A shareholder acting on behalf of a corporation may bring a “derivative suit” against corporate directors and management for fraud, mismanagement, self-dealing or dishonesty. Before bringing such a suit, the shareholder must make a written demand that clearly identifies the alleged wrong and demands the corporation take action to redress…
When Cecil Addison was passed over for promotion, he sued Volvo Trucks North America and Ivan Mitchell in the Western District of Virginia for breach of contract and discrimination. Volvo Trucks had a contract agreement with the United Auto Workers Union. Addison alleged the defendants changed the contract’s job requirements…
If a literal reading of 28 U.S.C. 1441 (the forum defendant rule) would lead to an absurd result, then it should not be interpreted that way, according to a recent decision of Judge Morgan of the Norfolk Division of the Eastern District of Virginia. Eddie Campbell sued his former employer,…
Spoliation of evidence can result not only in an adverse inference instruction to the jury, but in an award of attorneys fees and expenses incurred in proving the spoliation. As demonstrated by the contentious trade secret litigation between E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company and Kolon Industries, Inc., those fees…
If you’re going to file a lawsuit against someone, you’d better explain the basis for it. A complaint doesn’t need to include much detail, but it must at least allege facts showing that you’ve been wronged and that you are entitled to a remedy of some sort. In federal court,…
When analyzing personal jurisdiction, the Fourth Circuit (which includes both Virginia and South Carolina) had held that it is proper to consider the location where the effects of the alleged wrongdoing are felt. The so-called “effects test” is applied narrowly, however, and cannot be used to supplant the minimum contacts…
If you’re going to sue a bunch of former employees for various business torts, you need to be clear in your allegations as to who did what. It’s all too easy to lump all the defendants together when describing the wrongful conduct in the complaint, especially when there are numerous…
Earlier this year I noted the case of Precision Franchising, LLC v. Catalin Gatej, a breach of contract case filed by the Leesburg-based franchisor of the Precision Tune Auto Care system against a Massachusetts resident. The Eastern District of Virginia had denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss the case and…
In yet another case involving alleged defamatory Yelp reviews, Hadeed Carpet Cleaning has filed a “John Doe” action in Alexandria Circuit Court, seeking to first learn the identities of the anonymous posters, then recover damages from them. Yelp is based in California but conducts substantial business in Virginia, so Hadeed…
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19(a)(2) permits courts to join necessary parties as involuntary plaintiffs “in a proper case.” Whatever a “proper case” might look like for purposes of Rule 19(a) joinder, Judge James P. Jones of the Western District of Virginia recently found that the case before him– Childress…