U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division
Recent News About U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division
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Ex-Methodist Hospital employees’ class action over COVID vax loses federal counts, and is remanded to state court
HOUSTON – A federal judge has dismissed all federal claims and remanded state-law claims to their court of origin, in a class action suit brought by over 100 plaintiffs against Methodist Hospital due to the institution terminating them for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine and thus violating mandatory inoculation policies. -
Harris County sheriff’s deputy who shot 911 caller’s father, is denied summary judgment dismissal
HOUSTON – A federal judge has denied a motion for summary judgment from a Harris County sheriff’s deputy, one accused of excessive force by a man the deputy shot in the left leg, the father of a woman who had just called 911 – an event the deputy contended was accidental. -
Emergency room has another chance to plead breach of contract against Blue Cross and Blue Shield
HOUSTON – A federal judge has dismissed without prejudice breach of an implied contract claims, within an insurance dispute pitting a Harris County emergency room system versus the state’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield entity. -
Judge: Defendant’s delayed response to excessive force case, prejudiced the plaintiff
HOUSTON – A federal judge has determined that a plaintiff who alleged excessive force was imposed upon him while he was incarcerated at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in 2016, was prejudiced due to the delayed response of one of the named defendants in the case. -
Federal judge dismisses pre-trial detainee’s policy claims against Harris County and law enforcement
HOUSTON – A federal court has granted the dismissal of claims brought by a pre-trial detainee against Harris County and various law enforcement officers and inmates, where the plaintiff had alleged he was assaulted while in custody and the defendants failed to prevent and intervene in the assault. -
Texas court dismisses delivery worker’s personal injury claims against Schindler Elevator Corporation
HOUSTON – A federal court has granted the dismissal of claims brought by a package delivery worker against the manufacturer of an elevator whose alleged malfunction caused injuries to the plaintiff more than three years ago. -
Aldine Independent School District again seeks to dismiss lawsuit over child sexual assault on bus
HOUSTON – Aldine Independent School District is seeking to dismiss amended litigation brought against it and its superintendent in full, litigation initiated by the mother of a minor child who was sexually assaulted on a District school bus. -
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. -
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. -
Woman who slipped and fell on grape in Fiesta Mart, sees her case dismissed through summary judgment
HOUSTON – A federal judge has dismissed through summary judgment a lawsuit brought by a woman who allegedly slipped on a grape inside a Fiesta Mart store and suffered significant injuries from her fall. -
Judge dismisses suit over child's sexual assault on school bus, but gives plaintiff chance to re-file
HOUSTON – A federal judge has dismissed without prejudice litigation brought by the mother of a minor child who was sexually assaulted on an Aldine Independent School District school bus for failure to state claims upon which relief could be granted – but provided the plaintiff with a chance to re-file the case. -
Federal judge preserves most counts in nonprofit's False Claims Act case against Head Start vendors
HOUSTON – A federal judge has partially granted and partially denied a motion to dismiss a Texas nonprofit and public charity group’s litigation against four defendants, brought under the False Claims Act and alleging they engaged in a kickback program and submitted false statements which defrauded the U.S. government. -
Texas judge throws out most claims in class action, data breach suit against legal services support provider
HOUSTON – A Texas federal judge has dismissed the vast majority of claims from a class action suit against a legal services support company, which alleged that its negligence and other liable actions left it vulnerable to a data breach and then caused the plaintiffs to be the victims of identity theft. -
Magistrate judge denies motion to exclude engineer's testimony in AMC movie theater fall case
HOUSTON – A federal magistrate judge has denied a motion to exclude testimony of a licensed professional engineer, in a premises liability case where the plaintiff alleged she was injured when she fell in the parking lot of an AMC movie theater. -
Judge dismisses some claims from airport operations manager's excessive force suit against Harris County
HOUSTON – A federal judge has partially granted and partially denied a motion to dismiss civil rights and excessive force litigation from an operations manager at West Houston Airport, who was arrested by a deputy police officer at the site of a plane crash whose rescue efforts he was called in to assist. -
Class action alleges Carnival reneged on offer to provide full refunds for cancelled cruises due to COVID-19
HOUSTON — A man is alleging in a class action suit that Carnival failed to abide by their offer to provide "100% refunds" for cruises that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. -
Disabled worker alleges she was told not to come back to work until she no longer needed accommodations, terminated
HOUSTON — A woman claims she was forced to take medical leave, told not to come back to work until she no longer required accommodations and was fired due to her disability.