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Federal Court
Parents who alleged their home was stormed by Philly deputies lose case
PHILADELPHIA – Parent plaintiffs who claimed multiple officers from the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Department violated their civil rights when they executed a search warrant at their home in an attempt to find the plaintiffs’ son – who had been murdered five months before the search took place – have seen their case dismissed by the City per the doctrine of res judicata.
Federal Court
Judge: Lien holder cannot intervene in injury suit alleging chocolate factory worker was trapped in tank
ALLENTOWN – A federal judge has rejected a company’s attempt to intervene in a lawsuit filed by a man tasked with cleaning a chocolate batching tank at its facility and who claimed he became trapped in the machinery for more than six hours.
Federal Court
Settlement reached for server over alleged wage shortages
PITTSBURGH – An Allentown man who worked as a waiter for more than six years and filed a class action lawsuit alleging that tipped, non-exempt servers like himself were shortchanged out of mandated wages in violation of both state and federal laws, has tentatively settled his claims.
Federal Court
Federal judge says state-created danger case against Marple Township police will proceed
PHILADELPHIA – The estate of a man left at a bus stop while in an intoxicated state by Marple Township police officers and killed by a passing vehicle shortly thereafter more than two years ago, will proceed in its case that the Township, its Police Department and a plethora of officers are responsible for the man’s death.
Federal Court
Judge throws out suit from estate of man who threatened his wife's nursing home
WILLIAMSPORT – A federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit brought by the estate of a man who made violent threats against his wife’s nursing home, was involuntarily committed and had his weapons seized, prior to his death, for a failure to prosecute.
Federal Court
Philly man allegedly burned by exploding candle settles personal injury lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia man’s lawsuit claiming that a candle he had lit nearly three years ago caught fire and ignited in an explosive fashion – causing him to suffer severe burns to his fingers, hands and arms – has been settled, after a successful arbitration session.
Federal Court
Wind Creek Bethlehem looking to strike negligence and punitive damages from excessive force case
ALLENTOWN – After the father of an intoxicated man trying to find their hotel room claimed Bethlehem Police Department officers assaulted him when they confronted the duo, Wind Creek Bethlehem Hotel & Casino counters that the plaintiff had not properly pled allegations of negligence or to support a request for punitive damages.
Federal Court
HomeGoods operating company removed from woman's desk chair injury lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA – A HomeGoods operating company has been dismissed from a lawsuit brought against a Marshalls HomeGoods store in Northeast Philadelphia, which alleged a local woman was injured more than two years ago, when a desk chair she was seated on unexpectedly moved and she fell.
Federal Court
City of Philadelphia wants to dismiss 'vague' civil rights lawsuit from transgender firefighter
PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia is looking to dismiss litigation from a transgender Philadelphia firefighter, who said she was blocked from gaining insurance benefits to pay for her gender-affirmation surgeries and subsequently became suicidal.
Federal Court
Cisgender male who said he was fired from adult establishment loses PHRA claim for now
PHILADELPHIA – A former cleaner and clerk at a Bucks County-based adult establishment who claimed that he was discriminated against and terminated from his employment, based upon his designation as a cisgender male, has retained his federal law claim and, for the moment, lost a claim brought under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
Federal Court
Families of Chester children killed by passing Amtrak train have case dismissed without prejudice
PHILADELPHIA – For the moment, a federal judge has dismissed litigation from the estates of two minor children from Chester, who were killed one year ago by a passing Amtrak train going from New York to Washington, D.C., through granting the transit company’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
Federal Court
S.C. woman who alleged hair dye caused chemical burn has case stayed for mediation
SCRANTON – Litigation from a South Carolina woman who claimed that using a hair dye product sold by a Nevada beauty company caused her to suffer a chemical burn on the back of her head, has been stayed pending the result of mediation.
Federal Court
Wrongful death suit which alleged Safelite window killed plaintiff’s wife in crash is dismissed
PHILADELPHIA – The estate of a woman killed when a piece of metal came through her windshield while driving and which had sued Safelite, has voluntarily dismissed its case.
Federal Court
Delaware County corrections guard union alleges County and officials targeted and terminated its members
PHILADELPHIA – More than a dozen members of an independent union of corrections guards in Delaware County contend they were terminated without cause or due process after the County resumed control of their workplace, George W. Hill Correctional Facility, in 2022 and tried to disband their union.
Federal Court
Northumberland County looks to dismiss wrongful death suit, after stillborn death of plaintiffs’ daughter
WILLIAMSPORT – Northumberland County, its government and medical first responders have motioned to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit from a local couple, which alleged that collective negligence on their parts led to a delayed response in receiving emergency medical care, and their daughter’s subsequent stillborn condition and death.
Federal Court
Case of man exonerated after 27 years in prison for murder and who later passed away, is taken up by his estate
PHILADELPHIA – Though a man who spent more than 27 years, wrongly incarcerated and who filed a civil suit against the City of Philadelphia and various officers involved in his arrest and prosecution has passed away, his estate has taken up the banner for his case to continue.
Federal Court
Mother who alleged police officer distributed photos of her son’s suicide rejects City’s dismissal motion
PHILADELPHIA – The mother of a man who died by suicide during a mental health episode two years ago has opposed efforts from the City of Philadelphia to dismiss her litigation, which alleged an unidentified local police officer photographed her son’s lifeless body and distributed it online.
Federal Court
Alabama paper supply company seeking dismissal of postal worker’s chemical burn injury suit
PITTSBURGH – An Alabama paper supply company is seeking to dismiss litigation which alleged the plaintiff suffered third-degree chemical burns when a drain cleaner product being sent through the mail leaked through its thin packaging and made contact with her body.
Federal Court
Lehigh Township and its Chief of Police settle former officer's claims of sexual harassment for $1.75M
ALLENTOWN – Lehigh Township and its Chief of Police have settled litigation from a female former officer of the Lehigh Township Police Department for $1.75 million – litigation which alleged that, over a five-year period, the Chief of Police targeted her for sexual harassment, discrimination and abuse, creating what she called a “hostile, toxic and intolerable work environment” that led to her resignation.
Federal Court
Third Circuit says undated mail-in ballots may be thrown out, overturns Pa. lower court ruling
PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has overturned a lower court ruling which had decided that undated mail-in ballots must be accepted as valid votes by all county boards of election in Pennsylvania, after the Republican Party’s state and national wings appealed the initial ruling – a decision likely to head to the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal and have tremendous import in November’s presidential election, which will once again see the Keystone State as a battleground.