OPINION JANET T. NEFF, District Judge. Plaintiff Rhonda Cook, a former employee of Defendant Avon Protection Systems, Inc., filed this action under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA" or "the Act"), 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. Pending before the Court is Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to FED. R. CIV. P. 56 (Dkt 37). Plaintiff filed a response (Dkt 38), and Defendant filed a reply (Dkt 45). Having conducted a Pre-Motion Conference in this matter and having now...
OPINION REGARDING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION GORDON J. QUIST, District Judge. Plaintiff, NDSL, Inc., seeks a preliminary injunction to enjoin its former employee, Jason Patnoude, from competing with NDSL in violation of a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement. On November 27, 2012, the Court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion. For the reasons set both below, the Court will deny NDSL's motion. I. BACKGROUND NDSL, Inc. is a North Carolina corporation with its...
OPINION JANET T. NEFF, District Judge. Pending before the Court in this breach of contract case are the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment on whether Defendant breached their 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by the timing with which Defendant implemented certain agreed-upon wage increases. Defendant also moves for summary judgment in its favor on its threshold assertion that this action is time-barred. Having conducted a Pre-Motion Conference on this matter and having...
OPINION ROBERT HOLMES BELL, District Judge. This matter is before the Court on Defendant Jedco, Inc.'s motion for summary judgment. On November 14, 2011, Plaintiff Maryann Teisman brought a four count complaint against United of Omaha Life Insurance Company and Jedco. (Dkt. No. 1.) Plaintiff raised two counts against United: (1) failure to pay life insurance benefits under United Group Policy GLUG-ABA4 (the "General Policy"); and (2) failure to pay life insurance benefits under United Group...
OPINION JANET T. NEFF, District Judge. Plaintiffs Walter and Annette Frost filed suit in Michigan state court to challenge a foreclosure of their property, and Defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo) removed the matter to this Court. Now pending before the Court is Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. 59), to which Plaintiffs filed a Response (Dkt. 64), and Defendant filed a Reply (Dkt. 68). Also pending is Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Dkt. 61), to which...
OPINION ROBERT HOLMES BELL, District Judge. This matter is before the Court on the motion for dismissal and summary judgment filed by Defendants the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") against the Plaintiff-Intervenors Michigan Attorney General and Department of Treasury (collectively, "State Plaintiffs"). (Dkt. No. 62.) Intervenor-Defendant the Federal Housing Finance Agency ("FHFA") (collectively with Fannie...
OPINION JANET T. NEFF, District Judge. Defendant Patricia Merkle ("Defendant") appeals a decision of the Bankruptcy Court disallowing in part her asserted "Preferred Interests" in the consolidated debtor and related entities, and her corresponding entitlement to share in distributions under the Debtors' Consolidated Plan of Reorganization. See Jordan River Liquidating Trust v. Jay & P, LLC (In re Jordan River Resources, Inc.), 455 B.R. 657 (Bankr.W.D.Mich.2011). Having reviewed the...
OPINION GORDON J. QUIST, District Judge. Plaintiffs, Robert and Marian Helmus, filed their Complaint in the Circuit Court for the County of Kent, State of Michigan, on or around August 9, 2011. On September 22, 2011, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. ("Chase"), timely removed the action to this Court. All of the claims arise out of a mortgage Plaintiffs obtained on their real property located at 8109 Oldfield Ct. SE, Byron Center, Michigan ("Property"). Plaintiffs allege the following claims...
OPINION TIMOTHY P. GREELEY, Magistrate Judge. On August 10, 2012, the Court heard proffer and argument on the Defendant's Emergency Motion for Temporary Release from Custody (Dkt. 12). Foremost, the Court wishes to express its condolences to Arturo Deleon at the death of his grandfather. The Court, however, denies Defendant's Emergency Motion for Temporary Release from Custody (Dkt. 12) for the following reasons. In her Order of Detention (Dkt. 10) dated July 26, 2012, Magistrate Judge...
