dismiss an unjust enrichment class action brought by a nationwide class of consumers. The consumers paid more for baby formula after the manufacturer instituted a mass voluntary recall of tainted formula and shut down the facility where the formula was produced. Despite this, the court finds the class has failed to state a claim, opining there is no law under which the manufacturer “was obligated to maintain particular levels of formula production and supply or otherwise ensure stable formula prices.”
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv4148, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Business Practices, Class Action
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J. Kennelly grants a children’s clothing retailer’s motion to dismiss a consumer class action, brought by parents who say school uniforms they bought from the retailer contained polyfluoroalkyl substances. The court finds the parents lack standing to pursue injunctive relief, as they are now aware the uniforms contain the harmful substance. The court also finds the parents have failed to state an actionable claim.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: April 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv4899, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Consumer Law, Class Action
J. Kennelly dismisses Puma Biotechnology's claims against Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals alleging that the competitor's drug Tagrisso infringes on Puma's patent. Puma lacks standing because its exclusive license does not apply to the relevant compound in Tagrisso. However, another drug maker, Wyeth LLC, holds enough exclusionary rights in the patent to establish an injury-in-fact for Article III purposes. All other summary judgment motions on invalidity, written description and non-infringement of Tagrisso fail on the bases of claim construction.
Court: USDC Delaware, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv1338, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Kennelly denies an Alaskan Native tribe-owned lending company’s motions to compel a RICO class action to arbitration, and to transfer the case to the District of Alaska. The suing class is composed of Illinois residents who took loans from the lending company, whose loans’ annual interest rates range from 466.66% to 792.76% — rates, the borrowers say, are illegal under Illinois law. They argue the lender uses its status as a Native American-owned business to predate on customers while dodging state and federal laws by asserting sovereign immunity. The court finds the Northern District of Illinois is a proper venue, as that is where the class members’ alleged injuries took place, and also finds that the class’s claims cannot be addressed by arbitration.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv3590, NOS: Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - Other Suits, Categories: Native Americans, Banking / Lending, Racketeering
J. Kennelly grants a car company’s motion for summary judgment for multiple civil rights, retaliation and employment discrimination claims brought by one of its former sales employees. The court finds the former employee has not produced sufficient evidence to support his claim that the company’s ranking system favors women, or that the company retaliated against him when he took 12 weeks of FMLA leave to be with his newborn daughter.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv4049, NOS: Family and Medical Leave Act - Labor, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Kennelly grants the government’s motion to dismiss a business services company’s complaint to recover overpaid income taxes. The company claims that, due to an accounting error it discovered in 2019, it overpaid its 2015 income tax by over $1.1 million. After several years of unsuccessfully trying to file amended tax returns with the IRS, it sued the government in March 2023. The court, however, finds it lacks jurisdiction over the suit.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: February 7, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1482, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Government, Tax, Jurisdiction
J. Kennelly partially grants multiple motions from both parties in this patent infringement suit. A data management company claims Amazon infringed on three of its patents for data storage protocols, and in turn Amazon brought counterclaims for non-infringement, unpatentability, unenforceability and invalidity. In a complex ruling, the court partially grants and partially denies both parties’ motions for summary judgment for portions of one other’s claims. The court also denies Amazon’s motion to strike analysis from one of the data management company’s experts, but grants the data management company’s motion to strike the analysis from one of Amazon’s experts.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: February 6, 2024, Case #: 1:18cv8175, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Experts, Technology
J. Kennelly denies a workforce management technology company’s motion for the court to reconsider its decision granting class certification to the employees of one of the company’s clients. Those employees allege, in a class action complaint, that their employer violated Illinois biometric privacy law by nonconsensually collecting their fingerprints on the technology company’s finger-scanning timeclocks. The court finds the company has offered no new reason why the court should reconsider its past ruling granting the employees class certification.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv3400, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Privacy, Class Action
J. Kennelly denies a pharmaceutical company’s and patients’ motion to exclude the testimony of expert witnesses in a litigation by patients who claim they suffered cardiovascular or blood clot injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drugs. The pharmaceutical company’s motion for summary judgment on patients’ claims for express and implied breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, consumer protection and unjust enrichment is granted. However, the patients’ motion for summary judgment on claims of fail-to-warn, strict liability, loss of consortium and punitive damages shall be denied and returned to the home districts. The punitive damages question shall be transferred to the Middle District of Florida. This one order applies to several, unconsolidated cases.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv3775, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Class Action
[Consolidated.] J. Kennelly grants in part a pharmaceutical company’s motion to exclude the testimony of two expert witnesses in a litigation by patients who claim they suffered cardiovascular or blood clot injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drugs. The cardiovascular medicine expert is nonqualified for the testimony on marketing techniques and the regulatory expert’s testimony properly applied a method to distinguish their condition from others that share similar clinical features. The pharmaceutical company’s motion for summary judgment on patients’ punitive damages and noneconomic damages is granted. However, the other claims for summary judgment shall be denied and returned to the home districts. This one order applies to several, unconsolidated cases.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:14cv1748, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Damages, Product Liability, Experts
