Employer Faces Negligence Claim, But no Punitives

No Pro Se Claim for Borrower LLC

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 28, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court dismisses this suit challenging foreclosure on a Lynchburg hotel property, as the individual who signed the complaint on behalf of plaintiff limited liability corporation is not a lawyer and may not proceed pro se on behalf of the LLC, and he does not have standing to pursue an individual complaint [...]

Trip & Fall Dismissed for ‘Turned-Up’ Mat

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Negligence, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to defendant discount store in this trip-and-fall suit filed by a 94-year-old plaintiff who has failed to show any evidence her fall resulted from a defective condition. Plaintiff alleged she “slipped” upon exiting the store “on a rug that was curled up.” Defendant has taken the depositions [...]

Store Display Rack was ‘Open & Obvious’

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Judge Norman K. Moon, Negligence, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Charlottesville U.S. District grants summary judgment to defendant supermarket in plaintiff’s trip-and-fall suit alleging that placement of a display rack of canned vegetables negligently created a hazardous condition that proximately caused plaintiff to trip on the wire rack and injure her knee. A number of Virginia cases have found plaintiffs contributorily negligent as a [...]

Debtor Alleges CCA Misrepresents Services

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Consumer Protection, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

The Charlottesville U.S. District Court will hold a bench trial to determine whether plaintiff is bound by a Client Agreement to arbitrate her claims against defendant InCharge Debt Solutions, a credit counseling agency that allegedly falsely represented that it provided “negotiations” with and “benefits” from, creditors, when it allegedly only provided Debt Management Plan terms [...]

Virginia Venue OK for Online Photos Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 20, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Lynchburg U.S. District Court says venue is proper in this suit by a plaintiff who alleges defendant photographer breached a contract and caused emotional distress and damage to plaintiff’s career as a soccer coach, by posting online, without plaintiff’s permission, nude photographs of plaintiff, who had been working with defendant in pursuit of a [...]

Extra Fees Awarded in TILA Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 25, 2012
Tags: Consumer Protection, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff who won $2,106.44 in damages in a default judgment in a Truth in Lending Act suit related to the sale of a vehicle, and attorney’s fees of $9,786, wins an additional $500 in fees, from the Lynchburg U.S. District Court for having to defend against defendant’s post-judgment motion. Having prevailed on defendant’s motion [...]

Website Orders Allow Virginia Jurisdiction

By Deborah Elkins
Published: October 25, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this litigation over patent rights involving design and development of a “pocketed” brassiere, which defendants call the “JoeyBra,” a Charlottesville U.S. District Court says it has jurisdiction over defendant, a Seattle-based company, owing to its interactive website and fulfillment of orders in Virginia, even though defendant company returned all products, refunded customer payments and [...]

Academic May Pursue FCA Retaliation Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 14, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

A post-doctoral fellow conducting research at U.Va.’s Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences who alleges his appointment was not renewed because he complained about his supervisor’s fraudulent allocation of levels of effort on a particular government grant withstands summary judgment on his retaliation claim under the False Claims Act, but the Charlottesville U.S. District Court [...]

No Violation from Lender’s Account Statement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: September 10, 2012
Tags: Bankruptcy, Judge Norman K. Moon, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although debtor who obtained a Chapter 7 discharge received a post-discharge statement on her Bank of America mortgage that provided principal balances, estimated payments, payment instructions and information on how payments would be posted, the routine statement did not violate the discharge injunction against creditor action under 11 U.S.C. § 524(a), says the Charlottesville U.S. [...]