Case Summaries

Injury & Tort Law

[03/08] Self v. Crum
Summary judgment in favor of defendant, a prison's treating physician, in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 case is affirmed where plaintiff did not create a genuine issue of material fact as to whether defendant either knew about and failed to treat plaintiff's heart condition or otherwise consciously disregarded his medical needs.

[03/08] Ortiz v. Lorie
Summary judgment for defendant in a negligence action arising out of plaintiff's fall from defendant's allegedly defective ladder is reversed where there were issues of material fact as there was evidence that he fell while descending defendant's ladder and that the ladder was defective.

[03/08] Pertofsky v. Arbor Living Ctrs. of Florida, Inc.
Dismissal with prejudice of plaintiff's personal injury complaint, entered upon the trial court's own motion to dismiss for lack of prosecution, is reversed where an automatic bankruptcy stay had been entered, and, although the bankruptcy stay had allegedly been lifted, defendant took no action to file the order lifting the stay.

[03/08] Yates v. Publix Super Markets
Defendant-employer's motion for rehearing in a wrongful death action is denied as the trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims was erroneous since her spoliation of evidence claim was not time-barred, and consequently her failure to cooperate claim was also not barred.

[03/08] Ferreiro v. Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co.
Denial of motion for class certification because of lack of standing is reversed where previous declaratory relief granted to the plaintiff did not extinguish other claims, thus preserving the case or controversy at the center of the lawsuit.

[03/08] Ingraham v. Travelers Indem. Co.
Dismissal of amended complaint with prejudice in a bad faith action against a worker's compensation insurance provider is affirmed where the provider's actions did not rise to a level that would overcome the provider's immunity under statute.

[03/08] Loubser v. U.S.
Dismissal of a 42 U.S.C. 1983 suit against numerous individuals for conspiracy, harassment and corruption of the judicial process is reversed where: 1) the complaint was not obviously frivolous; 2) plaintiff's claims did not violate the Rooker-Feldman doctrine; and 3) plaintiff's claims were not barred by the domestic-relations exception to federal jurisdiction.

[03/08] Int'l Airports v. Citrin
Dismissal of an employer's claims against an employee is reversed and remanded where the installation of a computer program to delete files fell within the term "transmission" in 18 U.S.C. 1030, and where the defendant accessed the computer without authority after his breach of the duty of loyalty terminated his agency with the employer.

[03/08] Wallace v. Kato
Summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action against the City of Chicago and two police officers is affirmed where the suit did not meet the statute of limitations requirements since a 42 U.S.C. 1983 unlawful arrest claim accrues at the time of arrest, and where the defendant's other constitutional claims failed as a matter of law.

[03/07] Kennedy v. City of Ridgefield
Denial of summary judgment of defendant-police officer's motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit is affirmed where defendant violated plaintiff's Fourteenth Amendment right to substantive due process under the "state-created danger" doctrine.

[03/07] Peachtree Cas. Ins. Co. v. Prof. Massage Servs., Inc.
A petition for second-tier certiorari review in an insurance billing dispute is granted where the circuit court departed from the essential requirements of law in holding that a statutory exception for "past due amounts previously billed on a timely basis" was ambiguous as to whether it applied only to charges previously billed to the same insurer or whether it also applied to charges previously billed to the wrong insurer.

[03/07] Tilbury Constructors, Inc. v. State Comp. Ins. Fund
Dismissal of an action pursuant to defendant's, a workers compensation insurance carrier, demurrer is affirmed where defendant's conduct did not give rise to a cause of action for breach of an insurance contract or a cause of action for the tortious breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

[03/07] Doe v. City of Los Angeles
Trial court's orders sustaining defendants' demurrers to plaintiffs' complaints alleging that a police officer sexually abused them while they participated in certain of defendants' programs are affirmed where the trial court properly concluded that plaintiffs' claims were time-barred and in denying leave to amend the complaints.

[03/07] Messina v. Krakower
Summary judgment for defendants in a defamation action against an attorney and his law firm is affirmed where the judicial proceedings privilege protected the defendants from suit for defamation, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in granting summary judgment without allowing additional discovery.

[03/03] Garcia v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County
Petition for a writ of mandate from an in limine ruling precluding plaintiff from claiming noneconomic damages in an action for damages arising out of plaintiff and his lift's fall from a tow truck is granted since Proposition 213, Civ. Code section 3333.4, did not limit his right to compensation for noneconomic damages.

[02/27] N. Ins. Co. of New York v. Derma Clinic Inc.
Questions of law are certified to Connecticut's supreme court involving insurance coverage for claims arising from an alleged physical and sexual assault that occurred during the course of a massage performed by an employee of a business offering massage therapy.

[02/15] Smith v. Lawson
Defendant's application for certification of interlocutory appeal is denied where appellate review of the interlocutory order will not result in the termination of litigation, the reduction of future litigation or otherwise serve the interests of justice.

[02/13] Parker v. Wilk
Motion for summary judgment is granted for defendant in an action for loss of chance to survive where the plaintiff's expert witness testimony regarding causation was scientifically unreliable and inadmissible under rules of evidence.

[02/08] Jackson v. Madric
Denial of defendant's motion for remittur or new trial despite arguments concerning jury instructions, medical testimony and the size of the jury award, and grant of plaintiff's motion for costs and pre-judgment interest.

[02/03] Condon v. Neighborcare, Inc.
A complaint for medical malpractice is dismissed where: 1) the statute of limitations barred the action; 2) a previous complaint did not toll the statute of limitations since it was for a different cause of action; and 3) a Notice of Intent to investigate did not toll the statute of limitations since the statute had already run when the notice was filed.

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