ROVNER , Circuit Judge . For thirteen years Yaroslav Sklyarsky worked as a custodian at a Chicago office building. His employer changed several times during that period, and in April 2010 he began working for Harvard Maintenance when that company was awarded the building's contract for janitorial services. Almost immediately Harvard supervisors began disciplining Sklyarsky. He complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR)...
EASTERBROOK , Circuit Judge . Troy Jonas and his wife Jennifer purchased reciprocal policies of life insurance: she owned the policy on her life, with him as beneficiary; he owned the policy on his life, with her as beneficiary. When they divorced in 2011, the court reassigned the policies' ownership: after the divorce, Troy owned the policy on Jennifer's life. Each policy provided that "[a] change of Owner or Successor Owner does not change the Beneficiary Designation." Troy therefore...
POSNER , Circuit Judge . Before us is the fifth appeal in a seemingly interminable class action suit, filed 2 months short of 19 years ago. The suit claims that a defined-contribution ERISA pension plan in which the employer matched contributions that its employees made was partially terminated. Our opinion deciding the third appeal, reported at 388 F.3d 570 (7th Cir.2004), established the approach to be used by the district court to determine the validity of the claim. Using that...
BAUER , Circuit Judge . This appeal is from a judgment entered on a jury verdict in favor of defendant-appellee, Speedway, LLC ("Speedway"). Plaintiff-appellant, Carol Ann Maurer ("Maurer"), instituted a premises liability action against Speedway in Indiana state court for personal injuries sustained when she fell outside a Speedway gas station convenience store while trying to maneuver around a retail display of windshield washer fluid. Speedway removed the case to the United States...
WOOD , Chief Judge . A person could be forgiven for thinking that a "lifetime" benefit that can vanish in an instant is an oxymoron. George Lagen spotted the problem when United Airlines canceled some of the "lifetime" benefits he had earned after he reached the exalted status of "Million-Mile Flyer" on the airline. United took this step following its merger with Continental Airlines. Lagen, a Million-Mile Flyer since 2006, responded with this lawsuit, in which he alleged that the reduction...
WILLIAMS , Circuit Judge . After the United States Department of Veterans Affairs determined William L. Evans, Jr. was no longer competent to manage his veterans' benefits, it appointed his daughter as the federal fiduciary. The VA later terminated her appointment and appointed the Greenfield Banking Company. Evans's wife and daughter filed this suit asserting breach of fiduciary duty and conversion by the Bank. They also seek the creation of a constructive trust. The complaint alleges that...
WILLIAMS , Circuit Judge . Milford lark strolled into a credit union wearing a two-tone baseball hat and sunglasses, walked out, and got into his blue Ford Crown Victoria. Five days later, a man fitting Clark's description robbed a bank wearing a two-tone baseball hat and sunglasses and left in a blue Ford Crown Victoria. Authorities interviewed and ultimately arrested Clark for the robbery. Clark wanted to represent himself and the magistrate judge found that Clark waived his right to...
ORDER On December 9, 2014, the government filed in the Southern District of Indiana under Cause No. 1:14-cr-0244-SEB-TAB an Information charging Elisha Drake with a cocaine conspiracy in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1). Drake and the government entered into a plea agreement and Drake petitioned to enter a plea of guilty. The district court held a Rule 11 proceeding and accepted Drake's plea of guilty to the Information. We understand the district judge's acceptance of Drake's plea as an...
FLAUM , Circuit Judge . Sierra Club challenges the Environmental Protection Agency's decisions to redesignate three geographic areas — Milwaukee-Racine, Greater Chicago, and the Illinois portion of the St. Louis area — as having attained the 1997 National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone. The Clean Air Act mandates that before redesignating an area, EPA must confirm not just that ozone in an area dropped below a certain level, but also that the improvement in air quality resulted...
EASTERBROOK , Circuit Judge . A small claims court in Marion County, Indiana, entered a judgment against Kevin Harold for a little more than $1,000. He did not pay, even though he had agreed to the judgment's entry. Almost two decades later Christopher Steel, claiming to represent the judgment creditor, asked the court to garnish Harold's wages. It entered the requested order, which Harold moved to vacate, contending that Steel had misrepresented the judgment creditor's identity (...
