OPINION AND ORDER PAUL R. CHERRY, United States Magistrate Judge. This matter is before the Court on a Plaintiff's Motion to Allow Parents, as Legal Guardians, Custodians and Next Friends, to Proceed by Anonymous Names and Motion to Seal Affidavit Containing Actual Names [DE 5], filed by Plaintiff on September 15, 2011. Defendant has not filed a response to the instant Motion, and the time to do so has expired. In the instant Motion, Plaintiff requests that the Court allow the parents...
OPINION AND ORDER JAMES T. MOODY, District Judge. On August 9, 2010, pro se plaintiff, Joseph Trzeciak, Sr., filed a complaint against defendant State Farm Fire & Casualty Company ("State Farm"). (DE # 1.) State Farm removed the case to federal court on September 14, 2010. (DE # 2.) Plaintiff alleged that he sustained a loss to his property during his apprehension by City of Hammond police on July 26, 2004, during which time the property was covered by an insurance policy with State...
OPINION AND ORDER ROGER B. COSBEY, United States Magistrate Judge. I. INTRODUCTION This case arises out of a series of allegedly discriminatory school incidents that the Plaintiff, C.S., a minor, believes were perpetuated against him because of his race. Based on these events, C.S., through his next friend and Parents, advances various federal claims against the Smith-Green Community Schools Corporation ("Smith-Green") and several of its administrators, individual Defendants Austin Couch,...
OPINION & ORDER THERESA L. SPRINGMANN, District Judge. Plaintiff Paul Anthony Stanton brings this action against Defendants Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority and its board members and executive director in their official capacities (the Airport Authority), contending that the Airport Authority's restrictions on First Amendment activities at the Fort Wayne International Airport (FWA or the Airport) violate his free speech rights under the First Amendment. The Plaintiff's lawsuit...
OPINION AND ORDER JON E. DeGUILIO, District Judge. More than a decade ago, a jury found Virgil Hall, III, guilty of neglecting and murdering his three-year-old step-son, Peyton Fetterhoff. The Grant Circuit Court sentenced him to 65 years under cause number 27C01-0006-CF-35. Having completed his direct and post-conviction appeals, he has now filed this habeas corpus petition raising six grounds for relief. Five of the six grounds were adjudicated on the merits by the state courts. 1 An...
OPINION AND ORDER ROGER B. COSBEY, United States Magistrate Judge. Plaintiff Derrick Moore brings this suit against his former employer, Park Center, Inc., asserting that it terminated him in retaliation and in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-3, for reporting an incident of sexual harassment. 1 Park Center has moved for summary judgment on all claims (Docket # 19), and the motion is now fully briefed. (Docket # 20, 22, 36-38.) For the...
OPINION AND ORDER THERESA L. SPRINGMANN, District Judge. On March 16, 2010, Christopher D. Jenkins was struck and killed by an uninsured motorist while working to repair potholes in a construction lane on Interstate 80 in Indiana. The Plaintiff, Ohio Casualty Insurance Company, insured the dump truck Jenkins was working behind when he was hit. Ohio Casualty has filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment requesting that the Court declare that its policies do not provide coverage for the claims...
OPINION and ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. Sandra Bontrager is a Medicaid recipient living in Indiana and in need of serious dental procedures including implants and abutments for her mandibular jaw. Everyone admits that these procedures are "medically necessary" as defined by Indiana law. Nevertheless, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (the agency that handles the state's Medicaid program) has refused to pay for these procedures because they exceed the new $1,000...
OPINION AND ORDER ROBERT L. MILLER, JR., District Judge. On September 7, the court enjoined the City of South Bend from transferring a specific parcel of land to Saint Joseph's High School. The City acquired the parcel for $1.2 million and planned to transfer it to the school for use in the athletic facilities to be constructed as part of the school's $35 million construction project. In exchange for the parcel, the City was to receive vaguely defined rights of use. The court held that the...
OPINION AND ORDER PAUL R. CHERRY, United States Magistrate Judge. This matter is before the Court on (1) Defendant Hawk Development Corporation's Motion for Summary Judgment [DE 90], filed on March 1, 2011; (2) a Motion of Defendants Jack Kovich and Innovative Enterprises, Ltd. for Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs' Complaint pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a) [DE 93], filed on March 4, 2011; (3) Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Against Defendants Jack Kovich, Innovative...
