Pakistani Forum Not Convenient for Hotel Explosion Suit

No Fair Housing Claim from HOA’ ATV Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Rights, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

A homeowners association for Lee’s Crossing subdivision wins a housing discrimination suit under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 filed by a family who was denied the right for their disabled adult son to use an all-terrain vehicle on the subdivision’s unpaved roads; the 4th Circuit affirms summary judgment for the HOA and on [...]

No ADA Claim from Leave Denial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Employment Discrimination, Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

An employee of a chain-store distribution center who filed his disability discrimination claim with the EEOC before he filed his Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition has standing to pursue his discrimination claim, the 4th Circuit says, but the claim has no merit as the employee did not show he could perform the essential functions of his [...]

CWA Permit Upheld for Mine Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer

The 4th Circuit affirms issuance of a water quality permit under the Clean Water Act to Highland Mining Company, on the basis that a proposed surface coal mine adjacent to a stream in Logan County would not damage water quality or violate water quality standards. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit [...]

No UM/UIM ‘Stacking’ for Policy Omission

By Sarah Rodriguez
Published: May 21, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Insurance, Judge Barbara Milano Keenan

Although an auto liability policy failed to specify any specific amount of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage provided, that omission did not mean the policy terms prohibiting “stacking,” or combining coverage for multiple insured vehicles, were ambiguous under Virginia law and would allow stacking, and the 4th Circuit affirms the district court’s denial of additional coverage to [...]

‘Grabbing’ Officer’s Hand Not ‘Violent’ Crime

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Judge Albert Diaz

The 4th Circuit grants an Afghan citizen’s petition for review of a final order of removal, and says the government failed to prove that his act of “grabbing” the hand of a police officer who was processing his Maryland DUI charge was not a “crime of violence” and thus an “aggravated felony” that would trigger [...]

Appeal Dismissed in Medicaid Cutback Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

In this case involving a cutback in Medicaid services to a class of North Carolina recipients with severe developmental disabilities, the 4th Circuit dismisses an appeal of a preliminary injunction ordering the state Medicaid agency not to reduce services without a hearing; the state agency that administers the Medicaid program has not joined in this [...]

No Restitution Payment with Tax Refund

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge William B. Traxler Jr.

A district court abused its discretion in adding as a special condition to defendant’s sentencing order an obligation to turn over any tax refund as part of her restitution for illegal receipt of social security payments, and the 4th Circuit vacates the order setting the special condition. In the Victim and Witness Protection Act of [...]

Lien-Stripping Approved in Chapter 20 Cases

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Bankruptcy, Judge Albert Diaz

In a “Chapter 20” bankruptcy case – a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filed within four years of a Chapter 7 discharge – there is no per se rule barring lien-stripping, and the 4th Circuit affirms an order stripping off liens secured by collateral with no value to support them in this suit involving debtors’ residences. The [...]

City Worker’s USERRA Claim Too Late

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Employment, Judge Stephanie Dawn Thacker

A chief warrant officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, who left his job as a municipal waste manager for periods of active service with the Coast Guard, waited too long to file his suit under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, and the 4th Circuit affirms the district court decision [...]