41 results for 'judge:"Kleeh"'.
J. Kleeh grants in part the motion of the Lewis County Commission and three deputy sheriffs for partial summary judgment in the deceased parolee’s estate's suit claiming the deputies caused the parolee's death, when following a foot pursuit in the course of serving a warrant for his arrest, the deputies tased, then held him face-down for an extended period until paramedics arrived. The deputies are granted qualified immunity on the estate's excessive force claims, finding it has failed to demonstrate the deputies violated a clearly established right by using their Taser to subdue the parolee, and on its Monell claim of municipal liability against the commission for violating a clear custom and practice, since prior to their apprehension of the parolee they have never been accused of either excessive force or failing to render medical assistance.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: April 4, 2024, Case #: 2:20cv47, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Kleeh certifies as class action the Harrison County homeowner's complaint accusing her mortgage loan service provider of unfair debt collection practices under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. The proposed class of borrowers meets the requirements of numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy of representation for certification under Rule 23(b)(3).
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv122, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Banking / Lending, Class Action, Contract
J. Kleeh denies the family business's but grants the hydrocarbon exploration company's cross motions for summary judgment in a breach of contract suit claiming the company failed to properly pay oil and gas royalties in Doddridge County. Since the business does not own the interests in the three leaseholds specified in count two of its complaint, the court finds there is no enforceable contract between it and the company.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Property, Contract
J. Kleeh grants the oil and gas service providers' motions to dismiss the whistleblowers' qui tam suit claiming the six companies involved are one interconnected firm with overlapping leadership and organization that share resources, personnel and finances, which should have disqualified them from receiving $13,849,170 in Paycheck Protection Program loans. The whistleblowers failed to provide original source information to the U.S. Department of Justice for consideration of a suit under the False Claims Act, as well as any details of fraud in their amended complaint.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh , Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1, NOS: Qui Tam (31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)) - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Government, False Claims
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J. Kleeh partially dismissed a class action between a family partnership that owns mineral royalty interests and the operator of some of those oil and gas estates. Two of the family partnership’s counts are dismissed because the portions of state law they reference do not create a cause of action, and two other counts are barred by the “Gist of the Action” doctrine. The class allegations are sufficiently argued, as are the claims for attorney fees and punitive damages, so they survive the motion to dismiss.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv1, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Class Action, Contract
J. Kleeh dismisses a former Westover City Council member’s allegations of First Fourth Amendment Retaliation, violation of his 14th Amendment rights, as well as the slander and emotional distress claims he brought against the mayor, city police and other officials who allegedly conspired against him for blowing the whistle on corruption and police misconduct. His claim under the West Virginia Whistle-Blower Law survives the motion, however.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv98, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Municipal Law, First Amendment
J. Kleeh grants in part the university's and several professors' motions to dismiss a fellow Department of Public Administration professor's religious and national origin discrimination suit. In addition to 42 U.S.C.§ 1981 not affording protection against discrimination based on national origin or religion, the court grants the professors' motion in both their individual and official capacities in counts five and six of the complaint. On the similar claims in counts one and two under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the court grants the university's motion to strike references to the professor's 2017 denial of tenure and allegations predating Nov. 20, 2020, but denies it to strike his allegation the Department Faculty Evaluation Committee denied his promotion to full professor in 2023.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv153, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Employment Discrimination
J. Kleeh adopts in part and rejects in part the one magistrate-judge's report and recommendation, and adopts in its entirety the second in the
landowners' civil rights suit claiming the deputy state auditor violated their rights to due process when he conveyed a tax deed of two lots to a woman who purchased the property in 2020 for unpaid 2019 taxes, despite her failure to notice them of their right to redeem the property. In adopting the reports and recommendations, the court denies the tax deed grantee's motion to dismiss since the statute in place at the time she acquired the property required her to provide the auditor's office a list of those to be served a notice of the right to redeem.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 2: 22cv17, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Property
