Justia Injury Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff filed suit against Wedgewood in Texas state court after his mother, Emma Mitchell, died in a nursing home. Plaintiff alleged state-law causes of action for medical negligence, corporate negligence, and gross negligence. After removal to federal court, the district court granted plaintiff's motion to remand to state court.The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, concluding that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act does not completely preempt plaintiff's state-law negligence claims. The court explained that, because the compensation fund created by the Act does not satisfy this Circuit's test for complete preemption, and because plaintiff could not have brought his claims under the willful-misconduct cause of action, those claims are not completely preempted. The court also rejected Wedgewood's claim that plaintiff's claims raise a significant federal issue that creates federal jurisdiction under the Grable doctrine. The court concluded that Wedgewood cannot avail itself of the federal officer removal statute because it failed to satisfy the third prong of the test where it was not acting pursuant to a federal officer's directions. Accordingly, the court remanded with directions to further remand to the appropriate state court. View "Mitchell v. Advanced HCS, LLC" on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's defamation complaint, holding that the district court properly dismissed the complaint.Plaintiff brought this action against Defendant, a moderator of of a neighborhood online forum who had copied the forum's discussion threats and reposted them to a new online platform. Plaintiff sued for defamation under Massachusetts law and copyright infringement. The district court granted Defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The First Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court properly ruled that Defendant established two affirmative defenses to Plaintiff's claims: (1) as to the defamation claim, immunity from liability under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; and (2) as to the copyright claim, fair use. View "Monsarrat v. Newman" on Justia Law

The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action brought by plaintiff after she was assaulted at a residence for the disabled. The court concluded that the trial court abused its discretion by excluding evidence that suggested that defendants knew that the perpetrator was a problem. The court also concluded that the trial court erred in ruling that the residence owed no duty to plaintiff and similarly erred in concluding that plaintiff could not establish breach and causation. Rather, there was a material factual dispute about whether keeping the perpetrator at the residence breached this duty and caused plaintiff's injuries. Furthermore, there are disputed material facts about the extent to which the individual defendants knew or reasonably should have known about the hazard the perpetrator posed. The court remanded for further proceedings. View "Doe v. Brightstar Residential Inc." on Justia Law

The First Circuit affirmed the order of the district court entering summary judgment in favor of Defendant and dismissing Plaintiff's claims for fraud, civil conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment, holding that Plaintiff failed to make a sufficient showing on essential elements of her case.In 2014, Plaintiff sold her special limited partnership interests in an affordable housing property for $1.5 million. In 2016, the property sold for $11.7 million. Plaintiff brought this lawsuit alleging claims for civil conspiracy, fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty, alleging that she was fraudulently led to believe that Defendant had power over the property and would block any attempt to sell or refinance it. The district court entered summary judgment for Defendant. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) Plaintiff failed to establish that Defendant intentionally misrepresented the value of the property and Plaintiff's special interest; and (2) Plaintiff's remaining causes of action were unsuccessful in the absence of wrongdoing or foreseeable damages. View "Katz v. Belveron Real Estate Partners, LLC" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed in part the order of the circuit court dismissing Petitioner's claim against Respondent for defamation, holding that Petitioner's allegation that Respondent made the supposed defamatory statement maliciously precluded dismissal of Petitioner's claim under W. Va. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).Petitioner, a patrolman with the Town of Belle's Police Department, brought this complaint alleging that Respondent had made a defamatory statement against him, knew the statement was false, and made the statement intending to harm Petitioner's reputation. The circuit court dismissed the defamation claim on grounds of qualified privilege. The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the order dismissing the defamation claim against Respondent, individually, holding that it was error to find that Respondent acted in good faith, despite Petitioner's clear allegation to the contrary, and so to dismiss Petitioner's defamation claim against Respondent. View "Haught v. Fletcher" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the superior court granting summary judgment in favor of Defendant, Belltower Acquisitions, LLC, in this personal injury case, holding that the superior court did not err when it granted summary judgment to Defendant.Plaintiff claimed that she fell on a sidewalk adjacent to a Rite Aid Pharmacy in a commercial condominium complex. Rite Aid leased the store from Belltower Acquisitions. Plaintiff sued both Rite Aid, doing business as PJC of Rhode Island, and Belltower Acquisitions but did not name the Belltower Condominium Plaza Association in her lawsuit. The hearing justice granted summary judgment to Belltower Acquisitions based on Plaintiff's failure to comply with R.I. Gen. Laws 34-36.1-3.01. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the superior court did not err when it concluded that the certificate requirement in section 34-36.1-3.01 is directory and granting summary judgment to Belltower Acquisitions. View "Rosa v. PJC of Rhode Island, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court in favor of Defendants, in their capacities as the state's general treasurer and the executive director of the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Rhode Island (collectively, ERSRI), holding that the trial court did not err.Plaintiff brought this action asserting a declaratory judgment claim and filing an administrative appeal challenging ERSRI's decision to implement an offset against disability benefits any amount paid or payable under the workers' compensation law and claiming estoppel to prevent recovery of more than $24,000 in overpayments. The trial justice granted partial summary judgment for ERSRI. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not err in upholding ERSRI's decision to offset workers' compensation benefits paid pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws 28-33-45 against disability retirement benefits payable to a member of the state retirement system. View "Tiernan v. Magaziner" on Justia Law

The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the judgment of the superior court dismissing Plaintiff's seven-count complaint against Marina Narowetz, DDS, and her dental practice (collectively, Defendants), holding that the superior court did not err in dismissing the complaint.The superior court dismissed portions of four of the counts in the complaint based on the application of Me. Rev. Stat. 14, 556, Maine's statute prohibiting strategic lawsuits against public participation (the anti-SLAPP statute) and dismissed the remainder of the complaint pursuant to Me. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the court correctly granted Defendants' motion to dismiss certain portions of the complaint under the anti-SLAPP statute; and (2) the dismissal of the remaining count was appropriate based on the lack of any remaining underlying tort. View "Weinstein v. Old Orchard Beach Family Dentistry, LLC" on Justia Law

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia certified three questions of law to the Georgia Supreme Court. The questions sought interpretation of OCGA 40-6-248.1(b). The Supreme Court's responses to the questions certified were: (1) OCGA § 40-6-248.1(b) imposed a duty on a person assisting the operator of a vehicle with loading merchandise onto the vehicle to securely fasten the load; (2) a person assisting in loading a vehicle may be liable in tort for injuries to a third party resulting from a breach of his or her duty to secure that load (and any covering thereon); and (3) when serving as the basis for a civil tort suit, a violation of OCGA 40-6-248.1(b)(1) was subject to ordinary tort principles and defenses. View "McIntyre v. Sam's East, Inc." on Justia Law

The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider whether a plaintiff could receive a full recovery under OCGA 13-6-11 and OCGA 9-11-68(b)(2). Because the Court concluded the provisions provided for different recoveries despite using somewhat similar measures for calculating the respective amount of damages or sanction, a prevailing plaintiff could recover under each statutory provision without regard to any recovery under the other. Accordingly, the Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and remanded this case with direction that the case be remanded to the trial court for reconsideration of the plaintiff’s claim for attorney fees and litigation expenses pursuant to OCGA 9-11-68(b)(2). View "Junior v. Graham" on Justia Law