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Tort: Probable cause dooms malicious prosecution claim
Where probable cause supported a man’s arrest, that doomed his subsequent malicious prosecution claim.
Tort: Government dodges suit over servicemember’s suicide
Where the administrator for the estate of a servicemember who died by suicide while working abroad an aircraft carrier sued the federal government for his wrongful death, but the suit would require judicial inquiry into, and hence intrusion upon, military matters, the claims were dismissed.
Tort: Alleged sexual-assault victim’s lawsuit was filed too late
Where a woman sued the defendant in 2021, alleging that he began a sexual relationship in 2005 when she was 14 years old and he was 33 years old, but her complaint showed that she knew of her injury and its causal connection to the alleged sexual abuse by the time she reached the age of majority, her suit was barred by the statute of limitations.
Tort: Hotel defendants fail to dismiss suit by sex trafficking victim
Where a sex trafficking victim sued the owners of the hotel where she was trafficked, along with the franchisor, and her allegations plausibly alleged claims for a violation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and for negligence, their motions to dismiss were denied.
Negligence: $266,906 vehicle accident verdict is reversed
Where the district court held the defendant’s willful and wanton negligence led to a severe car accident, it erred. The defendant’s conduct fits no pattern of facts associated with willful and wanton negligence in Virginia case law, and qualifies only as simple or gross negligence—claims the plaintiff did not plead. The $266,906.03 verdict was reversed with instructions to enter judgment for[...]
Negligence: Father’s suit over son’s football injury is dismissed
Where a father sued Boston College and other defendants after his son suffered a severe knee injury while playing collegiate football, his suit was dismissed. Because the father is not an attorney, he cannot represent his son in court.
Tort: Woman owes ex-husband almost $1,000 for trespass and conversion claims
Where a woman entered the house of her ex-husband without his consent, he was awarded $797.88 for a lost key fob and passport and $200.00 for the damage to his property.
Negligence: Employee must pursue remedy for dog bite via worker’s compensation
Where the employer required an employee to be around the employer’s dogs and she was bitten while handling the horse in close proximity to the dog, her dog bite injury arose out of her employment and her exclusive remedy therefore lay in the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Tort: Ecclesiastical abstention doctrine applies to priest’s defamation suit
Where a priest alleged he was defamed when his name was included on a list of clergy with credible and substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors, the suit was barred by the ecclesiastical abstention. The definition used to determine that there was a credible and substantiated allegation of sexual abuse involving a minor includes references to religious precepts.
Tort: Public nuisance suit against opioid distributors is resuscitated
Where the district court held that West Virginia common law does not permit a public nuisance claim based on the distribution of prescription drugs, it erred. Under West Virginia law, an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public resulting from the distribution of opioids may qualify as a public nuisance when the evidence establishes that distribution of this product unrea[...]
Civil Procedure: Woman has standing to sue over husband’s death
Where a circuit court retroactively appointed the plaintiff as administrator for her husband’s estate, she has standing to bring personal-injury and wrongful-death actions on her husband’s behalf.
Negligence: Trial court erred when it set aside $500,000 jury verdict
Where a jury found a firefighter was grossly negligent when he collided with a vehicle, the circuit court erred when it set aside that verdict. The evidence did not conclusively establish the firefighter exercised any care to prevent the accident.
Verdicts & Settlements
- Medical Malpractice – Jurors side with doctor in suit over rescue surgery
- Workers’ Compensation- Seasonal worker paralyzed in tobacco baler accident
- Medical Malpractice- Death from cancer followed stomach pain misdiagnosis
- Workers’ Compensation – Struck in face by forklift, woman suffers brain injury
- Negligence and Tort – Group home resident falls, sustaining femur fracture
- Medical Malpractice – Nursing facility patient dies after fracturing ankle in fall
- Medical Malpractice- Patient has bladder injury during colostomy reversal
- Premises Liability- Apartment guest burned by gas grill spewing fire
- Motor Vehicle Negligence – Physician sustained hand injuries in crash
- Premises Liability- Dog bite injury nets settlement
- Motor Vehicle Negligence – Woman suffers injuries after T-bone collision
Opinion Digests
- Criminal – Man fails to vacate default judgment forfeiting approximately $21,000
- Negligence – Business not liable for failing to call ambulance
- Search & Seizure – Police lacked reasonable suspicion for stop and frisk
- Criminal – Man convicted of pinching officer during struggle
- Municipal – Heirs claim surplus funds following tax sale of real property
- Contract – Res judicata bars some of breach of contract claim
- Criminal – Circuit court’s probation decision is reversed
- Employment – Virginia court had subject-matter jurisdiction over remote worker’s claims
- Criminal – Record supports sentencing decision
- Insurance – Two carriers disagree over duty-to-defend responsibility
- Criminal – Inmate denied certificate of appealability on § 2254 petition
- Tort – Defamation suit reinstated against employer
