26 results for 'judge:"Menendez"'.
J. Menendez grants the fringe benefit plan trustees' motion for default judgment and an injunction against the employer in their case alleging failures to make fringe benefit contributions and reports required under collective bargaining agreements. The facts alleged in the trustees' complaint, accepted as true, provide a basis for a breach of contract action, and given the employer's nonresponse to the complaint, it is liable for delinquent contributions, interest and liquidated damages. It is also ordered to submit contribution reports or payroll books and records.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: April 16, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv1273, NOS: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) - Labor, Categories: Erisa, Labor
J. Menendez affirms the magistrate judge's protective order, and overrules the auto company's objections. The protective order, which excluded the auto company's in-house counsel and paralegal from seeing certain materials, was not clearly erroneous or contrary to law.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1681, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Menendez grants summary judgment to the defendant ladder maker in its competitor's suit alleging patent infringement. No reasonable jury could conclude that the defendant's ladders infringe a limitation in the plaintiff's patent requiring that "a substantial amount of the first bracket is disposed within a cavity defined by the first component" of the ladder. The defendant ladder maker's motion to exclude expert testimony is also granted in part, since the expert failed to apply the court's claim construction in his opinions regarding the cavity limitation.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:20cv2497, NOS: Patent - Property Rights, Categories: Patent, Experts
J. Menendez partially grants the healthcare provider's motion to dismiss the patient's proposed class action alleging that it improperly used the technology company Meta's tracking software to collect and transmit patients' data when they accessed its website. A claim under Minnesota's consumer fraud is dismissed, because the patient has failed to allege a misrepresentation connected to merchandise, and an invasion of privacy claim fails because, as alleged, any interception of the patient's data was Meta's, not the health care provider's. The patient has plausibly alleged claims under state and federal wiretap statutes, Minnesota deceptive trade practices and health records statutes, and for common law invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv440, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Privacy, Class Action, Technology
J. Menendez partially grants the medical technology company's motion to dismiss the shareholders' suit alleging that it misrepresented a product's progress toward FDA approval to investors. The shareholders have not alleged facts showing that any of the company's backward-looking statements about the product were false statements of material fact or actionable omissions. Other statements the shareholders point to are inactionable opinions, and their complaint does not include any statements by the company or its officers guaranteeing or assuring that the product would be approved by the FDA, at all or on a particular timeline.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv2197, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Fraud, Securities, Class Action
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J. Menendez partially grants the milking machine makers' motion to dismiss the dairy farmers' suit against them alleging misrepresentation of the machine's capabilities and a number of defects. Claims against two foreign entities and one domestic entity involved in the milking machine business are dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, since the farmers have not adequately proved their alter-ego, agency or conspiracy theories of personal jurisdiction. A third foreign entity's motion to dismiss is denied, since disputes persist as to whether it has sufficient contacts with Minnesota to warrant personal jurisdiction. The companies' motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim are denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1924, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Corporations, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Menendez partially grants the debtors' motion for attorney's fees in their Unfair Debt Collection Practices Act suit against the debt collectors. The debtors' claimed $450 hourly rate for their attorney is unreasonable given the relatively simple and minimal litigation involved in this matter, and the debt collectors' proposed $350 hourly rate for fees is adopted. His claimed hours are also more excessive than applied discounts can account for. Several fees are also not reasonable, and the debtors are awarded $12,239 in fees and costs rather than their claimed $29,139.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 0:23cv632, NOS: Consumer Credit - Other Suits, Categories: Debt Collection, Attorney Fees
J. Menendez grants the nursery and tree wholesaler's motions for summary judgment in the landscaper's suit against them alleging that they supplied trees infested by invasive moths, and denies the landscaper's motion for summary judgment. The landscaper has failed to provide sufficient evidence for its contention that the life stages of the spongy moth would have made it impossible for Canadian authorities to discover moths before their transport to the United States, and therefore has not established a factual dispute on that issue.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: January 22, 2024, Case #: 0:22cv1291, NOS: Other Personal Property Damage - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Evidence, Contract
J. Menendez grants the generator manufacturer's motion for summary judgment on the insurer's design- and manufacturing-defect claims stemming from an fire which the insurer alleged was caused by a defective generator. The insurer has not met its burden to prove the existence of an alternative, feasible, safer design for the generator, nor that the generator departed from its intended design or caused the fire.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1749, NOS: Property Damage Product Liability - Torts - Personal Property, Categories: Tort, Product Liability
