Flaum , Circuit Judge . Plaintiff-appellant Karen Smith filed for bankruptcy. During the course of the bankruptcy proceedings, defendant-appellee Capital One Bank USA, N.A. ("Capital One"), represented by defendant-appellee Kohn Law Firm S.C. ("Kohn"), filed suit against Smith's husband to collect on a credit card debt he owed. Appellant Smith initiated an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court, alleging that appellees had violated the co-debtor stay of 11 U.S.C. 1301. The...
Sykes , Circuit Judge . Barry Epstein sued his estranged wife, Paula, alleging that she violated the federal Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act by intercepting his emails. The action arises from the couple's acrimonious divorce. Paula accused Barry of serial infidelity, so in discovery Barry asked her for all documents related to that accusation. Paula complied and produced copies of incriminating emails between Barry and several other women. Her discovery response spawned this...
Kanne , Circuit Judge . John Burns made fraudulent misrepresentations when soliciting investments for his employer, USA Retirement Services ("USARMS"). Burns told investors that he had experience managing investments and that he had personally invested in USARMS's promissory notes. His statements were false. Moreover, without Burns's knowledge, the investment opportunity was fraudulent. USARMS's owners were operating a Ponzi scheme. With USARMS's owners out of the picture for various...
Rovner , Circuit Judge . On September 6, 2012, the defendant Walter Freeman was charged in a five-count indictment: in Counts 1 and 2, with distribution of 28 grams or more of a mixture containing cocaine base in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); in Count 3, with possession of a firearm as a felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1); in Count 4, with distribution of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); and in Count 5 with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug...
Kanne , Circuit Judge . Former student athletes at the University of Pennsylvania ("Penn") sued Penn, the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), and more than 120 other NCAA Division I universities and colleges alleging that student athletes are employees who are entitled to a minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"). The district court disagreed. We agree with the district court and hold that student athletes are not employees and are not covered by the FLSA. I....
Ripple , Circuit Judge . This case, which arises out of our motions practice, is an appeal from the denial of a preliminary injunction in a dispute among the parties about the placement of certain referendum propositions on the November ballot. These propositions principally concern the local mayoral election in Calumet City and term limits on candidates for that office. Steven Grant and Calumet City Concerned Citizens (together, the "Petition Plaintiffs") sought to place on the ballot a...
Easterbrook , Circuit Judge . Normally a district court may reduce a criminal sentence only within 14 days of its imposition. Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(a). But if a prisoner provides substantial assistance to prosecutors after being sentenced, a district court may reduce the sentence at any time on the prosecutor's motion. Fed. R. Crim. P. 35(b). Jennifer Kirk enjoyed one such reduction; the district judge cut her sentence (for mail and wire fraud) from 188 to 110 months. Kirk contends that she...
Williams , Circuit Judge . Juan Briseno was convicted of multiple racketeering crimes relating to his participation in a street gang. On appeal he seeks a new trial, arguing that during closing arguments, the government improperly referenced evidence pertaining to a prior acquittal, impermissibly shifted the burden of proof to him, and vouched for government witnesses in an inappropriate fashion. But Briseno failed to object at trial to any of these statements, and none was so egregious...
Hamilton , Circuit Judge . Just days after his release from prison in 1995, petitioner Larry Frazier entered the apartment of a sixty-two-year-old woman and attempted to rob her at gunpoint. For his troubles, he received a bullet wound. Frazier was convicted of home invasion and sentenced to sixty years. The sentence was increased because of the victim's age. After failing to obtain relief from the conviction and sentence in the state courts, Frazier sought federal habeas corpus relief...
HAMILTON , Circuit Judge . This horizontal merger case under the Clayton Act depends on proper definition of geographic markets for hospitals. Defendants Advocate Health Care Network and NorthShore University HealthSystem both operate hospital networks in Chicago's northern suburbs. They propose to merge. Section 7 of the Clayton Act forbids asset acquisitions that may lessen competition in any "section of the country." 15 U.S.C. 18. The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Illinois...
