Table of Contents

HEALTH CARE CASES

• Pardini v. Allegheny Intermediate Unit
• U.S. ex rel Marlar v. BWXT Y-12, LLC
• Garcia v. Brockway
• Acumed LLC v. Stryker Corp.
• Lockett v. Suardini
• UMass Mem'l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union
• Medtronic, Inc. v. White
• In re Marriage Cases

ADDITIONAL CASES INVOLVING HEALTH CARE COMPANIES

HEALTH CARE CASES

U.S. 3rd Circuit, May 12, 2008
Pardini v. Allegheny Intermediate Unit, No. 07-1403
In a case involving an attorney-parent who sought attorney's fees in a lawsuit filed on behalf of his daughter pursuant to the IDEA, denial of fees is affirmed where: 1) the court's earlier decision in this case did not decide the issue of whether plaintiffs were entitled to attorney's fees; 2) scope of prior precedent was not limited to representation by an attorney-parent in administrative proceedings only; 3) such precedent governed this appeal, as there was substantial doubt that the case's earlier decisions foreclosed the attorney's fees issue; and 4) plaintiffs were not entitled to recover cost for services other than conductive education. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit, May 13, 2008
U.S. ex rel Marlar v. BWXT Y-12, LLC, No. 07-6051
In an action alleging violation of the the False Claims Act and discharge in retaliation for whistleblowing, dismissal of the fraud complaint is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to provide sufficient detail regarding the procedures used to defraud the government; and 2) plaintiff failed to allege facts regarding a false claim presented to the government. However, dismissal of the retaliation claim is reversed and remanded where plaintiff provided sufficient information regarding the retaliatory nature of her discharge. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit, May 13, 2008
Garcia v. Brockway, No. 05-35647
An aggrieved person must bring a private civil action under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for a failure to properly design and construct within two years of the completion of the construction phase, which concludes on the date that the last certificate of occupancy is issued. (Panel opinion adopted by the en banc court with amendments) Read more...

U.S. Fed. Circuit Court of Appeals, May 13, 2008
Acumed LLC v. Stryker Corp., No. 2007-1115
In a patent case involving a product used to treat proximal humeral bone fractures, dismissal of the action based on claim preclusion is reversed and remanded where defendant conceded that the accused devices were not essentially the same, and thus it failed to meet its burden to show that the infringement claim in the prior action was the same as the infringement claim in the present action. Read more...

U.S. 6th Circuit, May 14, 2008
Lockett v. Suardini, No. 06-2392
In a prisoner's action claiming a violation of his free speech rights when he was forcibly removed from a parole hearing after insulting the hearing officer, as well as cruel and unusual punishment based on guards' use of excessive force and nursing staff's refusal to treat his injuries, summary judgment against plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) a prisoner is not engaged in protected conduct when he violates a legitimate prison regulation; 2) the prison guards used minimal force and plaintiff suffered minimal injuries when he was removed from the hearing room; and 3) plaintiff did not have an objectively serious medical need due to his minor injuries, and there was no deliberate indifference from the nursing staff since they checked up on the plaintiff twice after the incident. Read more...

U.S. 1st Circuit, May 15, 2008
UMass Mem'l Med. Ctr., Inc. v. United Food and Commercial Workers Union, No. 07-2527, 07-2528
In an employer-union dispute wherein the district court upheld an arbitral award in favor of the union but denied the union's request for attorney fees, judgment is affirmed where: 1) the case failed to meet the exceedingly high threshold for judicial interference with arbitral awards; 2) the arbitral award drew "its essence from the collective bargaining agreement"; and 3) the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the employer's federal claim was sufficiently justified to avoid a payment of attorney's fees. Read more...

U.S. 9th Circuit, May 15, 2008
Medtronic, Inc. v. White, No. 06-16229
In a contract dispute over ownership of a patent, a judgment resulting from a jury verdict in favor of defendant-doctor is reversed and remanded where both an agency jury instruction and a corroboration jury instruction were given in error, and each was prejudicial. Read more...

Supreme Court of California, May 15, 2008
In re Marriage Cases, No. S147999
In an action challenging California's ban on gay marriage, the state Supreme Court rules that the California Constitution must be interpreted to guarantee the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples. The laws at issue are unconstitutional to the extent each statute reserves the designation of "marriage" exclusively to opposite-sex couples and denies same-sex couples access to that designation. The purpose underlying differential treatment of opposite-sex and same-sex couples embodied in California's current marriage statutes, the interest in retaining the traditional and well-established definition of marriage, is not a compelling state interest for purposes of the equal protection clause. Read more...

ADDITIONAL CASES INVOLVING HEALTH CARE COMPANIES