Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Hospital filed an interpleader action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., to resolve competing claims by Barbara Nicholls and Clair Nicholls to certain funds held in the four retirement and pension plans of the late Harold Nicholls. Barbara is Harold's surviving spouse and Claire is Harold's former spouse. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Claire because the divorce settlement agreement constitutes a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). The court found that the divorce settlement agreement does not constitute a QDRO because the agreement fails to comply with the requirements of 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3)(C); however, the nunc pro tunc orders constitute valid QDROs that assign funds to Claire from the three retirement and pension plans named in the orders; but because the nunc pro tunc orders do not clearly specify the fourth plan, the orders do not assign funds from that plan to Claire. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part and reversed in part. View "Yale-New Haven Hosp. v. Nicholls" on Justia Law

Zcom, a former Verizon retail sales agent, filed suit in state court alleging state-law contract and tort claims against Verizon and others. Zcom alleged that Verizon's termination of the parties' sales-agent relationship violated state law. Defendants removed to federal court pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), 28 U.S.C. 1332(d), and Zcom filed an amended complaint dropping all class-action allegations. The court joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that “jurisdiction under CAFA is secure even though, after removal, the plaintiffs amended their complaint to eliminate the class allegations.” Therefore, the district court properly maintained subject-matter jurisdiction over the First Amended Complaint. On the merits, the court affirmed for substantially the reasons set forth in the opinions issued by the district court. View "In Touch Concepts, Inc. v. Cellco P'ship" on Justia Law

Defendants appealed their convictions for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The court concluded that since the relevant charges in the superseding indictment were well within the applicable ten‐year statute of limitations, the district court properly denied the motion to dismiss. The court considered defendants' remaining arguments and concluded that they are without merit. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "United States v. Heinz" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit, alleging that the DOH violated the Medicaid Act, 42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq., when it determined that guardianship fees approved by a state court could not be deducted from plaintiff’s Medicaid-required contributions to her nursing home costs. The district court dismissed the complaint based on lack of standing or, in the alternative, plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court concluded that plaintiff did have standing where her injury was incurring debts beyond her means to the nursing facility or to her guardian. The court concluded, however, that plaintiff's claim failed on the merits because DOH was not under any unambiguous and binding obligation to allow deduction of the guardianship fees from plaintiff's net available monthly income. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Backer v. Shah" on Justia Law

Defendant, a volunteer firefighter and captain of the Wallingford Volunteer Fire Department, appealed a conviction for conspiring to set fires to public lands. Defendant and other members of the Department were "bored" and conspired to set fires because it gave them "something to do." The court concluded that the evidence was sufficient to convict defendant of conspiracy to set fires on public lands where specific knowledge of federal ownership is not required, either for the substantive statute or for conspiracy to violate the substantive statute. Further, even assuming that defendant had a right to be present at the jury orientation, he knowingly and voluntarily waived it. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Allen" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, parents of minor child A.R., filed suit against a real estate agency and its agent for disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants made housing unavailable on the basis of disability; provided different terms, conditions, and privileges of rental housing on the basis of disability; expressed a preference on the basis of disability; and misrepresented the availability of rental housing on the basis of disability. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants. The court held, however, that the district court erred because there was sufficient evidence presented that A.R. qualifies as disabled under the FHA; the FHA’s prohibition against statements that “indicate[ ] any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on . . . handicap,” pursuant to section 3604(c), may be violated even if the subject of those statements does not qualify as disabled under the FHA; and the “ordinary listener” standard is not applicable to claims under section 3604(d) for misrepresenting the availability of housing. Accordingly, the court vacated and remanded. View "Rodriguez v. Village Green Realty, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against the Sheriff's Department and others, alleging that he was severely beaten by deputy sheriffs while being detained in a holding cell. The district court granted summary judgment to defendants based on failure to exhaust administrative remedies. The court vacated the district court's judgment, remanding for further proceedings because failure to exhaust under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), 42 U.S.C. 1997e(a), is an affirmative defense, and because the evidence adduced by defendants - principally in the form of a conclusory affidavit - does not suffice to establish the defense as a matter of law. The court need not consider plaintiff's remaining arguments. View "Hubbs v. Suffolk Cnty. Sheriff's Dept." on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., seeking a pension based on permanent disability. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment. The district court granted the motion based on the ground that the Pension Plan gave defendants discretion to determine an applicant's eligibility for pension benefits and that defendants' reliance on SSA determinations, policies, and procedures in this matter was neither arbitrary nor capricious. The court rejected plaintiff's contentions that the real decisionmaker on her benefits applications was the SSA and that the Trustees exercised no discretion but simply rubber-stamped SSA decisions. The court concluded that the district court properly reviewed the Trustees' denial of plaintiff's application under the arbitrary-and-capricious standard. Further, the record also provides no support for plaintiff's contention that the Trustees' denial of her application for a permanent-disability pension was arbitrary and capricious. The court concluded that all of plaintiff's arguments are without merit and the court affirmed the judgment. View "Ocampo v. Building Service 32B-J Pension Fund" on Justia Law

The district court found Apple in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. 1, because Apple facilitated and executed a conspiracy where five of the six largest e-book publishers in the country entered into a horizontal conspiracy to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise e-book prices. The district court issued an external compliance monitor through a permanent injunction. At issue on appeal is the district court’s denial of the motion to disqualify the appointed monitor, and modifications of the injunction. The court concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to disqualify the monitor based on the record before the district court. The court also concluded that, in light of the court's intervening interpretation of the injunction, the terms of the injunction are not currently affected by modifications (if any) made by the district court. Accordingly, the court affirmed the decisions of the district court without prejudice. The court ordered the letter at issue disclosing the fee schedule unsealed and directed the Clerk of the Court to make that letter publicly available on the docket. View "United States v. Apple Inc." on Justia Law

Defendants McGinn and Smith appealed their convictions for various securities, mail, and wire fraud and tax charges. The government cross-appealed the district court's restitution and forfeiture orders. The court affirmed the convictions and sentences, concluding that there was sufficient evidence to convict defendants of the charges; the district court did not plainly err when instructing the jury on the tax counts; the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting portions of Smith's 1999 letter where use of the document did not have a substantial impact on the result of the trial and where reading portions of the letter did not constitute a constructive amendment or variance; McGinn's sentence is procedurally and substantively reasonable; and Smith's restitution and forfeiture orders are not erroneous. In regard's to the government's cross-appeal, the court concluded that the restitution orders failed to make clear that funds should be credited against restitution only when they are distributed to victims and not when they are merely collected by the receiver. Accordingly, the court remanded to the district court for the limited purpose of correcting the written judgments to conform them to the requirements of the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act (MVRA), 18 U.S.C. 3663A. View "United States v. McGinn" on Justia Law