Justia U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Legina and Todd Thomas, parents of M.T., a twelve-year-old girl at the time of the events at issue in this case, placed M.T. in the University of New Mexico Children's Psychiatric Center after she revealed suicidal tendencies during a police investigation of a potential sexual assault. Doctors diagnosed her as exhibiting several serious psychiatric problems and recommended a prescription of psychotropic drugs. The Thomases resisted the doctors' diagnoses and recommendations. M.T. was evaluated for several weeks until Mrs. Thomas decided to remove her from the hospital. Concerned about her safety, M.T.'s doctors and therapist placed M.T. on a medical hold and pursued an involuntary residential treatment petition in state court. After a seven-day hold, M.T. was released before the involuntary commitment proceedings began. The Thomases claimed the doctors and the hospital violated their constitutional right to direct M.T.'s medical care and their right to familial association when they placed a medical hold on M.T. and when they filed the petition for involuntary residential treatment in state court. The defendants moved to dismiss, asserting absolute and qualified immunity. The district court granted the motion on qualified immunity grounds, and the Thomases appealed. The Court of Appeal agreed with the district court that the Thomases did not stated a claim for a violation of their right to direct M.T.'s medical care. But the Court held that the Thomases stated a claim for a violation of the right to familial association for the defendants' placing a medical hold on M.T. and seeking an order for involuntary residential treatment in state court. The Court therefore affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Thomas, et al v. Kaven, et al" on Justia Law

The Robert L. Kroenlein Trust owned and operated J&B Liquors. In 2005, a salesman for one of J&B's beer distributors, Gary Kirchhefer, began stealing beer from J&B's account and reselling the stolen beer to other bars and liquor stores in Wyoming, including those owned by the defendants. One of the owners of J&B discovered Kirchhefer's theft in 2007, and Kirchhefer was eventually prosecuted and convicted of the crime. Seeking recovery of its losses, Kroenlein filed suit in 2011 against Kirchhefer, two of the bars to which he sold the stolen beer, and the owners of the bars. The suit asserted several claims alleging that the defendants had violated the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute. The defendants moved for summary judgment on several grounds, including that Kroenlein's RICO claims were barred by RICO's four-year statute of limitations. The district court granted summary judgment on the grounds that all of Kroenlein's RICO claims were time-barred. In the alternative, the district court also found that the undisputed evidence could not support Kroenlein's RICO claims. The Tenth Circuit agreed that Kroenlein's RICO claims were time-barred and affirmed the district court's dismissal of its claims. View "Robert L. Kroenlein Trust, et al v. Kirchhefer, et al" on Justia Law

A group of employees filed class and collective actions against Tyson Foods, Inc., seeking unpaid wages for time spent on pre- and post-shift activities. After the employees obtained a sizeable verdict and fee award, Tyson unsuccessfully moved for judgment as a matter of law. On appeal, Tyson: (1) challenged the judgment and denial of the motion for judgment as a matter of law; and (2) argued the fee award was excessive. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, after review, that plaintiffs presented sufficient evidence of undercompensation and the district court acted within its discretion in setting the fee award. View "Garcia, et al v. Tyson Foods, et al" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-appellant Richard Salzer received medical care at an SSM Healthcare of Oklahoma (SSM) facility for injuries he sustained in an accident. At the time of his treatment, he had a health insurance plan (the "Plan"). Salzer entered into a contract with SSM to receive its services (the "Hospital Services Agreement"), under which he "authorized disclosure of [his] medical information for billing purposes and authorized [his] health insurance company to pay." SSM had an existing contract with Salzer's health insurance company (the "Provider Agreement") which required SSM to submit covered medical charges to Salzer's insurance company and accept discounted payment from the insurer. Although the Provider Agreement prohibited SSM from seeking payment for a covered charge from Salzer, SSM sought the non-discounted amount directly from him. Salzer sued SSM alleging breach of contract and other state law claims based on SSM's attempt to collect payment for medical care from Salzer instead of his health insurance company. SSM removed the case to federal district court. Salzer challenged the district court's denial of his motion to remand based on its determination that his claims were completely preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court. View "Salzer v. SSM Health Care of Oklahoma" on Justia Law

