OPINION AND ORDER STEPHEN L. CROCKER, United States Magistrate Judge. Following a six-day trial in this patent infringement lawsuit over optical disc technology, the jury found that defendants Imation Corp., Moser Baer India, Ltd., Ritek Corp. and CMC Magnetics Corp. (but not defendants Advanced Media Inc. and Hotan Corp.) induced infringement of Claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. 5,831,966 (the '966 patent) and Claims 1, 2 and 4 of U.S. Patent No. 5,892,751 (the '751 patent). The jury found in favor...
ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. This case arises out of a single vehicle accident in Longworth, Texas, where a truck driver failed to negotiate a corner successfully, allegedly due to a defect in a trailer manufactured by defendants McCoy Corporation, McCoy Trailers, LTD. and Peerless, Ltd. Having reimbursed its insured, B & K Trucking, LLC, for the losses arising out of the accident, plaintiff Sentry Select Insurance Company ("Sentry") commenced this tort and breach of warranty...
DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT NANCY JOSEPH, United States Magistrate Judge. Erika M. Langenbach ("Langenbach") brings this lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ("Wal-Mart") alleging violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII") and discriminatory pay under the Equal Pay Act. 1 Wal-Mart moves for summary judgment on all of Langenbach's claims. For the reasons that I...
ORDER J.P. STADTMUELLER, District Judge. This action, filed in February of this year, was originally filed as a class action by plaintiff Lyndon McKinney ("McKinney"), asserting that defendants Med Group Transportation LLC ("Med Group") and Gene Shikhman ("Shikhman") violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and Wisconsin's Wage Payment and Collection Laws ("WWPCL") when they did not compensate McKinney and other drivers for pre- and post-shift travel time, and when they did not...
OPINION AND ORDER BARBARA B. CRABB, District Judge. This case arises out of a bankruptcy petition filed by plaintiff Suzannah Meta Schmid under chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. After defendants Bank of America, N.A. and Associated Bank, N.A. filed claims against the estate for approximately $40,000 and $30,000 respectively, plaintiff objected to the claims and filed an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court. Plaintiff did not identify distinct claims in her complaint; rather, the...
OPINION & ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. In this patent lawsuit, plaintiff Split Pivot, Inc. alleges that defendant Trek Bicycle Corporation ("Trek") infringes claims in two of its patents, both of which involve suspension systems for bicycles. As is common in patent cases, the parties have filed cross-motions for summary judgment. Split Pivot seeks summary judgment of infringement on claim 22 of U.S. Patent No. 7, 717,212 ("the `212 patent"). Trek seeks summary judgment of non-...
OPINION AND ORDER STEPHEN L. CROCKER, United States Magistrate Judge. This lawsuit presents a contract dispute arising out of an April 2009 license agreement between plaintiff Pacific Cycle and defendant PowerGroup International, LLC. The agreement licensed PowerGroup to sell Schwinn-branded motor scooters. Pacific Cycle terminated the agreement in April 2012 due to PowerGroup's failure to satisfy its payment and reporting obligations, then commenced this action for contract damages and...
OPINION AND ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. This lawsuit concerns allegedly defective mink feed. Plaintiff John Hackel raises mink and asserts various state law claims against National Feeds, Inc., which sold the feed to Hackel, its insurer Ohio Casualty Insurance Co., United Pet Foods, Inc., which manufactured the feed, and its insurer Cincinnati Insurance Co. For ease, the court will refer to defendant National Feeds and its insurer as "National" and defendant United Pet Foods and...
DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS NANCY JOSEPH, United States Magistrate Judge. This lawsuit, which arises under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ("EMTALA"), 42 U.S.C. 1395dd, presents an issue of first impression. Is a physician who enjoys privileges at a hospital an employee of that hospital for purposes of EMTALA's whistleblower provision For the reasons I explain in this decision, I answer in the affirmative and deny defendant's motion to dismiss....
