New England Biz Law Update

A state court judgment against a debtor should not have been excepted from discharge under 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6), as the record does not establish that all elements of the plaintiff’s §523(a)(6) claim were finally determined in the state court litigation.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

Where a defendant company was awarded summary judgment in a securities fraud case, the judgment must be affirmed for lack of proof of scienter.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

Where plaintiff Peoples Federal Savings Bank has challenged an interlocutory order denying its motion to preliminarily enjoin the defendant People’s United Bank from using the mark “PEOPLES” in the rebranding of several recently acquired banks in Eastern Massachusetts, the judge ...

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A diversity action filed in federal court by a plaintiff against her former employer should not have been dismissed in deference to a pending declaratory judgment action that the employer brought earlier in state court.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A $13.3 million judgment — against the insurers of a manufacturer of a power converter that caused wireless communication network outages in 2003 — must be vacated because of an erroneous jury instruction regarding policy language addressing coverage for “loss ...

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A judgment holding a company liable for cleanup of a Superfund site must be affirmed based on evidence that the company arranged with the site’s operator for disposal of scrap Pyranol.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

When analyzing whether an employer provided a reasonable accommodation, a court should take a “totality of the circumstances” approach and consider whether a combination of accommodations provided by the employer was reasonable.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A plaintiff was not subjected to gender stereotyping when the defendant law school refused to extend her probationary period of employment after she failed to report a colleague’s sexual dalliance with a student.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A summary judgment for a defendant employer on a plaintiff’s disability-based hostile work environment claim must be affirmed absent evidence that the plaintiff’s back and neck pain substantially limits any major life activities.

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue

A federal judge’s discretion to award fees in copyright infringement cases is not limited to deterrence of “out-of-court and bad-faith conduct.”

Tagged with: April 30 2012 issue