Sixteen years ago Carolyn Bayless began to suffer from a mysterious illness. As her condition deteriorated, she sought to learn what caused (and how to treat) her illness. In 2008, convinced that she was the victim of exposure to nerve gas emitted by an Army testing facility, she filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. When this lawsuit followed in 2009, the Army responded that she knew of her claim by at least 2005 and had waited too long to assert it. The district court agreed and granted summary judgment dismissing the case. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded that under the "unusual circumstances presented here," the period of limitation did not accrue until February 2007. Therefore, the Court reversed. View "Bayless v. United States, et al" on Justia Law

J. Hoyt Stephenson incorporated National Financial Systems Management, Inc. (NFSM) in Utah. The same day, the NFSM Employee Stock Ownership Plan was created. The Plan has always owned 100% of NFSM’s stock. Stephenson was one of the Plan’s trustees. In June 2006, Stephenson, along with his wife and children, moved from Utah to Wyoming, and as a result, Stephenson became a Wyoming citizen. About a year later, Stephenson sold one of his companies, National Financial Systems, Inc. (NFS) to NFSM. Then he sold another one, Metronomics Inc. to NFSM. In June 2009, Stephenson and his family went back to Utah. The issue before the Tenth Circuit in this case centered on whether Stephenson became a Utah citizen when he moved back. Brent Middleton, the Stock Plan's trustee, and several others (all Utah citizens), brought several federal-law claims Stephenson in the federal district court. Stephenson fought back with state-law counterclaims and a third-party complaint asserting state-law claims against multiple third-party defendants. The district court dismissed those counterclaims and third-party claims, concluding that it lacked diversity jurisdiction to hear them because Stephenson also was from Utah. The Tenth Circuit concluded that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Stephenson was a Utah citizen. View "Middleton, et al v. Stephenson, et al" on Justia Law

In June 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Utah dismissed the claims of J. Hoyt Stephenson (a man the district found to be a Utah citizen), for lack of diversity jurisdiction. Less than three months later, Stephenson assigned his interests in various stock and real property to a new company of his creation, National Fitness Holdings, Inc., a Wyoming corporation of which Stephenson was the sole director, officer and shareholder. Four days later, National Fitness sued Grand View Corporate Centre, LLC in federal district court. The district court once again dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, this time finding that Stephenson had impermissibly made the assignments to manufacture diversity jurisdiction. Upon review of the appeal of that decision, the Tenth Circuit concluded the district court did not err in finding it lacked jurisdiction. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's decision. View "National Fitness Holdings v. Grandview Corporate Center, et al" on Justia Law

Judy Knight appealed the dismissal of her lawsuit against Mooring Capital Fund. “Most of [the Tenth Circuit’s] reasons for affirmance are routine.” But the Court took the opportunity of this case to comment on Knight’s federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims based on alleged misconduct in a prior litigation. With regard to her RICO claim, Knight argued that defendants made misrepresentations to the district court through pleadings and testimony that increased the cost of litigating her prior case, and caused the district court to rule against her. She alleged that that activity violated wire-fraud and mail-fraud statutes, thereby constituting a pattern of racketeering in violation of RICO. Because Knight did not identify any arguments she would have made regarding few and costs had it not been for defendants’ fraud, because she did not offer any specific explanation if how defendants’ litigation misconduct affected her ability to litigate he issues in the prior litigation, and because Knight did not allege there was evidence of misconduct that was unavailable while that prior litigation was pending, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal on this RICO claim too. View "Knight, et al v. Mooring Capital Fund LLC, et al" on Justia Law

Denver police arrested Marvin Booker on a warrant for failure to appear at a hearing regarding a drug charge. During booking, Booker died while in custody after officers restrained him in response to alleged insubordination. Several officers pinned Booker face-down to the ground, one placed him in a chokehold, and another tased him. The officers sought medical help for Booker, but he could not be revived. Booker’s estate sued Deputies Faun Gomez, James Grimes, Kyle Sharp, Kenneth Robinette, and Sergeant Carrie Rodriguez, alleging they used excessive force and failed to provide Booker with immediate medical care. Defendants moved for summary judgment on qualified immunity grounds. The district court denied their motion because disputed facts precluded summary judgment. The Defendants appealed, but finding no reversible error, the Tenth Circuit affirmed. View "Estate of Marvin L. Booker, et al v. Gomez, et al" on Justia Law