J. Kleeh grants the motion of two West Virginia State troopers and a Preston County Sheriff's deputy for partial dismissal of a Kingwood man's civil rights suit. The man claims the deputy wrongfully entered a home after he called 911 seeking assistance to have his sister removed following a verbal altercation, then aided by the two troopers who arrived later on the scene, wrongfully detained and arrested him for obstruction. The two troopers are entitled to qualified immunity since they acted properly within their scope of authority as state police officers.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh , Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv83, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Immunity, Police Misconduct
J. Kleeh denies in part the motion to dismiss a civil rights suit claiming deputies caused a man's death, after responding to a 911 call from the couple he was living with while he was experiencing a "mental health issue." The deputies allegedly tazed the nude man in the back and left him handcuffed face down on the floor of the home, causing him to go into cardiac arrest because of his obesity and inability to breathe properly. The court denies the deputies qualified immunity since the man, despite his size, was unarmed, not resisting arrest and not attempting to flee from the deputies.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv177, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Kleeh grants the hydrocarbon exploration company's partial motion to dismiss the three oil and gas lessees' first amended complaint accusing the company of improperly deducting the costs or expenses from their royalties, and falsely reporting to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection no production of natural gas liquids. The court dismisses in their entirety the counts for fraudulent misrepresentation and violation of state law requiring producers to provide lessees certain production information on their royalty statements, due to the lessees' failure to notify the company of the possible violation via certified U.S. Mail prior to filing suit.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 26, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv56, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Fraud, Contract
J. Kleeh grants the regulatory agency's motion for summary judgment in the company's complaint alleging the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) denied its application for an incidental taking permit to harvest timber by keeping the application in "perpetual administrative limbo." Based on the administrative record as a whole, the company is largely to blame for the permit being in limbo since it stopped cooperating with FWS on developing a habitat conservation plan, which is the second part of the four phases required to receive permit approval.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 12, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv7, NOS: Administrative Procedure Act/Review or Appeal of Agency Decision - Other Suits, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Government
J. Kleeh denies the former employee's motion to amend her wrongful discharge complaint against the window and door manufacturer in her suit claiming the company violated the West Virginia Pregnant Worker's Fairness Act when they terminated her employment two days after she requested another day off to be with her infant son. The employee's motion is "futile" since it is "devoid of any constitutional precept, statute, regulation, or judicial decision" that would bolster the plausibility of her claim the company violated the PWFA when it terminated her employment.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv30, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Business Practices, Employment Discrimination
J. Kleeh denies the automobile loan service provider's motion to stay and compel arbitration of the customer's breach of contract suit claiming it improperly charged her a $2.75 fee to use her debit card to make installment payments with a third-party platform. The loan service provider cannot compel arbitration since the terms and conditions of the third-party platform's arbitration agreement do not provide for enforcement of its agreement by a non-signatory.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: January 23, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv45, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Vehicle, Contract
J. Kleeh grants the summary judgment motion of the state gun lobby group and two of its members in their complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the constitutionality of the Bureau's restriction on Federal Firearms License dealers selling handguns to adults 18-to-21-years-old. The challenged statutes are "facially unconstitutional" since the government has "not presented any evidence of age-based restrictions on the purchase or sale of firearms from before or at the Founding or during the Early Republic" [or] "failed to offer evidence of similar regulation between then and 1791 or in a relevant timeframe thereafter."
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh , Filed On: December 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv80, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Firearms
J. Kleeh grants the hydrocarbon exploration company's motion to certify two questions to the West Virginia Supreme Court in the Harrison County landowners' class action disputing the company's practice of deducting post-production costs and not paying royalties based on the price received at the point of sale. The questions are: 1). Do the requirements of Wellman v. Energy Resources and Estate of Tawney v. Columbia Natural Resources, extend only to the “first available market” as opposed to the “point of sale” when the duty to market is implicated? and 2). Does the first marketable product rule extend beyond gas to require a lessee to pay royalties on natural gas liquids (NGLs), and if it does, do the lessors share in the cost of processing, manufacturing, and transporting the NGLs to sale?
