Email Arbitration Clause Enforceable Against Consumer

Interstate Delivery Drivers Lose on Preemption Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant Lasership Inc. in this suit filed by a purported class of delivery truck drivers who allege they were misclassified under the Massachusetts Independent Contractor Statute, M.G.L. 149 § 148B. Though headquartered in Vienna, Va., Lasership maintains facilities in Woburn, Mass., and Meriden, Conn. In the [...]

A Super Bowl sob story

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: Federal Courts, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, Judge Diana Gribbon Motz, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, Real Estate

Here’s how missing the Super Bowl can get your case into federal court. Residents of two NoVa subdivisions chafed under contracts that said they could subscribe to one, and only one, cable provider. The folks in Lansdowne on the Potomac, which had over 2,000 residents, began complaining about the quality of service provided by OpenBand [...]

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 [...]

No Attorney’s Fees for Banks’ Tort Defense

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

An Alexandria U.S. District Court says although the parties’ loan documents allow a bank to collect attorney’s fees for expenses “incurred to enforce” the loan documents, the documents’ fee-shifting provisions do not cover the bank’s legal fees for defending a tort suit filed by plaintiff debtors after the bank’s collection agency contacted debtors’ customers. The [...]

No Race Discrimination in Loan Extension Denial

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

In this race discrimination case against a commercial lender, plaintiff entrepreneur and his companies have failed to raise any genuine issues of material fact about defendant bank’s denial of loan extensions, and the Alexandria U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to the bank. Plaintiffs are Best Medical International Inc., Gunston Hall Realty Inc., Huestis Machine [...]

Association Said Logo Used in Ad Sales

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this case involving trademark infringement claims by a trade association against an individual due to the individual’s advertisements soliciting trade association members for listing in a directory, the Alexandria U.S. District Court adopts the magistrate judge’s recommendation as to plaintiff association’s trademark infringement claim because defendant’s ads contained marks that were distinguishable from plaintiff’s [...]

No FCA Claim for False Inspection Records

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 20, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Although an electrician who worked for a civilian contractor providing military support services in Iraq alleges the contractor falsely certified the performance of ground resistance testing, he has failed to allege any payment of false claims and the Alexandria U.S. District Court dismisses his suit under the False Claims Act. At the core of this [...]

Damages Dispute Stays in Bankruptcy

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 12, 2013
Tags: Bankruptcy, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

After the Bankruptcy Court entered a default judgment for over $13 million for real estate purchasers claiming fraud, the Alexandria U.S. District Court denies the agent’s motion to withdraw its reference of the adversary proceeding: erroneous legal judgments are not grounds for withdrawal; this case does not concern laws affecting interstate comment so as to [...]

No Tort Claim from Post-Merger Job Changes

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman who continued to work for the new company after her former employer merged with another waste company, but who complained about her treatment by a different management team from the other company that “micromanaged” employees, has not stated a claim for tortious interference with business expectancy, says the Alexandria U.S. District Court. Plaintiff [...]