7th Circuit: Plaintiff Fails To Show Insurer Is Liable For Telemarketer’s Calls
CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s denial of a plaintiff’s request for class certification in his lawsuit seeking to hold an insurer liable under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act but reversed the court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the plaintiff, holding that he failed to demonstrate that the insurer is vicariously liable for a telemarketer’s calls under any theory of agency law.
Vice Chancellor Addresses Scope Of Privilege Waiver Concerning Legal Advice
WILMINGTON, Del. — In a June 25 letter opinion in a suit that arose from a failed merger of grocery companies, a Delaware Chancery Court vice chancellor denied a motion to compel “except to the limited extent of providing guidance on the scope of” a stipulated waiver of attorney-client privilege over legal advice.
Insurer Had Reasonable Basis To Contest Coverage For Asbestos Claims, Panel Says
PORTLAND, Ore. — A district court properly dismissed a bad faith suit filed against the insurer of the state of Montana by underlying claimants in asbestos bodily injury suits because the insurer had a reasonable basis to contest coverage for the underlying asbestos claims filed against its insured, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in an unpublished opinion.
U.S. Supreme Court Rules FIFRA Preempts Man’s Roundup Claim Against Monsanto
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a divided opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25 found that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly preempts a state law labeling requirement that differs from the federal labeling requirements imposed under FIFRA for the herbicide Roundup, reversing a Missouri appellate court’s decision and remanding the case.
Panel Affirms Lodestar Fee, Reverses Risk Multiplier In Hurricane Coverage Suit
MIAMI — A Florida appeals panel on June 24 affirmed a lower court’s $389,362.50 lodestar fee award to an insured in a Hurricane Irma coverage dispute but reversed the court’s 2.5 contingency risk multiplier and $42,658.25 award for the fees of two of the insured’s expert witnesses who did not testify at trial, holding that the lower court’s ruling as to the contingency risk multiplier failed to support the imposition of any multiplier, let alone the highest possible multiplier of 2.5.
High Court: Judicial Review Of Nonconstitutional Claims Barred By TPS Statute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Individuals from Haiti and Syria who filed putative class complaints challenging the termination of temporary protected status (TPS) for noncitizens from their countries are not “entitled to orders postponing the terminations during litigation” as “[t]he TPS statute plainly bars consideration of the respondents’ non-constitutional claims” and the lone “constitutional claim before us will likely fail,” the U.S. Supreme Court majority ruled June 25 in two consolidated cases.
Split U.S. High Court: Noncitizens Must Be On U.S. Soil For Inspection Processing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A noncitizen is not considered to have “arriv[ed] in the United States” under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) unless he or she is over the border in the United States, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 25 in a class case over a now-rescinded border metering policy.
Federal Circuit Affirms Pfizer Win In COVID-19 Treatment Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Massachusetts federal judge’s finding that a biopharmaceutical company’s patent claims were invalid as anticipated by a public disclosure of a chemical compound central to the patent, leaving in place a win for Pfizer Inc. as it defended its treatment for COVID-19.
3rd Circuit Affirms That ERISA Preempts Doctor’s Defamation Claim
PHILADELPHIA — Addressing what it said was “a question of first impression for this Court,” the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 24 ruled that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “broadly preempts state-law claims” and that explanation of benefits (EOB) forms central to the defamation case it was reviewing “fall well within the scope” of that express preemption.
Texas Federal Judge Agrees To Decide Whether Debtor’s Talc Contained Asbestos
HOUSTON — A Texas federal judge adopted a bankruptcy court’s recommendation that he determine the threshold issue of whether any talc sold by Chapter 11 debtor BMI Oldco Inc. “contained sufficient quantity and form of asbestos to potentially cause mesothelioma or other asbestos-related diseases” before the talc mining company’s bankruptcy case can proceed to the reorganization plan stage.
Government, Chemours Reach $450M Deal To Resolve PFAS Pollution Claims In 3 States
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The U.S. Department of Justice on June 24 announced a consent decree that it said is valued at a minimum of $450 million to resolve claims for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination from facilities operated by the Chemours Co. and an affiliate in West Virginia, New Jersey and North Carolina. Chemours issued a press release confirming the settlement, which calls for Chemours to pay a $22.5 million civil penalty and pay for pollution control programs to mitigate PFAS discharges.