ROVNER , Circuit Judge . Diane Ripberger lost her job as a substance abuse counselor for the Indiana Department of Corrections ("IDOC") when Corizon, Incorporated ("Corizon") contracted with IDOC to provide counseling for Indiana prisoners. Ripberger sued Corizon, claiming sex discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., and age discrimination and retaliation under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), 29 U....
MANION , Circuit Judge . The Indiana State Police Benefit System, as lead plaintiff in a class action, sued Accretive Health, Inc., and two of its officers under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. James Hayes, a member of the class, appeals pro se from the approval of the class settlement and plan of distribution. 1 We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in approving the settlement, and therefore affirm. I. Background Accretive is a...
BAUER , Circuit Judge . Matthew Giovenco and Guy Potter (collectively "Appellants") were charged, tried, and convicted on six counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341. Following his conviction, Giovenco filed a renewed motion for acquittal, which the district court denied. Thereafter, both Giovenco and Potter were sentenced. On appeal, Giovenco asserts that the district court erred in denying his motion for acquittal as he was no longer part of the mail fraud scheme at the time...
SYKES , Circuit Judge . Jeffrey Price took numerous sexually explicit photographs of his daughter R.P. when she was between the ages of 10 and 12. He put some of them on the Internet, and they have been implicated in at least 160 child-pornography investigations across the country. Price also kept a large stash of child pornography depicting other children, which he stored on two computers. For this conduct Price was indicted on charges of producing child pornography in violation of 18 U.S....
POSNER , Circuit Judge . The plaintiff (we'll call her the applicant) applied for Supplemental Security Income, which is a benefit for which low-income people who are aged, blind, or disabled are eligible. She was turned down by an administrative law judge of the Social Security Administration for the benefit she sought for years before she turned 55. But because of the less demanding showing of disability required of applicants that age and older, she was deemed to have become disabled...
ROVNER , Circuit Judge . After a three-day trial, jurors found James Stuart guilty of three counts of tax evasion for failing to pay almost $239,400 in income tax between 2005 and 2007. See 26 U.S.C. 7201. Stuart moved for a new trial and judgment of acquittal because, he argued, his trial counsel inadequately defended him. The district court denied the motions, and on appeal Stuart maintains that his trial counsel performed deficiently. Ordinarily it is imprudent to raise on direct...
KANNE , Circuit Judge . In 2011, Jevon Jenkins pled guilty in Illinois state court to one felony count of Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon ("AUUW"), in violation of 720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1). He received a sentence of probation. Following Jenkins's conviction, both this court and the Supreme Court of Illinois held the portion of the AUUW statute under which he was convicted to be facially unconstitutional. In October of 2013, Jenkins pled guilty in United States District Court to one...
RANDA , District Judge . This case involves criminal charges arising from a fictional drug stash house robbery. Christopher Blitch, Michael Carwell, Devarl Washington and Michael Harris were charged with conspiring and attempting to possess with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine. The defendants were also charged with being felons in possession of firearms and carrying those firearms in furtherance of a crime. In 2007, a jury convicted the defendants on all...
SYKES , Circuit Judge . A Catholic school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, discharged a language-arts teacher because she underwent in vitro fertilization in violation of the moral teaching of the Catholic Church. She sued the school and the local diocese alleging that they unlawfully discriminated against her because of her sex and disability. The case comes to us from an order denying the' motion for summary judgment. Because that decision is nonfinal, thehas moved to dismiss for lack of appellate...
EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge. An employer that withdraws from an underfunded pension plan must cover its share of the shortfall. 29 U.S.C. 1381, 1391. After concluding that Allega Concrete had withdrawn, the Central States Pension Fund sent it a bill for about $375,000. The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 (MPPAA) gives an employer 90 days to ask a pension plan to review its decision. 29 U.S.C. 1399(b)(2)(A). If the plan adheres to the original decision — or if it does not...
