Confidentiality Clause in Agreement Breached, Company Says

Cleaner’s Workload Shows Disparate Treatment

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An African-American female housekeeper at a retirement home has stated Title VII claims for race and sex discrimination based on alleged disparate treatment in which she was assigned 148 rooms to clean, while one male Caucasian worker was only assigned 30 rooms and another such worker slept on the job, with supervisor approval; however, the [...]

Claim May Be Timely After All

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman who claims she was fired from her job at a 7-Eleven store due to race and age discrimination gets another chance to pursue her case, as the Richmond U.S. District Court grants her Rule 59 motion because it finds a sufficient question of fact as to whether plaintiff filed her EEOC charge within [...]

Witness Sequestration Claim Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 29, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A defendant convicted of bank fraud cannot win a new trial by arguing a government witness violated a court order under Fed. R. Evid. 615, because one government witness made comments to other witnesses, outside the courtroom, as they were waiting to testify. The court denies defendant’s motion because, first and foremost, government witnesses violated [...]

Transit Supervisor Fired for Breaking Rule

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A transit management company wins summary judgment in a former field supervisor’s suit alleging violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and defamation based on communication about the company’s receipt of a customer complaint concerning plaintiff. The company allegedly received a complaint that plaintiff had told a customer that if the customer had something to [...]

No Injunctive Relief for Dueling Grass Seed Companies

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 19, 2012
Tags: Commercial, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Neither of two companies litigating false advertising claims about the relative merits of their grass-seed products is entitled to a preliminary injunction to keep its opponent from running certain advertisements, a Richmond U.S. District Court says. Plaintiff The Scotts Company LLC and defendant Pennington Seed Inc. distribute, market and sell grass seed and plant food [...]

Local Election Board Sees Complaint Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 19, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiffs’ complaint asserting generalized grievances against the electoral board for the city of Richmond, as plaintiffs fail to state any claim with a legal foundation, for which the court can grant relief. In a nutshell, plaintiffs claim the qualification process for public office candidates for the city of Richmond [...]

No TRO in Political Candidate Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Two plaintiffs who have presented a laundry list of unsupported attacks on the performance of the Virginia State Board of Elections and the city of Richmond General Registrar, along with a complaint about supposed shortcomings of the Virginia Election and Registration Information System, have their motion for a preliminary injunction denied by the Richmond U.S. [...]

Large Firm Can’t Collect for Overhead

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 19, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Richmond U.S. District Court says defendant “spice” company intentionally violated plaintiff tobacco company’s trademarks for plaintiff’s cigarette brand “NEWPORT” with its similarly packaged product called “NEWPROT,” and the court awards defendant 80 percent of the fees and costs it requested, or $231,976 in fees and $18,909 in out-of-pocket expenses. Defendant submitted an affidavit from [...]

Ex-HR director settles suit against Chesterfield

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 7, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Federal Courts, Judge Henry E. Hudson, Judge John A. Gibney Jr.

A former human resources director for Chesterfield County has settled her lawsuit alleging the county discriminated by giving her a less generous severance package than the “sweetheart deals” given to her male counterparts. The county has paid Karla Gerner $42,000, which includes fees for attorney Mark D. Dix, according to a copy of the release [...]