LETTER TO PARTIES DEBORAH L. BOARDMAN , Magistrate Judge . Dear Plaintiff and Counsel: On June 14, 2019, Plaintiff Yolonda B. filed a complaint, pro se, seeking redetermination of benefits that she alleges are owed to her by the Social Security Administration ("SSA"). ECF 1. The Commissioner filed a Motion to Dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, citing Plaintiff's untimely complaint and her failure to exhaust her administrative remedies. ECF 15. Plaintiff filed a response in...
LETTER TO COUNSEL DEBORAH L. BOARDMAN , Magistrate Judge . Dear Counsel: On December 27, 2018, Plaintiff Letitia L. petitioned this Court to review the Social Security Administration's final decision to deny her claim for Disability Insurance Benefits. ECF 1. I have considered the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment and Plaintiff's reply. ECF 15, 16, 17. I find that no hearing is necessary. See Loc. R. 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). This Court must uphold the decision of the Agency if it...
MEMORANDUM OPINION STEPHANIE A. GALLAGHER , District Judge . Plaintiff Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation ("Nissan") has filed a Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses, ECF 32, as permitted by this Court's order, ECF 31. Defendants Pensare, LLC ("Pensare") and Donato Sauro a/k/a Danny Sauro (collectively "Defendants") have not filed an opposition. No hearing is necessary. See Loc. R. 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the reasons stated herein, Nissan's Motion will be granted in part and denied...
MEMORANDUM OPINION STEPHANIE A. GALLAGHER , District Judge . Plaintiff Eyad Asi ("Plaintiff") filed a two-count Amended Complaint against his former employer, Information Management Group, Inc. ("IMG"), alleging retaliation for his complaint of race discrimination, in violation of 42 U.S.C. 1981 and Title VII. ECF 56. Discovery is now concluded, and IMG has filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, ECF 60, accompanied by a Memorandum of Law in Support thereof, ECF 60-1 (collectively, "the...
LETTER TO COUNSEL DEBORAH L. BOARDMAN , Magistrate Judge . Dear Counsel: On September 21, 2018, Plaintiff Helene C. petitioned this Court to review the Social Security Administration's ("SSA's") final decision to deny her claims for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income. ECF 1. I have considered the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, and Plaintiff's reply. ECF 14, 17, 20. I find that no hearing is necessary. See Loc. R. 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). This Court...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GEORGE J. HAZEL , District Judge . Plaintiff Malibu Media, LLC brought this action against Defendant John Doe for copyright infringement under the United States Copyright Act of 1976 ("Copyright Act"), 17 U.S.C. 101 et seq. ECF No. 9. Following Defendant's failure to answer or otherwise defend in this action, the Clerk of the Court entered default against Defendant on August 8, 2019. ECF No. 19. Now pending before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Entry of Default...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GEORGE J. HAZEL , District Judge . Plaintiff Joan Frances Brault, a licensed attorney proceeding pro se, filed this lawsuit against Defendants Trans Union, LLC ("Trans Union"), J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., ("J.P. Morgan"), and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo") alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"), 15 U.S.C. 1681, the Truth in Lending Act ("TILA"), 15 U.S.C. 1601, the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act ("ECOA"), 15 U.S.C. 1691,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER PAUL W. GRIMM , District Judge . Plaintiff Jo Ann Burgess filed suit against the United States pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. 2671 et seq. She alleged that she was injured while walking on the sidewalk at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station when she was struck by a loose fire hose and nozzle, which was dragging behind a fire truck, Engine 134, owned by the United States Department of Defense. Compl. 2, ECF No. 1. Plaintiff...
MEMORANDUM OPINION GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT THOMAS M. DiGIROLAMO , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff Jeanette R. seeks judicial review under 42 U.S.C. 405(g) and 1383(c)(3) of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security ("Defendant" or the "Commissioner") denying her applications for disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income under Titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. Before the Court are Plaintiff's Motion for Summary...
GINA L. SIMMS , Magistrate Judge . Dear Counsel: Pending before this Court are cross-Motions for Summary Judgment. (ECF Nos. 14, 15). The Court must uphold the Social Security Administration ("SSA")'s decision if it is supported by substantial evidence and if the Agency employed proper legal standards. See 42 U.S.C. 405(g), 1383(c)(3) (2016); Craig v. Chater, 76 F.3d 585 , 589 (4th Cir. 1996). The substantial evidence rule "consists of more than a mere scintilla of evidence but may...
