Justia U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in September, 2013
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The DOJ filed suit against the City in order to remedy the patterns or practices identified in an investigation of conduct by the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) that subjected individuals to excessive force, unlawful searches and seizures, and discriminatory policing practices. On the same day the complaint was filed, the City and the DOJ agreed to a proposed consent decree outlining reform measures for the NOPD. On appeal, the City challenged the district court's orders entering judgment on the consent decree and denying the City's motion to vacate the judgment under Rule 60(b). The court concluded that the City consented to both consent decrees at issue; the City could afford to fund both consent decrees; the secondary employment provisions of the NOPD consent decree did not violate federal or state law; the investigations and negotiations with the DOJ were not tainted by the actions of DOJ employees; and procedural deficiencies did not taint the district court's approval process and further erode the City's consent. Accordingly, the court rejected the City's contentions and affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. City of New Orleans" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff filed suit against his employer after he was injured in a slip and fall accident on the job. The district court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment based in part on plaintiff's subjective awareness of the risk the spill presented. The court held that the district court erred in relying on plaintiff's subjective knowledge of the spill to grant summary judgment in favor of the employer because Section 406.033(a) of the Texas Labor Code took the employee's own negligence off of the table for a non-subscriber like the employer; there was a fact issue regarding the necessity of the product at issue to clean the spill; and the district court improperly granted summary judgment on plaintiff's premises liability claim. In regards to plaintiff's ordinary negligence claim, the court remanded for the district court to consider in the first instance whether plaintiff's necessary-instrumentalities theory was sufficient to support a stand-alone ordinary negligence claim. In regards to plaintiff's gross negligence claim, the court agreed with the district court that no reasonable juror could conclude that the employer was consciously indifferent to the safety of its employees. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. View "Austin v. Kroger Texas, L.P." on Justia Law

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Petitioner, a native and citizen of Mexico, petitioned for review of the DHS's Final Administrative Removal Order issued under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 238(b), 8 U.S.C. 1228(b). The court concluded that petitioner did not fail to exhaust his administrative remedies, and even without the bar of exhaustion, there was still the impediment that no court shall have jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against an alien who was removable by reason of having committed an aggravated felony. The court denied the petition because petitioner was an alien convicted of an aggravated felony and, therefore, he was properly subjected to the expedited administrative removal process. View "Valdiviez-Hernandez v. Holder, Jr." on Justia Law

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Plaintiffs filed suit against the Secretary of the Department of the Army, alleging age discrimination and retaliation claims. As a threshold matter, the court concluded that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act's (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621 et seq., federal sector provision applied here, and the court need not decide whether a federal plaintiff must prove but-for-causation or some lesser standard under 29 U.S.C. 633a because plaintiffs' complaint stated a claim for relief under the heightened, but-for standard in Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc. On the merits, the court concluded that the district court plaintiffs have stated a claim for which relief could be granted under section 633a where plaintiffs were within the protected class under the ADEA, plaintiffs were qualified for the two newly-created positions at issue; plaintiffs were not selected for the positions; a "substantially younger" employee was selected for one of the positions instead; and one of the officials with decision-making authority over the younger employee's selection said that the department needed "new blood." Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's dismissal of plaintiffs' age discrimination claims and remanded for further proceedings. The court affirmed in all other respects. View "Leal, et al. v. McHugh" on Justia Law

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Plaintiff filed suit against Chevron alleging that it terminated him in retaliation for exercising his rights under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. 2601. The district court granted summary judgment for Chevron. Under the mixed-motive framework, plaintiff was assumed to have established a prima facie case of FMLA retaliation. At issue was the second step of the framework requiring that Chevron articulate a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the termination. The court concluded that Chevron failed to meet its burden and establish as a matter of law that it would have fired plaintiff despite its retaliatory motive where, inter alia, Chevron's evidence of plaintiff's history of attendance and performance-related deficiencies was insufficient to establish that it would have fired plaintiff. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Ion v. Chevron USA, Inc." on Justia Law

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Petitioner, convicted of murder while committing a robbery, appealed the district court's denial of his Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) motion for relief from judgment and motion for stay of execution. The court concluded that petitioner failed to demonstrate circumstances that were sufficiently extraordinary to warrant relief from final judgment under Martinez v. Ryan and Trevino v. Thaler. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's denial of his Rule 60(b)(6) motion and, consequently, denied his stay of execution. View "Diaz v. Stephens, et al." on Justia Law

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Plaintiff filed suit against North American after the moving company severely damaged or loss some of plaintiff's items. Because plaintiff's claims arose out of the interstate shipment of her possessions, the Carmack Amendment, 29 U.S.C. 14706 et seq., provided the sole and exclusive remedy. The district court granted summary judgment for North America, determining that her claim for damages did not satisfy regulatory requirements. The court concluded that plaintiff's demand letter unequivocally requested that North American remit payment totaling $182,750.00 and constituted a written communication containing facts sufficient to identify the shipment, asserting liability, and making claims for the payment of a specified amount under 49 C.F.R. 1005.2(b). The plain language of the regulation's minimum filing requirements required nothing more. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for North America and remanded for further proceedings. View "Williams v. N. Amer. Van Lines of Texas, Inc., et al." on Justia Law

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Plaintiffs filed suit against Lowe's challenging the Plan Administrator's denial of benefits under an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., Plan. The court reversed the district court's grant of relief from the denial of benefits and award of benefits because the court found that the Plan Administrator did not abuse its discretion where the Plan Administrator was not operating under a conflict of interest and was vested with the power to interpret the terms of the Plan. View "Porter v. Lowe's, et al." on Justia Law

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After defendant pled guilty to one count of illegal reentry following removal, the district court applied an eight-level enhancement based on a prior conviction for an aggravated felon, a New York state misdemeanor conviction for third-degree sexual abuse of a fifteen-year-old. The court rejected defendant's arguments that his misdemeanor conviction could not be considered an aggravated felony where the court applied the modified categorical approach to determine that defendant's conviction satisfied the generic offense. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Ramirez" on Justia Law

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G&M filed suit against BP, asserting that it was a co-owner of both the pumping station and the land on which it sits and seeking an accounting for all revenue and profit that BP made from the pumping station. The district court granted summary judgment for BP where BP contended that the St. Julien Doctrine prescribed G&M's claim and contested G&M's assertion of co-ownership. The court concluded that the St. Julien Doctrine did not apply in this case where the bare existence of the pumping station did not demonstrate G&M's consent or acquiescence to a servitude. Nor could G&M's inaction in the expropriation action serve as the basis for finding this final element of the St. Julien Doctrine. Because G&M never acquired an ownership interest in the pumping station, the resolution of this issue turned on whether those profits were the "civil fruits" of the co-owned Tract. The district court reversed and remanded to the district court to further consider whether the profits were civil fruits of the Tract and, if so, whether G&M was therefore entitled to an accounting. View "Gulf and Miss. River Transp. Co., Ltd. v. BP Oil Pipeline Co." on Justia Law