Driver Fired for False Records, Not FMLA Leave

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 [...]

‘Exhausted’ Litigant Exhausted His FOIA Remedy

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 7, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Despite a statutory mandate requiring federal agencies to respond to FOIA requests and appeals within 20 working days, defendant Drug Enforcement Administration ultimately took two and one-half years to respond to plaintiff’s request for documents concerning the federal government’s regulation of the drug carisoprodol, and the 4th Circuit says the exhausted plaintiff has exhausted his [...]

HOA Wins Challenge to Exclusive Cable Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 10, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Real Estate

A cable provider’s exclusive contract to provide cable services to a real estate development violated an FCC order that prohibited such exclusivity arrangements, and the 4th Circuit affirms judgment for the homeowners’ association that successfully challenged the contract. Codified at 47 C.F.R. § 76.2000(a), the Federal Communications Commission’s Exclusivity Order states that no cable operator [...]

Union Member’s Complaint Not ‘Free Speech’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 29, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Labor

A union member who alleged she was fired in retaliation for reporting to the regional union that she had seen the union local’s president and vice president viewing pornography on a union computer does not have a claim for violation of her free-speech rights under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act; the 4th Circuit says [...]

Investors Not ‘Customers’ for FINRA Arbitration

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

Investors who purchased allegedly fraudulent securities directly from a business on the recommendation of a lawyer who was working with a broker for a financial services company were not “customers” of the company entitled to FINRA arbitration; the 4th Circuit says that to compel arbitration in this case, in which the investors did not buy [...]

Death Penalty Upheld in Murder-for-Hire Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The 4th Circuit upholds defendant’s conviction and capital sentence for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, based on his fatal shooting of a Naval officer in 2007 as a contract killing arranged by the officer’s wife and her paramour; however, the panel splits on whether it was error for the trial judge to admit an interrogation videotape [...]

No Intervention in AG’s Defense of Abortion Statute

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

In this suit challenging the constitutionality of the North Carolina “Woman’s Right to Know Act,” which requires certain informed consent procedures prior to performance of an abortion, the federal district court did not err in denying a motion to intervene filed by a coalition of pro-life medical professionals, women who have previously undergone abortions and [...]

Victim Statement Comes in Under ‘Forfeiture’ Rule

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 23, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The 4th Circuit joins other courts and extends the “forfeiture by wrongdoing” exception to admission of a hearsay statement to include a statement made by the murder victim in this case, even though defendant did not commit the murder solely in order to prevent the witness from testifying. Defendant’s coconspirator shot at the victim, at [...]

Stop of Trespass Suspect Was Legal

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 23, 2013
Tags: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, Search & Seizure

A police officer was justified in stopping defendant as he walked away from a convenience store parking lot, based on the store owner’s written request for enforcement of trespass laws in this high-crime area and defendant quickly walking away when the officer spoke, and the 4th Circuit upholds the stop and defendant’s conviction as a [...]