No Arbitration of FCA Retaliation Claims

Email Not Enough to Prove Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although the parties continued to negotiate terms for defendant’s promotion of a concert featuring plaintiff Wiz Khalifa at George Mason University, with defendant holding out for plaintiff to release a new album, an email from plaintiff’s agent to defendant indicated the parties would wait until formal execution of the attached contract, and the Alexandria U.S. [...]

Arbitration Ordered for Warranty Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Melvin R. Hughes Jr., Richmond Circuit Court, Virginia Circuit Courts

Although a contract for new home construction states that the warranty of Va. Code § 55-70.1(C) is “specifically waived,” absent contract language indicating the property is sold “as is,” a Richmond Circuit Court overrules defendant builder’s motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ breach of warranty claim and its pleas of the statute of limitations, but the court [...]

Sub’s Claim Against Surety Is Too Late

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Michael F. Urbanski, U.S. District Court - Western District

In a subcontractor’s Miller Act claim on a payment bond issued by defendants, the Harrisonburg U.S. District Court dismisses the claim as time-barred. Plaintiff TopSource filed a warrant in debt in a Virginia general district court on June 20, 2012, claiming defendants IBCS Group Inc. and Edmund Scarborough, an individual surety, owe TopSource $12,160 plus [...]

Arbitration Required for Security Contractor Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants defendant government security contractor’s motion to compel arbitration of three employees’ claims that they were not paid for all the hours they worked and not paid proper pay rates; although only defendant may force arbitration, the agreement is not unconscionable and the agreement as a whole is supported by [...]

Teaming Agreement Not Final & Enforceable

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Cacheris, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit alleging defendant breached a teaming agreement with plaintiff to win a federal contract award, an Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant, concluding that the parties’ teaming agreement was not meant to provide a binding obligation but rather to set forth a contractual objective and agreed framework for the negotiations [...]

Court Trims Costs for Winning Party

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court takes a close look at plaintiff’s request for $132,137.90 and awards $89,207.90 by deducting claimed expenses such as videography fees for depositions, computer animations and “metadata extraction.” On Sept. 27, 2012, the court granted summary judgment of non-infringement to defendant Openet Telecom Inc. and summary judgment of no inequitable conduct [...]

Minority Contractor’s Race Bias Claim Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses a subcontractor’s suit alleging that various defendant contractors on a state construction contract refused to pay plaintiff because it was a minority-owned contractor, as plaintiff makes only conclusory allegations that do not satisfy the plausibility standard for pleading. The complaint alleges that Trane U.S. Inc. contracted with the Virginia [...]

Contractor Suit Not Barred by Term Sheet

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this dispute between an Afghan company that subcontracted logistics services for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Pakistan and a Virginia global logistics services contractor, a counterclaim is not barred by the parties’ earlier “agreement to agree,” and the Alexandria U.S. District Court will not strike the counterclaim or impose sanctions. Plaintiff Global Hub [...]

AAA Rules in Contract Cover ‘Arbitrability’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge T.S. Ellis III, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Two independent contractors for a private security company operating in Iraq and Afghanistan must arbitrate their False Claims Act retaliation claims, as the incorporation of the American Arbitration Association Commercial Arbitration Rules in the governing agreement is a “clear and unmistakable” delegation of arbitrability to the arbitrator; the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants defendant’s motion [...]