Plaintiffs, current and former deputies of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department (“SFSD”), appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment to the City and County of San Francisco (the “County”) on their challenge to SFSD’s policy prohibiting male deputies from supervising female inmates in the housing units of SFSD’s jails. The district court concluded that SFSD’s po... More...   $0 (07-02-2014 - CA)

Anthony and Melissa Stonecipher became targets of an investigation into their purchases and sales of firearms and explosives. During the investigation, federal officers discovered that Mr. Stonecipher had pleaded guilty in 2007 to a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence in Missouri. One of the officers, Carlos Valles, concluded Mr. Stonecipher had violated federal law, which makes it illegal for ... More...   $0 (07-01-2014 - NM)

Amber Shaw coached Plaintiff Tori Varnell in several sports while she was a student in the Dora Consolidated School District (Dora Schools). According to Plaintiff, Shaw sexually abused her for more than a year, ending while she was in the ninth grade, sometime in late 2006 or early 2007. On May 24, 2012, when Plaintiff was 20, she sued Ms. Shaw, Dora Schools, and Dora Schools Superintendent Steve... More...   $0 (07-01-2014 - NM)

Michael Salas was pulled over for erratic driving and consented to a search of his car, which yielded over 20 pounds of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute the meth.

Salas challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress the drug evidence. He contends the district court erred in finding that the police officer had reaso... More...   $0 (07-01-2014 - OK)

A jury convicted defendant Christopher James Sattiewhite of the rape (Pen. Code, § 261),1 kidnapping (§ 207), and murder (§ 187) of Genoveva Gonzales. The jury found true the special circumstance allegations that the murder occurred during the commission of the rape and kidnapping (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(B), (C)), and it found that defendant personally used a firearm during the commission of t... More...   $0 (06-30-2014 - CA)

Sergio Martinez Ramos was indicted for three offenses—evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle, aggravated assault against a public servant, and driving while intoxicated (third offense or more)—and he was alleged to have used or exhibited a deadly weapon in committing each of these offenses. He pleaded guilty to evading arrest or detention, and the jury convicted him of the DWI and aggr... More...   $0 (06-29-2014 - TX)

This appeal presents three issues on which we have not previously ruled in a precedential opinion. First, whether an employee terminated from a local government position may maintain an action for age discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Second, whether the pleading of exhaustion of administrative remedies, a prerequisite to bringing a lawsuit under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“... More...   $0 (06-27-2014 - PA)

A jury found appellant Daniel Joe Hernandez guilty of murder and aggravated assault. See Tex. Penal Code §§ 19.02, 22.02. The trial court sentenced Hernandez to thirty-five years’ imprisonment for murder and fifteen years’ imprisonment for aggravated assault, with the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal, Hernandez asserts that the trial court erred in (1) dismissing a juror as disabled ... More...   $0 (06-27-2014 - TX)

A jury found appellant Joel David James guilty of continuous sexual abuse of his minor daughter and assessed punishment at ninety-nine years in prison. On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of an extraneous sexual offense and by submitting a limiting instruction regarding it, by admitting evidence relating to a condom found at his house, by prohibiting him ... More...   $0 (06-27-2014 - TX)

A jury found defendant and respondent Carlos Miguel Iraheta guilty of shooting at an occupied motor vehicle in violation of Penal Code section 246.1 Before sentencing, Iraheta moved for a new trial on several grounds, including that the trial court had erred by declining to instruct the jury on imperfect self-defense in relation to the section 246 charge. The trial court concluded it had committed... More...   $0 (06-27-2014 - CA)

A jury found appellant Daniel Joe Hernandez guilty of murder and aggravated assault. See Tex. Penal Code §§ 19.02, 22.02. The trial court sentenced Hernandez to thirty-five years’ imprisonment for murder and fifteen years’ imprisonment for aggravated assault, with the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal, Hernandez asserts that the trial court erred in (1) dismissing a juror as disabled ... More...   $0 (06-26-2014 - TX)

In this case, we again address whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a state law rule that restricts enforcement of terms in arbitration agreements. Here, an employee seeks to bring a class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and similarly situated employees for his employer‘s alleged failure to compensate its employees for, among other things, overtime and meal and rest periods. Th... More...   $0 (06-23-2014 - CA)

Almost 50 years ago, this Court declared that citizens do not surrender their First Amendment rights by accepting public employment. Rather, the First Amendment protection of a public employee’s speech depends on a careful balance “between the interests of the [employee], as a citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the State, as an employer, in promoting the ... More...   $0 (06-19-2014 - AL)

