Judge blasts ‘misconduct’ in Culpeper murder case

No TRO for Blasting Damage Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 17, 2012
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Tort, U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiffs who allege their 18th century colonial “Stone House” in Buchanan, Va., has suffered damage from defendant stone company’s blasting on nearby property, are not entitled to a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt activity, says a Roanoke U.S. District Court. Defendant operates a limestone mining plant adjacent to plaintiffs’’ property. Although the [...]

No ADA Claim for ‘Shy Bladder Syndrome’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 10, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to employer, residential door manufacturer CraftMaster, in a discrimination suit filed by a former truck loading specialist who alleges he suffered Title VII discrimination after he defended a victim of sexual harassment and disability discrimination when he was fired after he “failed” a drug test because his [...]

No Easement for Parkway Access

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 19, 2012
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court says a plaintiff, whose 20-acre parcel in Carroll County once was jointly owned by a couple who later conveyed two parcels from the property to two defendants, does not have an easement over defendants’ parcels and over land owned by the federal government for access to the Blue Ridge Parkway. [...]

No Bowman Claim from Abortion Demand

By Deborah Elkins
Published: July 5, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

A woman who had an intimate relationship with her boss, who co-owned restaurants where plaintiff worked, may sue for Title VII sex discrimination on a claim the boss who fathered her baby fired her because he did not want a pregnant waitress serving customers; but she cannot state a Bowman claim for violation of Virginia [...]

Michigan Company Must Sue in Va.

By Deborah Elkins
Published: June 11, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although it is inconvenient for a Michigan company to be sued in Virginia federal court by a Roanoke company alleging breach of contract for the manufacture of stainless steel tanks made in Virginia and shipped to Michigan, the Roanoke U.S. District Court says the balance tilts in favor of keeping the case in Virginia, and [...]

Arbitration Denied in Franchise Contract

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court denies defendant auto restoration franchise’s motion to compel arbitration of a former franchisee’s suit alleging he is not covered by the Franchise Agreement’s noncompete clause because the arbitration clause, as drafted, suggests the clause was meant to cover inter-office disputes, not disputes between franchisor and franchisee. Defendant Total Car Franchising [...]

No ‘Fraudulent Joinder’ in Auto Accident Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In plaintiff’s suit alleging severe and permanent injuries after she swerved in her 1995 Mazda Miata to avoid an object in the road and the vehicle turned over because the vehicle allegedly failed to provide “reasonable occupant protection in the event of a rollover accident,” the Roanoke U.S. District Court remands the case to state [...]

Va. Would Hear Duty to Warn Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Negligence, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court says Virginia would recognize a post-sale duty to warn of defects, and declines to dismiss this claim filed by a plaintiff whose hands were badly injured when using an industrial heat processing system manufactured by defendant and installed in a facility in Roanoke. In 1995, A.O. Smith Company ordered an [...]

Prosecutor quits after judge’s pointed ruling

By The Associated Press
Published: March 19, 2012
Tags: Criminal, Federal Courts, Judge James C. Turk

(AP) Culpeper County’s longtime commonwealth’s attorney has resigned after a federal judge accused him and police of misconduct in the capital murder conviction of a man serving a life sentence for the slaying of an elderly woman. Commonwealth’s Attorney Gary Close hand-delivered a letter to the Culpeper Star-Exponent announcing his resignation, effective March 13. “It [...]