HAMILTON , Circuit Judge . Since 1935, federal law has regulated the hours of service of truck drivers operating in interstate commerce. The regulations are intended to reduce fatigue-related accidents, and they require drivers to keep paper records showing their driving time and other on-duty time. Compliance has long been an issue, though, because it is easy to insert an error in paper records, whether intentionally or not. In 2012, Congress directed the Department of Transportation to...
ORDER By the Court: The petition for rehearing en banc is granted, and the panel's opinion and judgment are vacated. Oral argument will be heard on Wednesday, November 30, 2016.
NONPRECEDENTIAL DISPOSITION To be cited only in accordance with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 ORDER Luis Flores-Andrade, a 45-year-old Mexican citizen, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals upholding an immigration judge's denial of his request for cancellation of removal, see 8 U.S.C. 1229b(b). The Board agreed with the IJ's conclusion that Flores-Andrade was ineligible for relief because he had left the United States for more than 90 days, see 8 U.S.C. 1229b(d)...
MANION , Circuit Judge . This case returns for a second time. Lloyd Lockwood appeals his 120-month sentence for possession of a destructive device. Previously, we vacated Lockwood's first sentence of the same length. This time, for the reasons set forth below, we affirm. I. Background A. Conviction and First Sentencing 1 In an attempt to gain an advantage in a family dispute, Susie Curtis asked her longtime friend Lloyd Lockwood to place a package in her brother's truck and then report...
BAUER , Circuit Judge . Oscar Rash, who was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon, see 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), challenges the district court's decision to apply a two-level upward adjustment for obstruction of justice. At his trial Rash had conceded to possessing the gun, but the district court found at sentencing that he had also deceptively downplayed his involvement with the gun. Rash argues that, because he conceded possession, his false testimony about his connection to the gun...
POSNER , Circuit Judge . The plaintiff filed this suit against her former employer, defendant Christian Brothers Services (the parties refer to it as CBS), charging disability discrimination. CBS is a religious organization headquartered near Chicago that provides health and a number of other services to the Roman Catholic community in Illinois, other parts of the United States, and Canada. See Christian Brothers Services, www.cbservices.org (visited Oct. 26, 2016, as were the other...
SYKES , Circuit Judge . A self-funded ERISA plan has sued several independent health insurers seeking reimbursement for medical expenses it paid on behalf of beneficiaries who were covered under both the plan and the insurers' policies. We're asked to decide whether a lawsuit like this one — a "coordination of benefits" dispute — seeks "appropriate equitable relief" under section 502(a)(3) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3). Six circuits have held that section 502(a)(3) does not authorize...
HAMILTON , Circuit Judge . This appeal presents issues under Wisconsin law on the scope of tort remedies a fired at-will employee might have not against his employer but against individual supervisors and co-workers. Plaintiff Dr. Stephen Wesbrook, a former employee of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, brought this lawsuit against Dr. Edward Belongia, a former colleague, and Dr. Karl Ulrich, the chief executive officer of the Marshfield Clinic. Wesbrook contends that Belongia...
FLAUM , Circuit Judge . Plaintiffs Shannon Volling and Allen Springer brought federal and state retaliation claims against Antioch Rescue Squad ("ARS") and its subcontractor, Kurtz Paramedic Services, Inc. ("Kurtz"). Plaintiffs allege the companies wrongfully refused to hire them as emergency medical technicians ("EMTs") because of plaintiffs' earlier complaints alleging sexual harassment against ARS and Metro Paramedic Services, Inc. ("Metro"). 1 Plaintiffs settled with ARS, and Kurtz...
POSNER , Circuit Judge . The petitioner, FedEx Freight, Inc., a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, uses trucks rather than planes to transport freight. This case concerns the workers at its terminal in Stockton, California, an inland seaport, at which the company employs 50 truck drivers and 27 dockworkers — the latter use forklifts to load and unload the trucks that use the terminal. A Teamsters Local petitioned the Labor Board to be permitted to organize the drivers. Rejecting the company's...
