A plaintiff alleging retaliation by his employer for an earlier charge of discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act could not rely solely on the retaliation provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The statutes protect different ...

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

Plaintiffs seeking to have their insurance company defend and indemnify them in underlying defamation actions in Virginia state court didn’t present any “good reason” for the federal court not to exercise diversity jurisdiction to interpret their policy coverage. Background Rickey ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Norman K. Moon Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

Plaintiffs who sued a police officer for discriminatory traffic stops could not prove their selective-enforcement claim with statistics that failed to establish true comparator groups and to incorporate interracial base rates for committing the offenses at issue. Background Plaintiff Rodney ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Equal Protection Evidence Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Scheduling emails with a transferring judge’s chambers justified reconsideration of the plaintiffs’ motion to compel, initially denied on the court’s belief that the failed to set it for hearing, as well as the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. Background This ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Civil Procedure Discovery Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

In a selective law-enforcement case asserting claims of race discrimination, the plaintiffs could use arrest records to show the defendant officer’s intent to discriminate, but not to show a discriminatory effect on similarly situated individuals. In addition, the plaintiffs could ...

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

In a workplace-injury suit, an equipment manufacturer had a duty to account for foreseeable misuses of its product, regardless of whether the specific workplace met federal safety standards. Background Plaintiff Corey Stowers was a maintenance worker at a Georgia Pacific ...

Tagged with: Judge Norman K. Moon Personal Injury Products Liability U.S. District Court - Western District

Genuine disputes of material fact existed as to whether corrections staff assaulted an inmate and denied him due process before placing him in five-point restraints for 22 hours. However, the inmate could not offer facts allowing a reasonable factfinder to ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Norman K. Moon Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Western District

Defendant Wal-Mart Stores seeks summary judgment in this slip-and-fall case. Virginia law applies. The only evidence in the record is the deposition testimony of Plaintiff Mary Diggs and her companion at Wal-Mart on the day in question. The facts drawn ...

Tagged with: Judge Norman K. Moon Negligence Personal Injury Premises Liability Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

A VDOT contractor that had to tear down and rebuild a bridge due to defective construction could not attribute its losses to either of its two inspection companies. The contractor moved forward with the bridge construction even after both inspectors ...

Tagged with: Construction Contract Judge Norman K. Moon Negligence U.S. District Court - Western District

An African-American employee, fired based on her employer’s reasonable belief that she had mishandled company funds, can proceed to trial on her claim of hostile work environment based on both race and sex, despite evidence that she failed to disclose ...

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