Today the Sixth Circuit issued a published order in Thompson v. DeWine, the First Amendment voting rights case that we blogged about on Friday. The per curiam order by a three-judge panel granted the Ohio Attorney General’s request for a stay pending appeal of the district court’s injunction (and denied as moot the state’s request for … Continue Reading
It’s a question we know has been keeping you up at night, as you reach deep into your quarantine discography: who is (or are) the true author(s) of the Everly Brothers hit, Cathy’s Clown? Sadly, those looking for finality will have to wait. On Monday, a Sixth Circuit panel held that question must be resolved … Continue Reading
Perhaps the most notable Sixth Circuit opinion of April—and almost certainly the most quotable—was Judge Kethledge’s opinion granting mandamus and reversing leave to amend in the opioid MDL. For a unanimous panel (Siler & Griffin, JJ.), the opinion followed the Circuit’s stay of Judge Polster’s discovery order back in February. That order would’ve required pharmacies … Continue Reading
A Sixth Circuit panel held last week, in Gary B. v. Whitmer, that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause guarantees a “right to access to literacy.” As a result, students in some of Detroit’s worst-performing public schools may pursue their claim for improved educational offerings—at least absent further appellate review. The district court dismissed the students’ due … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in Brownback v. King, agreeing to review a split decision from the Sixth Circuit (then styled King v. US) involving the contours of the Federal Tort Claim Act’s judgment bar. The Court’s decision should help resolve confusion regarding whether plaintiffs should add FTCA claims to their Bivens actions. 28 … Continue Reading
At the end of last month, the Sixth Circuit decided that two cases involving complex, multiparty litigation did not belong in federal court. Boal v. DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. involved twelve consolidated suits brought by foreign plaintiffs and ultimately dismissed by the district court on the basis of the forum non conveniens doctrine. The plaintiffs, all … Continue Reading
A 2018 Sixth Circuit panel upheld a jury verdict convicting Dr. Richard Paulus of submitting fraudulent medical claims. That same panel, with 2020 hindsight(!), reversed that conviction. It held that the trial court’s order unconstitutionally blocked exculpatory evidence. Jury Verdict Set Aside The “twisted” history of the verdict began when a jury deadlocked twice and … Continue Reading
As the world hunkers down and works from home during this COVID-19 crisis, a WFH accommodation decision from the Sixth Circuit feels timely. Though the decision predates social distancing and office closures, its relevance to the employer-employee relationship may outlast the coronavirus. In Tchankpa v. Ascena Retail Group, Inc., the Sixth Circuit affirmed the principle … Continue Reading
This post reflects the latest news available to Ben Glassman, and others at Squire Patton Boggs. We expect the blog and the court’s website to continue updating litigants as the situation develops. Response to COVID-19 among the federal courts in the Sixth Circuit continues to evolve. Since yesterday’s post, the Middle and Eastern Districts of Tennessee … Continue Reading
This post reflects the latest news available to Ben Glassman and others at Squire Patton Boggs. We expect the blog and the court’s website to continue updating litigants as the situation develops. The Sixth Circuit and several district courts within it are implementing changes to court proceedings in light of COVID-19. At the circuit level, … Continue Reading
Thanks as always to Squire Patton Boggs Sixth Circuit Fellow Kirk Mattingly, EIC of the UofL Law Review, for his help with this and other content. During a wild fortnight leading up to today’s announcements that courts would close to the public or shut down entire civil dockets, the Sixth Circuit has stayed busy. Whether … Continue Reading
This post is brought to you thanks to the help of friend-of-the-blog Kirk Mattingly, EIC of the University of Louisville Law Journal. On Monday, the Sixth Circuit joined the Seventh and Ninth Circuits by ruling that the so-called “good faith” defense bars § 1983 claims that seek to recover “fair-share” fees collected under valid state … Continue Reading
