A CFO who was terminated five months after filing a complaint with the Office of State Inspector General alleging financial wrongdoing by the executive director could proceed on his claims of retaliatory discharge, but he failed to show that any ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Clarence Whitaker alleged that his wife’s 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe was defective because a critical wiring harness had become disconnected. Mrs. Whitaker was found dead between her car and the side of her house. Police found that the vehicle was ...

Tagged with: Defense Verdict Judge Michael F. Urbanski Products Liability U.S. District Court - Western District

Although the record showed the former operating room technician had multiple issues with employees, the alleged conduct, which included three direct confrontations, one overheard conversation and complaints made out of the employee’s presence, was not sufficiently severe or pervasive to ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Although the record showed the former operating room technician had multiple issues with employees, the alleged conduct, which included three direct confrontations, one overheard conversation and complaints made out of the employee’s presence, was not sufficiently severe or pervasive to ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Because a defendant’s prior bad acts are admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) in a case involving a woman charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, the jury will also hear that she possessed a loaded firearm on ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

A professor involved in exposing the water contamination in Flint, Michigan, could not sue individuals who criticized his actions on social media and in a letter sent to his university because the social media posts did not provide a basis ...

Tagged with: Judge Michael F. Urbanski Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a contractor who provided mail deliveries for the United States Postal Service was repeatedly sexually harassed, assaulted and battered by a USPS employee, sovereign immunity shielded both USPS and the United States from liability for the employee’s behavior. Background ...

Tagged with: Judge Michael F. Urbanski Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

A defendant lost his bid to remain in the county until his underlying habeas corpus petition is adjudicated. The court joined others in the Fourth Circuit in holding it had no authority to order a stay of deportation proceedings in ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Although the Virginia Freedom of Information Act allows closed-door meetings to discuss confidential employment matters, there is no privilege that would automatically protect those discussions from discovery in federal court litigation. Background This matter comes before the court on defendant ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District

Despite the fact that the defendant’s expert had more experience with a different gunpowder than the one used in this case, the expert was allowed to offer his opinion regarding the cause of the firearm explosion because his testimony offered ...

Tagged with: Evidence Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District