Free Newsletter
Medical provider defeats False Claims Act suit
Where a patient alleged that corporate defendants violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting claims to Medicare following the dissolution of a company’s corporate charter and the revocation of its certificate of corporate authorization, but there was no showing these factors were material to payment, her claims were properly dismissed. Background Cortney Taylor brought […]
Court rejects teacher’s claim that student made work environment hostile
Where a teacher based her hostile work environment claim on a special education student’s conduct, the school board was properly granted summary judgment. There was insufficient evidence that the student’s conduct was based on the teacher’s sex, that it was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter her conditions of employment and create an abusive work […]
Sentencing court can consider restrictions on sex offenders’ internet use
Where the sentencing court denied a defendant’s motion to modify eight of his supervised-released conditions because he provided no basis for modification, but two of the conditions, involving restrictions on a sex offender’s internet use, were altered by subsequent Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit decisions, the district court had jurisdiction to consider his challenge to […]
Defendants’ honest services fraud convictions vacated
Where defendants were charged with paying an insurance commissioner to swap the person regulating one of their companies, and the district court instructed the jury that “the removal or replacement of a senior deputy commissioner by the commissioner would constitute an official act,” but this determination should have been made by the jury and the […]
Israel-based fraudster fails to dismiss wire fraud charges
Where the defendant argued that wire fraud convictions for her role in a $100 million fraud scheme should be vacated because the scheme was devised and carried out in Israel, her argument was rejected. The statute’s focus is on the use of the wire — not the underlying fraudulent scheme — so the conviction based […]
$1.55 million arbitration award survives attack
Where a Singaporean arbitration award was entered against the defendant for $1.55 million, plus legal fees and arbitration costs, his subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and merits attacks on that award were rejected. Background Following a dispute over an agreement involving the sale of real property in the Philippines, Rachan Reddy, a citizen and resident […]
Challenge to inclusion on No Fly List is moot
Where a man challenged his inclusion in the Terrorism Screening Database and the No Fly List, but the government has now removed him from the No Fly List and avowed that it won’t reinstate him based on currently available information, the declaratory judgment claim was moot. Although he argued that he suffered a stigma from […]
Preliminary injunction doesn’t confer ‘prevailing party’ status for attorneys’ fees
Where the plaintiffs obtained a preliminary injunction against enforcement of a Virginia statute that triggered the automatic suspension of driver’s licenses for nonpayment of court costs and fines, and the General Assembly then repealed the statute, the plaintiffs weren’t entitled to attorneys’ fees under binding Fourth Circuit precedent. Although this precedent is an outlier among [&hellip[...]
Company waited too long to assert Appointments Clause challenge
Where a company twice failed to assert an Appointments Clause challenge to an administrative law judge, or ALJ, or to the Benefits Review Board, it forfeited its ability to raise that argument at the eleventh-hour. Background After Austine Salmons filed a benefits claim in this black lung case, an ALJ and the Benefits Review Board […]
No damages after rejection of equivalent position
Where a pilot returning from military leave was offered an equivalent position, albeit in a different city, and implementing regulations by the Department of Labor, or DOL, specify that a reemployment position may involve transfer to another location, but the pilot refused the transfer, the district court did not err in concluding the pilot was […]
Mandatory supervised release term not required
Where the district court believed it was required to impose a mandatory minimum term of five additional years of supervised release after the defendant violated his sex-offender registration requirement, but the statute does not require a mandatory minimum term, the sentence was vacated because the error was plain and affected the defendant’s substantial rights. Background […]
Defendant not eligible for resentencing
Where the defendant was sentenced after the Fair Sentencing Act, and there was no suggestion that the district court did not follow U.S. Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit caselaw which held that the statute applied to all post-act sentencings, even where the offense in question predated the act, he was ineligible for resentencing under the […]
Verdicts & Settlements
- Plaintiff injured in crash with oncoming vehicle — $235,000 settlement
- Driver killed in rear-end collision with tractor-trailer — $1.5M settlement
- Man died from pancreatic cancer after delayed response — $1.8M settlement
- Worker fell off roof, rendering him a paraplegic — $1.25M settlement
- Driver sustained permanent hearing loss after traffic collision — $240,000 settlement
- Plaintiff suffered concussion in rear-end collision — $81,000 verdict
- Builder misrepresented home status to buyers — $675,000 verdict
- Low potassium led to cardiac arrest, death of patient — $1M settlement
- Excessive propofol caused death in dialysis patient — $850,000 settlement
- Pedestrian struck in crosswalk in hit-and-run incident — $300,000 settlement
- Navy veteran killed in collision with box truck — $1.85M arbitration award
- Motorcyclist ejected from bike in collision with SUV — $1.5M settlement
Opinion Digests
- Company owner dodges breach of contract suit
- Employee’s own allegations doom minimum wage claim
- Federal government defeats former employee’s claims
- Principal wasn’t entitled to exclusively remote work
- USPTO properly redacted info in responsive documents
- Untimely lawsuit allowed to proceed
- Engineering consultant dismissed from suit
- Rule 60 motion was filed too late
- Nonprofit directors immune from ex-employees’ claims
- City, employees immune from whistleblower claims
- Experts excluded in condemnation damages suit
- Judgment entered against company for horse’s death
