The Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 906 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2018), cert. granted, 2019 WL 1047486 (U.S. June 24, 2019). The question presented for review in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. is whether the principle that “government edicts,” such as statutes and…
How Accountable Are You for Your Accountant’s Tax Fraud? The Eleventh Circuit Decides Not to Answer.
In Finnegan v. Commissioner, 2019 WL 2428109 (11th Cir. June 11, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit was asked to review whether a taxpayer may be indefinitely held responsible for the fraud of its paid tax return preparer. It is a question of special interest to small business owners that rely on an outside accountant to help…
Court Grants En Banc Rehearing in Employment Retaliation Case
The Eleventh Circuit today granted the defendant employer’s petition for rehearing en banc in Gogel v. Kia Motors Manufacturing of Georgia, Inc., 904 F.3d 1226 (11th Cir. 2018). The now-vacated panel opinion, authored by Judge Martin, had affirmed summary judgment for the defendant on the plaintiff’s discrimination claims but revived her claim for retaliation. Judge…
Cash from Corn: Plaintiff Injured at Corn Harvesting Facility Advances to Trial
The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the employer of a forklift driver who injured a truck driver picking up a shipment of corn in Newcomb v. Spring Creek Cooler Inc., 2019 WL 2364498 (11th Cir. June 5, 2019). Because the plaintiff picking up a load of corn at the…
Eleventh Circuit Takes the Middle of the Road in Evaluating a Foreign Tribunal’s “Receptivity” to Judicial Assistance from U.S. Courts
In Department of Caldas v. Diageo PLC, 2019 WL 2333910 (11th Cir. June 3, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit held that a district court evaluating a foreign court’s receptivity to judicial assistance from a U.S. Court in the context of an application for discovery under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 need not apply a rigid burden of…
Monkey See, Monkey Do: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Decision that Defendant’s Gorilla Logo Infringed Plaintiff’s Trademark But Vacates Award of Defendant’s Profits
In PlayNation Play Systems, Inc. v. Velex Corp., 2019 WL 2180589 (11th Cir. May 21, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit considered whether the district court erred in determining that the defendant infringed the plaintiff’s trademark and in awarding damages in the form of the defendant’s profits and cancellation of the defendant’s trademark. Plaintiff sold children’s outdoor…
Ex-Wife Who Was Fraudulently Transferred Millions Of Dollars Can’t Get Relief From Paying Her Ex-Husband’s Creditors, But She Doesn’t Have To Pay Punitive Damages Awarded Against Him
The Eleventh Circuit published a fraudulent-transfer decision in Alliant Tax Credit 31, Inc. v. Murphy, 2019 WL 2121297 (11th Cir. May 15, 2019). With appeals from both sides, the court tediously worked its way through numerous issues on appeal. Most of these involved state law questions, but the court in an opinion by Judge Tjoflat…
“Once-Upon-A-Time” Injury Insufficient to Establish Article III Standing to Seek Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
The Eleventh Circuit has dismissed for lack of standing a trucking company’s suit for declaratory and injunctive relief against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”). Flat Creek Trans., LLC v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin., 2019 WL 2049770 (May 9, 2019). Flat Creek Transportation claimed that FMCSA had unfairly targeted the company for compliance…
Eleventh Circuit Avoids Controversial Interpretative Question on S Corporation Taxation
In Meruelo v. Commissioner, 2019 WL 1986618 (11th Cir. May 6, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit was tasked with reviewing a controversial Tax Court decision regarding the basis created by a subchapter S corporation’s indebtedness to its shareholders. Meruelo v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2018-16. In Judge William Pryor’s opinion, the court determined the case on its…
Party Seeking to Vacate International Arbitration Award Must Assert Ground Enumerated in Convention, Court Reaffirms
In Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical INPROTSA, S.A. v. Del Monte International GmbH, 2019 WL 1768911 (11th Cir. Apr. 23, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s order that denied INPROTSA’s petition to vacate an international arbitration award and confirmed that award. Concluding that INPROTSA was required to assert a valid defense under the Convention…