Workplace Discrimination, Retaliation Disputes Won’t Be Heard By U.S Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 8 denied three petitions for a writ of certiorari seeking review of workplace discrimination and retaliation claims pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and various state statutes filed by a Michigan brewer, a Turkish-American Texas school district employee and a Russian immigrant who worked at an Alabama Walmart.
Pepsi, Coffee Maker React To Government Discouraging Certiorari In Trademark Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — PepsiCo Inc. and a coffee brewing company filed supplemental briefs on June 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court, reacting to the U.S. government’s call for the court to deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the coffee brewing company that argues the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “stands alone” in considering a trademark’s strength a question of law and not a question of fact. The briefs follow a recent amicus curiae brief in which the government told the court that certiorari should be denied, even though it believes the Second Circuit’s opinion was erroneous.
5th Circuit: Insured’s Loss Falls Squarely Under Policy’s Deception Fraud Provision
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking full crime coverage for its losses arising from $1,251,068.34 it paid to a fraudulent account, agreeing with the lower court that coverage is limited to the policy’s $100,000 Deception Fraud Provision.
Federal Circuit: AI Researcher’s Latest Government Takings Claim Rightly Tossed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 8 that a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge was right to find that the court had no jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to consider a pro se computer scientist’s Fifth Amendment takings claim against the U.S. government because copyright claims against the government can be brought only under the statute the plaintiff used to pursue relief in a series of earlier suits.
Minnesota Federal Judge Stays Insurer’s Silica Exposure Coverage Suit For 6 Months
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on June 8 agreed to stay an insurer’s lawsuit for six months to allow a California federal judge to determine whether the California judge’s summary judgment order, entered in a similar lawsuit filed by the insured countertop manufacturer named in hundreds of underlying silica exposure lawsuits, applies to all of the underlying silica lawsuits or only a select number of the underlying suits filed against the insured.
N.J. Panel Affirms Arbitration Awards In Coverage Dispute With Guaranty Association
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court affirmed arbitration awards of $45,000 in damages to a pedestrian struck by a car and $12,639.57 in favor of the New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA), which paid medical expenses for the pedestrian, in a suit against the owner of the car, rejecting the owner’s argument that there were extraordinary circumstances preventing him from filing a demand for a de novo trial after the completion of the arbitration hearing.
Known Pollution Exclusion Bars Coverage For Carbon Monoxide Injury Suit, Panel Says
NEW ORLEANS — Following a district court’s finding on remand that complete diversity of citizenship exists between an insured and the named insurers, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 8 affirmed the lower court’s summary judgment ruling entered in favor of the insurers, agreeing with the lower court that no coverage is owed pursuant to the policy’s known pollution conditions exclusion for the settlement of an underlying personal injury suit stemming from carbon monoxide exposure.
J&J Prevails In 2nd California Talc-Cancer Bellwether
LOS ANGELES — A jury hearing the second bellwether trial in consolidated ovarian-cancer cases in a California court found for Johnson & Johnson on June 5, finding no negligence on the company’s part for ovarian cancer alleged to have been caused by consumer talc use.
Panel Affirms Judgment For Leasing Company In Fraud Coverage Row Involving Crash
LOS ANGELES — A California appellate court on June 5 affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in a suit brought under the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act (IFPA) alleging that an auto leasing company, a law firm and a driver of a sports car involved in a collision committed insurance fraud regarding an underlying auto collision suit, finding that evidence was lacking to show that the alleged misrepresentations were material.
Assault Or Battery Exclusion Bars Coverage For Negligence Suit, 5th Circuit Says
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s assault or battery exclusion barred coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit arising from the sexual assault of a minor by a security guard, rejecting the appellants’ argument that the term “all locations” in the policy exclusion is ambiguous.
Judge Won’t Decertify Class, Reopen Discovery In ERISA Lawsuit Over Severance
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rejecting the defendants’ arguments regarding the impact of a nine-factor test the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals instituted concerning releases in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases, a California federal judge on June 4 issued separate orders denying motions to decertify the class and reopen discovery and then on June 5 amended the latter order to clarify that a bench trial in the long-running case over severance benefits is scheduled to start July 9.