J. Menendez partially grants the trucking company's motion for attorney fees and costs in its breach-of-contract suit against a logistics broker alleging failures to pay for hauling services. While the motion was filed after a deadline, it is not denied as untimely since the delay was minimal, did not prejudice the broker, and does not appear to have been a result of bad faith. Additionally, unlawful covenants in a non-competition agreement the broker sought to enforce in its defense are not ancillary to the party's other agreement, and therefore do not entitle the trucking company to fees under a Texas law's fee-shifting provision. The trucking company is entitled to just over $72,000 in pre-judgment interest and some amount of post-judgment interest, to be determined by agreement of the parties if possible.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv2538, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Menendez partially grants the plaintiff insurance brokerage's motion for summary judgment on two claims in its suit against another insurance brokerage with which it had a longtime arrangement to solicit and service some business clients together, splitting revenue. The plaintiff brokerage has shown that the two brokerages had a contract, that it was breached when the defendant brokerage stopped sharing revenue for one of those clients, and that the plaintiff brokerage is the "seller" of that account to the defendant brokerage under the terms of the contract. Summary judgment is also granted on a declaratory-judgment claim, but the plaintiff brokerage's requested remedy of specific performance is denied so that the parties can negotiate remedies.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: November 14, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1648, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Interference With Contract, Contract
J. Menendez dismisses the insured's suit against his life insurance provider for failure to state a claim. The insured's claims, stemming from assertions that language concerning premium payments and the cash value of his policy was unclear and confusing, are variously time-barred or not based on a statutorily-established private right of action. An unjust-enrichment claim also fails since the parties are governed by a valid contract and the insured has not shown that the insurer was not entitled to premiums he paid.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: October 17, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv1112, NOS: Insurance - Contract, Categories: Insurance, Contract
J. Menendez-Miro grants summary judgment to an employer in this matter surrounding termination. An employee was terminated from his position as an electrical and mechanical production technician when he allegedly failed to comply with the company’s Covid-19 protocols, and was absent from work for a seven-day period. The employee’s union filed a grievance that went to arbitration, but the arbitrator found the union and the employee failed to follow complaint and filing procedures outlined in the collective bargaining agreement, rendering the matter as not procedurally arbitrable. The instant court agrees with the arbitrator’s findings.
Court: USDC Puerto Rico, Judge: Menendez-Miro, Filed On: October 2, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv1506, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Employment, Labor / Unions
J. Menendez rules in favor of the SEC in a securities action against the companies alleging that they bought and sold billions of newly issued shares of microcap securities without registering as or associating with a dealer. There is undisputed evidence showing that the companies bought and sold securities as part of a regular business under the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act and the dealer definition. The companies conceded that they never registered with the SEC as a dealer and there is no dispute that neither the individual nor the company associated with any entity that was registered as a dealer. The companies cannot assert an advice-of-counsel defense because there was neither complete disclosure of relevant facts or a request for the advice which would have allowed any reliance on that advice to be in good faith.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: September 27, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv2114, NOS: Securities/Commodities/Exchange - Other Suits, Categories: Securities
J. Menendez partially grants the university's motion to dismiss the professor's religious-discrimination suit against it stemming from her termination for displaying a painting of the Prophet Muhammad in her art history class. The professor's reprisal, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and retaliation claims are dismissed for failure to state a claim, but her religious-discrimination claim survives. The professor's motion to remand this action to state court is denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: September 15, 2023, Case #: 0:23cv505, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Employment Discrimination, Employment Retaliation
J. Menendez approves a class action settlement and grants the milking machine purchasers' unopposed motion for attorney fees in their class action against the milking machine manufacturer alleging that the machines were defective. The settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, and the attorney fees and costs requested are reasonable.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: September 1, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv629, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Settlements, Product Liability, Class Action
J. Menendez amends her August 22 order granting partial summary judgment to the employee in her suit against her employer alleging that it improperly terminated her for a failed drug test without confirming the test or giving her an opportunity to complete a rehabilitation program and denying the employer's motion for summary judgment. To her finding that the employer is liable for violating a Minnesota law governing employment-related drug testing, she adds that "damages will proceed to trial."