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh , Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv88, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Class Action, Contract
J. Kleeh grants the ski resort's motion for judgment on the pleadings in its dispute with a hotel owner claiming the resort breached the amenities and privileges provision in the recreational covenant of its 1979 deed when it failed to offer a "Lift Ticket Guarantee" to all hotel guests during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. The recreational covenant in the deed between the resort's and hotel owner's predecessors is a personal, and not real property, covenant.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv18, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Property, Business Practices, Contract
J. Kleeh grants in part, denies in part and holds in abeyance in part two of the estate’s motions in limine, and grants four and denies four of the Lewis County Commission’s motions in the estate’s civil rights suit accusing three Lewis County deputy sheriffs of causing a developmental disabled man’s death on Nov. 12, 2018, after deploying their Tasers on him multiple times while arresting him for violating parole. A Feb. 26, 2024, trial date is scheduled.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv47, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Kleeh grants the insurance carrier's motion for summary judgment, finding it has no duty to indemnify or defend the aviation ground support company and its CEO in a pending civil suit by a former employee claiming the CEO defamed him after a May 19, 2020, asset acquisition went bad. Any statements the CEO made fall under the "Knowing Violation of Rights of Another and Material Published with Knowledge of Falsity" exclusion in coverage "B" of the company's commercial general liability policy.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv40, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Defamation, Aviation
J. Kleeh grants the insurance carrier’s motion for summary judgment in the complaint an employee of a business client seeks to declare the carrier is obligated to compensate him above the $300,000 per accident coverage for the uninsured and underinsured motorist claim he submitted for the injuries he sustained on May 4, 2021, when was he was knocked unconscious after a motorist driving southbound on Interstate 79 in Braxton County failed to stop in time, and collide with the overturned vehicle that barrel rolled from the northbound lane while he was rendering aid to the driver. The court finds since the employee parked the company vehicle on the shoulder of the southbound lane and exited it to aid the driver of the overturned vehicle, he does not qualify as an “insured” under the carrier’s policy, as he was not occupying the vehicle at the time of the collision. All other pending motions denied as moot.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv14, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Tort, Business Practices
[Consolidated.] J. Kleeh denies the motion by the named plaintiffs in three separate class actions to consolidate their respective complaints against the hydrocarbon exploration company for breach of contract in royalty payments on oil and gas leases, finding absent the “rigorous” analysis for class certification, the “cases lack the requisite common question of law or fact for consolidation” since “individualized analysis is required for each lease and royalty provision, and each action contains distinct leases and royalty provisions.”
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv222, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Energy, Class Action, Contract
J. Kleeh grants the supermarket chain's motion to dismiss the former lead store associate's employment discrimination suit claiming the firm terminated her employment on July 1, 2022, after she failed to obtain updated medical information about her ability to work without a cane after being permitted to return to work on light duty following an injury from a fall in the cooler at the Morgantown location on Nov. 17, 2021. The former associate's claim under the West Virginia Human Rights Act fails because she did not plead sufficient facts as to "how the injuries affected her abilities to perform major life activities such that she is disabled."
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 11, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv154, NOS: Family and Medical Leave Act - Labor, Categories: Tort, Business Practices, Employment Discrimination
J. Kleeh grants the employee and dealership's joint motion to approve a settlement in the employee's suit claiming the dealership misclassified her as a salaried employee to avoid paying her overtime. The agreement for the dealership to pay the employee $6,000 in back wages, $6,000 in liquidated damages and $12,000 for her attorney fees and costs to settle the suit is fair and reasonable.
Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv80, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Settlements, Business Practices, Labor
J. Kleeh grants the subsidiary mining company's motion to dismiss it from the non-union miners' class action claiming it, four other subsidiaries and the parent mining companies failed to compensate them for "off-the-clock" and overtime work beginning in April 2018. The non-union miners failed to demonstrate how the subsidiary was their joint employer, so dismissal is proper under both Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).
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Court: USDC Northern District of West Virginia, Judge: Kleeh, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 2:21cv8, NOS: Fair Labor Standards Act - Labor, Categories: Corporations, Class Action, Labor