The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued an opinion in Marietta Memorial Hospital Employee Health Benefit Plan v. DaVita Inc., which reversed the Sixth Circuit’s October 2020 decision finding that DaVita Inc. plausibly asserted a claim against an Ohio hospital’s health plan for unlawfully discriminating against patients with end-stage renal disease by offering low reimbursement rates … Continue Reading
Today, President Biden nominated Columbus, Ohio appellate litigator Rachel Bloomekatz to the Sixth Circuit as part of his eighteenth round of judicial nominees, which would fill the seat vacated by Judge R. Guy Cole Jr. Judge Cole announced in December his intention to take senior status. Rachel Bloomekatz is currently a solo practitioner at Bloomekatz … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit issued a very interesting decision three days ago in Arizona v. Biden (22-3272). The origins of the dispute go back to last fall when the Secretary of Homeland Security issued “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law.” The Guidance notes the Department lacks the resources to apprehend and remove the roughly … Continue Reading
The saga of the OSHA ETS litigation has (nearly) come to an end. Yesterday, the DOJ filed a motion in the Sixth Circuit to dismiss as moot all of the consolidated petitions challenging OSHA’s vaccine-or-test mandate. The DOJ informed the Sixth Circuit that, “[a]fter evaluating the [Supreme] Court’s decision, OSHA decided to withdraw the Vaccination … Continue Reading
Today, the Sixth Circuit will consider another governmental mandate–this one, a tax mandate–as it hears argument (by video) in a case that pits Ohio once more against the federal government. The case is Ohio v. Yellen, No. 21-3787. The panel consists of Judges Griffin, Donald, and Bush. Argument is expected to start around 9:30. You … Continue Reading
When a panel of the Sixth Circuit denied rehearing in a criminal case last month, Judge Moore issued a separate opinion, joined by Judge White, that highlights an important point for appellate advocacy. That is, regardless of how common some knowledge may be to the litigants at the trial level, the judges on appeal know … Continue Reading
In another of the many strands of the Flint water cases, a Sixth Circuit panel (Moore, White, JJ., Sutton, J. concurring) on August 5 reaffirmed its May 2020 decision in Waid vs. Snynder that plaintiffs plausibly alleged the City of Flint and City and State officials (including former Governor Rick Snyder) violated plaintiffs’ substantive due … Continue Reading
Last night Chief Judge Cole announced a one-year delay in the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, which had been scheduled for June 2020. Rumor had it that our own Ben Glassman was to participate, so now fans of Ben and Simone Biles alike will all have to set their sights to 2021. Full statement below. Stay … Continue Reading
The Administrative Office of the Courts now maintains a single page with links to courthouse and filing notices for all federal courts. You can find the page and its updates here. No new news from the Sixth Circuit since the March 16 notice we published last week. Many thanks for the hard work of keeping … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs is excited to welcome Ben Glassman back to the firm as a partner in the Cincinnati and Columbus offices. As recently reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ben joins after serving as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 2016 to 2019. At least as important for readers of the … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit has joined other circuits in unanimously holding that HIPAA creates no private right of action. That was the easy part. The panel divided 2-1 in ruling that a Tennessee statute likewise provides no remedy for patients allegedly overcharged by Ciox, a medical-records company. But Faber v. Ciox Health wasn’t a complete blowout: … Continue Reading
Six Ohio cities represented by Tom Goldstein filed a petition at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals opposing Judge Polster’s certification of the negotiation class in the opioid MDL. The cities’ petition urges the Sixth Circuit to immediately review the certification of the negotiation class now rather than on appeal—lest they risk wasting the time and … Continue Reading
Sixth Circuit Judge Damon J. Keith died this weekend at the age of 96. He served on the Sixth Circuit for over 40 years. A civil rights icon, he issued notable opinions addressing racial desegregation in public education, warrantless Nixon-era wiretaps, and blanket secrecy for deportation hearings of terrorism suspects after 9/11. In remembrance, the … Continue Reading
In an opinion colored by aviation-themed puns, Judge Thapar, writing for the Sixth Circuit in Flight Options, LLC v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, Local 1108, ordered airlines and pilot unions to arbitrate their long-running dispute. A few years ago, two luxury airlines merged, leading to a spate of litigation. Most recently, the airlines attempted to … Continue Reading
University policies on responding to sexual assault claims have been hotly debated around the country. The Sixth Circuit recently weighed in on the constitutional dimension of this issue. Last month, in John Doe v. University of Cincinnati, et al., the Sixth Circuit found a strong likelihood that an accused student’s constitutional due process rights were … Continue Reading
Normally, a regulatory-takings plaintiff must seek compensation through “procedures the State has provided,” before suing in federal court. Last week, in a unanimous unpublished opinion, Lilly Investments v. City of Rochester, the Sixth Circuit joined the Second and Fourth Circuits by holding that, by removing the case, a defendant-city waives this exhaustion requirement. The Court reasoned … Continue Reading
The saga of a shipwreck treasure trove continues in Williamson, et al. v. Recovery Limited Partnership, et al., “yet another skirmish in the legal battle over the treasure from the S.S. Central America,” a shipwreck discovered over 130 years after it sank in September 1857. (Earlier litigation has previously been a topic of this blog, … Continue Reading
Out of nearly 5,000 reported opinions in the last five years, no one will be surprised that the Sixth Circuit cited its own cases in all but five opinions. But what other circuits does the Sixth Circuit rely on? From the raw numbers, Sixth Circuit judges cite cases from the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits … Continue Reading
In a previous post, we looked at how often various circuits issue unpublished opinions and the differences between their rules on published decisions. The Sixth Circuit’s most recent directive is that “[u]npublished decisions in the Sixth Circuit are, of course, not binding precedent on subsequent panels, but their reasoning may be ‘instructive’ or helpful.” Crump v. … Continue Reading
Last week in United States of America v. Gabriel Llanez-Garcia, the Sixth Circuit vacated sanctions imposed against an assistant federal public defender and dismissed the sanctions proceedings against her. In a strongly-worded repudiation, the panel found no indication of the bad faith required to warrant sanctions under a court’s inherent authority. Noting that “[a]n attorney’s … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, the Sixth Circuit upheld the Northern District of Ohio’s prior ruling that Lockheed Martin Corporation, not Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is liable for more than $40 million in remediation costs at a contaminated blimp factory known as the Airdock. (Lockheed Martin, Corp. v. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co., Case No. 12-4108) Through … Continue Reading
On Monday, the Supreme Court took up a Sixth Circuit case on federal court authority over a Native American tribe’s off-reservation gaming activity under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. In the proceedings below, the Michigan Attorney General obtained a preliminary injunction barring the operation of an illegal, off-reservation casino … Continue Reading
In another round of bad headlines for the Sixth Circuit, the ABA Journal notes that it has been reversed by the Supreme Court in 31 out of the last 38 cases. That places the reversal rate at 81.6%, higher than even the Ninth Circuit at 78.1%. We have addressed similar articles from the ABA Journal … Continue Reading
Renal Care Group, Inc., (“Renal Care”) a dialysis provider, created a wholly-owned subsidiary to take advantage of loopholes in the Medicare regulatory scheme that would permit it to increase its profits. The United States intervened in a qui tam suit alleging False Claims Act violations against Renal Care and the subsidiary. The district court granted summary judgment … Continue Reading
