Where employees constructing a nuclear station alleged the owner violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act when it halted construction at the facility, the owner wasn’t liable because it wasn’t the plaintiffs’ employer. Background In 2017, SCANA, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where the Virginia eluding statute’s mens rea required at least recklessness, and vehicular flight from law enforcement has been consistently found to involve sufficient risk and danger to be morally reprehensible, the statute qualified as a crime of moral turpitude. ...

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

Where a defendant was only 15 years old when he participated in a series of violent carjackings, including one resulting in death, the district court’s imposition of a 52-year sentence was not unreasonable as it considered a variety of factors, ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a labor union challenged advisory opinions limiting government employees’ speech about impeachment efforts in 2020, but those opinions were withdrawn after then-President Trump left office and there was no credible allegation of any chilling effect from the opinions while ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a consumer brought a challenge against CMS officials in their individual capacities, alleging they violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by authorizing robocalls, his lawsuit was in reality aimed against the federal government, to which sovereign immunity applied. Background ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Consumer Protection Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a chief merchandizing officer reacted negatively to criticism and became disengaged following a leadership assessment of Lowe’s senior leaders, Lowe’s prevailed on claims that his termination was based on race discrimination. Background In February 2017, Michael Jones, formerly the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a man who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography was barred from working in “any type of employment without the prior approval of the probation officer,” and no explanation was provided for why this restriction was relevant to ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where a patent attorney who was a shareholding partner and equal owner of the firm, was compensated according to the firm’s profits and losses, enjoyed a high degree of independence and could only be terminated by a majority of the ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Employment Discrimination Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

The government was required to show the defendant engaged in sex with a minor for “the purpose” of creating a video. By instructing the jury that it could convict the defendant if the video was “a purpose” of the sexual ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Criminal Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III

Where the taxpayers argued that they were not required to report $45.7 million of compensation income, the series of business transactions were devoid of economic substance and were thus insufficient for avoiding tax liability. Moreover, despite the taxpayers’ assertion they ...

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