Dallas Business Lawyer Blog

Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Against American Airlines

A Fort Worth judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit against American Airlines that sought compensation for the Dec. 29, 2006, delays that grounded about 6,000 passengers, court documents say.

In an 18-page ruling, federal district judge John McBryde said the suit by lead plaintiff Thomas Dickson could not proceed because supposedly it had not been filed within a required two-year legal window.

The plaintiffs plan to appeal, according to one of their attorneys, Paul Hudson of Sarasota, Fla.

The Dickson case is one of four class action suits nationwide that have been filed over the same incident, Hudson said. Including the Dickson matter, three of those cases have been dismissed and either are on appeal or will be, he added.

Officials of Fort Worth-based American, which denied wrongdoing in the case, weren’t available immediately for comment Monday.

Filed in December, Dickson’s suit said the California resident, along with his wife and child, were scheduled to fly from San Francisco to the country of Belize in December 2006, but wound up confined to an American jet for eight hours because of weather delays.

The suit sought damages of more than $5 million, court documents show.

 

Wal-Mart Wins Wrongful Termination Lawsuit

A jury sided with Walmart in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former employee. In 2006, Tina Richey was fired from her job in the cosmetics department of a Walmart in Montgomery. She claimed she was fired because she refused to follow through with her supervisor's order to deliberately damage unsold cosmetics so they could be returned to the vendor for credit. Richey argued the order was illegal, as it would constitute theft by deception. Walmart denied Richey was directed to perform any illegal acts and contended her termination was justified. It argued Richey was fired for theft of company time, which was caught on the store's surveillance camera. The jury found that Richey hadn't been instructed to commit an illegal act and rendered a verdict for the defense.

Insurer Must Pay For Withholding Insurance Benefits

 

On Dec. 1, a jury awarded $70 million to a man who claimed his workers' compensation carrier wrongfully withheld paying for his job retraining.

In 2005, former maintenance worker Charles Tate began participating in a rehabilitative training program to become a real estate agent after an on-the-job accident left him unable to do manual labor. To pay for his expenses during training, he applied for supplementary income benefits through Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co., but the insurer disputed the claim.

The state workers' compensation division ruled in Tate's favor six times, but Discover continued to delay payments.

Tate ultimately sued Discover and its claims administrator, JI Specialty Services.

The jury found Discover and JI knowingly engaged in unfair or deceptive acts and ordered them to pay $20 million for Tate's mental anguish, $20 million in attorney fees and $30 million in punitive damages.

Jury Rejects Race As A Factor For Denied Promotion

A jury rejected claims that a company refused to promote one of its workers because he is Hispanic. Epifanio Zuniga, an employee in the information technology department of Grant Prideco, said he applied for three different management positions in 2006 and 2007, but was rejected. He alleged he didn't get the promotions because of his race, noting that the jobs went to white applicants. He also said he wasn't promoted in retaliation for a racial discrimination complaint he filed against a supervisor in 2004. Grant Prideco argued Zuniga wasn't picked for the positions because other applicants were more qualified. It also contended that Zuniga received a promotion in 2005, after he had complained about his supervisor. 

 

What must you prove to show a Breach of Contract in Texas?

To prove a a party breached or violated a contract, you must prove:

1. a valid and enforceable contract;

2.  privity  between the parties;

3. one party performed its obligations under the contract;

4.  one party did not perform it obligations under the contract; and

5. damages.

You must also file your lawsuit within applicable statute of limitations. 

FTC Accuses Intel of Unfair Competition

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sued the chip maker Intel, accusing it of using its dominant market position “to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly.”

In its complaint, the F.T.C. accused the chip maker of a systematic campaign to block rivals from selling their microchips by cutting off access to the market.

The filing goes beyond charges in cases brought recently by European regulators and the New York state attorney general in focusing on video graphics chips and software in addition to Intel’s core market, the microprocessors that sit at the heart of personal computers. Intel supplies about 80 percent of the PC microprocessor chips worldwide.

