The VLW Blog

A former patent examiner has lost an appeal of his disability and race discrimination suit against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Chuckwudi Perry, who is African-American, has no vision in his left eye and reduced vision in his right eye. Yet, he held a driver’s license and could read using magnifying glasses and straight-edge [...]

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A juror’s use of Wikipedia to research an element of a criminal offense violated a defendant’s right to a fair trial on illegal “cockfighting” charges, and the defendant should be retried, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said on April 20. Defendant Scott Lawson and others were charged with violating a federal animal fighting [...]

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The U.S. Senate has consented to President Barack Obama’s appointment of Charleston, W.Va., attorney Stephanie Thacker for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The president nominated Thacker this past September. Yesterday evening, the Senate voted 91-3 in her favor, according to The West Virginia Record. Thacker has been in private practice with a Charleston [...]

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An employee contract clause calling for a $100,000 annual benefit for a surviving spouse is ambiguous, prompting the 4th Circuit to vacate judgment against the employee’s widow and send the case back for another look. When Hampton Roads music promoter David Williams went to work for Cellar Door Management, or CDP Inc., in 1994, he [...]

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A group of 34 former judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials is urging a federal appeals court to reject the state’s effort to reinstate the capital murder conviction of Justin Wolfe. Wolfe was convicted in Prince William County of hiring a man to kill a rival drug dealer in 2002. The evidence against him came [...]

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A Friday opinion from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revives the gender discrimination claim of a former Chesterfield County human resources director. Karla Gerner sued the county for $1.1 million contending her severance package was meager compared to “sweetheart deals” offered to similarly situated male counterparts. Richmond federal Judge Henry Hudson dismissed the [...]

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Can a change-up on a job description help an employer prove a job was no longer open after it fired the person who had the job and she filed a Title VII case? A court may take on that question now that a public affairs officer at a federal agency gets a chance to try [...]

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Roanoke hatemonger William A. White struck out twice at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week, with the court upholding both his criminal convictions for sending threatening messages and a half-million-dollar civil judgment in favor of his victims. White even faces the possibility of more prison time. The appeals court held the trial [...]

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Yesterday a federal appeals court upheld a $100,000 punitive damage award for a tenant in an Arlington high-rise whose lease was not renewed because of her persistent complaints about her allergies to smoke, mold and paint fumes. Plaintiffs Linda and Domenic Matarese sued Smith Property Holdings, the owner of Archstone Pentagon City in Arlington, management [...]

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A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wasted little time in rejecting a bid by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to get on the Virginia GOP primary ballot. Perry appealed Sunday from a district judge’s refusal to add his name to the ballot. The appeals court responded Tuesday with a 23-page order, [...]

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