OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge. This case is a continuation of a dispute that culminated in a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Plains Commerce Bank v. Long Family Land & Cattle Co., 554 U.S. 316, 128 S.Ct. 2709 , 171 L.Ed.2d 457 (2008). Approximately four years after the Supreme Court released its opinion in Plains Commerce Bank, Defendants Long Family Land and Cattle Company, Inc., Ronnie Long, and...
ORDER KAREN E. SCHREIER, Chief Judge. Plaintiff, Aegis Food Testing Laboratories, Inc., brought a declaratory judgment action against defendant, Aegis Sciences Corporation, to determine whether Aegis Food was infringing upon the trademark rights of Aegis Sciences. Docket 1. Aegis Sciences answered and brought four counterclaims. Docket 8. Aegis Food moves to dismiss count four of Aegis Sciences' counterclaim asserting that the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over that count,...
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT KAREN E. SCHREIER, Chief Judge. Plaintiff, Carol O'Neal, as personal representative of the estate of Lanny O'Neal, deceased, brought an action against defendants, Remington Arms Company, LLC, Sporting Goods Properties, Inc., and E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Company, alleging strict liability (product defect), strict liability (failure to warn), negligent design and manufacture, negligent failure to warn, and spoliation of evidence. Plaintiff'...
ORDER JEFFREY L. VIKEN, District Judge. NATURE OF THE CASE AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On March 9, 2009, Karen Strauss, the President of Masco Builder Cabinet Group ("MBCG"), distributed a memo to the local employees of MBCG. (Dockets 117-1, p. 3 11 & p. 9; 128, 24). The memo informed the employees the Rapid City, South Dakota, plant would be closing by the end of September 2009. Id. at p. 9. The memo also stated "[a]ll employees will be offered a severance package and we are identifying...
OPINION AND ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION AND DENYING MOTION TO SUPPRESS ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge. I. INTRODUCTION After being indicted for one count of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and one count of Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, Defendant Leon Donald Farlee filed a Motion to Suppress, Doc. 19, seeking to preclude admission at trial of statements Farlee made to Tribal Police Officer Jeremi Blacksmith and certain evidence seized by tribal law enforcement...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER RE: MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Plaintiffs James R. Nichols, John F. Robertson and Curtis Dumas brought separate actions against Defendant City of Mitchell claiming employment discrimination in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). 1 The cases were then consolidated for discovery and trial. The Defendant City of Mitchell moved for summary judgment. Doc. 42. After the motion for summary judgment was filed, the...
ORDER AND OPINION CHARLES B. KORNMANN, District Judge. Dorothy Paulsen filed a complaint against defendants alleging breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and seeking punitive damages. These accusations stem from a long-term care insurance policy purchased by plaintiff from Medico Life Insurance Company ("Medico") in 1996, a policy which defendants admit Ability Insurance Company ("Ability") has assumed the responsibility to adjust, manage and...
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT KAREN E. SCHREIER, Chief Judge. Plaintiff, Argus Leader Media, d/b/a Argus Leader, brought this claim under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain information in the possession of defendant, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Docket 1. After USDA provided some, but not all, of the requested information, Argus Leader requested that a Vaughn Index be filed to explain why USDA did not provide the withheld...
AMENDED MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER KAREN E. SCHREIER, Chief Judge. Plaintiffs, Native American Council of Tribes (NACT), Blaine Brings Plenty, and Clayton Creek, (collectively NACT or plaintiffs), brought suit against defendants, Douglas Weber and Dennis Kaemingk, 1 alleging a violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the First and Fourteenth Amendments, and international law. The court granted summary...
OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING GOVERNMENT'S COLLECTION MOTIONS ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge. Defendant David Beulke pleaded guilty to embezzling from his long-time employer, the 3M Corporation, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1341. Doc. 2; Doc. 3. On April 1, 2001, this Court sentenced Beulke to 51 months in prison and ordered Beulke to pay the amount he embezzled — $5,610,563.00 — in restitution. Doc. 26; Doc. 35. Beulke liquidated assets to pay much of his restitution obligation, but he still...
OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTIONS ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge. I. Introduction This case involves an insurance coverage dispute between Plaintiffs Jamie Swenson and Randy Stewart ("Plaintiffs") and Defendant State Farm. Defendant has moved for summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs' claims. Doc. 27; Doc. 28; Doc. 29; Doc. 46. Plaintiffs oppose Defendant's motion, Doc. 43; Doc. 44, and have filed a motion for partial summary judgment of their own, seeking a...
OPINION AND ORDER DENYING MOTION TO COMPEL ARBITRATION ROBERTO A. LANGE, District Judge. Plaintiff Dakota Foundry, Inc., sued Defendant Tromley Industrial Holdings, Inc. ("Tromley"), claiming breach of contract, breach of express and implied warranties, and negligence related to equipment that Tromley delivered for Dakota Foundry. Tromley filed a motion to compel arbitration or, in the alternative, to dismiss. Doc. 9. In an Order and Opinion, Judge Charles B. Kornmann, to whom the case was...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Pending before the Court is defendant, Zurich American Insurance Co's. ("Zurich"), Motion to Dismiss this bad faith action filed by plaintiff, Tammy Lagler ("Lagler"). For the following reasons, the action will be held in abeyance until Lagler has obtained a final decision on her entitlement to workers' compensation benefits through state administrative procedures, including statutory procedures for appellate review of such an...
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER RE: MOTION TO VACATE, CORRECT OR SET ASIDE SENTENCE LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Petitioner, Branyon Dale Pippenger, filed a Motion to Vacate, Correct or Set Aside Sentence pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 2255, and the United States has responded and moved to dismiss the Motion.. In his motion Pippenger raises a number of ineffective assistance of counsel claims against both trial and appellate counsel and a due process violation claim. For the reasons set forth below,...
ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER OR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION KAREN E. SCHREIER, Chief District Judge. Plaintiff, Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. (Little Caesars), moves for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction enjoining defendants, Sioux Falls Pizza Co., Inc., and James Fischer (collectively SFPC), from offering all day, every day ready-for-pick-up pizzas because plaintiff alleges that defendants' use of its "system" misappropriates Little...
AMENDED ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SANCTIONS LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Plaintiff Roger D. Waldner, moves for sanctions against defendants WellsFargo Bank of North Dakota, N.A. (Wells Farog) and Wallwork Financial Corporation (Wallwork) pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure. Wells Fargo and Wallwork oppose these motions. Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires every paper filed with the Court to be signed by an attorney. As part of that...
ORDER DENYING MOTION FOR SANCTIONS LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Plaintiff, Roger D. Waldner, moves for sanctions against defendants WellsFargo Bank of North Dakota, N.A. (Wells Farog) and Wallwork Financial Corporation (Wallwork) pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure. Wells Fargo and Wallwork oppose these motions. Rule 11(a) of the Federal Rules ofCivil Procedure requires every paper filed with the Court to be signed by an attorney. As part of that signature, the...
ORDER (Motion for Mental Exam, Doc. 72; (Motion for Evidentiary Hearing, Doc. 80; Motions to Compel and Gather, Docs. 100 and 101; Motion for Order to Show Cause, Doc. 112; Motion to Deny Order to Seal, Doc. 114) And REPORT and RECOMMENDATION (Motion for Summary Judgment, Doc.75) JOHN E. SIMKO, Magistrate Judge. BACKGROUND Plaintiff, Loren Reyna, a/k/a Loren Two Bulls, is an inmate in the South Dakota State Penitentiary (SDSP) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He has filed a pro se lawsuit...
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER LAWRENCE L. PIERSOL, District Judge. Plaintiff, Timothy Kubista ("Kubista") brings this action against the five named defendants (Defendants) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief contending the License Agreement between the parties is void. Kubista also requests compensatory and punitive damages arising out of Defendants' alleged violations of South Dakota Franchise law, South Dakota Business Opportunities Law, as well as common law claims. Currently before...
OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ROBERTO A. LANCE, District Judge. Tim Lors, acting pro se, sued Defendants Jim Dean, Deb Dufour, Kim Stahl, and Otto Doll, both personally and as employees of the Bureau of Telecommunications of the State of South Dakota, as well as South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, and then-South Dakota Governor Michael Rounds. Doc. 1. Lors alleged that the Defendants had terminated him from his employment with the State of South...
