Where a former employee alleged his former employer refused to rehire him because of his sexual orientation, but his charge of discrimination never mentioned that he applied for other positions, and instead stated that the last instance of discrimination took ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the parties moved to settle the suit alleging that pizza delivery drivers were not paid overtime and the record showed that the collective-action plaintiffs all held the same job, were subject to the same overtime pay calculation, liability was ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a driver and a police officer disputed whether the driver was resisting arrest during a traffic stop, the officer’s motion for summary judgment on the excessive force claim was denied. Background Jimmy Dean McCormick, a Virginia detainee proceeding pro ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where there is substantial ground for difference of opinion on whether non-signatory to an arbitration provision that clearly and unmistakably incorporates arbitral rules delegating questions of “arbitrability” and “jurisdiction” to an arbitrator can move to compel arbitration of a third-party ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

A U.S. District Court in Virginia has denied a patient who is deaf a preliminary injunction that would have required a hospital to provide on-site or video interpretative services for American Sign Language, or ASL. The hospital argued that its ...

Tagged with: Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where an empty pallet in a Walmart store aisle was open and obvious, and a shopper tripped over it because she was not looking down, her slip-and-fall claim was doomed by her own negligence.  Background Barbara Hager sued Wal-Mart Stores ...

Tagged with: Judge Thomas T. Cullen Negligence U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a veterinarian spoke with media outlets about how her employer was allegedly treating dogs trained to help law enforcement agencies detect explosives, and the company alleged her disclosures breached her non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, and caused the company “financial ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a disciplinary hearing officer refused to allow a detainee charged with “conspir[ing] or making plans to commit/possession of unauthorized drugs,” to call a witness in his defense, and where the detainee was found guilty and lost good-conduct time as ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where an employer argued it terminated an employee because of her “poor performance and misconduct,” but the record showed the employee received raises and promotions after these instances, and the employee alleged the general manger was upset that she hired ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a doctor asserted claims for defamation, tortious interference and illegal retaliation arising out of the termination of his employment relationship, an arbitrator will decide if two non-parties can take advantage of an arbitration provision in the doctor’s employment agreement. ...

Tagged with: Arbitration Judge Thomas T. Cullen U.S. District Court - Western District