ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, ATTORNEY’S FEES, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Local 917, International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. NLRB, No. 07-2424
Petition for review of a decision of the NLRB is denied where the Board properly ruled that plaintiff’s effort to enforce the work preservation clause of the collective bargaining agreement amounted to a boycott in violation of the National Labor Relations Act sec. 8(e). The Board’s award of attorneys fees to the employer is reversed where the employer withheld a document from the union in defiance of a discovery order and thus prolonged the proceedings.
BANKING LAW, CIVIL PROCEDURE, COMMERCIAL LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW
ReAmerica, S.A. v. Wells Fargo Bank Int’l, No. 08-1927
In a dispute involving fraudulent wire transfers, district court grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff’s action is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code and thus its claim that defendant wrongfully debited its account is time-barred by the UCC’s one-year statute of repose; and 2) plaintiff’s common law negligence claim is precluded by U.C.C. Article 4A.
CIVIL PROCEDURE, CLASS ACTIONS, COMMERCIAL LAW, CYBERSPACE LAW, TAX LAW
County of Nassau, NY v. Hotels.com, LP, No. 07-3919
In a dispute involving hotel taxes, district court judgment is vacated and remanded for a further jurisidictional determination as there are substantial questions as to whether the complaint meets the requirements for class certification under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23.
COMMERCIAL LAW, ERISA, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Finkel v. Romanowicz, No. 07-2558
In a breach of fiduciary duty action brought under ERISA, district court judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) plaintiff failed to establish defendant’s status as an ERISA fiduciary as he did not allege or introduce evidence demonstrating that defendant exercised authority or control over the management of ERISA plan assets; 2) plaintiff was not entitled to a hearing prior to the dismissal of its breach of fiduciary duty claim against defendant, as the record demonstrates that no hearing was necessary and plaintiff did not request one; and 3) the court erred in holding that defendant was not personally liable for certain dishonored checks under New York’s Uniform Commercial Code, as plaintiff established that the checks did not indicate that defendant signed them in a representative capacity and defendant presented no evidence of an understanding between the parties that he had signed them in a representative capacity.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, ELECTIONS
Dean v. Blumenthal, No. 07-1986
In a First Amendment challenge to a prohibition on contributions by certain law-firm employees to candidates for Connecticut Attorney General, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) the challenged contractual bar on campaign contributions has not been enforced in over six years and cannot reasonably be expected to be reimplemented, and thus plaintiff’s requested relief of a declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and a cease-and-desist order are moot; and 2) defendant is entitled to qualified immunity from plaintiff’s claim for damages as there was no clearly established right under the First Amendment to receive campaign contributions during the relevant period.
CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, HABEAS CORPUS
Browne v. Green, No. 07-5383
District court judgment denying a petition for habeas corpus relief is affirmed where the state court’s rejection of plaintiff’s ineffective assistance of counsel argument was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of federal law.
GOVERNMENT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW, TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS
Jacobs v. New York Foundling Hospital, No. 07-4354
In a dispute involving the denial of overtime pay, district court grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where defendant is not obligated to pay overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act as the Act’s definition of “enterprise” refers to the activities performed by a public agency and does not extend to a private, non-profit, independent contractor associated by regulation and contract with a public agency. .
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