A woman charged with theft after she refused to return an emaciated dog to its owner sufficiently stated several constitutional and state tort claims against an animal control officer and his supervisor. Background In December 2017, Plaintiff Christen Waddle encountered ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Judge Jackson L. Kiser Personal Injury Tort U.S. District Court - Western District

A county’s former Director of Tourism presented genuine factual disputes as to whether he was fired in retaliation for his past vote to censure members of the county board of supervisors who voted to raise taxes. Background At a Bedford ...

Tagged with: Constitutional Due Process Employment Employment Discrimination First Amendment Judge Norman K. Moon Municipal U.S. District Court - Western District

An employer was on notice that a workers’ compensation claim related not only to an initial work-related injury and surgery to repair it, but also to a subsequent knee replacement necessitated by the claimant’s post-operative stress fracture. Background Claimant Denzil ...

Tagged with: Employment Judge Robert J. Humphreys U.S. District Court - Western District Workers' Compensation

After taking more than six months of medical leave before her employment was terminated, a bank teller failed to establish a prima facie case for age discrimination. Her medical leave followed a position change that she mistakenly believed was a ...

Tagged with: Employment Employment Discrimination Evidence Judge James P. Jones U.S. District Court - Western District

An employee failed to identify evidence that his supervisor’s lewd comments to him were because of (his) sex, but his employer’s varied explanations for terminating him after he complained precluded summary judgment as to retaliation. Because some evidence suggested that ...

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

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

Property owners must remove a gate impeding reasonable use of an easement on their property by the U.S. Forest Service, providing regulated recreational access to public lands. They erected the gate to mitigate illegal behavior resulting from public access. Background ...

Tagged with: Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon Real Estate Real Property U.S. District Court - Western District

A white high school principal can proceed with discrimination claims against the school board, which allegedly demoted her after the superintendent implied that school staff should “look like” the student body. Background Plaintiff Angela Weinerth is a white female over ...

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

Law enforcement officers who forced two family members out of their Patrick County home after a foreclosure auction and blocked them from retrieving personal property face a jury trial on conversion and civil rights claims, a Danville federal judge has ...

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

A bank’s suit seeking a determination that tax liens against a foreclosed property must be discharged was a quiet title action for which the United States has waived sovereign immunity. Background The Knapps, who owned real property in Richlands, Virginia, ...

Tagged with: Banking Constitutional Judge James P. Jones Mortgage Real Property Taxation U.S. District Court - Western District