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

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's 96 month sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The court concluded that defendant's within-Guidelines sentence was substantively reasonable. In this case, the district court expressly considered defendant's arguments regarding his traumatic upbringing, the median sentence imposed for all types of firearms offenses, and the connection between his firearm possession and his other felony offense. The court explained that the district court had wide lattitude in weighing the relevant sentencing factors and discerned no clear error of judgment in how the district court weighed the factors here. View "United States v. McDaniels" on Justia Law

Under Minnesota law, when the insurance policy in question refers disputes as to amount of loss to an appraiser, when the question presented by the dispute involves separating loss due to a covered event from a property's preexisting condition, the question of what caused the loss is one for the appraiser to resolve.The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of Condor's motion to compel an appraisal. In this case, Condor filed a claim for benefits with its insurer, Axis. Condor then demanded an appraisal because the parties could not agree on the amount of loss. After Axis filed suit for a declaratory judgment that there was no coverage and that the parties' coverage dispute precluded appraisal, Condor filed a motion to compel one, which the district court granted. View "Axis Surplus Insurance Co. v. Condor Corp." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of Regional's declaratory judgment claims alleging that defendants' procedures in suspending Regional's Medicare payments and forcing it out of business without notice, a hearing, or an opportunity to appeal violated its Fifth Amendment rights to procedural and substantive due process. The court concluded that no actual controversy exists between Regional and defendants within the meaning of the Declaratory Judgment Act. The court explained that, having abandoned any claim for damages, Regional seeks nothing more than a judicial pronouncement that its constitutional rights were violated. Therefore, the possibility of Regional re-establishing a business that is certified to receive Medicare reimbursements, again submitting documentation insufficient to meet Medicare requirements for billed services, and again having Medicare payments suspended is too conjectural or hypothetical to pose a real and immediate threat of injury sufficient to confer subject matter jurisdiction in federal court. View "Regional Home Health Care, Inc. v. Becerra" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants in an action alleging retaliation, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against plaintiff's former employer, Workforce Development and the state of Iowa, as well as against certain former supervisors and coworkers. Plaintiff's claims stemmed from her termination as an ALJ based on allegations that she fraudulently filed insurance enrollment forms and had deliberately falsified her daughter's marital status. Plaintiff alleged that her termination was based on retaliation for her testimony before the Oversight Committee and that the insurance fraud investigation constituted a mere pretext.In regard to the whistleblower retaliation claim, the court concluded that plaintiff failed to present evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that she was suspended or terminated in reprisal for her testimony. In regard to the defamation claim, the court concluded that Defendant Wahlert was entitled to summary judgment with respect to her allegedly defamatory testimony to the Oversight Committee where her testimony and related actions were within the scope of her employment. The court also concluded that plaintiff failed to establish any constitutional violation as to the First Amendment retaliation claim; defendants' conduct was not sufficiently egregious to satisfy the outrageousness prong of the Iowa tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress; and the district court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiff's retaliation claim based on the Iowa Constitution's free speech clause. View "Ackerman v. Iowa" on Justia Law

Officers responded to a shooting in an apartment building's parking lot. Three victims were transported to the hospital. Officers observed a security camera in the window of apartment 1, pointed toward the parking lot. After interviewing two witnesses, Detective Dunn viewed video footage from a business across the street, which corroborated their account. He learned that Haney, an occupant of unit 1, was involved in a dispute with the sister of two shooting victims. Dunn obtain a warrant to search Unit 1; other officers executed the warrant. An officer moved clothes in the bedroom closet and saw a sawed-off shotgun. He also seized a baggie of white powder, a laptop, and cell phones from the bedroom. Other officers seized cameras, a computer monitor, a Kindle, shotgun shells, pieces of a scale with traces of drug residue, photographs, and documents bearing the names of Haney and Saddler.Saddler later unsuccessfully moved to suppress all evidence seized during the search and an incriminating statement she later made concerning the shotgun. The Eighth Circuit affirmed her subsequent conviction as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). The affidavit described facts that connected Haney to the shooting and created a fair probability that evidence that would aid in a particular apprehension or conviction would be found. Dunn’s reliance on the issuance of the warrant was objectively reasonable. In addition, the seizure of the shotgun satisfied the “plain view” exception. View "United States v. Saddler" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence and defendant's sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children. In this case, federal agents, who were concerned that defendant would destroy evidence if he were allowed to go back inside, entered defendant's house without a warrant and took two computers, a cell phone, and a hard drive.The court concluded that the circumstances were suspicious enough that the agents could have reasonably concluded that there was a substantial chance that defendant was involved in criminal activity. The court also concluded that the officers had a sufficient basis to reasonably believe that defendant would imminently destroy evidence, and thus defendant's conduct created an exigency. Therefore, the warrantless search did not violate the Fourth Amendment because the officers had probable cause, the exigency was real, and it was not of the agents' making. Finally, any error in the district court's statement at sentencing was harmless. View "United States v. Meyer" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence after he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and involuntary manslaughter. Defendant's conviction stemmed from his intoxication at work while he was Chief of Pathology for the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks (VSHO).The court concluded that, because the VHSO ordered the lookback to benefit patients, rather than to help the criminal investigation, the district court did not err by including it in the loss amount calculation. In this case, the district court found that the loss amount caused by defendant's crimes was over two million dollars, including the cost of the lookback, so it imposed a 16-level enhancement. The court also concluded that the district court did not err in imposing an upward departure for disruption of a government function where the lookback was the largest review ever undertaken by the VA system and multiple VA medical centers were burdened by the extra work. Finally, the court concluded that defendant's sentence was procedurally and substantively reasonable where the district court discussed the 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) factors in length and did not abuse its discretion in sentencing defendant to 240 months in prison. View "United States v. Levy" on Justia Law