Many Americans suffer from alcoholism. Sakera Jarvela, a commercial truck driver, is one of those individuals. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations prohibit anyone with a “current clinical diagnosis of alcoholism” from driving commercial trucks. Jarvela’s employer, Crete Carrier Corporation, contends that it maintains a company policy that prohibits it from employing anyone who has... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - GA)

Plaintiff Michael P. Brannon filed suit in the district court alleging that defendant Howard Finkelstein reduced and ultimately terminated Brannon’s consulting work as a forensic psychologist for the Broward County Public Defender’s office in retaliation for Brannon’s constitutionally protected testimony about a Florida state court judge. The United States District Court for the Southern Dis... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - FL)

Wanda Rogers appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Bromac Title Services, and its owner, Title Resource Group, LLC (collectively, “Bromac” or “appellees”), dismissing her claims under the Jury System Improvement Act (“JSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1875. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

From April 29, 20... More...   $0 (06-18-2014 - OK)

Ronald Ross appeals a grant of summary judgment by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to Continental Tire of Americas LLC (“Continental”) and Kevin Gilhuly in this Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) action. 29 U.S.C. §2601 et seq. Because Ross received all to which he was entitled under the FMLA, and suffered no adverse employment consequences for... More...   $0 (06-17-2014 - PA)

The trouble began when Michael Barrett, a Salt Lake County employee, helped a colleague pursue a sexual harassment complaint against her boss. The complaint was entirely warranted but some in management apparently didn’t like the publicity. According to Mr. Barrett, his superiors thought him a noisy troublemaker and began a campaign to have him discharged or demoted. After he was demoted Mr. Bar... More...   $0 (06-13-2014 - UT)

Following a bench trial, the court awarded plaintiff Esther Kim $60,000 against her former employer, defendant Konad USA Distribution, Inc. (Konad), and her former boss, defendant Dong Whang. Defendants appeal, citing the alleged failure of plaintiff to meet certain “jurisdictional” prerequisites (e.g., exhaustion of administrative remedies, proving Konad had five employees) in her sexual hara... More...   $0 (06-12-2014 - CA)

This is an interlocutory appeal. Azin Lotfi sued her employer, Cheniere Energy, Inc., claiming her employment was wrongly terminated; she also sued two officers of the company, Charif Souki and Greg Rayford, for tortious interference with her employment at Cheniere. Souki and Rayford filed a motion to dismiss

2

Lotfi’s claims against them under chapter 27 of the Texas Civil Practic... More...   $0 (06-10-2014 - TX)

Michael Young brought this employment discrimination case claiming race discrimination and retaliation against his former employer Builders Steel Company ("Builders Steel"). The district court 1 granted summary judgment to Builders Steel on both claims. Young now appeals. We affirm.

I

Young, an African-American male, was employed with Builders Steel for twenty-six years. Builders Ste... More...   $0 (06-09-2014 - MO)

Vista Quality Markets (“Vista”) appeals the trial court’s order denying its motion to compel arbitration. We reverse and remand to the trial court with instructions to enter an order compelling arbitration.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Vista is engaged in the business of operating grocery stores in El Paso, Texas, and is a non-subscriber to workers’ compensation. In Febr... More...   $0 (06-08-2014 - )

The State of Texas charged Mark Augustin Castellano, age 39, with second-degree murder for the 2012 death of Michelle Warner, age 31, whose body was found in a West Texas grave between Midland and Odessa. The State claimed that Castellano killed Ms. Warner in the bedroom of their home in Houston.

Defendant claimed self-defense.

The State claimed that he killed Ms. Warner, took h... More...   $0 (06-07-2014 - TX)

Neal W. Dias, a former employee of Verizon New England Inc., appeals the district court's denial of his motion for a new trial, filed in the wake of a defendant's jury verdict on Dias's claim that Verizon discharged him and subjected him to a hostile work environment in retaliation for engaging in activity protected by Massachusetts antidiscrimination law. Dias says that the jury instructions and ... More...   $0 (06-05-2014 - MA)

We are asked to decide whether federal or state privilege law governs the admissibility of evidence of an alleged settlement reached during mediation of federal and state law claims. We conclude that federal privilege law governs, but that the County waived any available privilege; therefore, we affirm the district court’s enforcement of the settlement agreement reached in mediation.

I.More...   $0 (06-03-2014 - AZ)