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

Plaintiff-Appellant Mid-Continent Casualty Company ("Mid-Continent") brought a declaratory judgment action seeking determination of its coverage obligations related to construction defect litigation. Defendant-Appellee, The Village at Deer Creek Homeowners Association, Inc. (the "Association"), moved to dismiss, requesting that the district court not exercise jurisdiction over Mid-Continent's action. Weighing the five factors set forth in "State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Mhoon," (31 F.3d 979, 982–83 (10th Cir. 1994)), the district court declined jurisdiction in favor of resolution in Missouri state court and dismissed the action. Mid-Continent appealed, arguing the district court's application of the "Mhoon" factors amounted to an abuse of discretion. Upon review of the district court record, the Tenth Circuit affirmed its order granting the Association's motion to dismiss. View "Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. Greater Midwest Builders, LTD" on Justia Law

Defendant-Appellant and Cross-Appellee BP America Production Company (BP) appealed a judgment from a jury verdict in favor of Plaintiffs-Appellees and Cross-Appellants, a certified class of royalty and overriding royalty owners. The judgment included $9,740,973 in damages for failure to pay royalties consistent with the underlying leases and $3,443,372.40 in prejudgment interest (calculated at 15%). The class took issue with two aspects of BP's "netback" method for market-value-at-the-well contracts: its sales price for natural gas liquids (NGLs) at the tailgate and its processing cost. Specifically, the class complained that BP sold refined NGLs at the tailgate of the processing plant to an affiliate company at a discount (called an "affiliate transfer price"), and that BP, as co-owner of the plant, deducted an inflated processing fee, thereby lessening their royalty payments. Further, the class alleged BP breached the covenants of good faith and fair dealing in their contracts. BP's theory of the case was that there is a market for gas at the well, and that its netback method resulted in royalty payments in line with market values. BP unsuccessfully moved in limine to prohibit the class from introducing evidence regarding the royalty practices of ConocoPhillips ("COP"), co-owner of the processing plant with BP. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit concluded that disputed evidence of material fact on the market-value leases existed to preclude either party from judgment as a matter of law in their favor. Admission of the COP evidence was an abuse of district court's discretion and reversible error; the Tenth Circuit reversed for a new trial on that ground. On remand, the Court ordered the district court vacate the judgment entered on the jury's verdict and the prejudgment interest award, and provide an explanation of any ruling on the breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. View "Abraham v. BP America Production Co." on Justia Law

In 2007, Defendant James McKeighan was convicted on four federal charges relating to possession of firearms, marijuana, and methamphetamine. On appeal before the Tenth Circuit, Defendant raised three claims of alleged error at the district court: (1) the Government and the district court forced his attorney of choice to withdraw, violating his rights under the Sixth Amendment; (2) jurors fell asleep during trial depriving him of the right to an impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment; and (3) the district court erred when it enhanced his sentence for obstruction of justice. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found no prejudicial errors at trial, and affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence. View "United States v. McKeighan" on Justia Law

The three cases before before the Tenth Circuit on appeal arose from bankruptcy proceedings initiated by debtor Steve Paige in 2005. Search Market Direct, Inc. (SMDI) and ConsumerInfo.com (ConsumerInfo).both sought control of the internet domain name "freecreditscore.com" (the Domain Name), which once belonged to Paige. SMDI purchased the Domain Name from a third party shortly after Paige filed for bankruptcy. In May 2006, the estate's trustee Gary E. Jubber instituted an Adversary Proceeding (AP) to recover it. In December 2006, the bankruptcy court entered a Sale Order approving an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) under which ConsumerInfo agreed to provide funds to repay the estate's creditors and litigate the AP in exchange for the estate's promise to give ConsumerInfo the Domain Name if it was recovered. The bankruptcy court resolved the Adversary Proceeding in the Liquidating Trustee's favor in 2009. The Liquidating Trustee transferred the Domain Name to ConsumerInfo and a Joint Plan was otherwise substantially consummated. Over objections from SMDI, the Trustee and his law firm received compensation for their work on behalf of the estate. Upon review, the Court rejected SMDI's arguments for reversing the bankruptcy court's confirmation of the Joint Plan, for depriving ConsumerInfo of the Domain Name, and for denying the Trustee and his firm certain fees. The Court reversed the district court's mootness ruling in the Adversary Appeal; in all other regards the Court affirmed the district court's decisions upholding the bankruptcy court's judgments in the Confirmation Appeal and Adversary Appeal. View "Search Market, et al v. Jubber, et al" on Justia Law

