Contractor Has Viable Defamation Claim

Retrial Ordered in Dog Trainer Defamation Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 29, 2013
Tags: Judge James C. Cacheris, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A dog trainer who sued pro se and won compensatory and punitive damages on his libel and business conspiracy claims and $79,786 in attorney’s fees and costs, based on defendant’s allegations that he used harsh and abusive tactics to train dogs, did not produce training videos that supported defendant’s claim, and the Alexandria U.S. District [...]

Lender Wins Conversion Claim for Rent

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 22, 2013
Tags: Judge John A. Gibney Jr., Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Applying Florida law, a Richmond U.S. District Court says plaintiff lenders are entitled to summary judgment finding defendant developers of retail stores liable for conversion of rent payments the lenders were entitled to collect, but the case will go to trial on damages. This case involves financing for the development of retail stores in shopping [...]

Funeral Attendee Not VFW Agent

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 14, 2013
Tags: Judge Chadwick S. Dotson, Tort, Virginia Circuit Courts, Wise County Circuit Court

Plaintiffs have not shown that an individual defendant was acting as an agent of the local or national Veterans of Foreign Wars organizations when he attended funerals, and the Wise County Circuit Court dismisses plaintiffs’ complaint on defendants’ plea in bar. The party asserting a plea in bar bears the burden of proof on the [...]

Discovery Ordered for Tax Records

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge James P. Jones, Tort, U.S. District Court - Western District

In plaintiff mining company’s fraud action against defendant, from whom plaintiff purchased a surface coal mine and quarry in Dickenson County in 2010, the Big Stone Gap U.S. District Court denies defendant’s objections to the magistrate judge’s discovery order requiring defendant to produce copies of tax records and accounting of the expenditure of the $5 [...]

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 Res Ipsa Loquitur Claim for Elevator Drop

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A Norfolk U.S. District Court dismisses a negligence claim filed by a woman who was injured when she stepped into an elevator on the 12th floor of the tower at One Commerce Place in Norfolk, and was injured when the elevator suddenly and violently dropped a number of floors; this court will not extend Virginia [...]

Parents Have no Claim for CPS Inquiry

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 8, 2013
Tags: Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr., Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

The parents of a 14-month-old daughter who did not promptly seek medical attention when the child suffered a second-degree burn to her shin as her father held her and her twin sister while riding an all-terrain vehicle, lose their suit alleging malicious prosecution and due process violations arising from their investigation by child protective services [...]

No FTCA Claim for Foot Injury by Mail Carrier

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 16, 2013
Tags: Judge Jackson L. Kiser, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

After a one-day bench trial, a Danville U.S. District Court finds that plaintiff has “failed to establish a coherent recitation” of an alleged accident in which a U.S. Postal Service rural mail carrier allegedly ran over plaintiff’s foot in 2004 when plaintiff was nine years old, and the court enters judgment for defendant in plaintiff’s [...]

Defamation Claim Against FBI Agent Dismissed

By Deborah Elkins
Published: April 1, 2013
Tags: Judge T.S. Ellis III, Tort, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A defendant FBI agent acted within the scope of her employment in reporting alleged sexual harassment by plaintiff FBI agent, and the Alexandria U.S. District Court accepts the government’s certification of scope of employment and dismisses a defamation action filed by the plaintiff agent who was disciplined for the alleged harassment, as the Federal Tort [...]