J. Kennelly denies a pharmaceutical company’s and patients’ motion to exclude the testimony of expert witnesses in a litigation by patients who say they suffered cardiovascular or blood clot injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drugs. The pharmaceutical company's motion for summary judgment on patients’ claims for express and implied breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, consumer protection and unjust enrichment is granted. However, the patients’ motion for summary judgment on claims of fail-to-warn, strict liability, loss of consortium and punitive damages shall be denied and returned to the home districts. The punitive damages question shall be transferred to the Middle District of Florida. This one order applies to several, unconsolidated cases.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:14cv1748, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Damages, Product Liability, Experts
J. Kennelly grants in part a pharmaceutical company's motion to exclude the testimony of two expert witnesses in a litigation by patients who claim they suffered cardiovascular or blood clot injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drugs. The cardiovascular medicine expert is nonqualified for the testimony on marketing techniques and the regulatory expert's testimony properly applied a method to distinguish their condition from others that share similar clinical features. The pharmaceutical company's motion for summary judgment on patients' punitive damages and noneconomic damages is granted. However, the other claims for summary judgment shall be denied and returned to the home districts. This one order applies to several, unconsolidated cases.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:15cv9699, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Class Action
J. Kennelly grants in part a pharmaceutical company’s motion to exclude the testimony of two expert witnesses in a litigation by patients who claim they suffered cardiovascular or blood clot injuries as a result of taking prescription testosterone replacement therapy drug AndroGel. The cardiovascular medicine expert is nonqualified for the testimony on marketing techniques and the regulatory expert’s testimony properly applied a method to distinguish their condition from others that share similar clinical features. The pharmaceutical company’s motion for summary judgment on patients’ punitive damages and noneconomic damages is granted. However, the other claims for summary judgment shall be denied and returned to the home districts. This one order applies to several, unconsolidated cases.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: November 1, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv4117, NOS: Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Class Action
J. Kennelly splits competing summary judgment motions between a Northwestern University professor pursuing FOIA requests, and several U.S. government agencies seeking to block those FOIA requests. The professor is conducting research into the government’s practice of deporting its own citizens and in pursuit of that research filed FOIA requests with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Justice, and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The agencies didn’t respond to several of these requests, so he filed suit. The court partially resolves the dispute by dismissing the DOJ and DHS as defendants, ordering the remaining agencies to provide some the information the professor requested, while allowing them to withhold other information. The court will also allow the professor to replead her case for several of the FOIA requests the court denied in this ruling.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5072, NOS: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - Other Suits, Categories: Government, Immigration, Public Record
J. Kennelly grants a school district summary judgment on a former school psychologist's ADA and FMLA retaliation claims, but allows the psychologist's FMLA interference claim to survive. The psychologist offers sufficient evidence that would allow a jury to find that the leave she was granted was illusory because the district did not adjust her workload, forcing her to perform the duties of a full-time job on part-time hours while taking care of her sick daughter.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Family Law, Employment Retaliation
J. Kennelly partially grants a sued wind turbine manufacturer’s motion for costs from the underlying contract interference suit with the suing Panamanian energy company. The court previously granted the turbine manufacturer summary judgment on all claims brought by the energy company, which alleged that the manufacturer wouldn’t allow the energy company to connect to Panama’s national electric grid via a substation the manufacturer owned. The the manufacturer petition the court for $182,661.56 in costs, the court only grants it $121,672.83.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv5035, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Energy, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Kennelly allows patent infringement claims to continue against a genetics company because the company failed to upend the written description by simply rehashing arguments rejected during claim construction, and the challenged claims were not indefinite as a matter of law.
Court: USDC Delaware, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv653, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent
J. Kennelly denies the airline workers' motion for leave to file an amended complaint against their employer, United Airlines. The workers sued United because they opposed its Covid-19 vaccine and mask mandate for employees, and they brought a dozen different claims. But none of their claims are viable, and they have until Sep. 26 to propose "an amended complaint stating at least one viable claim over which the court has jurisdiction." Otherwise, the case will go to United.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: September 5, 2023, Case #: 1:23cv989 , NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment Discrimination, Labor
J. Kennelly grants an auto dealer’s motion to stay this contract case, brought by a consumer who bought a car with defective parts from the dealer, and compel arbitration instead. The court finds that the consumer agreed several times to an arbitration clause when he signed his car paperwork with the dealer.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 123cv108, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Arbitration, Vehicle, Contract
J. Kennelly finds a nutrition company liable for violating the Illinois Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act by mimicking a entrepreneur’s separate nutrition supplement trademark, and orders the company to pay the entrepreneur over $547,000.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: August 25, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv2283, NOS: Other Fraud - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Trademark, Damages
J. Kennelly partially grants a hospital system's motion to dismiss a class of medical patients' privacy claims. The class alleges that the hospital system clandestinely sold its members' anonymized medical data to Facebook and Google to use for advertising purposes. The class has failed to allege most of its specific privacy claims, and lacks standing for most of its fraud claims, but its breach of contract and Illinois Eavesdropping Act violation claims may proceed.
Court: USDC Northern District of Illinois, Judge: Kennelly, Filed On: July 24, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv5380, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Fraud, Privacy, Class Action