REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION PATRICIA A. SULLIVAN , Magistrate Judge . Plaintiff Channy Vay was born in Cambodia in 1957. After suffering horrific experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime, including experiencing torture and the deaths of her parents and witnessing the deaths of her siblings, as well as exposure to other unspeakable violence, in 2000, she immigrated to the United States to reunite with her husband, who had thought she was dead. She settled in Rhode Island and, despite being...
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . Plaintiff Daniel Reale, pro se, brings two motions to recuse, one against counsel for Defendant Department of Children, Youth & Families and the other against this Court. The motion against DCYF counsel centers on Mr. Reale's allegation that counsel hid, destroyed, and withheld evidence in his case. ECF No. 56. The motion against the Court is essentially based on the fact that the Court ruled against several of his motions. ECF No. 57....
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . Plaintiff Daniel Reale, along with other plaintiffs, has filed a complaint against the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families ("DCYF"), the Town of Coventry, and various individual employees of these two government entities. Mr. Reale's case, and the motion currently before the Court, arises out of a report of suspected child abuse made to DCYF by Coventry school psychologist Susan Lyons involving Mr. Reale's seven-year-old...
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . Rickey L. Thompson has moved to intervene in this civil action against the Town of North Kingstown and its Town Council. Mr. Thompson resides within 200 feet of property owned by the Plaintiffs that was the subject of planning and zoning action in the Town. The Plaintiffs had purchased five adjoining parcels of real estate that they refer to as The Preserve at Rolling Green. After years of Town regulatory proceedings concerning this property,...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . This case is before the Court on Defendant Hasbro, Inc.'s, ("Hasbro") Motion to Exclude Bill Markham's 1989 Deposition Testimony. Def.'s Mot., ECF No. 130. This testimony was given as part of prior litigation ("1989 Litigation") involving the Game of Life ("Game") initiated by Bill Markham against Reuben Klamer and Hasbro's predecessor-in-interest, Milton Bradley, among others. Even though Mr. Markham is now deceased, Hasbro...
ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . On November 9, 2017, Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan filed a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") (ECF No. 67) denying Plaintiff's request for an evidentiary hearing and recommending that the Court deny as moot Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction (ECF No. 28) to the extent that it seeks relief related to his claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. On November 27, 2017, Magistrate Judge Sullivan...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION PATRICIA A. SULLIVAN , Magistrate Judge . On October 17, 2017, acting through counsel appointed from the Court's pro bono panel, Plaintiff Leonard C. Jefferson filed his renewed motion for preliminary injunction (ECF No. 62), requesting the Court to order Defendants to provide treatment for his life-threatening condition of chronic hepatitis C. The motion is grounded in Plaintiff's right under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution to be free...
ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief Judge . This case is before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel Discovery (ECF No. 129) and Motion for Attorneys' Fees (ECF No. 144). In the former, Plaintiffs complained that Defendants Dawn Linkletter Griffin, Sharon Linkletter, Michael Linkletter, Laura Linkletter Rich, and Dennis Linkletter (collectively, "Linkletter Defendants") had not timely responded to certain of Plaintiffs' discovery requests. However, because the Linkletter Defendants...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Before the Court is Defendants Robert Pacheco's and Joseph T. Little's, in their Individual and Official Capacities, Motion To Dismiss ("Motion"). (ECF No. 18.) Defendants move to dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. ( Id. ) For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the Motion with respect to Pacheco and GRANTS without prejudice the Motion with respect...
ORDER LINCOLN D. ALMOND , Magistrate Judge . Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond filed a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") on November 14, 2017 (ECF No. 29), recommending the Court grant Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 21) and deny Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 26). He further recommends entering final judgment in Defendants' favor as to Count I of the Complaint with prejudice, and in Defendants' favor as to Count II without prejudice. Finally,...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION LINCOLN D. ALMOND , Magistrate Judge . Pending before the Court are Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 by Defendant National Investments, Ltd. and Subsidized Properties, II, LP ("Defendants") (ECF Doc. No. 21) and Plaintiff Joanne Babbitt. (ECF Doc. No. 26). This matter has been referred to me for preliminary review, findings and recommended disposition. 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(B); LR Cv 72(a). After reviewing the Memoranda...
ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond filed a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") on November 14, 2017 (ECF No. 68) recommending that the Court grant Defendant UTC Laboratories, LLC d/b/a Renaissance RX's Second Motion for Summary Judgment ("Motion") (ECF No. 60) and enter final judgment for Defendants as to each of Plaintiff's claims. Plaintiff has not objected to the R&R. After carefully reviewing the R&R and the parties' submissions, the Court...
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION LINCOLN D. ALMOND , Magistrate Judge . Pending before the Court is the Second Motion for Summary Judgment filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 by Defendant UTC Laboratories, LLC d/b/a Renaissance RX ("Renaissance RX"). (ECF Doc. No. 60). Plaintiff Dr. Scott Wilson filed an Objection. (ECF Doc. No. 65). This matter has been referred to me for preliminary review, findings and recommended disposition. 28 U.S.C. 636(b)(1)(B); LR Cv 72(a). After reviewing the...
ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan filed a Report and Recommendation ("R&R") on August 29, 2017 (ECF No. 18), recommending that the Court grant Defendants' Motion To Dismiss Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint (ECF No. 11) for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (ECF No. 14). Although Plaintiffs technically filed an objection to the R&R on October 17, 2017 (ECF No. 21), 1 this filing is an...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Plaintiff Ryan Angelo Brochu ("Plaintiff") filed an Amended Complaint (ECF No. 7-1) alleging false imprisonment against Defendants Christine Chamberland, in her capacity as Finance Director for the City of Woonsocket; the Woonsocket Police Department; Thomas F. Oates, III, Police Chief for the Woonsocket Police Department; and Ronald Marcos, individually and in his official capacity (collectively, "City Defendants"). 1...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Defendant James W. Snoke has filed a motion to request correction of error (ECF No. 39) ("Motion to Request Correction") and an amended motion to vacate, set aside, or correct sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255 (ECF No. 44) ("Amended Motion to Vacate") in the above matter. The Government has filed a response (ECF No. 45) ("Gov't Resp."). For the reasons that follow, the Motion to Request Correction is denied as moot and the...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER WILLIAM E. SMITH , Chief District Judge . Before the Court is Defendant Louis R. Peters III's Motion To Vacate or Correct Sentence Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255 (18 U.S.C. 924(c)) ("Motion To Vacate"). 1 On June 22, 2011, a grand jury indicted Defendant Peters, along with co-Defendant, Craig A. Carey, in connection with a bank robbery. 2 On January 25, 2012, Peters pleaded guilty to three counts of the Indictment: conspiracy to commit bank robbery (Count 1); bank...
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . George P. Conduragis has sued his former employers, Prospect CharterCARE, LLC, and Prospect CharterCARE Physicians, LLC (collectively, "Prospect"), for damages arising from Prospect's alleged violation of the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") and the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act ("RIPFMLA"). Prospect has moved to dismiss the suit and seeks to compel arbitration. ECF No. 9. For the reasons set forth herein, the motion is...
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . Nancie A. Tullie was disabled due to several severe medical conditions such that she found herself unable to work. From May until the end of December in 2014, she received long-term disability benefits (LTD Benefits) through her employer's ERISA welfare-benefits policy, 1 but Prudential Life Insurance Company, the administrator of the insurance policy that funded the Plan, terminated her benefits on January 1, 2015. Ms. Tullie's condition...
ORDER JOHN J. McCONNELL, JR. , District Judge . Shaira Aponte Ortiz moved for remand or reversal after the Commissioner of Social Security denied her application for Supplemental Security Income in reliance on the Administrative Law Judge's (ALJ) determination that she was not disabled. ECF No. 9. The Commissioner moved to affirm. ECF No. 11. Upon the Court's referral, Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan, after thoroughly analyzing each parties' position and the record, issued a Report...
