Jane Doe sued Carnival Corporation, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by a crewmember during a cruise and that Carnival was liable for negligent hiring and supervision; intentional infliction of emotional distress; false imprisonment; and sexual assault by a crewmember of a passenger. A jury returned a verdict for Doe in excess of $10…
Author: Valerie Sanders
Claim Filed by Mortgagee’s Affiliate Properly Disallowed
A creditor must have an enforceable claim when it files its claim in bankruptcy court. Accordingly, the bankruptcy court properly disallowed a claim filed by one company based on a mortgage and note held by an affiliated family-owned company. Bay United Holdings, LLC v. INXS 7, LLC (In re: Aegis Asset Mgmt., LLC), ___ F.4th…
Streaming Service Infringed DISH copyrights
If copyright law is the meat of the court’s opinion in DISH Network v. Fraifer, 2026 WL 2267372 (August 6, 2026), the evidence and civil procedure discussions are hearty sides. The dispute concerned the defendants’ making available to viewers Arabic-language programming in which plaintiff DISH Network claimed copyrights. A written agreement between DISH and MBC…
Punitive Damages Award for Racial Discrimination Comported with Due Process
High-level personnel at Dimerco Express USA Corp. repeatedly and overtly expressed an intention to hire only white salespeople. The company also rescinded Kenny Faulk’s employment offer after Dimerco’s president discovered that Faulk is black. Faulk has a criminal record—including a misdemeanor conviction following reduction of the charge from aggravated assault—but so does a white man…
Not So Fast: Partial Summary Judgment and Voluntary Dismissal Not Final
“This result could have been avoided by reading the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” So the Court observed as to the absence of appellate jurisdiction after parties attempted to voluntarily dismiss only those claims remaining after the district court’s entry of partial summary judgment. CMYK Ents., Inc. v. Advanced Print Techs., LLC, 2025 WL 2626837…
Unrebutted Declaration Sufficient to Show Agreement to “Clickwrap” Arbitration Provision; Waiver Question Delegated to Arbitrator
“Clickwrap” arbitration agreements—that is, agreements that require an online “click” to agree—are enforceable under Florida law if certain requirements are met. And a defendant’s unrebutted declaration describing the circumstances of the “click,” and the terms to which the user agreed, may be sufficient to require arbitration. Lamonaco v. Experian Inform. Sols., Inc., 2025 WL 1831283…
Remand Order Not Appealable Despite Ride-Along Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration
28 U.S.C. § 1447(d) bars appellate review of remand orders. 9 U.S.C. § 205 permits removal of actions relating to international arbitration agreements, and 9 U.S.C. § 16 permits appellate review of orders denying motions to compel arbitration. So what happens when a case is removed under section 205 and the district court in a…
Third-Party Beneficiary Required to Arbitrate
After a catastrophic turbine failure at an Algerian power plant, insurers acting as subrogees of the plant’s owner, Shariket Kahraba Hadjret En Nouss (the “Owner”) filed an action in Georgia’s state-wide business court against various General Electric entities that had provided services for the plant under contracts between the GE entities and the plant’s operator,…
Divided Panel Affirms Remand of COVID-Related Claims to State Court
A resident of a Florida assisted living facility died shortly after contracting COVID-19. The representatives of her estate brought an action in state court against the owners and operators of the facility, alleging that the defendants failed to prevent the spread of the virus at the facility and asserting only state-law claims. The defendants removed…
Court Rejects Challenge to International Arbitration Award
Hidroelectrica Santa Rita S.A. (“HSR”) and Corporación AIC, S.A. (“AICA”) were parties to an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (“EPC”) contract for a power plant to be built in Guatemala. HSR canceled the project, citing force majeure, and the parties brought various claims against each other in arbitration. The arbitration panel issued an award which—among other…