Findlaw News

Case Summaries

Health Law

[01/07] Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield v. Little Rock Cardiology Clinic. P.A.
Dismissal of a suit to enjoin health care providers from bringing suit in state court seeking damages for plaintiffs' alleged violation of the any willing provider provisions of the Arkansas Patient Protection Act is affirmed where the district court did not have ancillary jurisdiction to enforce the original terms of an injunction that it entered in a previous case, and the All Writs Act did not supply the district court with an independent source of subject matter jurisdiction.

[01/07] Sursely v. Peake
38 U.S.C. section 1162, which authorizes an annual clothing allowance to veterans whose disabilities require clothing-damaging orthopedic appliances, permits more than one such allowance where the veteran has multiple, independently qualifying orthopedic appliances.

[01/05] Ashley County v. Pfizer, Inc.
In a suit by Arkansas counties against manufacturers and distributors of products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine seeking recovery of costs stemming from the methamphetamine epidemic in the state, grant of defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings is affirmed where: 1) the circumstances connecting the sales of cold medication to the provision of government services were simply too attenuated to give rise to an implied contract between the manufacturers and county providers to state a cause of action for unjust enrichment; 2) common law nuisance and Arkansas statutory claims failed for lack of proximate causation.

[01/05] C.R. v. Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Trial court erred in sustaining demurrer to complaint against medical center for sexual harassment under Civil Code section 51.9 and for the negligent hiring, supervision and retention of nursing assistant who sexually assaulted and harassed plaintiff. Court holds that: 1) the judicially-noticed documents offered by defendant do not negate plaintiff's allegations that defendant directly or indirectly employed nursing assistant who sexually harassed plaintiff; 2) plaintiff was not required to allege the existence of a fiduciary relationship between herself and the medical center to state a viable claim for sexual harassment under section 51.9; and 3) complaint contains adequate allegations to hold the defendant corporation liable under section 51.9 for the sexual abuse of plaintiff by its employee.

[12/31] Haybarger v. Lawrence County Adult Prob. & Parole
In a case alleging violations of both federal and state antidiscrimination laws, plaintiff's employer is not entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity from her Rehabilitation Act claim. Although the employer does not receive federal funds, it is one of many subunits of the Fifty-Third Judicial District, one of which receives federal funds.

[12/31] Emenaker v. Peake
Decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to deny veteran's request for benefits attributable to a service-connected disability stemming from a neurological disorder is affirmed because veteran failed to raise his present argument in the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in the first instance, and had therefore failed to preserve the issue for appeal.

[12/29] Owen v. Astrue
Denial of Social Security disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income is affirmed where: 1) an ALJ did not err in balancing the medical evidence in the record or in finding that the treating physician's RFC assessment was not entitled to controlling weight because it was contradicted by the medical record and internally inconsistent; and 2) there was no evidence that the drowsiness claimant experienced as a result of his medication was uncontrollable or restricted his ability to work.

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Injury & Tort Law

[12/31] Alpine Bank v. Hubbell
In a lawsuit arising after plaintiffs failed to repay a construction loan made by plaintiff-bank, summary judgment against defendants-homeowners on all claims and on their counterclaims is affirmed where: 1) a contract counterclaim, based on an alleged breach of the contractually implied duty of good faith and fair dealing arising from bank's failure to oversee the construction, was barred by a provision in the parties' agreement; 2) for purposes of negligent-misrepresentation counterclaims, one alleged misrepresentation regarding the contractor was nonactionable puffery and the others lacked the requisite state of mind; 3) bank did not have a duty to disclose negative information regarding the construction or the contractor; and 4) bank's advertising slogan did not violate the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

[01/06] Major v. Western Home Ins. Co.
Home insurer unsuccessfully appeals from a jury verdict in an insurance bad faith action arising from the destruction of Plaintiffs' home. Court finds that: 1) because the economic damages award stands in a reasonable, two-to-one relationship to the noneconomic damages award, the latter is not excessive; 2) regional claims adjusters employed by the insurer were "managing agents" for purposes of punitive damages; and 3) the punitive damages award does not raise due process concerns because it is roughly equal to the tort damages award.

[01/05] Ashley County v. Pfizer, Inc.
In a suit by Arkansas counties against manufacturers and distributors of products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine seeking recovery of costs stemming from the methamphetamine epidemic in the state, grant of defendants' motion for judgment on the pleadings is affirmed where: 1) the circumstances connecting the sales of cold medication to the provision of government services were simply too attenuated to give rise to an implied contract between the manufacturers and county providers to state a cause of action for unjust enrichment; 2) common law nuisance and Arkansas statutory claims failed for lack of proximate causation.

[01/05] C.R. v. Tenet Healthcare Corp.
Trial court erred in sustaining demurrer to complaint against medical center for sexual harassment under Civil Code section 51.9 and for the negligent hiring, supervision and retention of nursing assistant who sexually assaulted and harassed plaintiff. Court holds that: 1) the judicially-noticed documents offered by defendant do not negate plaintiff's allegations that defendant directly or indirectly employed nursing assistant who sexually harassed plaintiff; 2) plaintiff was not required to allege the existence of a fiduciary relationship between herself and the medical center to state a viable claim for sexual harassment under section 51.9; and 3) complaint contains adequate allegations to hold the defendant corporation liable under section 51.9 for the sexual abuse of plaintiff by its employee.

[01/05] Cibula v. US
In a medical malpractice suit brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the district court erred by applying Virginia law and deciding not to place damages for future medical expenses into a reversionary trust. On remand, the court must apply California law, that being the state in which Plaintiffs were domiciled at the time of the underlying incidents, and determine whether the creation of a reversionary trust would impose liability on the government in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual.

[12/30] Food Pro Int'l, Inc. v. Farmers Ins. Exchange
In connection to a tort claim brought by an injured construction worker against plaintiff, judgment in favor of defendant-insurer in plaintiff-insuree's claim for breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is reversed where: 1) there was no merit to plaintiff's punitive damages argument; but 2) the trial court erred in finding that defendant-insurer had no duty to defend plaintiff.

[12/04] Mercury Ins. Co. v. Pearson
Pedestrian who was struck by an uninsured motorist while crossing an intersection with his fiancée is not entitled to coverage under his fiancée's auto insurance policy. Judgment in favor of auto insurer is affirmed where the policy unambiguously extends uninsured motorist coverage to pedestrians only if they are "named insureds" or their spouses or relatives living in the same household.

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