GINA L. SIMMS , Magistrate Judge . Dear Counsel: Pending before this Court are cross-motions for summary judgment. (ECF Nos. 14, 16). A court must uphold the Social Security Administration's ("SSA" or "the Agency") decision if it supported by substantial evidence and if the Agency employed proper legal standards. See 42 U.S.C. 405(g), 1383(c)(3)(2016); Craig v. Chater, 76 F.3d 585 , 589 (4th Cir. 1996). The substantial evidence rule "consists of more than a mere scintilla of...
MEMORANDUM OPINION PAULA XINIS , District Judge . Pending before the Court is Defendant Luis Flores-Reyes' motions to suppress the fruits of a warrantless search and subsequent search warrant. ECF Nos. 408, 409. On November 8, 2019, the Court held a motions hearing during which the arresting officer and affiant, Detective Paul Hellwig of the Fairfax County Police Department, testified. ECF No. 449-1. The Court subsequently ordered supplemental briefing on whether probable cause existed to...
MEMORANDUM OPINION DEBORAH K. CHASANOW , District Judge . This action for veterinary negligence has a messy procedural history that is, unfortunately, pertinent to resolving the pending jurisdictional dispute. Despite invoking New Jersey law to learn the precise extent of damages being claimed by Plaintiff, then removing the action from state to federal court on the basis of diversity jurisdiction, Defendants now claim that Plaintiff cannot, under Maryland law, recover the amount necessary...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ELLEN L. HOLLANDER , District Judge . Lijo Panghat, M.D., the self-represented plaintiff, filed suit against his former employers, the University of Maryland, Baltimore ("UM") and the "Baltimore Veterans Affairs Health Center" (the "VA"), alleging, inter alia, that he was unlawfully terminated from a Post-Doctoral fellowship position in UM's Department of Surgery. ECF 5 (the "Complaint"). 1 The 44-page Complaint appears to lodge claims for denial of due process (ECF 5,...
MEMORANDUM CATHERINE C. BLAKE , District Judge . The plaintiffs, thirty-seven employees of Mack Trucks, Inc. ("Mack Trucks") and/or Volvo Group North America, LLC ("Volvo") 1 and dues paying members of International Union, United Automobile Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America ("UAW") and/or Local No. 171 of UAW ("Local 171"), allege that Mack Trucks and Volvo (the "employer defendants") have illegally deducted money from their paychecks, and that UAW and Local 171 (the...
MEMORANDUM GEORGE J. HAZEL , District Judge . On July 3, 2019, Nicholas Parks filed the above-captioned complaint pro se against 13 separate defendants alleging, inter alia, medical malpractice and violations of his rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments while he was incarcerated at the Wicomico County Detention Center ("WCDC") in Salisbury, Maryland. ECF No. 1. On August 8, 2019, Parks filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction and/or Protective Order requesting medical...
MEMORANDUM OPINION PAUL W. GRIMM , District Judge . Presently pending and ready for review is Defendant Ermanno Costabile's unopposed renewed Motion for Summary Judgment which is supported by an affidavit and verified medical records. 1 ECF No. 26. No hearing is necessary. Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2018). For the following reasons, the Motion will be granted. Background Plaintiff Derrick Davis was a pre-trial detainee at the Baltimore County Detention Center (BCDC) at all times relevant...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ELLEN L. HOLLANDER , District Judge . This civil rights suit arises from an unfortunate incident of mistaken identity that resulted in the detention of plaintiff Reginald Johnson for about two days. He has filed a First Amended Complaint against Officer Muse Hammett, 1 a police officer employed by the Maryland Transportation Authority ("MDTA"), and Officer Terrell Dickerson, a police officer employed by the State of Maryland. ECF 29 (the "Amended Complaint"). 2 The...
MEMORANDUM ELLEN L. HOLLANDER , District Judge . Plaintiff Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "Bureau" or "CFPB") filed suit against a host of defendants under the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 ("CFPA" or the "Act"), 12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq., challenging defendants' structured settlement practices. ECF 1 ("Complaint"). In particular, CFPB sued the following defendants: Access Funding, LLC ("Access Funding"); Access Holding, LLC ("Access Holding"); Reliance Funding,...
MEMORANDUM OPINION PETER J. MESSITTE , District Judge . Pending is Petitioner Edward Hall Bell's pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254. ECF No. 1. Petitioner challenges the validity of his 2004 conviction in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland for first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of use of a handgun in a crime of violence. Id. at 1, 2. Respondents filed an Answer, arguing Bell's petition is time-barred,...
