Employment Law News & Resources for Employers

Case Summaries

Commercial Law

[03/11] Coyote Publishing, Inc. v. Miller
In a facial First Amendment challenge to restrictions on advertising by legal brothels, summary judgment for plaintiffs is reversed where the advertising restrictions targeted pure commercial speech, and there were strong reasons why the sale of sexual services, in particular, ought to be treated differently than other advertising bans on "vice" activities.

[03/10] American Signature, Inc. v. US
In proceedings involving an importer of furniture that is subject to a 2005 antidumping duty order on certain entries of wooden bedroom furniture from China, a decision of the Court of International Trade denying plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction is reversed as plaintiff has satisfied the requirements for a preliminary injunction, and therefore, the Court of International Trade is directed to grant the preliminary injunction prohibiting Customs or Commerce from taking any action to liquidate or reliquidate import entries that are the subject of this action.

[03/10] Fortis Corp. Ins. SA. v. Viken Ship Mgmt. AS
In a maritime shipping case involving a claim for rust damage to steel coils caused by exposure to seawater during a journey from Poland to Ohio, judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) a ship manager charged with providing a Master, officers and crew, and performing various other ship-management tasks for the shipping vessel does not qualify as a "carrier" under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (COGSA), and thus the COGSA's one year-statute of limitations does not bar the underlying suit; and 2) defendant's claim that the district court's finding of negligence was based on clearly erroneous factual findings is rejected.

[03/10] Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. v. VCG Special Opportunities Master Fund Ltd.
In an appeal from a district court's order granting plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoining defendant from proceeding with an arbitration initiated against plaintiff before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the order is affirmed where the "serious questions" standard for assessing a movant's likelihood of success on the merits remains valid in the wake of recent Supreme Court cases, and neither the district court's assessment of the facts nor its application of the law supported a finding of abuse of discretion.

[03/09] Seltzer v. Barnes
Trial court's denial of defendant's anti-SLAPP motion, arising from an underlying suit involving claims against a property management company and homeowners' association, is reversed where: 1) the trial court erred in concluding plaintiff's two causes of action against defendant do not arise from speech or petitioning activity where his alleged conduct was the negotiation of a settlement in the prior case; and 2) because defendant may not be held liable for the alleged conduct under the litigation privilege, plaintiff has failed to show a probability of prevailing on her causes of action for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

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Education

[03/12] In Re: Kirkland
District court's determination that the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction to determine the post-petition interest and collection costs to which the creditor was entitled as the result of a default on a student loan that occurred after the Chapter 13 estate was closed and the debtor discharged is reversed as the district court erred in concluding that the bankruptcy court had subject matter jurisdiction over the issues.

[03/11] Newdow v. Rio Linda Union Sch. Dist.
In an Establishment Clause action by the atheist parent of a student challenging the recitation of the pledge of allegiance by other students in the school at issue, a judgment in favor of plaintiffs is reversed and an injunction vacated where the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the Establishment Clause because Congress's ostensible and predominant purpose was to inspire patriotism and the context of the Pledge -- its wording as a whole, the preamble to the statute, and this nation's history -- demonstrated that it was a predominantly patriotic exercise, despite its use of the words "under God." Thus, California's statute requiring school districts to begin the school day with an "appropriate patriotic exercise" does not violate the Establishment Clause even though it permits teachers to lead students in recitation of the Pledge.

[03/11] California Sch. Employees Ass'n v. Torrance Unified Sch. Dist.
In plaintiffs' suit against a school district claiming that it violated Education Code section 45203 by failing to pay regular wages to classified employees who did not work on staff development student free days, superior court's denial of plaintiffs' petition for a writ of mandate is affirmed as, under the plain meaning of the statute, classified employees who did not work on staff development student free days were not entitled to be paid regular wages for such days.

[03/09] Lockridge v. Univ. of Maine Sys.
In plaintiff's gender discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment action against a university, grant of summary judgment in favor of the university is affirmed where: 1) given the lack of any evidence suggesting that the university's proffered reason for denying plaintiff a pay raise was pretextual, plaintiff's gender discrimination claim fails as a matter of law; 2) university's denial of plaintiff's particular request for office space did not amount to a materially adverse employment action; and 3) the hostile work environment claim fails as a matter of law.

[03/09] Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch.
In an employment discrimination and retaliation action brought by a teacher at a religious school claiming violations of the ADA, the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant based on the "ministerial exception" is vacated and remanded as, given the factual findings relating to plaintiff's primary duties as a teacher, the district court erred in its legal conclusion classifying her as a ministerial employee.

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Entertainment

[03/10] Russian Media Group, LLC v. Cable Am., Inc.
In plaintiff's action against defendant-cable television company claiming that it pirated Russian-language satellite television programming to enable it to compete unfairly against plaintiff's legitimate business, grant of a preliminary injunction enjoining defendant and others from distributing Russian-language television to twenty specific apartment houses where they had been operating illegally is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in writing the injunction as it did; 2) defendants did not raise the preemption defense until after they had appealed the preliminary injunction and, as such, it is not appropriate to overturn an injunction on the basis of a defense that the district court had no opportunity to consider; 3) defendants' contentions that the plaintiff is not an "aggrieved party" are without merit; and 4) the district court properly rejected a res judicata defense.

[03/10] TJS of N.Y., Inc. v. Smithtown
In an action seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment to the effect that defendant-town's zoning ordinance did not give plaintiff adequate alternative sites on which to locate its adult entertainment business, a denial of an injunction is vacated where the First Amendment required courts to consider the adequacy of alternative sites available when the ordinance is challenged, not at the time the ordinance is passed.

[03/10] US v. Ternus
Defendant's conviction for conspiracy to transport in foreign commerce stolen goods valued at $5,000 or more, knowing the goods to have been stolen, is affirmed where: 1) defendant's guilty plea waived all non-jurisdictional defects in the proceedings against him; and 2) the district court was not required to define "foreign commerce" in order to adequately explain the nature of the charges against him.

[03/09] Wampler v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co.
In an antitrust action on behalf of a putative class of all residents of multiple dwelling units (MDUs) in five states who were limited to voice, video, and Internet service by contracts with defendant AT&T, dismissal of the action is affirmed where a single MDU (or MDUs in the aggregate) could not plausibly be considered a relevant geographic market for antitrust purposes. (Revised opinion)

[03/02] Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick
In a class action alleging copyright infringement, a circuit court's ruling vacating a settlement class certification order for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is reversed where 17 U.S.C. section 411(a)'s registration requirement is a precondition to filing a copyright infringement claim, but a copyright holder's failure to comply with that requirement does not restrict a federal court's subject matter jurisdiction over infringement claims involving unregistered works.

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