REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION MAUREEN P. KELLY , Magistrate Judge . I. RECOMMENDATION For the reasons that follow, it is respectfully recommended that the Petition Under 28 U.S.C. 2254 for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (the "Petition"), be dismissed as moot because it is undisputed that the relief Petitioner sought in the Petition, i.e. , a corrected sentencing order from the state court accurately providing him credit for a specific period of time against his...
MEMORANDUM OPINION CYNTHIA REED EDDY , Chief Magistrate Judge . Presently pending before the court is a Motion to Dismiss (ECF No. 7) filed by defendant State Farm Fire and Casualty Company ("State Farm"). For the reasons stated herein, the motion will be granted in part and denied as moot in part. I. Factual and Procedural Background On July 10, 2019, Plaintiff Randy Bick filed a Complaint (ECF No. 1, hereinafter "Compl.") against State Farm, her homeowner's insurance carrier, for...
OPINION and ORDER MARILYN J. HORAN , District Judge . In this civil rights employment discrimination action, Plaintiff Lisa Jones sue Defendants Joseph Pasquerilla and the Bethel Park School District. Am. Compl. ECF No. 14. Plaintiff asserts two claims. In Count I, Plaintiff alleges a Fourteenth Amendment Due Process claim, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983, against both Defendants. In Count II, she asserts an Age Discrimination in Employment Act claim against the Bethel Park School District....
MEMORANDUM ORDER CATHY BISSOON , District Judge . Pending before the Court are two motions: Plaintiffs' Motion for Class Certification ("Pl. Class Cert. Mt.," Doc. 182) and Defendants' Motion to Strike the Expert Rebuttal Report of Michael L. Hartzmark, Ph.D ("Def. MTS," Doc. 207). For reasons that follow, the Court will grant the Motion for Class Certification and grant in part and deny in part the Motion to Strike. I. Memorandum Given the complicated history and nature of this...
ORDER Re: ECF No. 18 MAUREEN P. KELLY , Magistrate Judge . Thomas Tyma ("Petitioner") has filed this counseled Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (the "Petition"), ECF No. 1, seeking to attack his state court convictions (and not merely his sentences) for multiple counts of Indecent Assault and Harassment. At the time of the filing of the Petition, it is undisputed that Petitioner was in custody for purposes of invoking this Court's federal habeas corpus...
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION ON PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ECF No. 46 ECF No. 50 RICHARD A. LANZILLO , United States Magistrate Judge . I. Introduction The cross-motions for summary judgment filed by Plaintiff Norman Johnston (ECF No. 46) and Defendants John Wetzel and Michael Overmyer (ECF No. 50) present primarily four issues: • Are Johnston's 1983 claims barred to any extent by the applicable two-year statute of limitations The...
ORDER ON DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS [ECF NO. 31] RICHARD A. LANZILLO , Magistrate Judge . I. Introduction Plaintiff Augustus Simmons, an inmate in the custody of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, initiated this pro se action on July 6, 2018, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1983. ECF No. 1. In his Amended Complaint, Simmons asserts nine counts for relief against officials at the State Correctional Institution at Forest (SCI-Forest) 1 based on alleged violations of the Religious Land...
MEMORANDUM OPINION ON DEFENDANTS' MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ECF Nos. 88 and 98 RICHARD A. LANZILLO , Magistrate Judge . I. Introduction Plaintiff Kenneth A. Carson commenced this 1983 action based on allegations that Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) officials and medical personnel at the State Correctional Institution at Forest, Pennsylvania (SCI-Forest) violated his rights under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by displaying deliberate indifference to his...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER OF COURT Nora Barry Fischer , Senior United States District Judge . On October 15, 2019, the Court held a hearing and oral argument on the Government's motion for an upward departure pursuant to 4A1.3(a) of the United States Sentencing Guidelines and/or an upward variance under 18 U.S.C. 3553(a)(1) and (a)(2). The transcript of that hearing was filed on November 13, 2019, and neither party elected to submit any post-hearing briefing on the matter. After review...
ORDER ALAN N. BLOCH , District Judge . AND NOW, this 30 th day of December, 2019, upon consideration of the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, the Court, upon review of the Commissioner of Social Security's final decision denying Plaintiff's claim for disability insurance benefits under Subchapter II of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 401 et seq. , and denying Plaintiff's claim for supplemental security income benefits under Subchapter XVI of the Social Security Act, 42 U....
