Can a remediation plan designed to settle one lawsuit moot claims for similar injunctive relief in another case? Maybe in some contexts, but the Eleventh Circuit rejected that argument on the facts presented in Haynes v. Hooters of America, LLC, 2018 WL 3030840 (11th Cir. June 19, 2018), an ADA dispute over website accessibility for…
Year: 2018
Court Revives Suit Against Employer that Allegedly Denied Woman Promotion for Not Being Korean
The Eleventh Circuit recently gave new life to a plaintiff’s claims of employment discrimination in Jefferson v. Sewon America, Inc., 2018 WL 2449228 (11th Cir. June 1, 2018). Jerberee Jefferson, an African-American woman, filed suit against her former employer, Sewon America, Inc., for racial discrimination and retaliatory termination. Although Jefferson began her career at Sewon…
Rule 41 Not Proper Method to Dismiss Particular Claims
What is the proper procedure for voluntarily dismissing a count in a civil action? This question is not explicitly answered by the text of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Eleventh Circuit offered a tutorial in Perry v. Schumacher Group of Louisiana, 2018 WL 2473721 (11th Cir. June 4, 2018), making clear that Fed….
Toxicology Expert’s Opinions Properly Excluded for Failure to Consider Dose-Response Relationship or Potential Alternative Causes of Plaintiff’s Disease
In Williams v. Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC, 2018 WL 2191426 (11th Cir. May 14, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the District Court’s exclusion of proffered expert testimony by a toxicologist, and of the plaintiff’s proposed lay testimony that her home had “no present value” because of emissions from a nearby fertilizer plant, and affirmed the resulting…
Venezuela’s Attempt to Purchase Bolívar Artifacts from Florida Resident Was “Commercial Activity” Not Subject to Sovereign Immunity
In Devengoechea v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 16-16816 (11th Cir. May 10, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s “commercial activity” exception to sovereign immunity applied to Venezuela’s alleged failure to return or pay for a collection of artifacts owned by a Florida resident. Plaintiff Ricardo Devengoechea, a citizen of…
Bank Did Not Waive Arbitration Rights Against Unnamed Class Members
In the latest appeal emanating from the Checking Account Overdraft Litigation MDL proceeding pending in the Southern District of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit returned to a question that it dodged in a previous appeal: whether Wells Fargo waived its arbitration rights as to unnamed members of a certified class. Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, NA,…
FLSA Opt-Ins Become Party Plaintiffs Upon Filing Written Consents
In Mickles v. Country Club Inc., 2018 WL 1835316 (11th Cir. Apr. 18, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit held, considering a question of first impression in any circuit, that filing a written consent to proceed as a party plaintiff in an FLSA collective action confers party plaintiff status on the filer, even if no collective action…
False Claims Act Statute of Limitations Extended
An extended limitations period—up to ten years, in some circumstances—is applicable to actions by private plaintiffs under the False Claims Act (FCA) even when the government declines to intervene, according to a recent Eleventh Circuit decision, United States ex rel. Hunt v. Cochise Consultancy, Inc., 2018 WL 1736788 (11th Cir. Apr. 11, 2018). In so…
Court Grants En Banc Rehearing in Body Shops’ Insurance Antitrust Action
The Eleventh Circuit voted to accept en banc rehearing in Quality Auto Painting Center of Roselle, Inc. v. State Farm Indemnity Co., 870 F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2017), a decision we covered here last September. The now-vacated panel decision, authored by Judge Wilson, had reversed the dismissal of antitrust and state-law claims asserted by auto-body-shop…
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant Nominated to Eleventh Circuit
The White House announced yesterday the nomination of Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant to fill the seat on the Eleventh Circuit opened by the pending retirement of Judge Julie Carnes. Justice Grant has served on the Supreme Court for a year and three months. She was appointed to the Court by Governor Nathan Deal…