Deadly Force on Domestic Call Not ‘Excessive’

No Accommodation for Medical Certification

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 24, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A bakery could not offer plaintiff driver, who has a surgically implanted heart defibrillator, a lawful accommodation to its requirement that drivers obtain a medical certification in order to drive higher-capacity-carrying trucks, and the Roanoke U.S. District Court grants summary judgment to employer in the truck driver’s suit alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities [...]

Eyewitness casts doubt on truck driver’s slip & fall claim – Summary judgment granted

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: April 30, 2012
Tags: Federal Courts, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, Premises Liability

The plaintiff, a commercial truck driver from Elizabethton, Tenn., alleged that he fell because of defects in the parking lot of a travel plaza in Wytheville. The property was owned by defendant A.T. Williams Oil Company and operated by defendant WilcoHess LLC. Although plaintiff pled that an accumulation of diesel fuel or oil caused his [...]

Student Dismissal Case Transferred

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 13, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A student enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at VCU in Richmond cannot sue the university in a Roanoke U.S. District Court on a claim that her civil rights were violated under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when she was dismissed from the program for an alleged lack of professionalism during a clinical course [...]

Employee’s Comments Not FMLA Request

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Employment Discrimination, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A bank employee with a history of excessive absenteeism did not articulate a request for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act when she told her employer she would need to be absent from work for more than one day after she cut her foot at home, but her doctor’s excuse only covered one day [...]

Claims Against Sheriff Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 2, 2012
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although the Roanoke U.S. District Court finds excusable neglect in plaintiff’s untimely service on the sheriff and the sheriff’s office of his complaint that defendants violated his rights under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when they used excessive force against him as a pretrial detainee by throwing him into a table causing loss of a tooth, [...]

No More Pro Se Suits for Former Lawyer

By Deborah Elkins
Published: March 28, 2012
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A former attorney who has used her legal knowledge to file harassing and frivolous lawsuits against defendant and her family in multiple courts around the country is enjoined by the Roanoke U.S. District Court from filing further pro se lawsuits in this court. The All Writs Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1651(a), authorizes district courts to [...]

No Contract from Hospital Bylaws

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Contract, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A physician who lost his hospital staff privileges at Lewis Gale Medical Center after an incident in an operating room while he was supervising another doctor cannot sue defendant physician, Chairman of the Medical Staff, on claims of breach of contract, tortious interference with contract and discrimination; the Roanoke U.S. District Court dismisses plaintiff physician’s [...]

Defamation Claim Survives, Despite Warning

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Employment, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although a bank warned its employees not to talk about plaintiff bank manager’s termination, the manager can sue the bank for breach of contract and defamation after remaining bank employees suggested to community members the manager had been fired “because of money”; but the Roanoke U.S. District Court dismisses the manager’s claim for wrongful termination [...]

No ‘Costs’ for Private Process Server

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 10, 2012
Tags: Judge Samuel G. Wilson, Negligence, U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff who won a jury award of $150,000 compensatory and $10,000 punitive damages for her injuries from a car collision may recover an additional $1,062.25 in costs for copying costs, clerk fees and court reporter fees, but the Harrisonburg U.S. District Court says she may not be reimbursed for fees incurred for reviewing records, [...]