The F.T.C. move, according to Andrew I. Gavil, a law professor at Howard University, is “very significant because it is broader in scope than any of the current cases.”

In all, the F.T.C. contends that Intel engaged in a pattern of conduct that “put the brakes on superior competitive products that threatened” its microchip market share.

“Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly,” said Richard A. Feinstein, director of the agency’s Bureau of Competition. “It’s been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting competition on the merits.”

 

Tax Collector's Termination Was Based On Age Discrimination

 

 A jury awarded $1,599,778 to a tax collector who alleged he was fired because of his age. In 2005, Wesley Landsfeld, a 29-year veteran tax collector for the state Comptroller's Office, was terminated at the age of 57. He was told he was fired for insubordination, but he argued his age was the real reason. He noted that he was replaced by someone younger and he introduced an internal memo from the comptroller which referenced a problem concerning the office's aging workforce. In addition, Landsfeld said the state gave him no warning or counseling regarding his supposed insubordination and therefore failed to follow its own discipline policy. The defense denied discrimination and contended the memo was about ways to keep its older workers, not get rid of them.

Developer Seeks 5 Billion From Subway Founder

 

A developer on Thursday sued the founder and president of Subway restaurants for $5 billion, claiming the billionaire businessman hijacked his dreams of creating the nation's first eco-sustainable city.

Multimillionaire Anthony Pugliese filed the lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Fred DeLuca, alleging breach of contract, fraud, and predatory lending, among other claims.

Destiny, the new city set to be built on some 41,000 acres of overgrown brush and cattle pastures just off Florida's Turnpike about 160 miles north of Miami, was to be even larger than Disney World.

It had been Pugliese's vision since early 2000. He was looking to build a city larger than Miami, but with just about 150,000 people, a biotechnology hub, 40 miles of navigable lakes, and a sustainable energy source.

According to the complaint, DeLuca persuaded Pugliese to let him handle financing of the deal for the project that was to be valued at some $9 billion. In the process, Pugliese claims he was pushed out of most business dealings even though he remained a partner. In addition, he says DeLuca secured financing at a low interest rate only to charge Pugliese a much higher inflated rate while pocketing the remainder of the funds.

Texas Settles Disability Lawsuit

 

The State of Texas will pay $24 million to settle a class action lawsuit filed against the Department of Transportation more than a dozen years ago claiming that the $5 fee the state charged for disabled parking placards violated federal law. The settlement represents one of the largest — if not the largest — single checks the state has written to settle a legal claim, according to the comptroller's office.

Although the settlement deal won't be finalized until U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks signs off on it, probably early next year, a spokesman for the Transportation Department said the money to cover the debt was officially set aside in November.

According to the agreement, Texas will fund a $19.2 million pool to cover refunds to drivers with disabilities who purchased the light blue parking placards — typically hung from rearview mirrors — from 1997, when the lawsuit was brought, through 2008, when a judge ordered the state to stop collecting the fee.

The state will pay another $1 million to administer the refunds and $3.9 million to the lawyers who brought the case.

Cinemark and Imax In Legal Battle Over Trade Secrets

Cinemark is going to the mat with IMAX Corp.over IMAX’s allegations that a new movie theater concept from Cinemark is essentially a copy of IMAX’s well-known large-screen “immersion theaters,” according to court records.

The conflict produced two separate court cases earlier this month.

In one, filed in federal district court in Sherman Nov. 3, Plano-based Cinemark is doing a legal pre-emptive strike by seeking a court order declaring that its new theaters do not infringe on two IMAX patents.

The second suit, which Canada’s IMAX brought in New York state court nine days later, contends that Cinemark has, among other things, breached a contract between the two companies by “misappropriating” trade secrets that IMAX provided to Cinemark. Cinemark used the business relationship with IMAX to copy IMAX’s theater concept and then compete against IMAX, court documents allege.