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

Plaintiff filed an original petition in Texas state court alleging violations of federal law under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and 1985, violations of Texas state law under the Texas whistleblower statute, and common law defamation. At issue was whether the district court abused its discretion by failing to remand the case to Texas state court after all federal claims had been deleted and only Texas state law claims remained. The court held that the district court abused its discretion when it denied plaintiff's motion to remand where the balance of the statutory and common law factors weighed heavily in favor of remanding the pendent Texas state law claims and where Carnegie Univ. v. Cohill did not permit the court to turn any allegation of improper forum manipulation into a trump card which could defeat the heavy balance of the other relevant considerations. Therefore, the court vacated the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant on each Texas state law claim, reversed the district court's denial of plaintiff's motion to remand, and remanded the case with instructions to the district court to remand the Texas state law claims to the Texas state court from which the case was removed.

Plaintiffs, employers at a terminal for a trucking company, brought claims of race discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment against defendant, their employer. At issue was whether the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of defendants and dismissed each of plaintiff's claims. The court held that summary judgment was proper where the chief district judge's opinion granting summary judgment was thorough and well-reasoned, based on evidence that plaintiffs properly presented and where the district court had no duty to "comb the entire record" for evidence.