A photographer sufficiently stated a claim against Congressman Tom Garrett and his 2016 campaign for the unauthorized use of a photo depicting people crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a U.S. district court held. Background Plaintiff and photographer Todd Bigelow ...

Tagged with: Intellectual Property Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

Even though a plaintiff male employee admitted his male workplace tormenter was not homosexual, the co-worker’s alleged persistent, sexually charged harassment was enough to let a Title VII hostile work environment claim go to trial, a federal judge has ruled. ...

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

A photographer sufficiently stated a claim against Congressman Tom Garrett and his 2016 campaign for the unauthorized use of a photo depicting people crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, a U.S. district court held. Background Plaintiff and photographer Todd Bigelow ...

Tagged with: Civil Practice Copyright Elections Intellectual Property Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff is entitled to actual and statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, and litigation costs arising from debt-collection calls she allegedly received from the defendant, who did not respond. Background Plaintiff Betty West’s lawsuit arises out of a series of interactions ...

Tagged with: Attorneys Fees Consumer Protection Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

A recent U.S. Supreme Court case did not require dismissal of putative class claims that might arise from illegal prerecorded calls to class members outside Virginia. While that approach may be logical in the mass-tort context, it is unnecessary in ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Class Action Consumer Protection Federal Jurisdiction Judge Norman K. Moon U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff can proceed to trial on his claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 that a sheriff’s deputy initiated a traffic stop without probable cause. The deputy’s explanation that the plaintiff made a concerning gesture was not constitutionally sufficient. Background ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights First Amendment Judge Jackson L. Kiser Search & Seizure U.S. District Court - Western District

A former inmate asserting he didn’t receive adequate mental health care during his incarceration was successful in seeking to limit trial testimony from certain Department of Corrections experts. Two current Department employees were qualified to opine on whether the plaintiff’s ...

Tagged with: Civil Rights Evidence Judge James P. Jones Prisons & Jails U.S. District Court - Western District

A plaintiff’s hostile-work-environment claim against his employers can proceed to trial. The plaintiff presented evidence of severe and pervasive harassing conduct based on sex, with no response by their supervisor. Despite firing both the harasser and the supervisor, the defendants ...

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

Even if a litigious gadfly under police scrutiny gave the finger to a sheriff’s lieutenant, the lieutenant was not justified in stopping the car the man was in, according to a federal judge. A traffic stop merely for “gigging” an ...

Tagged with: Judge Jackson L. Kiser U.S. District Court - Western District

As amended in 2015, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4(m) doesn’t require dismissal of a complaint served late, even with good cause not shown. Here, extending the service deadline better served the interests of justice, since it wouldn’t prejudice the ...

Tagged with: Civil Procedure Employment Employment Discrimination Judge Michael F. Urbanski U.S. District Court - Western District