ORDER CYNTHIA REED EDDY , Chief Magistrate Judge . AND NOW , this 27th day of December, 2019, for the reasons stated in the Memorandum Opinion filed this day, IT IS ORDERED that Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 158) is GRANTED and Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 163) is DENIED . Judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 follows. The Clerk of Court is directed to mark this case CLOSED .
OPINION Marilyn J. Horan , United States District Court Judge . This lawsuit was brought by husband and wife Plaintiffs, Robert Razzano and Barbara Razzano, against Defendants, the New Castle Area School District (the "School District") and John Sarandrea, the Superintendent of the School District. The Razzanos' claims arise out of Defendants' alleged defamatory statements on a statutorily required Pennsylvania state disclosure form which was submitted to one of Mr. Razzano's potential...
MEMORANDUM ORDER Re: ECF Nos. 39 and 41 MAUREEN P. KELLY , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff Trent Tompkins ("Plaintiff"), an inmate at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill ("SCI — Camp Hill"), has presented an amended civil rights complaint which he has been granted leave to prosecute without prepayment of costs alleging that Defendants violated his constitutional rights through the unlawful use of force at a time when Plaintiff suffered a psychiatric event and in otherwise...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER CYNTHIA REED EDDY , Chief Magistrate Judge . Presently pending before the Court is a motion to dismiss (ECF No. 15) filed on behalf of Defendants. For the following reasons, the motion will be granted. 1 I. Procedural History On April 3, 2019, Plaintiff Sawyer Cole ("Plaintiff") initiated this action with the filing of a Complaint against Defendants, Central Greene School District ("the District"), Helen McCracken (Superintendent) ("Superintendent McCracken"...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER 1 CYNTHIA REED EDDY , Chief Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff, a former prisoner at Westmoreland County Prison, 2 brings this civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"). Plaintiff's claims arise from various alleged constitutional violations which occurred during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2018. Named as defendants are a number of Westmoreland County Prison officials and...
OPINION AND ORDER MAUREEN P. KELLY , Magistrate Judge . Thomas Tyma ("Petitioner"), has filed this counseled Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2254 (the "Petition"), ECF No. 1, seeking to attack his state court convictions for multiple counts of Indecent Assault and Harassment in connection with his conducting of physical examinations of patients in his rheumatology medical practice, during which examinations, he was found to have improperly touched the patients....
MEMORANDUM OPINION 1 CYNTHIA REED EDDY , Chief Magistrate Judge . This a pro se civil rights action initiated by Plaintiff, Shawn Whitenight. At the time of the events giving rise to this lawsuit, Whitenight was a pretrial detainee incarcerated at Jefferson County Jail. The defendants are Warden Thomas Elbel and Deputy Sheriff Jacob Nunley. Both are sued in their individual and official capacities. Pending is Defendants' motion for summary judgment, with brief in support (ECF Nos. 158...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER CATHY BISSOON , District Judge . I. MEMORANDUM On February 1, 2019, Plaintiff/Counterclaim-Defendant Truefit Solutions, Inc., ("Truefit") filed a Complaint (hereinafter "Complaint," Doc. 1) against Defendant/Counterclaim-Plaintiff Bodies Done Right, LLC (hereinafter, "BDR"). On April 12, 2019, BDR filed an Answer, Affirmative Defenses, Counterclaims and Jury Demand, (hereinafter, "Answer and Counterclaims," Doc. 13), raising counterclaims against Truefit. On May...
MEMORANDUM OPINION KIM R. GIBSON , District Judge . I. Introduction This case arises from the death of a young man, Brandon Palakovic ("Brandon"), while incarcerated in State Correctional Institute—Cresson ("SCI Cresson") in June, 2011. (ECF No. 82 15, 24, 53.) Pending before the Court are Plaintiffs Darian Palakovic and Renee Palakovic's (the "Palakovics") Motion to Compel Discovery 1 (ECF No. 128) and Defendants MHM Correctional Services, Inc. ("MHM Correctional"), Dr. Carol...
MEMORANDUM ORDER SUSAN PARADISE BAXTER , District Judge . This action was received by the Clerk of Court on October 19, 2018, and was referred to United States Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lanzillo, for report and recommendation in accordance with the Magistrate Judges Act, 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1), and Rules 72.1.3 and 72.1.4 of the Local Rules for Magistrate Judges. Defendants filed a motion to dismiss. ECF No. 36. Plaintiff filed a brief in opposition. ECF No. 41. On November 15, 2019,...