After a tractor manufactured by CNH caught fire, Floyd filed suit against CNH in federal court under a theory of product liability, claiming that its insureds owned the tractor and other property on the tractor, both of which were damaged in the fire, and that Floyd was subrogated to its insureds' claims against CNH because Floyd had paid its insureds' claim for the damage. The district court dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1332.The Eighth Circuit affirmed and concluded that section 1332's amount-in-controversy requirement was not satisfied in this case. The court concluded that the Iowa Supreme Court would hold that the economic-loss doctrine permits recovery only for the other property and not for the product itself. Accordingly, the Iowa Supreme Court would bar recovery in tort for damage that a defective product causes to itself, even if the plaintiff also seeks recovery for damage to other property. Here, Floyd's recovery is limited as a matter of law to the alleged $22,787.81 in damage to property other than the tractor. The court denied the motion to certify a question of law to the Iowa Supreme Court and upheld the district court's dismissal based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction. View "Floyd County Mutual Insurance Ass'n v. CNH Industrial America LLC" on Justia Law

Dr. Placzek, a physician, entered into an employment agreement with MCHS In 2015, Placzek had a miscarriage, which required time off. MCHS provides Short-Term Disability (STD) benefits but Placzek did not submit an STD claim. MCHS later gave her five days of STD benefits. In 2016, Dr. Placzek took 12 weeks of maternity leave; she used STD benefits for the first six weeks. For the last six weeks of maternity leave, Placzek wanted to use vacation time. Placzek was eligible for an educational-loan reimbursement of $15,000 per year; if the physician terminates the agreement “except for a breach by the Medical Center,” the physician must repay two reimbursements. In 2017, Placzek resigned; her appointment at Mayo Clinic had been terminated unilaterally by Mayo in 2016. Placzek brought a Minnesota Whistleblower Act (MWA) claim against Mayo, alleging retaliation for reporting a violation of law and a breach-of-contract claim against MCHS for failing to provide additional STD benefits for her miscarriage, improperly paying her STD benefits for her maternity leave, and not allowing her to use paid vacation for her maternity leave. She sought a declaratory judgment that she need not repay her educational-loan reimbursement. The Eighth Circuit affirmed the rejection of all of her claims. Although she worked some of her full-time hours at a Mayo Clinic site, Placzek was an independent contractor, not a Mayo employee for MWA purposes. MCHS did not breach the employment agreement in calculating her benefits or in denying her paid vacation time. View "Placzek v. Mayo Clinic" on Justia Law

Avenoso, a maintenance supervisor, had long-term disability insurance under a Reliance policy, governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B). The policy provided two years of benefits if the claimant showed that he was unable to perform the material duties of his current occupation and provided continued benefits if the claimant showed that he was unable to perform the material duties of any occupation. Avenoso left his job due to lower-back pain and underwent back surgery. Reliance approved two years of benefits. At the end of the two years, Reliance informed Avenoso that it would discontinue benefits because Avenoso had not shown that he was unable to perform the material duties of any occupation.Avenoso had an MRI; the results appeared relatively mild. Avenoso sent Reliance a note from his physician, recommending that Avenoso “avoid lifting, bending and prolonged sitting” due to his lower back condition. He was receiving Social Security disability benefits. Following a “functional-capacity evaluation,” a physical therapist concluded Avenoso did not demonstrate an ability to tolerate an 8-hour workday. An independent medical evaluation concluded that Avenoso retained sedentary-work capacity and was “able to work 8 hours a day but was engaging in “symptom magnification.” A vocational-rehabilitation specialist identified five “viable sedentary occupational alternatives” consistent with Avenoso’s physical capacities. The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of Avenoso. The district court’s finding that Avenoso lacks sedentary-work capacity was not clearly erroneous. View "Avenoso v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co" on Justia Law