Where the Forest Service relied upon experts’ views and other material in crafting a final rule, but then omitted this material from the administrative record on the basis it was irrelevant, it was ordered to supplement the record. Background Various ...

Tagged with: Administrative Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

Where photos showed that two wooden pallets in a Walmart garden center over which a shopper tripped were an open and obvious condition of which she was aware or should have been aware, the store was granted summary judgment. Background ...

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

Where a passenger grabbed the wheel of a car while in motion and crashed it into a business, the vehicle’s insurer had no duty to defend the resulting suit. The passenger never had a driver’s license and a passenger’s grabbing ...

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

The Town of Front Royal has been directed by a magistrate judge to disclose its communications with its retained attorney on an investigation into harassment claims made by a former town clerk after the former clerk’s motion to compel was ...

Tagged with: Attorney-client privilege Judge Joel Hoppe U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, negligently deposited a tax refund into a fraudulent account despite being warned in time to stop it, a taxpayer’s negligence suit was barred by sovereign immunity. The government moved to dismiss on the ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Sovereign Immunity U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a man’s wife called 911 after receiving several disturbing text messages from him, including that he had a gun in his mouth and was “going to end this,” the police found at least one firearm while searching his home ...

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

A K-9 officer who ordered his dog to attack a man who had mental health issues without any evidence he was actually resisting can be sued for excessive force, a U.S. District Court has ruled. The court declined to find ...

Tagged with: Excessive Force Judge James P. Jones Qualified immunity U.S. District Court - Western District

Where a former medical assistant for the University of Virginia Medical Center alleged her termination was the result of race discrimination, at the motion to dismiss stage UVA could not rely on her termination document to argue that she was ...

Tagged with: Employment Discrimination Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, alleged companies who act as an intermediary between immigration detainees and sureties and their bond agents made misrepresentations, the court had subject matter jurisdiction. Although there are limitations in the scope of ...

Tagged with: Consumer Protection Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon U.S. District Court - Western District

Where the parents of children with disabilities that put them at significant health risk should they contract COVID-19 showed they would be irreparably harmed if local school districts could not consider their individualized request for masking, the governor and other ...

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