OPINION & ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. In this civil action, plaintiffs seek (1) a declaration that a Tribal Court for the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians (the "Tribe") lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over them and (2) an injunction preventing any further action by the Tribe and the Lake of the Torches Economic Development Corporation in a recently-filed matter against plaintiffs in that forum. Before the court now is defendants' motion to dismiss for lack...
DECISION AND ORDER LYNN ADELMAN, District Judge. Plaintiff Dr. Roland I Saavedra is suing the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System ("Board of Regents"), David Ward, the Interim Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison ("UW-Madison"), and Robert Golden, the Dean of the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health for employment discrimination under 42 U.S.C. 1983 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Defendants move to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a...
OPINION AND ORDER BARBARA B. CRABB, District Judge. Plaintiff Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc. and its two co-presidents, plaintiffs Annie Laurie Gaylor and Dan Barker, brought this lawsuit under the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 702, contending that certain federal income tax exemptions received by "ministers of the gospel" under 26 U.S.C. 107 violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. Defendants...
OPINION & ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. Plaintiff Christopher Sutton seeks a writ of mandamus under the Mandamus and Venue Act ("MVA") or an order under the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") that would compel U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS") to (1) respond to an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") and (2) rule on his I-130 petition for his spouse's permanent residency. He also challenges the constitutionality of the Adam Walsh Child Protection...
ORDER J.P. STADTMUELLER, District Judge. On October 17, 2013, Defendant Jordan Baxter filed a motion to suppress statements she made during several interviews that took place following the bank robbery for which she is now under indictment. (Docket # 19). Magistrate Judge Aaron E. Goodstein issued his report and recommendations on November 7, 2013. (Docket # 26). The Court thereafter spoke with Ms. Baxter's counsel who agreed to shorten his otherwise-allotted time to file objections to...
DECISION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT WILLIAM C. GRIESBACH, Chief Judge. Plaintiff Carlos O. Garza filed an action against defendant Wautoma Area School District (the "District") alleging a violation of his rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq., and 42 U.S.C. 1981. Garza worked as a custodian for the District from June 13, 2005 until he was terminated on August 18, 2011. Garza alleges that the District discriminated...
OPINION AND ORDER BARBARA B. CRABB, District Judge. Plaintiff Linda Bluestein, M.D., brought this suit against defendant Central Wisconsin Anesthesiology, S.C., contending that defendant violated her rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12102-12213, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 701-718, and under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2000e-17. Defendant denies that plaintiff was ever denied a reasonable accommodation for...
OPINION and ORDER STEPHEN L. CROCKER, United States Magistrate Judge. Plaintiff Mansa Lutalo Iyapo (who was incarcerated under the name Rufus West but asks to be referred to by his "spiritual name"), is a Muslim inmate proceeding on claims that prison officials are: (1) violating his rights under the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause and under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by prohibiting Jumu'ah, Talim and Eid al-Fitr services to be held without a...
OPINION AND ORDER WILLIAM M. CONLEY, District Judge. For years, Manson Insurance Agency sold insurance throughout Wisconsin on behalf of national insurers, including The Travelers Indemnity Company and St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company. Manson also collected premium payments and distributed rebate checks for national insurers, in an arrangement known as "agency billing." Unfortunately, mediating these financial transactions between clients and insurers created an opportunity for Manson...
DECISION AND ORDER LYNN ADELMAN, District Judge. The government charged defendant Demetrius Moore with bank robbery and use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the police unlawfully stopped him, searched his car, and arrested him. The magistrate judge handling pre-trial proceedings in this case held an evidentiary hearing, then issued a recommendation that the motion be denied. Defendant objects. On de novo review, see Fed.R. Crim.P....
ORDER J.P. STADTMUELLER, District Judge. This criminal prosecution represents yet another episode of what occurs when errant Assistant U.S. Attorneys embark too late and without all their bags on a troubled adventure in case preparation, their lack of such preparation perhaps overshadowed only by the apparent absence of meaningful accountability, oversight, and supervision within the United States Attorney's office. For in the end, these ingredients collectively prove to be part of a...
