Justia U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff sued the former Mayor of the City of Russelville and the members of the Russellville City Council in federal district court, alleging age and race discrimination. Defendants subsequently filed an interlocutory appeal, seeking a reversal of the district court's denial of legislative immunity. The court concluded that defendants were entitled to legislative immunity where defendants not only eliminated plaintiff's position, but also instantaneously created a seemingly identical position. In the present case, control over the position at issue moved from the Mayor to the City Council, a quintessential legislative decision. View "Leaphart v. Williamson, et al" on Justia Law

Hostess provided an "employee welfare benefit plan" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. 1002(1). In this appeal, appellant challenged the order of the district court affirming the grant of summary judgment by the bankruptcy court in favor of Hostess on his claim for civil penalties for Hostess's failure to give notice of certain health insurance coverage rights required under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA), 29 U.S.C. 1166(a), and the denial of attorney's fees. Although it was undisputed that Hostess failed to provide two notices required by COBRA, the court rejected appellant's arguments and held that the bankruptcy court did not err in granting summary judgment to Hostess on his claim for civil penalties. The court agreed with the bankruptcy court that it could not "fairly call the outcome of the litigation some success on the merits" as required to award attorney's fees and costs to appellant. View "Deckard v. Interstate Bakeries Corp., et al" on Justia Law

Hallmark sued its former employee, defendant, for a breach of the parties' separation agreement and won a jury verdict of $860,000 on its breach of contract claim. Defendant appealed, arguing that the district court erred in delivering an adverse inference instruction to the jury and the award on Hallmark's breach of contract claim was excessive. In light of the overwhelming evidence of bad faith and prejudice before the district court, the court concluded that its failure to issue explicit findings before delivering the otherwise warranted adverse inference instruction was harmless error which did not prejudice defendant. By awarding Hallmark more than its $735,000 severance payment, the jury award placed Hallmark in a better position than it would find itself had defendant not breached the agreement. Accordingly, the jury's award of the $125,000 payment was improper and the court vacated and remanded for the district court to reduce the fee award appropriately. View "Hallmark Cards v. Murley" on Justia Law

Plaintiff sued her former employer, the Third Judicial District, and its current and former directors under 42 U.S.C. 1983, claiming that the employer fired her in violation of the First Amendment. The district court denied defendants' motions for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The court dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction where qualified immunity was not a defense available to a governmental entity and its current director in his official capacity. Further, the remaining defendant was deceased and was not a proper party on appeal. View "Campbell v. State of Iowa, et al" on Justia Law

Bristol Care appealed the denial of its motion to compel arbitration in a suit initiated by its former employee asserting claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., and seeking class action certification. Given the absence of any contrary congressional command from the FLSA that a right to engage in class actions overrides the mandate of the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. 3-4, in favor of arbitration, the court held that arbitration agreements containing class waivers were enforceable in claims brought under the FLSA. Because the court concluded that the Mandatory Arbitration Agreement (MAA) signed by the employee and Bristol Care was enforceable, the court reversed the district court's decision and directed the district court to enter an order granting Bristol Care's motion to stay proceedings and compel arbitration. View "Owen v. Bristol Care, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff, a former software developer for Lockheed Martin Corporation, brought this action for judicial review after Connecticut General terminated his disability benefits in 2007. The court held that the district court properly applied an abuse of discretion standard; on the record, it was not an abuse of discretion to terminate plaintiff's benefits; and the district court did not err in denying plaintiff an opportunity to depose the expert at issue. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Siegel v. Connecticut General Life Ins., et al" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's decision affirming the Commissioner's denial of social security benefits. The court rejected plaintiff's contention to the extent that she alleged the ALJ failed to develop the record or make explicit findings regarding the mental and physical demands of her past relevant work as a factory packer and assembler. The court concluded that the ALJ had sufficient evidence on the record as a whole to reach his determination where the ALJ adequately compared the demands of plaintiff's past with her residual functioning capacity to perform light work, including with her manipulative limitations. Accordingly, the court affirmed the denial of benefits. View "Young v. Astrue" on Justia Law

After plaintiff's employment was terminated by Minco as part of a reduction in force, he brought this action under the Uniformed Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. The court concluded that the jury's finding that plaintiff's position of employment would have been terminated had he not left for military service was entirely consistent with USERRA's text and its implementing regulations. Plaintiff did not properly preserve his remaining contention. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Milhauser v. Minco Products, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's adverse grant of summary judgment to defendants on plaintiff's claim that defendants retaliated against her in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq. The court held that the district court did not err in deciding that plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case of retaliation under the FLSA. No reasonable jury could conclude that plaintiff's discussion with one of the defendants about the ten-minute deduction on her time card was a sufficiently clear and detailed FLSA complaint for defendants reasonably to understand that plaintiff was alleging a FLSA violation. View "Montgomery v. Havner, et al" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer on her interference claim brought under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. The court held that the district court erred in concluding as a matter of law that plaintiff could not establish an interference claim. A reasonable jury could conclude that she satisfied the FMLA's notice requirement by providing notice of her need for medical leave or, in the alternative, that plaintiff had been terminated for taking such leave when a serious health condition unexpectedly prevented her from fulfilling her work assignment. View "Clinkscale v. St. Theresa of New Hope" on Justia Law