Nicholas Malfitano News
Fifth Circuit remands lone excessive force claim against Harris County law enforcement, to trial court
NEW ORLEANS – A majority component of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reversed a Texas lower court’s granting of qualified immunity-related summary judgment, in an excessive force and false arrest action against Harris County and members of its law enforcement.
Supreme Court of Texas finds defendant hit with $21.6M judgment is instead entitled to new trial
AUSTIN – A defendant who was hit with a $21.6 million verdict at a one hour-long bench trial has successfully appealed that result to the Supreme Court of Texas, which found proper notice procedures were not followed and thus, the defendant is entitled to a new trial.
Plaintiff claims Mission Police Department jailed and assaulted her intellectually-disabled adult son
MCALLEN – The mother of an intellectually-disabled man claims her son was arrested for suspected theft by members of the Mission Police Department, taken to a local jail and then assaulted by members of the department during his stay and prior to his release.
Judge issues split injunction over Texas law meant to regulate social media site content for minors
AUSTIN – A federal judge has granted an injunction against “monitoring and filtering” provisions of a Texas state law intended to regulate the content of social media, but denied an injunction against each of the law’s other sections, finding they did not unconstitutionally regulate a meaningful amount of constitutionally protected speech or otherwise fail strict scrutiny.
First District appeals court affirms dispute between employee and petroleum company belonged in arbitration
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to refer to arbitration a dispute between a woman who alleged her employer violated settlement terms when it targeted her with adverse employment actions, after it investigated her sexual assault claim, and the company itself.
Fourteenth Court of Appeals dismisses wrongful death suit from daughters of man struck by police car
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has reversed the denial of summary judgment to the City of Houston and, on jurisdictional grounds, instead dismissed a case brought by plaintiffs whose father was struck and killed by a Houston police officer while crossing the street, in the vicinity of a nearby police action.
Texas judge rejects Federal Trade Commission’s ban on non-compete agreements, other courts split on opinions
DALLAS – Just two weeks before a Federal Trade Commission ban on non-compete agreements is scheduled to go into effect, a federal judge in Texas ruled the FTC overstepped its power when it announced the ban.
Mental health facility accused of causing disabled man’s death, motion to have case against it dismissed
LUFKIN – A Texas mental health facility accused of ignoring a mentally disabled man’s pleas for help and subsequently causing his death, has motioned to dismiss litigation brought against it by the man’s father.
Plaintiffs sue AG Paxton to prevent enacting of the SCOPE ACT, which they argue violates free speech
AUSTIN – A group of plaintiffs have sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, seeking an injunction to prevent enacting the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act – which the plaintiffs say violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by childproofing the Internet, through blocking constitutionally-protected content made by and for adults.
National Labor Relations Board appeals granting of injunction to pipeline company Energy Transfer, to Fifth Circuit
GALVESTON – The National Labor Relations Board has appealed the granting of a preliminary injunction to pipeline company Energy Transfer, one which allowed the company to continue pursuing claims that the setup of the NLRB is unconstitutional, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Carroll Independent School District seeks summary judgment in Title IX guidance row with DOE
FORT WORTH – Carroll Independent School District officials has moved for summary judgment in a dispute with the U.S. Department of Education over institution of revised Title IX guidelines from the Biden Administration.
First District appeals court dismisses man's disability discrimination and retaliation suit against former employer
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to throw out the disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation action of a man who claimed he was treated unfairly and later fired by his employer, for taking medical leaves of absence and bereavement leave.
Judge dismisses racketeering suit alleging damages connected to clandestine relationship between attorney and judge
HOUSTON – A Texas federal court has ruled in favor of a former federal bankruptcy judge and two prominent law firms, a finding which dismissed a racketeering lawsuit resulting from a clandestine romantic relationship between the former judge and an attorney at one of the firms in question.
Federal magistrate judge finalizes dismissal of woman’s slip-and-fall suit against Walgreen’s
HOUSTON – A federal magistrate judge has dismissed through summary judgment a lawsuit brought by a woman who allegedly slipped on floor cleaning solution inside a Walgreen’s store and suffered a variety of injuries in the fall.
Ninth District appeals court throws out legal malpractice claim against Brent Coon and his firm
BEAUMONT – A Texas appeals court has thrown out an appeal related to a long-standing legal malpractice case against prominent trial lawyer Brent Coon, whose former clients alleged he had mishandled their case related to an oil spill by BP.
After home caregiver was killed by feral hogs, appeals court says evidence didn’t prove dogs attacked her first
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a trial court’s dismissal of a negligence and strict liability case surrounding the gruesome mauling and death of an in-home caregiver by feral hogs on her patients’ property, finding that submitted evidence didn’t show that dogs on the premises attacked the decedent first.
First District appeals court upholds dismissal of man's acrylic liquid nitrogen exposure injury suit
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to throw out the personal injury action of a man who claimed he suffered permanent injuries as a result of work-related exposure to liquid acrylic nitrogen.
Blinded by the light: Case of man who lost his sight after flash from welding torch will proceed
HOUSTON – A federal court has rejected a construction company’s attempt to obtain summary judgment dismissal toward litigation brought by a man who claimed he was blinded by a light flash emanating from a welding torch while on the job.
Federal court allows disability nonprofit group’s lawsuit against Klein Independent School District and officials to proceed
HOUSTON – A federal court in Houston has ordered that a lawsuit from a nonprofit organization advocating for the rights of the disabled against Klein Independent School District’s superintendent and the former president of its board of trustees may proceed in its entirety.
EEOC files suit against Katy assisted living facility, alleges it fired a nurse for having a sleep disorder
HOUSTON – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed suit against a rehabilitation and assisted living facility in Katy, which it claims violated federal law when it denied a registered nurse an accommodation for her sleep disorder and then fired her.