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

Plaintiff’s claims for design defect and failure to warn were viable where the barrel of his firearm exploded after it had been loaded with a non-recommended bullet because there were questions of fact regarding the actual cause of the barrel ...

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

A metallurgical engineering expert’s lack of specific expertise in firearms did not preclude his testimony that the defendant’s choice of steel caused the plaintiff’s firearm to malfunction because any objections to the expert’s conclusions could be challenged on cross-examination. Background ...

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

The defendant was allowed to offer the testimony of its expert witness that plaintiff’s injury was caused by the positioning and use of a non-recommended bullet or the amount of gunpowder used, even though precise information regarding those factors was ...

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

A jury is poised to hear potentially powerful evidence about the decedent’s death and her minor children’s observation of that scene. Such testimony, a court ruled, may enable the jury to estimate the mental anguish of the beneficiaries. Background Defendants ...

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

The former student from China on an F-1 visa alleged Virginia Tech and two employees violated his rights by notifying Homeland Security when he dropped below the number of credit hours needed to maintain full-time status and by convening a ...

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

The owner of a company argued she could not be held liable for alleged copyright infringement because the allegedly infringing actions were committed by her limited liability company. The court held, however, that the plaintiff pleaded sufficient facts to plausibly ...

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