http://valawyersweekly.com VA Lawyers Weekly Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:45:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In this suit arising from defendant Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education’s decision to place plaintiff Hampton University’s School of Pharmacy on probation as to its accreditation, a Newport News U.S. District Court denies Hampton’s request for preliminary injunctive relief; although the balance of harms tips in Hampton’s favor and it ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/civil-procedure-injunction-university-accreditation/ A former patent examiner for the U.S. PTO who is suing the Department of Commerce pro se for alleged employment discrimination in violation of the Rehabilitation Act, Title VII and the Civil Service Reform Act, loses his suit on summary judgment. This “mixed” Merit Systems Protection Board, discrimination and retaliation case ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/employment-discrimination-disability-patent-examiner/ An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to the federal government in a federal employee’s suit alleging disability discrimination pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, on the basis that his voluntary retirement from the U.S. Marshal Service amounted to a “constructive discharge” because it was based on his ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/employment-discrimination-disability-hearing-loss-rehabilitation-act/ In this patent infringement suit involving Internet “cookies,” an Alexandria U.S. District Court rules on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment and refines the issues for trial. Defendants have established by clear and convincing evidence that the § 102(b) statutory on-sale bar invalidates claim 1 because the cookies invention was sold ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/intellectual-property-patent-infringement-internet-%e2%80%98cookies%e2%80%99/ A Richmond U.S. District Court denies defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea after the court has allowed his lawyer to withdraw as counsel; although defendant claims his lawyer threatened him and made promises to force him to plead guilty, the court finds defendant has provided no evidence that his ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/criminal-guilty-plea-withdrawal-counsel-withdrawal/ A Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses this suit filed by an African-American plaintiff who alleges his civil rights were violated when he was denied the opportunity to register and to vote in the 2008 election. Plaintiff is not a felon, nor has he been divested of his voting rights in ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/civil-rights-voting-rights-registration-requirement/ An Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a $1 million defamation suit against a leading advocate of child vaccination, holding that defendant physician’s statement, “She lies,” in reference to an anti-vaccination advocate, was not actionable. Plaintiff Barbara Loe Arthur is the co-founder and acting president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/tort-defamation-vaccination-dispute-opinion-v-fact/ In a policewoman’s Title VII suit, a Richmond U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant police department, as defendants have shown plaintiff failed to take advantage of remedial procedures for alleged conduct by supervisors, and the alleged conduct by coworkers was isolated and not pervasive. There is no genuine issue ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/employment-discrimination-title-vii-hostile-environment-remedial-procedures-policewoman/ Although plaintiff contends her family used a driveway on defendant neighbor’s land for many years, this use was entirely neighborly and not adverse, exclusive or under a claim of right, and plaintiff did not acquire a prescriptive right to use the easement, says an Alexandria U.S. District Court. The parties own ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/real-estate-easement-deed-partial-release-2/ A med-mal plaintiff can include in her refiled suit, her time-barred claims of failure to perform an alternative procedure and lack of informed consent, as the new claims arise out of the same transaction or occurrence and are saved by the six-month tolling provision, says an Alexandria U.S. District Court. Plaintiff’s ... http://valawyersweekly.com/blog/2010/03/17/civil-procedure-nonsuit-med-mal-suit-new-claims/