After taking a homebuyer’s account of foreclosure purchase at face value, a sheriff and his subordinates may go to trial for events that transpired when they accompanied her to the home to remove the previous owners. Background Plaintiffs James and ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Constitutional Due Process Judge Jackson L. Kiser Personal Injury Search & Seizure Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

An amended complaint can relate back to the filing date of a name fragment if the plaintiff knew the defendant’s identity but not her name, and if all the statutory requirements of Code § 8.01-6 are met. Background Plaintiff Pam Frazier ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge David A. Oblon Negligence Personal Injury Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

Under clearly established law, publication of public safety officers’ allegedly defamatory termination letters to the media before holding a name-clearing hearing supported the officers’ claims of due process violations. Background During the summer of 2014, Officers with the Bald Head ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Constitutional Defamation Due Process First Amendment Fourteenth Amendment Judge James A. Wynn Jr. Tort

A shopper who was handcuffed and tased by Cabela’s security guards can proceed with claims including wrongful imprisonment, assault and battery, and defamation. He may also be entitled to punitive damages. Background Defendants Patricia Eller and Wendy Brewer are Bristol ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Employment Judge James P. Jones Personal Injury Search & Seizure Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff suing for $4.75 million on a groundless defamation claim is liable for a proportion of the defendant’s litigation fees and costs. The plaintiff’s attorney was not subject to sanctions, as she relied on her client’s information until she ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Attorneys Fees Civil Practice Judge H. Lee Harrell Montgomery County Circuit Court Sanctions Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

Tenants alleging black mold in their walls and mushrooms growing in their carpet weren’t confined to the rights in Code § 8.01-226.12 Background Tenants sued their landlord and a real estate management company, alleging that the apartment they rented exposed them ...

Tagged with: Justice Stephen R. McCullough Landlord/Tenant Personal Injury Supreme Court of Virginia Tort

After apparently consenting to adoption by an employee of the delivering hospital, a mother could not prevail on claims that the hospital, its doctors, and the employee’s attorney had tortiously interfered with her parental rights. She never alleged that these ...

Tagged with: Family Law Justice D. Arthur Kelsey Parental Rights Supreme Court of Virginia Tort

A defendant on the hook for almost $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages for conversion is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, since the plaintiffs’ conversion claim was based entirely on losses covered by the parties’ contract. ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Business Law Contract Evidence Judge Diana Gribbon Motz Tort

The estate of a nursing-home patient who fell and broke her hip, allegedly due to inadequate care, was entitled to broad discovery of the facility’s patient care records, personnel files, and financial information. Background This is a negligence case brought ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Evidence Judge Douglas L. Fleming Jr. Loudoun County Circuit Court Negligence Personal Injury Tort Virginia Circuit Courts

An employer’s collective bargaining impasse rights did not override its ERISA obligations to employees hired post-impasse. The employer also didn’t plead its fraud-dependent affirmative defenses with sufficient particularity. Background Appellant Just Born II Inc. and the Bakery, Confectionary and Tobacco ...

Tagged with: 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Civil Procedure Contract Judge G. Steven Agee Labor Tort