OPINION AND ORDER PAUL R. CHERRY, United States Magistrate Judge. This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Against Defendant City of Crown Point, Indiana [DE 97], filed by Plaintiffs Stillwater of Crown Point Homeowner's Association, Inc., individually and on behalf of its members; Roger P. Mahoney; Kent Kolodziej; Kevin J. McKenna; and Margaret McKenna (collectively "Plaintiffs") on March 4, 2011. A response was filed by the City of Crown Point,...
OPINION AND ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. This diversity case arises out of a trolley accident in Puerto Rico in which plaintiff Elsa Collazo, who was riding the trolley from the airport to pick up a car she had rented from Enterprise, was ejected from her seat during a sudden stop. Collazo alleges both negligence and breach of contract against Enterprise Holdings, Inc. and its Puerto Rican subsidiary, Prerac, Inc. Both Defendants have filed nearly identical motions to dismiss [DE 19 &...
Memorandum Opinion and Order JON E. DeGUILIO, District Judge. In its New Bedford, Massachusetts, warehouse, Brittany Dyeing & Printing Corporation is holding nearly 80,000 yards of spun polyester fabric and 166 custommade rotary printing screens that belong to Jordan Manufacturing Company. See DE 27 at 5; DE 33 at 2; DE 1 at 8. Brittany ended the two companies' business relationship in mid-2009, but would not return the screens and fabric unless Jordan Manufacturing paid charges for past...
OPINION AND ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. Plaintiff Robin Eastes brought this action under 42 U.S.C. 1983 alleging that Defendant ACS violated her first amendment rights when it terminated her employment at a call center that ACS operates as a subcontractor to the State of Indiana. ACS previously moved to dismiss Eastes' complaint arguing that Eastes was not entitled to relief under Section 1983 because ACS was not a state actor. I denied the motion finding that Eastes' complaint...
OPINION AND ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. At around 9:30 a.m., on April 2, 2010, guards at the New Castle Correctional Facility found a cell phone hidden under Anthony Cobbs' mattress. Cell phones are contraband in prison and Cobbs was charged with possessing an unauthorized electronic device in violation of B-207. Cobbs maintained that the phone was not his and asked that the Disciplinary Hearing Body (DHB) review the videotape of his mattress starting at 9:00 a.m. that morning. He...
OPINION AND ORDER ROBERT L. MILLER, JR., District Judge. When Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center decided to vacate its 21-acre site in downtown South Bend, Indiana, a Catholic high school (St. Joseph's) was the only purchaser to step forward with solid interest in acquiring the site. St. Joseph's wanted to build a new high school on the site with athletic facilities. The high school wasn't able to negotiate the purchase of an adjacent property on which a Family Dollar store was operating....
OPINION AND ORDER JAMES T. MOODY, District Judge. During the times relevant herein, plaintiff, The American Insurance Company ("American"), had in force a commercial general liability insurance policy (hereinafter, the "CGL Policy," "American Policy" or "Policy") issued to defendant, Crown Packaging International ("Crown"). 1 Crown sells plastic containers manufactured by a wholly-owned subsidiary, Polycon Industries. 2 Crown's largest customer, Ecolab, bought an ongoing supply of the...
OPINION AND ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. Not much good takes place at slumber parties for high school kids, and this case proves the point. During a summer sleepover, plaintiffs—16 year old T.V. and 15 year old M.K.—posed for some raunchy photos which they later posted online. When school officials caught wind of the saucy online display, they suspended both girls from extracurricular activities for a portion of the upcoming school year. This lawsuit, brought by T.V. and M.K. through...
OPINION AND ORDER PHILIP P. SIMON, Chief Judge. This case involves allegations that a Purdue University chemistry professor, Dr. Arun Ghosh, and the Purdue Research Foundation engaged in wholesale misconduct, including fraud, in how they handled certain trade secrets entrusted in the professor by CoMentis, Inc., a company to whom the professor provided consulting services. CoMentis' sprawling complaint against Purdue and Ghosh asserts ten counts, including breach of written and oral...
OPINION AND ORDER WILLIAM C. LEE, District Judge. Before the court is the Government's "Motion for a Final Order of Forfeiture" [DE 190] filed on April 8, 2011. The Defendant Jerry Jarrett ("Jarrett") responded on May 10, 2011 to which the Government replied on June 8, 2011. For the following reasons, the Motion will be GRANTED. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND On December 14, 2004, a jury convicted Jarrett on three counts of money laundering, and particularly of knowingly laundering proceeds from...
