No Title VII Suit After Bankruptcy Nondisclosure

No Jurisdiction from HAMP Reference

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 22, 2013
Tags: Judge Mark Davis, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court remands to state court plaintiff borrower’s suit alleging state-law contract and tort claims, as the complaint’s mere reference to procedures and guidelines under the federal HAMP statute does not provide a basis for federal question subject matter jurisdiction. Defendants removed this case to federal court solely on the ground of [...]

No Repleading in Condemnation Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Judge Mark Davis, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In litigation involving this “quick-take” condemnation proceeding by the city of Chesapeake of real estate owned by Clear Sky Car Wash LLC, as part of a federally funded highway initiative, the Norfolk U.S. District Court declines to reverse its prior dismissal of the case with prejudice, in order to allow plaintiff Car Wash to now [...]

No Venue Change in Patent Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 20, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court denies a transfer of venue to a New Jersey federal court and venue-related discovery in this patent infringement suit; the patented technologies at issue here were all researched and developed primarily in this district. Plaintiff Virginia Innovation Sciences Inc. (VIS) is a Virginia corporation with its principal place of business [...]

Bank Says TARP Prohibits Severance for Ex-CEO

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 20, 2013
Tags: Employment, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Plaintiff banks may not use a federal declaratory judgment action to avoid paying a former executive a Severance Allowance, which they say is not owed under his Employment Agreement amended to conform to TARP regulations prohibiting “golden parachute” payments; the Norfolk U.S. District Court says the mere fact that TARP is implicated in the case [...]

Bank cites TARP to avoid paying ‘golden parachute’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 18, 2013
Tags: Banks & Banking, Federal Courts, Judge Mark Davis

A bank’s ex-CEO who seeks severance pay lives to fight another day after a Norfolk federal judge rejected the bank’s preemptive strike. When Scott C. Harvard demanded the severance payment, Shore Bank, his former employer, filed suit in federal court seeking a declaratory judgment that it was not liable for severance pay under controlling federal [...]

No Jurisdiction Over Trade-Name Dispute

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Virginia plaintiff that wants to operate a PEOPLExpress Airline may not sue defendant applicant for a trademark plaintiff seeks in Virginia federal court because the Newport New U.S. District Court may not exercise personal jurisdiction over defendant applicant, a New Jersey corporation operating from New York. Plaintiff People Express Airlines Inc. d/b/a PEOPLExpress Airlines [...]

No Injunction in Jail Employees’ Strip-Search Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this litigation challenging a sheriff’s strip search of employees of the contractor that provided healthcare services to jail inmates after a tip that contractor employees had been bringing contraband into the jail, and the revocation of their security clearances after the employees filed suit, the Norfolk U.S. District Court denies a preliminary injunction ordering [...]

Rule 11 Sanction for Extra Defendant

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 14, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A plaintiff ordered to pay a sanction of $1,125 in attorney’s fees for violating Rule 11 by adding a defendant without leave of court may not defer payment of the sanction on the ground that she is unemployed and indigent; the Newport News U.S. District Court denies plaintiff’s late-filed motion. Plaintiff’s motion was filed after [...]

Second-Tier Sub Has Miller Act Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 4, 2013
Tags: Contract, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An electrical contractor hired as a “sub-subcontractor” on a project to build beach cottages for the U.S. Navy may sue on the prime contractor’s payment bond, says a Norfolk U.S. District Court. This is a Miller Act payment bond action seeking recovery on a payment bond the prime contractor was required to obtain on a [...]