Petitioner Frances Leon Harvey's appeal before the Tenth Circuit stemmed from a Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA")lawsuit that he brought against the United States government for complications arising from an injury to his hand. Petitioner claimed that government employees injured him by: (1) misdiagnosing and delaying treatment of his hand fracture; and (2) performing negligent surgery on his hand. He argued that the district court erred in holding the misdiagnosis/delay-in treatment claim to be time-barred and in granting summary judgment on the negligent surgery claim for failure to produce expert evidence. Furthermore, Petitioner argued because Navajo law was the substantive law of this case, the district court failed to follow Navajo law when it dismissed his negligent surgery claim. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit held that the district court properly denied Petitioner's motion for default judgment. Although the Court disagreed with the district court's conclusion that the misdiagnosis claim was time-barred, the Court concluded that Petitioner's failure to provide expert evidence doomed both his misdiagnosis and surgical malpractice claims. Finally, although the parties disagreed about whether Arizona law or Navajo law applied, the Court did not reach the issue because the outcome would have been the same under both. View "Harvey v. United States" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellee Gary Lederman sued his former employer, Frontier Fire Protection, Inc., to recover overtime pay he alleged was owed to him under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A jury found Frontier liable and awarded Lederman $17,440.86 in damages. Frontier challenged the jury instructions issued by the district court. Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that the district court should not have instructed the jury that Frontier bore a heightened burden of proof in establishing its entitlement to an FLSA exemption. Accordingly, the Court reversed the district court and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Lederman v. Frontier Fire Protection, et al" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant Elizabeth A. Bertsch appealed the grant of summary judgment in favor of her former employer, Defendant-Appellee Overstock.com, on her hostile work environment and retaliation claims, and appealed the denial of leave to amend to add a disparate-treatment claim, all under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 2000e-e17. Plaintiff claimed that working next to another employee "notorious" for viewing sexually explicit videos at work and making misogynistic comments made work a hostile work environment. Despite her "clean" record, she and the offending co-worker were reprimanded for contributing to the work environment and instructed to work more cooperatively. Cooperative efforts ultimately failed, and Plaintiff was eventually fired; the employer elected to terminate Plaintiff because the situation between Plaintiff and the co-worker "was not ever going to resolve itself." Overstock viewed Plaintiff as a "difficult, high-maintenance employee who left the company with no choice but to part ways." Upon review, the Tenth Circuit found that Plaintiff did not exhaust her administrative remedies prior to bringing her disparate treatment claim before the Court. Accordingly, the Court held Plaintiff could not bring her Title VII action based on claims that were not part of the timely-filed EEOC charge for which she received a right-to-sue letter. Otherwise, the Court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the hostile work environment sexual harassment claim (and denial of leave to amend). The Court reversed the district court on Plaintiff's retaliation claim. The case was remanded for further proceedings. View "Bertsch v. Overstock.com" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant Borchardt Rifle Corporation appealed a district court's grant of summary judgment affirming the revocation of its federal firearms license. After an initial compliance inspection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) granted Borchardt a license in 2002. The ATF conducted a second inspection in 2007 and detected numerous violations of the Gun Control Act. Some of the 2007 violations had also been noted in 2002. In 2008, the ATF revoked Borchardt's license based on these repeat violations. Borchardt filed a petition for review in federal district court and challenged the revocation by arguing that Borchardt's owner, Albert Story, did not willfully violate the Act. On ATF's motion for summary judgment, the district court sustained the administrative revocation. Finding the ATF's evidence sufficient to support its' decision against the plaintiff, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Borchardt Rifle Corp. v. Cook" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") on behalf of Jessica Chrysler ("Employee"), appealed a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant-Appellee The Picture People ("Employer"). The district court granted summary judgment on the basis that Employee could not establish that she was qualified (with or without accommodation) to perform an essential function of her job as a "performer" in Employer's store. It also concluded that Employee's retaliation claim failed because she could not perform an essential function of the job, and that she offered no evidence that Employer's legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons were pretextual. Upon review of the district court record, the Tenth Circuit found no error and affirmed. View "EEOC v. The Picture People, Inc." on Justia Law

The Plaintiffs-Appellants in this case challenged the Federal Highway Administration's selection of a route for the proposed South Lawrence Trafficway project in the city of Lawrence, Kansas. Appellants claimed two aspects of the Highway Administration's decision rendered it arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act. Appellants claimed the environmental impact statement supporting the decision violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Department of Transportation noise analysis regulations. Furthermore, Appellants claimed the Highway Administration's analysis under the section of the Department of Transportation Act that protects historic sites, including property associated with Haskell Indian Nations University, improperly concluded there was no "feasible and prudent alternative" to the selected route. Finding "no fatal flaws" in the environmental impact statement or the prudence analysis, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Prairie Band Pottawatomie v. Federal Highway Admin." on Justia Law