MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. The parties to this wrongful death action arising from the collapse of a plastic stepstool have filed a series of motions in limine challenging the admissibility of certain evidence at the upcoming jury trial. The stepstool, manufactured by defendant ZAG Industries, Ltd., collapsed as the decedent, Joseph M. Masello, was standing on it while restocking products during his overnight shift at a Christmas Tree Shops retail store. Masello fell...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LaPLANTE, District Judge. This case arises from injuries, including a pelvic fracture, that plaintiff Carol Boucher suffered after slipping on ice and snow that had accumulated in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy in Manchester, New Hampshire. Boucher and her husband brought suit against the owners of both the pharmacy business, CVS/Pharmacy, Inc., and the premises, Marjam Supply Company, Inc., asserting claims for negligence and loss of consortium. Specifically,...
ORDER JOSEPH A. DiCLERICO, JR., District Judge. Kaitlin Hudson brings state and federal claims against her former employer, Dr. Michael J. O'Connell's Pain Care Center, Inc., and Dr. Michael J. O'Connell, arising from her relationship with O'Connell and the conditions of her employment at the Pain Care Center. The defendants move to dismiss her complaint, arguing that Hudson has not stated a claim. Hudson objects to the motion. Standard of Review When considering a motion to dismiss under...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. This action presents the question of whether private citizens can enforce certain requirements that federal law imposes on the states as a condition of funding for foster care and adoption services. The plaintiffs claim that, in violation of these requirements, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (and other defendants) removed the plaintiffs' minor children from their home, placed them in different foster homes from...
OPINION AND ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. This case raises the question of whether this court should abstain from hearing an action to enforce a federally created contractual obligation between the parties to an ongoing divorce proceeding in state court. The plaintiffs, Nadezda Montgomery and her minor son, I.V., have sued Nadezda's husband, Scott Montgomery. They seek specific performance of an "Affidavit of Support" that Scott swore out on their behalf to enable them to become...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. This is a dispute over the ownership of patents, and patent applications, for processes for pasteurizing chicken eggs, principally U.S. Patent No. 6,692,784, which the parties refer to as "the Jumbo." The plaintiff, National Pasteurized Eggs, LLC ("NPE"), traces its claimed ownership to certain 2001 agreements between the defendant, L. John Davidson, and the now-defunct company he founded, Pasteurized Eggs Corporation ("PEC"). NPE says...
REVISED ORDER OF DISBURSEMENT LANDYA B. McCAFFERTY, Magistrate Judge. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2042, the funds deposited with the Registry of the Court in connection with this action pursuant to the Court's November 23, 2010 Order [Docket No. 11], and the interest earned on those funds, less the registry fee assessment, be disbursed as follows: (1) first to Federal National Mortgage Association ("FNMA") in the amount of $1,559.00, plus its share of the interest...
ORDER LANDYA McCAFFERTY, United States Magistrate Judge. In twelve counts, plaintiffs assert nearly identical claims for wrongful death, enhanced compensatory damages, conscious pain and suffering, personal injuries, and negligent infliction of emotional distress against each of two defendants: Blair, LLC ("Blair") (Counts I-V) and A-One Textile and Towel Industries ("A-One") (Counts VII-XI). Plaintiffs assert the same six claims against Bureau Veritas, S.A. ("BV S.A."), Bureau Veritas...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. Before the court are several motions for rulings on the admissibility of certain evidence at trial. Plaintiff Contour Design, Inc. has sued defendants Chance Mold Steel Co., Ltd. and EKTouch Co., Ltd. Chance formerly manufactured products, including ergonomically friendly computer pointing devices, for Contour, but is now making those products for itself and EK-Touch, a related company. 1 Contour claims that certain of Chance's products...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LaPLANTE, District Judge. This case arises from injuries, including a broken ankle, that plaintiff Edward Herbst suffered after falling off an alpine slide at Attitash Bear Peak Resort, a ski area in Bartlett, New Hampshire that offers the slide as a summer recreational activity. Herbst brought suit against the resort's owner, L.B.O. Holding, Inc. ("Attitash"), asserting claims for strict products liability and negligence. Specifically, he alleges that the slide is...
MEMORANDUM ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. The question in this case is whether judgment creditors of a limited liability company can hold the company's owner personally liable for the judgment by "piercing the corporate veil." Plaintiffs Antaeus Enterprises, Inc. and James H. Rand recently obtained a default judgment against SD-Barn Real Estate, LLC for damages allegedly caused by its failure to timely pay them money due under certain promissory notes. See Antaeus Enters., Inc. v....
ORDER LANDYA B. McCAFFERTY, United States Magistrate Judge. Plaintiffs in this case are a medical practice, two benefit plans sponsored by the practice (which are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. 1101-1461), and Dr. Edward Chibaro, an employee and director of the practice who was both a trustee and a participant/beneficiary of the benefit plans ("the Plans"). Defendants are an investment firm that advised the Plans and the president of...
OPINION & ORDER JOSEPH N. LAPLANTE, District Judge. This products liability case arises out of severe and permanent injuries, including blindness, that plaintiff Karen Bartlett suffered after ingesting sulindac, a prescription drug manufactured by the defendant, Mutual Pharmaceutical Company. Bartlett brought claims against Mutual for strict liability (defective design), strict liability (failure to warn), fraud, and negligence under New Hampshire law. This court granted summary judgment to...
