11 results for 'judge:"Lemelle"'.
J. Lemelle denies a request by an insurer to dismiss two homeowners’ breach of contract and bad faith claims related to their insurer’s alleged failure to compensate them for hurricane-related property damage. The insurer mistakenly contends the property owners’ insurance suit is time-barred for failure to provide notice of their claim within 365 days of the event. State law prohibits insurance policies from limiting its insured's right to sue to a period of less than two years.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: April 9, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv5396, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Damages
J. Lemelle denies requests by an association of ship loaders to reconsider a court ruling denying its request for arbitration of a longshoremen’s union complaint, according to which it is owed $2.8 million due to the association’s complete withdrawal from the union pension fund. Neither the stevedoring association nor its insurer initiated arbitration before the statutorily defined deadlines. No withdrawal-liability payment was ever made. If the companies desired to contest the withdrawal-liability calculation, they could have done so through ERISA’s compulsory arbitration scheme.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv2566, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Arbitration, Evidence, Labor / Unions
J. Lemelle denies summary judgment to the city of New Orleans and rules in favor of a group of property owners seeking short-term rental permits for lodging offered on internet platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The ruling bars the city from excluding surviving spouses and trust beneficiaries, such as adult children, as residential STR owners and operators, as their exclusion "has no lawful rational basis.”
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 2:19dv13773, NOS: All Other Real Property - Real Property, Categories: Government, Property, Housing
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J. Lemelle finds for an employee benefits plan administrator on a former commercial truck driver’s breach of fiduciary duty claims arising from denial of his request for long-term benefits due to his pre-existing hypertension. The issue is whether the driver was covered under the employer’s policy when he was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, which according to Department of Transportation guidelines, would prevent him from driving a licensed commercial vehicle. The plan administrator’s interpretation of the term “active full-time service” as applied to a worker who had not worked in several weeks, had exhausted his paid time off and was on indefinite medical leave is reasonable considering the policy language and known facts.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: 2:22cv1760, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Employment, Health Care, Transportation
J. Lemelle grants remand to the state of Louisiana and two parish governments, ordering various oil and gas industry producers and refiners to face joint claims their production activities resulted in pollution and subsequent wetland loss along Louisiana’s coastline. The oil and gas companies failed to establish they are entitled to federal-officer jurisdiction, as they do not show the complained-of production actions were associated with or connected to a federal officer.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: December 13, 2023, Case #: 2:18cv5213, NOS: Other Statutory Actions - Other Suits, Categories: Energy, Environment, Government
J. Lemelle grants an insurance company’s request to halt litigation initiated by its insured New Orleans property owners, arising from mold damage exceeding $40,000 left by Hurricane Ida. The two sides are ordered to arbitration. The insured’s argument that the arbitration provision of their insurance policy is unconstitutional under the Louisiana Constitution is unpersuasive.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Louisiana , Judge: Lemelle, Filed On: August 9, 2023, Case #: 2:23cv632, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Arbitration, Insurance, Damages