A plaintiff can proceed to trial on his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that a sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop without probable cause. The deputy’s explanation that the plaintiff made a concerning gesture was not constitutionally sufficient. Background ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights First Amendment Judge Jackson L. Kiser Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Western District

A former inmate asserting he didn’t receive adequate mental health care during his incarceration was successful in seeking to limit trial testimony from certain Department of Corrections experts. Two current Department employees were qualified to opine on whether the plaintiff’s ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Evidence Judge James P. Jones Prisons & Jails U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff’s hostile-work-environment claim against his employers can proceed to trial. The plaintiff presented evidence of severe and pervasive harassing conduct based on sex, with no response by their supervisor. Despite firing both the harasser and the supervisor, the defendants ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Norman K. Moon Sexual Harrassment U.S. District Court - Western District

In a § 1983 action by a former jail inmate, default judgment was granted against a jail employee who failed to appear despite being properly served. The court found that the employee sexually assaulted and raped the inmate and, after ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Eighth Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Two publications purporting to reveal widespread voter fraud have given rise to a viable lawsuit. The published materials (called Alien Invasion I and II) allegedly reported falsely that specific individuals, identified by name and other personal information, had registered and/or voted illegally in ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Defamation Elections Judge Liam O'Grady Personal Injury Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

A woman and her mother sufficiently alleged defamation by a Golden Corral server, who publicly accused them of hiding food in their purses. But the court dismissed their claim for contract interference on account of their race and also struck ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Civil Rights Defamation Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

An unsuccessful candidate for county sheriff sufficiently stated claims for malicious prosecution by a commonwealth’s attorney and a state police officer. The plaintiff said they conspired to prosecute him for election fraud with no evidence to support the charge. Background ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Elections Judge John A. Gibney Jr. Municipal Search & Seizure Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An involuntarily committed man who suffered from bipolar personality disorder was unreasonably denied necessary therapy, unlawfully restrained due to a nurse’s false report that he’d attacked her, and subjected to multiple severe assaults by another patient who acted at the ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District

High school staff failed to timely respond to parents’ requests for disability testing, but an administrative fact finder reasonably concluded that the student’s poor scholastic record was caused by his frequent absences and disdain for teachers, not the violation. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Administrative Civil Rights Education Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

A patient who claimed he was denied recommended mental health treatment, beaten by another patient and unreasonably restrained at a state hospital won both compensatory and punitive damages against a doctor and a nurse – both state employees – in ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. U.S. District Court - Eastern District