Where a defendant in a “Rent A Tribe” suit sought to appeal a sovereign immunity decision, its motion was denied because the issue involved a question of fact, there was no substantial ground for difference of opinion and an appeal ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the doctor argued he was simply following prison guidelines when he treated a detainee suffering from Hepatitis C, but the record showed he failed to order additional testing when the patient’s bloodwork exceeded the thresholds in the same guidelines, ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Medical Malpractice U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the record suggested that some detainees with Hepatitis C were excluded from treatment until they got sicker, the jury will decide if the medical director and chief physician for the Virginia Department of Corrections, or VDOC, violated the Eighth ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Medical Malpractice U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a Virginia state senator alleged her censure by the Senate violated her First and 14th Amendment rights and the Senate’s own rules, her suit was dismissed because the Senate and clerk have sovereign and legislative immunity. Background According to ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a logistics and warehouse company submitted a claim for business losses caused by COVID-19 and shutdown orders, the complaint was dismissed because the virus and organic pathogen exclusions prohibit claims caused by a virus. Background L&L Logistics and Warehousing ...

Tagged with: Insurance Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where the former city attorney failed to show that a news story about his termination by the city council and the restrictions it put on his entry to City Hall was published with actual malice, the television station prevailed on ...

Tagged with: Judge Robert E. Payne Tort U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a lawyer settled unfair debt collection claims in 2010 and plaintiffs assert he has yet to pay the amount he was ordered to pay, his effort to vacate that settlement failed because his Rule 60(b)(1) motion was untimely, his ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where one motion to dismiss was granted after the plaintiff offered no opposition, he did not respond to a second motion to dismiss and failed to timely serve additional defendants, his counsel’s “slothful inattention” led the court to deny further ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a defendant experienced an “uncommonly lengthy” delay in his trial that made it harder to communicate with his attorneys and resulted in his heightened anxiety and concern due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he could not show that his case ...

Tagged with: Criminal Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District

Where a former employee of the Virginia Department of Corrections, or DOC, alleged the DOC’s random drug testing policy violated the Fourth Amendment, and DOC officials argued their actions were protected by qualified immunity, additional briefing was ordered on the ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Robert E. Payne U.S. District Court - Eastern District