Wrongful Death Suit Remanded

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 [...]

Inmate’s Mental Health Claim Advances

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Civil Rights, Judge Jackson L. Kiser, U.S. District Court - Western District

As plaintiff inmate has adequately disputed defendant correctional officials’ assertion that he failed to exhaust his administrative remedies on his claim that his confinement to a strip cell and special housing was causing suicidal tendencies and he needed group therapy, the Roanoke U.S. District Court denies defendants’ motion for summary judgment based on the failure [...]

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 [...]

Party Realignment Ordered in Coverage Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Insurance, Judge Robert S. Ballou, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this suit seeking to determine coverage availability to Stephanie Brenner and Brenner Properties for injuries received by Tiffany Eve in a horse-riding accident on Feb. 27, 2010, the magistrate judge for the Roanoke U.S. District Court orders realignment of nominal defendants Stephanie Brenner and Tiffany Eve as plaintiffs and counter-defendants. Properties sought a declaratory [...]

Stay Ordered in Contaminated Steroid Cases

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 23, 2013
Tags: Judge James C. Turk, Products Liability, U.S. District Court - Western District

In these nearly identical suits alleging injury from contaminated steroids manufactured by defendant New England Compounding Pharmacy Inc., the Roanoke U.S. District Court will stay plaintiffs’ motions to remand these matters to state court until the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation decides whether to transfer these actions. Soon after these suits were filed, defendant NECC [...]

Contaminated Steroid Cases Go Back to State Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court remands to state court multiple suits against defendant physicians, a corporation and a pain-management clinic alleging defendants acted negligently, fraudulently and in violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act by obtaining a contaminated injectable steroid from the New England Compounding Center and administering it to patients who contracted fungal meningitis. [...]

Contaminated Steroid Case Remanded to State Court

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Civil Procedure, Judge Samuel G. Wilson, U.S. District Court - Western District

A Roanoke U.S. District Court remands to state court an estate’s suit against defendant physicians, a corporation and a pain-management clinic alleging defendants acted negligently, fraudulently and in violation of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act by obtaining a contaminated injectable steroid from the New England Compounding Center and administering it to decedent, who died from [...]

Analogue Act Upheld for ‘Bath Salts’ Sale

By Deborah Elkins
Published: May 15, 2013
Tags: Criminal, Judge Glen E. Conrad, U.S. District Court - Western District

A defendant cannot win judgment of acquittal after a jury verdict finding him guilty of conspiracy and distribution of “bath salts” – controlled substance analogues for human consumption – in violation of the Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act of 1986; the Charlottesville U.S. District Court rejects defendant’s challenges to 1) the constitutionality of the Analogue [...]