Texas Insureds Failed To Timely File Coverage Suit, 5th Circuit Affirms
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 22 affirmed a lower federal court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of an insurer in a coverage dispute alleging that the insurer wrongfully denied or underpaid the insureds’ 2021 and 2022 claims for water damage arising from frozen pipes, agreeing with the lower court that the insureds failed to timely file their lawsuit pursuant to their policy’s statute of limitations.
5th Circuit Vacates Injunction Barring Enforcement Of New Mississippi DEI Law
NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 22 vacated a preliminary injunction in a putative class lawsuit barring enforcement of a new Mississippi law, House Bill 1193, that prevents government-run schools and post-secondary institutions from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) activities and ordered that the case must be reassigned on remand to a different judge, calling the trial court proceedings “a botch job.”
Magistrate Grants Motion To Compel Discovery In FCA Suit Alleging Medicare Fraud
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal magistrate judge on Oct. 22 granted a relator’s renewed motion to compel discovery for events that occurred after her employment ended in a suit alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and similar state law related to medical providers’ purported submission of false claims for payment to government insurers for wound care services, finding in part that the relator’s access to the “relevant information and the parties’ resources” weighs in favor of granting her motion.
5th Circuit Affirms Apartment Complex Hail Damage Coverage Suit Is Time-Barred
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to the insurer of an apartment complex whose owner filed suit over a storm damage claim, finding that the owner’s breach of contract and statutory claims were time-barred because the insurer unequivocally denied coverage, and subsequent reinspection and communications did not restart the limitations periods.
Revised $3.03M Settlement Gets Final Approval In Data Sharing Class Action
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge granted final approval to a $3.03 million privacy class action settlement with LifeStance Health Group Inc., including more than $1 million in attorney fees, after previously denying preliminary approval of an earlier agreement over concerns about inadequate settlement valuation, disproportionate attorney fees and potential collusion.
5th Circuit Rejects Jewish Man’s Racial Bias Suit Against Christian Franchise
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate on Oct. 21 of a majority’s judgment and opinion affirming a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to a faith-based auto repair business that franchises only to Christians in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by a Jewish man who was denied a franchise, rejecting the man’s “novel argument” that “discrimination against Jews is ipso facto racial discrimination” under 42 U.S. Code Section 1981.
N.M. Judge Imposes Penalty Of $25B Against Meta For Violating Unfair Practices Act
SANTA FE, N.M. — After a jury decided on liability in a suit brought by the New Mexico attorney general against Meta Platforms Inc., a state court judge on Oct. 21 assessed a $25 billion penalty against Meta, which operates the social media platform Facebook, finding 43,899,720 willful violations of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act by deceptive trade practices and five willful violations by unconscionable trade practices related to Facebook’s privacy setting that did not give users meaningful control over their data.
Insurer Relieved Of Duty To Defend, Indemnify Insureds In Lead Paint Injury Suit
CHICAGO — An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds for an underlying lead paint bodily injury suit because the policies’ lead contamination exclusions clearly apply to relieve the insurer of any duty to defend or indemnify, an Illinois federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
High Court Dismisses Hurricane Insurance Petition After Parties Resolve Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a petition for a writ of certiorari pertaining to the arbitrability under Louisiana law of a claim made by the owner of a hotel in Louisiana for hurricane damages and bad faith against its domestic insurer after the parties filed a joint stipulation informing the court that the matter was “resolved by the parties,” leaving two other petitions for certiorari on the same topic pending.
Panel: Google Failed To Show Search-Result Merging Technology Was Unpatentable
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Google LLC failed to show that 23 claims of a patent related to technology designed to merge search results were unpatentable, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and rejecting Google’s attempt to point to a patent application filed five weeks earlier as well as a three-week gap between when the last inventor signed his oath and the filing of the patent application.
$42.7M Deal Gets Final OK In ERISA Case That Is Part Of Forfeiture Wave
SEATTLE — A day after conducting a fairness hearing in a case that was among the many challenging a common use of forfeited nonvested matching retirement contributions, a Washington federal judge on Oct. 21 issued an order granting final approval of a settlement with an estimated value of $42,724,532 and approving the requested awards of $5,880,539 for attorney fees, $24,461 for litigation costs and $5,000 as a service award to the named plaintiff.