Nurse Did Not Rebut Poor Performance Claim

HOA Can Sue Over Cable Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this suit by a homeowners’ association challenging a developer’s grant of exclusive access to a single cable company as supplier of communications services to residents, an Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses the association’s antitrust claims but declines to dismiss its claim that the grant violates a 2007 Federal Communications Commission order that prohibits cable [...]

Carrier Must Defend Under ‘Garage Operations’ Clause

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 15, 2011
Tags: Insurance, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although the driver of a car owned by Cowles Nissan was intoxicated when he struck and killed a pedestrian, an Alexandria U.S. District Court predicts the Virginia Supreme Court would interpret an insurance policy’s “garage operations provision” to require the insurance carrier on the owner’s commercial garage policy to defend the state court wrongful death [...]

Summary Judgment Granted to Plaintiff Seeking Long Term Disability

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 30, 2011
Tags: Employment, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to plaintiff who is seeking long term disability benefits for total disability from chronic headaches through her ERISA-qualified employee benefits plan; the court concludes defendant Lincoln National Life Insurance Company misinterpreted the applicable provisions of the long-term disability policy in determining whether plaintiff was entitled to benefits [...]

No Amendment for Debt Collector’s Contract Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 30, 2011
Tags: Contract, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Judge Ivan D. Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In plaintiff’s lawsuit alleging defendant defamed plaintiff by making false statements that plaintiff forged documents in connection with a contract for debt collection services plaintiff had with SMI Hyundai, an Alexandria U.S. District Court accepts the magistrate judge’s recommendation and denies defendant’s motion to amend his counterclaim to allege claims of breach of contract, breach [...]

Bivens Claim for Lead Poisoning Barred

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 28, 2011
Tags: Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this “troubling and tragic case,” an Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a claim filed by a former CIA employee who suffered permanently disabling lead poisoning after exposure to toxic levels of lead in connection with his employment conducting weapons training, as plaintiff’s claims under Bivens and the Privacy Act are barred by the exclusivity [...]

Court Grants New Trial in FCA Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 22, 2011
Tags: Contract, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

After trial of this False Claims Act suit against a moving company that earlier was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and to restrain trade, in connection with a bid-rigging scheme among European and American companies that move household goods for U.S. military and civilian personnel from Germany to the U.S., an Alexandria U.S. [...]

Two-Year Limitations Bars Hip Replacement Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 28, 2011
Tags: Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses a removed diversity action against hip replacement manufacturers as barred by Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations; equitable estoppel does not apply because patient waited more than two years after a product recall. In September 2005, patient had a total right hip replacement surgery. An orthopedic implant manufactured by defendants [...]

Venue Change for Surety’s Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 17, 2011
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants a Maryland construction company’s motion to transfer this suit filed by a South Dakota surety on construction projects in Virginia Beach and the District of Columbia from the Norfolk Division to the Alexandria Division. It is clear venue did not properly lie in the Alexandria Division, in the first [...]

Equitable Tolling Requires Client Diligence

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 15, 2011
Tags: Employment, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The Alexandria Division of the U.S. District Court dismisses employee’s Pregnancy Discrimination Act claim as barred by the 90-day limitation generally applicable to all claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the court declines to apply the doctrine of equitable tolling for mailing errors on the part of the Equal Employment [...]