| Docket: 13-3660 | Opinion Date: July 7, 2014 |
| Judge: per curiam |
| Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Election Law |
Illinois law bars persons convicted of certain crimes from holding public office, 10 ILCS 5/29-1-5. Parker sought to run for a seat on the Peoria school board. The state’s attorney sought to bar Parker, who had been convicted of felony theft in the 1980s, from pursuing that office. After a brief hearing held on short notice, a state court ordered Parker’s name removed from the ballot and enjoined him from running. Parker sued in federal court, arguing violations of due process and equal protection by denying him a chance to defend himself and targeting him based on his race (African American), and challenging the constitutionality of the law on its face. The district court dismissed the suit as barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, immunity, and claim preclusion. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that immunity, not Rooker-Feldman, bars the enforcement claims and that, even if claim preclusion did not preclude a facial attack on the statute, that challenge fails on the merits.
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| Docket: 13-3136 | Opinion Date: July 7, 2014 |
| Judge: Bauer |
| Areas of Law: Civil Procedure, Injury Law, Professional Malpractice & Ethics |
On March 28, 2008, while Salata was cleaning property owned by Weyerhaeuser, she slipped and fell, claiming loose floor tiles were the cause. On March 8, 2010, Salata filed suit. The parties attempted voluntary mediation, but when they could not reach a settlement, Salata’s then-attorneys, were allowed to withdraw, and Salata’s current counsel, Elrabadi, took over on March 14, 2012. On February 26, 2013, Weyerhaeuser moved to dismiss for failure to comply with the court’s discovery order under FRCP 37, and for a want of prosecution under Rule 41(b); Weyerhaeuser also requested attorney’s fees. The court held a hearing on the motion. Elrabadi failed to appear. The court declined to impose sanctions, but dismissed the case with prejudice for want of prosecution. On May 9, 2013, Elrabadi filed a Motion to Reinstate. Ultimately, the court denied the motion. The Seventh Circuit affirmed.
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| Docket: 13-1481 | Opinion Date: July 7, 2014 |
| Judge: Tinder |
| Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Labor & Employment Law |
Hutt worked for Solvay Pharmaceuticals as a sales representative, 2001-2007. Her supervisor, who had recruited her to Solvay from a different company, gave her satisfactory ratings in most categories, but repeatedly informed Hutt that she needed to improve her punctuality and consistency in submitting internal reports. When her supervisor retired, Lozen was appointed the new Indianapolis sales district manager by Westfall, himself a newly‐appointed regional manager. Hutt worked under Lozen and Westfall 2008-2011 and had several conflicts with them, which resulted in several disciplinary actions. She was ineligible for bonus pay while on warning status for seven quarters. In 2009, Hutt filed a complaint with the EEOC, followed by a lawsuit, alleging age discrimination and retaliation and violation of the Indiana Wage Payment Statute. The district court rejected the claims on summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. Hutt established no causal connection between the filing of the EEOC charge and adverse employment actions. A claim that Hutt and another were singled out for worse treatment based on their age was only asserted with “reliance on speculation.”
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| Docket: 12-3750 | Opinion Date: July 7, 2014 |
| Judge: Griesbach |
| Areas of Law: Criminal Law, White Collar Crime |
The Hallahans engaged in fraud, 1993-1999, relating to purported tanning businesses, that bilked investors out of more than $1,000,000. They pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and bank fraud, 18 U.S.C. 371, 1341, and 1344, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, 18 U.S.C. 1956(h). Rather than face sentencing for their crimes, they fled the district and remained on the run in Missouri and Arizona for 12 years. After they were arrested, both pled guilty without a plea agreement to the additional crime of failing to appear for sentencing. The district court imposed above-guideline sentences of 270 months on Nelson and 195 months on Janet Hallahan. They challenged their sentences despite having waived their rights to appeal in their original plea agreements. The Seventh Circuit initially affirmed. Denying a petition for rehearing, the Seventh Circuit rejected arguments based on use of a base offense level of seven, instead of six, for calculating the advisory sentencing guideline for the conspiracy counts, stating that the error does not change the result.
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| Docket: 13-1290 | Opinion Date: July 7, 2014 |
| Judge: Rovner |
| Areas of Law: Civil Rights, Criminal Law, Insurance Law |
In 2004 Fox was charged with the sexual assault and murder of his three-year-old daughter. Detectives coerced a confession and delayed testing of DNA evidence, leaving Fox imprisoned for eight months, separated from his wife and son. His defense finally obtained the DNA evidence and had it tested at a private lab; the results excluded Fox and charges were dropped. Fox sued under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and state law alleging due process violations, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A St. Paul policy required the insurer to defend the detectives to its policy limit, $1 million. Will County also had excess liability policies for $5 million from AAIC (secondary) and Essex (tertiary). Under AAIC’s policy it was not required to assume “settlement or defense” until the underlying policy had been exhausted. None of the policies covered punitive damages. The detectives were represented by a firm retained by St. Paul. The jury awarded $15.5 million, including $6.2 million in punitive damages. Offers to settle for less, before and after the verdict, were rejected. St. Paul exhausted its policy limit; AAIC assumed the defense. The detectives assigned to the Foxes any claims against the insurers in exchange for a covenant not to seek punitive damages from the detectives’ personal assets. The Seventh Circuit upheld $8,166,000 of the damages awarded, including $3.4 million in punitive damages. Fox sought a declaratory judgment that AAIC breached its good faith duties to reasonably settle the claims and inform the detectives of their conflicts of interest. The district court dismissed, reasoning that AAIC, as excess insurer, never had any control over the defense before judgment and therefore had no duty to settle the claims or alert the detectives to any potential conflicts of interest. The Seventh Circuit affirmed
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