Court eases off ‘Twiqbal’ brake

No Suit for Puddle at Store Entrance

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 14, 2013
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Negligence, U.S. District Court - Western District

A mall department store wins summary judgment in this slip-and-fall because plaintiff customer did not show the store had actual or constructive notice of an alleged unsafe condition resulting from a mat being pushed away from the door, allowing water to accumulate at a store entrance; the Lynchburg U.S. District Court says even if a [...]

Prior Suit Bars Borrowers’ Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 12, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

In pro se borrowers’ second action challenging foreclosure of their residence, the Charlottesville U.S. District Court holds the bar of res judicata applies even though the second suit names a trust rather than a trustee as defendant and alleges constitutional civil rights violations that could have stated in the first action: both actions arise from [...]

No Summary Judgment on Severance Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 12, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

The Lynchburg U.S. District Court denies employer summary judgment finding material disputes on whether employer revoked a severance offer and transferred employee without terminating him; employee’s admitted failure to file a timely complaint with the EEOC requires dismissal of his federal age discrimination claim but diversity jurisdiction is present. Employee over age 40 works as [...]

Ex-Employee Must Pay Employer’s Costs

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 27, 2013
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court that earlier granted summary judgment to defendant Kroger store in a deli manager’s suit alleging race discrimination now awards the employer $4,588.37 in costs. Defendant filed a bill of costs pursuant to Rule 54(d)(1), seeking the recovery of $5,000.22 in costs that defendant allegedly incurred defending against plaintiff’s lawsuit. Defendant’s [...]

T-Shirt Copyright Case Goes to Trial

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 12, 2013
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court says plaintiff owner of copyrights for t-shirt designs may try its claims for copyright infringement, breach of contract, tortious interference and unjust enrichment, for defendant’s alleged conduct of continuing to sell plaintiff’s copyrighted designs after expiration of a license agreement. Pursuant to a License Agreement, dated Oct. 1, 2006, between [...]

No Personal Jurisdiction Over Japanese Company

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court says service of process on defendant Japanese company was sufficient despite having been returned to her for failure to include copies, but the court dismisses plaintiff’s products liability suit for lack of personal jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. Plaintiff alleges she was given a pharmaceutical drug injection containing [...]

Inmates Have Claim for Faulty Health Care

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 7, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiff prisoners at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women have sufficiently alleged defendant correctional officials exhibited deliberate indifference to their serious medical needs, in the care offered by the contract health care provider, and the Charlottesville U.S. District Court denies defendants’ motion to dismiss their suit, including a possible claim for class certification. Plaintiffs have alleged [...]

Asleep-at-the-wheel prompts punitives claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 28, 2012
Tags: Federal Courts, Judge Norman K. Moon, Wrongful Death

A widow whose husband died in a collision with a tractor-trailer on a rainy July morning may sue the truck driver for punitive damages. A Lynchburg federal court balked at endorsing a punitives claim last August, but a second try at pleading punitive damages worked for Blanche Madison, suing for the wrongful death of her [...]

Deli Manager Can’t Show Bias in Discharge

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 18, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to employer, a Kroger store, in this suit alleging race discrimination filed by an African-American employee who was deli manager when the company terminated his 29-year career based on its discovery that plaintiff had given and received unauthorized price reductions on deli department merchandise. Plaintiff has not [...]