Court Limits Suit Against Trustee

Employer Rebuts Failure-to-Promote Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

An African-American male employed in a technician assembly position who alleges he has been passed over for promotion multiple times because of race cannot make out a prima facie case under Title VII, the Lynchburg U.S. District Court says; although plaintiff says employer altered job descriptions produced in discovery to make certain qualifications “required” instead [...]

Still No Injunction in ‘JoeyBra’ Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court declines to reconsider its denial of a preliminary injunction in this patent infringement lawsuit involving designs for pocketed bras. Plaintiff filed this patent infringement case in May 2012, which stems from a design patent, the ‘541 patent, that plaintiff received in 2001 for a bra design with pockets. Plaintiff became [...]

Lab Director’s Summary Judgment Motion ‘Premature’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

An African-American male and former director of quality control for a Lynchburg manufacturer of fragrance and personal care products who alleges his racially-motivated termination ran counter to the company’s progressive disciplinary policy, was disparate treatment when compared to Caucasian employees’ disciplinary history and violated Title VII, has proved that his suit was timely filed because [...]

Defamation Claim Works Without ‘Exact Words’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Tort, U.S. District Court - Western District

A former cashier for Wal-Mart may sue for malicious prosecution based on her claim that her actions in applying “price match” discounts conformed to Wal-Mart’s policies and practices at the Lexington store and Wal-Mart had no basis for reporting her alleged embezzlement to police; the Lynchburg U.S. District Court also says plaintiff’s defamation claim under [...]

No Jurisdiction from Kickstarter Donors

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 3, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although defendant JoeyBra LLC received three donations from Virginia donors on Kickstarter .com, and shipped its pocketed-bra product to Virginia donors, the Charlottesville U.S. District Court nevertheless does not have personal jurisdiction over the two individual defendants in this patent infringement suit, and the court dismisses the two defendants. Plaintiff filed this patent infringement case [...]

No Interlocutory Appeal of Waiver Issue

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this suit for breach of a lease agreement, a Lynchburg U.S. District Court denies defendant health care company’s motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal of the following issue: “whether a defendant filing a motion to transfer or stay waives any and all rights to object to personal jurisdiction.” I find the issue defendant [...]

Quiet Title Action Dismissed by Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 24, 2013
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Real Estate, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff homeowners’ suit to quiet title which alleges the assignment of their deed of trust to defendant bank, as trustee for a loan trust, was invalid. In this case, plaintiffs allege basically the same facts they alleged in Blick I (Blick v. JP Morgan Chase Bank NA, No. 3:12cv00001, [...]

Debt Collector Proves ‘Bona Fide Error’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 22, 2013
Tags: Consumer Protection, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although an employee of defendant debt collector lost his place in his telephone script and omitted from his voicemail message the statement that the call was “an attempt to collect a debt by a debt collector,” defendant debt collection law firm wins summary judgment in this FDCPA case with its bona fide error defense, says [...]

‘Profitability’ Defense Experts Excluded

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 3, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Prior to trial of claims by an owner of copyrighted t-shirt designs for infringement, a Charlottesville U.S. District Court grants plaintiff owner’s motion to exclude defendants’ expert report and expert testimony and motion in limine to preclude defendants from presenting evidence on profitability. Defendants designated Andrea Burke, its controller, as their corporate designee under Fed. [...]