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

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision to uphold an arbitration award reinstating an employee to his job as a security officer at Entergy's nuclear power plant. The employee has chronic folliculitis, and Entergy thought this would keep him from shaving often enough to properly wear a full-face gas mask in the event of a chemical attack. The arbitrator ordered reinstatement because Entergy never fit-tested the employee with facial hair before concluding that it disqualified him from the position. The Eighth Circuit held that the arbitrator's order requiring that the employee be reinstated with backpay and subject to an acceptable respirator or a reasonable accommodation was not against public policy nor exceeded the arbitrator's authority. In this case, the arbitrator did not stray outside his authority to interpret and apply the contract, and the award was within the range of possibilities Entergy bargained for. View "Entergy Operations v. United Government Security Officers" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the disqualification of tax-exempt status of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) because it exceeded the I.R.C. 415 contribution limit. In this case, the Tax Court did not clearly err in basing its findings of fact on the IRS's uncontested Explanation of Items, which established that DNA Pro Ventures' 2008 contribution to Dr. Daniel Prohaska's ESOP account substantially exceeded the section 415 contribution limit for that year. View "DNA Pro Ventures v. Commissioner" on Justia Law

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court's opinion and order abstaining from hearing Roberts Broadcasting's malpractice claim against Danna McKitrick pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331(c)(1). McKitrick represented Roberts Broadcasting in its chapter 11 case. The Panel explained that the bankruptcy court considered and addressed each of the listed criteria, and it considered and addressed only the listed criteria. Therefore, the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion either by failing to consider a relevant factor that should have been given significant weight or by considering and giving significant weight to an irrelevant or improper factor. View "Roberts Broadcasting Company v. DeWoskin" on Justia Law

The Bankruptcy Appellate Panel affirmed the bankruptcy court's grant of summary judgment to the Iowa Department of Revenue and dismissal of the adversary proceeding. The Panel held that the bankruptcy court did not abuse its discretion in denying debtor's motion to file newly discovered evidence where the motion did not deal with newly discovered evidence at all, but was just an attempt to make more arguments for why the Iowa income statute was void for vagueness; the bankruptcy court did not err when it gave res judicata effect to debtor's claim that the Iowa income tax statute is unconstitutional; the bankruptcy court did not err when it applied collateral estoppel to debtor's claim regarding the constitutionality of Iowa's income statute; debtor's void for vagueness argument lacked merit and the Rooker-Feldman doctrine prevented the bankruptcy court and the Panel from reviewing the state supreme court's decision; and Iowa is a state. Debtor's remaining arguments were frivolous and rejected by the Panel. View "Yuska v. Iowa Department of Revenue" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed defendant's 120-month sentence for being a felon in possession, holding that the district court's statement to the crime victim at sentencing did not reflect bias or partiality. The Eighth Circuit explained that the district court's spontaneous expression of empathy for a crime victim's impact statement reflected no deep-seated antagonism, and its statement of reasons for imposing a 120-month sentence reflected thorough and proper consideration of the statutory sentencing factors. Rather, the district court's statement furthered the congressional policy of encouraging crime victim participation in the criminal justice process. View "United States v. Minard" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed a commitment order, holding, pursuant to the plain language of 18 U.S.C. 4241(d), that once a defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, a district judge has no discretion in whether or not to commit him. The Eighth Circuit agreed with its sister circuits that section 4241(d) imposes a mandatory duty to commit a defendant who is found incompetent to the custody of the Attorney General, even if there is undisputed medical evidence that the defendant cannot be restored to competency. In this case, defendant's firearms offense and need for constant care by aging parents strongly indicated that the assistance of BOP experts would be needed in the section 4246 analysis. The Eighth Circuit also held that the limited commitment mandated by section 4241(d) complied with due process limitations outlined in Jackson v. Indiana, and the Attorney General, not the district court, has the discretion to order a non-custodial alternative. View "United States v. Dalasta" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., for denial of benefits and breach of fiduciary duty. The district court dismissed the fiduciary claim as duplicative of the denial-of-benefits claim, and granted summary judgment against plaintiff on the denial-of-benefits claim. The Eighth Circuit explained that this court's cases conflict about whether a participant or beneficiary bringing a section 1132(a)(1)(B) claim "to recover benefits due to him under the terms of his plan" may also bring a section 1132(a)(3) claim to obtain benefits. The Eighth Circuit held that Silva v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. was controlling in this case, where an (a)(1)(B) claimant may seek relief under (a)(3); because the two claims in this case assert different theories of liability, the court reversed as to the (a)(3) claim; Aetna's no-disability determination as to the (a)(1)(B) claim was reasonable and the court rejected plaintiff's arguments to the contrary; the district court correctly struck the Supplemental Administrative Record materials that were not before the plan administrator when it made its discretionary determination; and the court declined to consider plaintiff's remaining arguments. Accordingly, the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings. View "Jones v. Aetna Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the denial of the petition to vacate an arbitration award issued by a System Board of Adjustment under the Railway Labor Act, 45 U.S.C. 151 et seq. Petitioner, a pilot for a predecessor of Endeavor Air, had grieved his termination to the Board, arguing that his termination was without cause. The Eighth Circuit concluded that petitioner failed to allege any procedural deficiencies in the arbitration process and thus his procedural due process claim was without merit; the award does not violate public policy and petitioner's contention that the award affirms his termination was not a valid reason to set aside the award; because the Board's determination was not contrary to the plain language of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA), petitioner's argument that the Board's conduct violated the anti-harassment policy had no merit; and nothing in the CBA required any progression through the disciplinary measures and thus the Board properly applied the CBA. View "Sullivan v. Endeavor Air, Inc." on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of relator's False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq., suit based on the public disclosure bar. Relator alleged that defendants sought reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid for ineligible drugs. The Eighth Circuit concluded that the amended public disclosure bar was appropriately resolved on a motion to dismiss, even assuming that it no longer poses a jurisdictional question; relator's complaint was insufficient to plausibly state that she qualified as an original source; the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend; and the district court did not abuse its discretion by allowing Paddock and Perrigo to jointly file a motion to dismiss the second amended complaint. View "United States ex rel. Ambrosecchia v. Paddock Laboratories" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of relator's False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq., suit based on the public disclosure bar. Relator alleged that CSL Behring conspired with pharmacies to submit false claims to the United States for reimbursement for prescription drugs. The Eighth Circuit concluded that, viewed collectively, the public disclosures provided enough information about the participants in the scheme to directly identify the defendants and the subject drugs; the disclosures would have set the government squarely on the trail of the defendants' participation in the purported fraudulent reporting; and the essential elements of relator's claims -- the purported fraud -- were publicly disclosed prior to him filing suit. View "Lager v. CSL Behring" on Justia Law