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ATLANTA — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 30 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a coverage dispute arising from hailstorm damage to a commercial building, concluding that the insured did not demonstrate that the insurer lacked a reasonable basis to deny coverage pursuant to Colorado’s statutory remedy.
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 30 affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying an employer’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to enforce an employment agreement’s restrictive covenants in a suit accusing former employees of breach of contract and violations of state and federal trade secret laws for allegedly taking trade secret information from their work computers, finding that the former employer is not likely “to succeed on the merits of the case.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court this morning granted a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the operator of a private immigration detention facility in Colorado that asked the justices in a class suit by detainees alleging forced labor to decide whether interlocutory orders holding that a federal contractor does not meet the requirements under Yearsley v. W.A. Ross Construction Co. for a defense to liability for damages are immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine.
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on May 30 dismissed with prejudice a second amended complaint filed by former state official Richard L. Baird against Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Assistant Attorney General and Solicitor Fadwa A. Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy related to their criminal prosecution of him in connection with the Flint water crisis, ruling that “since he did not suffer an underlying constitutional harm, Baird cannot proceed with a civil conspiracy claim.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 2 denied the petition for writ of certiorari filed by a Michigan fitness center seeking compensation for having been required by the state to close its properties because of the COVID-19 pandemic after an intermediate state appellate court ordered that a trial court enter summary disposition in favor of the state and the Michigan Supreme Court declined to review that decision.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on May 30 granted an application by the federal government and stayed an April order by a trial court in Massachusetts that granted temporary relief on a classwide basis in a case alleging that changes to immigration policies via President Donald J. Trump’s Jan. 20 executive orders (EOs) and a memorandum issued the same day by the acting secretary of Homeland Security have dismantled “legally established and Congressionally authorized pathways to the United States.”
SEATTLE — A state court judge in Washington has denied Monsanto Co.’s motion to reduce a $75 million punitive damages award that was part of a combined verdict of $100 million for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school, ruling that Monsanto “unreasonably continued the conduct” that formed the basis of the jury’s punitive damages award, and an offset or credit for damages previously paid in other cases related to the same school “must be disallowed.” The judge also denied Monsanto’s motions for judgment as a matter of law and for a new trial.
NEW YORK — A New York justice on May 29 denied in part and granted in part TikTok LLC and related entities’ motion to dismiss in a suit filed against TikTok and the entities by the New York attorney general’s office alleging fraud and deception for “addictive” harm incurred by youth using the social media platform, denying dismissal of the counts in the complaint but striking complaint allegations related to misrepresenting compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and misrepresenting TikTok’s relationship with the Chinese government.
PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel largely affirmed a California federal judge’s rejection of copyright infringement claims brought by the owners of the rights related to the film “Gone in 60 Seconds” regarding a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor,” holding that the car is not a copyrightable character under a Ninth Circuit test.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a motion by the acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for a limited remand of a vaccine company’s appeal of the prior PTO director’s entry of sanctions in the form of the cancellation of all claims in multiple patents, allowing the acting director time to review the decision.
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court has reversed dismissal of a $169,512 attorney fee sanction in a dental malpractice case, saying the trial court correctly applied a court rule allowing such an award that was in effect during the pendency of the case.