This post is brought to you thanks to the help of friend-of-the-blog Kirk Mattingly, EIC of the University of Louisville Law Journal. Yesterday a Sixth Circuit panel (Siler, Griffin, Kethledge) stayed pharmacies’ production of national opioid dispensing data. With one exception: Ohio data that the court deemed “not so onerous” in light of an upcoming … Continue Reading
Several national pharmaceutical distributors and Ohio cities have filed opening briefs in their Sixth Circuit challenge to Judge Polster’s novel “negotiation class” certification order. As this blog covered back in November, the court of appeals (Guy, Griffin, Kethledge) granted interlocutory review of the negotiation procedure. According to the distributors, the class creates conflicts of interest … Continue Reading
In a short per curium opinion, the Sixth Circuit held that party officials’ appeal of an order compelling document discovery was moot after the court dismissed the gerrymandering challenge under the Supreme Court’s Rucho v. Common Cause decision. In its challenge to Ohio’s redistricting, the Randolph Institute compelled discovery from GOP officials and groups for … Continue Reading
After a lull in appellate proceedings, one of the nation’s most closely watched cases (non-impeachment category) has returned to the Sixth Circuit, at least temporarily. Several chain drug stores that filled opioid prescriptions have filed a mandamus petition challenging Judge Polster’s order to produce “transactional dispensing data for the entire United States” from 2006 forward. … Continue Reading
In a unanimous decision affirming the Sixth Circuit, the Supreme Court held that creditors have 14 days to appeal a bankruptcy court’s denial of relief from the automatic stay. In one of the term’s first decisions, Justice Ginsburg’s opinion in Ritzen Group, Inc. v. Jackson Masonry, LLC agreed with Judge Thapar’s conclusion that the denial … Continue Reading
Ohio law requires courts to interpret ambiguous insurance-policy language against the drafter and in favor of policyholders. But if the language is clear and unambiguous (not to mention in a bold and ALLCAPS and super-big font), then courts apply the plain and ordinary meaning. On the basis of that second rule of construction, Judge Readler, for … Continue Reading
After examining the body of evidence presented during trial, the Sixth Circuit refused to prescribe a new healthcare-fraud trial for Dr. Anis Chalhoub. A jury convicted the London (Ky.) cardiologist under 18 U.S.C. § 1347 for billing Medicare and other insurers for unnecessarily implanted pacemakers. Although “some of the government’s tactics here leave something to … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit has weighed in on an issue that has divided the circuits: to state a claim under Title IX for “student-on-student sexual harassment,” must a victim actually experience further sexual harassment after the school learns of the prior harassment? Or is it enough that the victim is vulnerable to further harassment? In Kollaritsch … Continue Reading
On Friday, Nov. 8, a Sixth Circuit panel (Guy, Griffin, and Kethledge) granted interlocutory appeals of drug manufacturers and distributors embroiled in the Northern District of Ohio opioid MDL. The appeals, brought under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f), oppose the district court’s certification of the novel “Negotiation Class.” Under the proposed procedure, any class … Continue Reading
Several suits by Amazon workers seeking pay for time spent in security screening have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in the Western District of Kentucky. In one of the putative state-law class actions, Pennsylvania-based workers argue that under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act, Amazon owes them for the several minutes per shift they spend … Continue Reading
On the eve of trial Monday morning, plaintiffs Summit and Cuyahoga Counties struck a deal worth $260 million. This avoided the first bellwether trial in the opioid multidistrict litigation before Judge Polster. The settlement extinguishes the counties’ claims against AmerisourceBergen, Teva, Cardinal Health, and McKesson. Walgreen’s did not settle, but its trial is pushed off … Continue Reading
Today the Sixth Circuit issued much-anticipated rulings rejecting bids by Ohio and the industry defendants to halt the upcoming opioid MDL bellwether trial. And as noted below, in other venues the opioid litigation has seen recent notable action from another key state plaintiff and Judge Polster. Sixth Circuit denies “drastic and extraordinary” mandamus relief – … Continue Reading