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1186, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Preemption
J. Menendez denies the employer's motion for partial summary judgment and grants the employee's motion for partial summary judgment, finding that the employer is liable for a violation of Minnesota's Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Workplace Act. The employee's claims against her employer, stemming from her termination from a job at a nuclear facility because of a failed drug test, are not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act or other federal law since the state laws under which she brings her claims were not enacted for purposes of nuclear safety and the employer has not established that applying the DATWA would effect the nuclear licensee the employer was contracted by. The employer has also not sufficiently raised questions of material fact as to whether it terminated the employee because of a positive drug test result.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1186, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Energy, Preemption
J. Menendez denies the automaker's subsidiary's motion to dismiss the auto parts distributor's counterclaims in a suit brought by the subsidiary alleging that the distributor was improperly distributing replacement parts. The counterclaims, which allege unfair competition, unjust enrichment and a variety of antitrust violations, survive the subsidiary's arguments that it is "essentially immune from allegations of anticompetitive conduct," that it has not sufficiently alleged a relevant market and that it has not pleaded an actual antitrust injury. The distributor has also adequately stated monopolization and attempted monopolization claims, along with a claim that the subsidiary has unlawfully tied its sale of new cars to dealers to a demand that they only source replacement parts from the subsidiary and a number of state law claims.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1681, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Antitrust, Contract
J. Menendez grants the distributor's motion to dismiss three of the Japanese automaker's American subsidiary's claims against it in a suit alleging that it unlawfully sells replacement parts for the automaker's vehicles, but denies its motion for joinder of the automaker itself. The distributor's motion is not untimely and since the subsidiary is not the owner of the trademarks at issue in its trademark claims, it does not have standing to bring them. The automaker, however, is not a necessary party for the subsidiary's remaining claims, and there is not substantial risk of serial litigation created by the joinder denial.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: August 14, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv1681, NOS: Trademark - Property Rights, Categories: Antitrust, Jurisdiction
J. Menendez partially grants the employer's motion to dismiss its employee's suit against it alleging that it allowed pervasive sexual harassment to continue unchecked and that she was not granted the same opportunities as male pilots to dispute the results of a positive alcohol test. The employee's Title VII gender-discrimination claim is precluded by the Railway Labor Act and is dismissed. Her Title VII and Minnesota Human Rights Act retaliation claims are not similarly precluded or preempted, and survive since they are adequately pleaded.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: August 11, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv2212, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Employment, Preemption, Employment Discrimination
J. Menendez grants the mortgage holder's motion for sanctions against the mortgagor for filing frivolous litigation and vexatiously removing actions to federal court without adequate justification and well after receiving service in state court actions. The mortgagor is ordered to pay the mortgage holder's costs and expenses incurred by his filing of a notice of removal in this action, and is placed on the list of restricted filers in the District of Minnesota.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: July 19, 2023, Case #: 0:22cv3117, NOS: Foreclosure - Real Property, Categories: Sanctions, Foreclosure
J. Menendez grants the tractor maker's motion for summary judgment in the insurer's twin suits against it alleging that defects in tractors it built without engine side shields in a "special manufacturing year" led two tractors sold to the insurer's insured to catch fire. The lack of side shields was a deliberate choice by the manufacturer, not a manufacturing flaw, nor was it a departure from the intended design despite holes in the frame used for the shields' installation in the prior regular model year. The tractors' warranties therefore are not implicated, since the insurer has not identified a defect to which they apply. The insurer's motion to exclude testimony from the tractor maker's expert is also denied.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Menendez, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1200, NOS: Contract Product Liability - Contract, Categories: Product Liability, Experts, Warranty