Loftus v. Bobzien. Bobzien, the Fairfax, Virginia, County Attorney, fired Loftus, an assistant county attorney, after she was elected to Fairfax City Council. The termination was “solely because she had been elected to the City Council.” Loftus sued claiming the termination violated her First Amendment rights, as well as Virginia Statute and a local Fairfax …
Times News Publishing v. The Alamance-Burlington Board of Education. Times News, a newspaper publisher, originally sought to compel the Board of Education to provide unredacted minutes of a series of closed-session meetings. The meetings at issue involved the resignation of the superintendent and an agreement to pay more than $220,000 in severance and vacation pay. After a …
Verisign, Inc. v. XYZ.COM LLC. Verisign sued XYZ for false advertising under the Lanham Act. XYZ’s ad campaign for it’s new top level domain “.xyz” included claims that there was a scarcity of .com domains. Verisign is the exclusive operator of the .com and .net domains and so was understandably not thrilled with this ad …
Puffery alive and well in TLD operator marketing – Fourth Circuit Read More »
The North Carolina Court of Appeals released a batch of opinions today: Bell v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (15-1299) Workers’ Compensation; Compensable Injury; Causal Relationship; Compensation Benefits; Trial Return to Work; Sanctions Harris & Hilton, P.A. v. Rassette (16-809) Rule 3.7 of NC Rules of Professional Conduct; necessary witness; witness-advocate rule [Trial court did …
N.C. Court of Appeals Opinions for March 21, 2017 Read More »
In re Redmond, (86A16) (View COA Opinion) Appeal from Industrial Commission’s denial of benefits under the N.C. Eugenics Compensation Program based on deceased claimant’s constitutional challenge to a statutory requirement to qualify for the Program; whether the Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over the appeal; application of N.C.G.S. 1-267.1(a1). In re Hughes, (87A16) (View COA …
Abilt v. Maryland. The Fourth Circuit barred a claim of discrimination and retaliation by a clandestine CIA operative because the claim necessarily implicated state secrets. The opinion provides a good overview of the state secrets privilege doctrine. Abilt (not his real name) was hired as an applications developer for the CIA in June 2006. About the …
The N.C. Court Appeals released a batch of opinions today: Harris v. N.C. Dep’t of Pub. Safety (16-341) Standard of review of decision of ALJ; just cause; unacceptable personal conduct; use of force; NCGS 150B-51; NCGS 126-34.02 Key Risk Ins. Co. v. Peck (16-872) Third party workers’ compensation claim – NCGS 97-10.2; Motion to substitute …
North Carolina Court of Appeals Opinions for March 7, 2017 Read More »
The N.C. Court Appeals released a batch of opinions today: Gurganus v. Gurganus (16-163) summary judgment; equitable distribution; NCGS § 50-20.1; subject matter jurisdiction Hauser v. Hauser (16-606) Tortious interference with an expected inheritance; constructive fraud; breach of fiduciary duty; demand for an accounting Li v. Zhou (16-755) Contempt Order; Attorney’s Fees; Proper Purpose of …
North Carolina Court of Appeals Opinions for February 21, 2017 Read More »
Watts-Robinson v. Shelton. Watts-Robinson sued Shelton for defamation, claiming he had defamed her while testifying before the Disciplinary Hearing Commission of the North Carolina State Bar. During the DHC hearing, Watts-Robinson was accused of mismanaging funds in client trust by taking interest on the account for herself (rather than the Interest on Lawyer Trust Account …
Beck v. McDonald. At a VA hospital, a laptop holding 7,400 patients personal information was secured to a medical device by only a strip of Velcro. Unsurprisingly, it was stolen. Two veterans sued the VA over the compromise of their personal information. The veterans sued for violations of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Administrative Procedures …
No standing for speculative harm in data breach – Fourth Circuit Read More »