ORDER APPROVING AND ADOPTING MAGISTRATE JUDGE'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ROBERT HOLMES BELL, District Judge. On July 13, 2012, Magistrate Judge Joseph G. Scoville issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") recommending that this Court enter an order granting in part Plaintiff's motion for costs and attorney's fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 2412. (Dkt. No. 18). No objections have been filed by Plaintiff, and the time for doing so has passed. Defendant has...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION JOSEPH G. SCOVILLE, Magistrate Judge. This was a social security action brought under 42 U.S.C. 405(g) and 1383(c)(3), seeking review of a final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security denying plaintiff's claims for disability insurance benefits (DIB) and supplemental security income (SSI) benefits. On March 20, 2012, this court entered a judgment vacating the Commissioner's decision and remanding this matter to the Commissioner under sentence four of 42...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING THE REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ROBERT HOLMES BELL, District Judge. On July 13, 2012, Magistrate Judge Joseph G. Scoville issued a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") recommending that Plaintiff's motion for attorney's fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), 28 U.S.C. 2412, be granted in part and denied in part, and that a judgment be entered in Plaintiff's favor in the amount of $4,917.50. (Dkt. No. 34.) This matter is before the...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER PAUL L. MALONEY, Chief District Judge. Defendant Kenneth Johnson has filed a motion for modification or reduction of sentence pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2) based on the modification of the Drug Quantity Table with respect to cocaine base (crack cocaine). Section 3582(c)(2) permits a court to reduce the term of imprisonment of a defendant who has been sentenced based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission. 18 U.S....
ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION GORDON J. QUIST, District Judge. Petitioner has filed an Objection to the Report and Recommendation dated July 16, 2012, in which Magistrate Judge Greeley recommended that Petitioner's habeas petition be denied. Petitioner raised the following claims in his petition: I. Ex post facto constitutional provisions prevent the use of the second prior OUIL conviction to enhance an OUIL third offense. Therefore Petitioner's conviction for OUIL third should...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ELLEN S. CARMODY, Magistrate Judge. On May 18, 2012, the Clerk mailed a copy of the May 17, 2012 Case Management Order (Dkt. 14) to Plaintiff. The mailing was not deliverable because Plaintiff has not provided the Court with an updated address (Dkt. 18). As such, the undersigned hereby recommends that this matter be dismissed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(b) and W.D.Mich. L.Civ.R. 41.1 for want of prosecution and failure to comply with the rules and orders of this...
OPINION ROBERT HOLMES BELL, District Judge. This case involves a trademark dispute between Lown Companies, LLC, a Michigan company, and Defendants Piggy Paint, LLC and Spirit Paint, LLC (formerly Rockhouse Industries, LLC), both of which are Arkansas limited liability companies. Plaintiff also brings claims against Defendants Melanie Hurley, Greg Primm, and Marc Bryant ("Individual Defendants"), who are members of Piggy Paint, LLC. Presently before the Court is a motion to dismiss by the...
ORDER REJECTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND CONDITIONALLY GRANTING RELIEF UNDER 28 U.S.C. 2254 PAUL L. MALONEY, Chief District Judge. This matter comes before this Court on an application for writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. 2254 filed by Jerome Knight. Knight was convicted, along with his co-defendant Gregory Rice, after a jury trial in the Wayne County Circuit Court. After exhausting his appeals in the state courts, Knight filed his habeas petition with this Court. The...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION JOSEPH G. SCOVILLE, Magistrate Judge. Pursuant to W.D. MICH. L.CR.R. 11.1, I conducted a plea hearing in the captioned case on July 16, 2012, after receiving the written consent of defendant and all counsel. At the hearing, defendant Douglas Kenneth Fistler entered a plea of guilty to Count 1 of the Felony Information charging him with money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(3)(B), in exchange for the undertakings made by the government in the written...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION ELLEN S. CARMODY, Magistrate Judge. Pursuant to W.D. MICH. L.CR.R. 11.1, I conducted a plea hearing in the captioned case on July 19, 2012, after receiving the written consent of defendant and all counsel. At the hearing, defendant Kenneth Duane Ware entered a plea of guilty to Count One of the Indictment in exchange for the undertakings made by the government in the written plea agreement. In Count One of the Indictment, defendant is charged with conspiracy to...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION JOSEPH G. SCOVILLE, Magistrate Judge. Pursuant to W.D. MICH. L.CR.R. 11.1, I conducted a plea hearing in the captioned case on July 6, 2012, after receiving the written consent of defendant and all counsel. At the hearing, defendant Michael Francis Mawby entered a plea of guilty to count 1 of the Superseding Felony Information charging him with unlawful use of a communication facility, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 843(b), (d)(1), in exchange for the undertakings...
