Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Summary Judgment
| E.D. Wis.
Pit Row, Inc. v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 23-1800
(April 30, 2024)
(WOOD)
Affirmed.
Plaintiffs, a group of gas stations, filed a lawsuit alleging that defendant violated a Wisconsin state law that prohibits selling gasoline for less than the statutorily defined cost and sought an injunction as well as damages. The defendant argued that it lowered its price to match a competitor’s price, as was allowed by the statute, and the trial court entered summary judgment in favor the defendant. The circuit court affirmed, finding that the trial court did not err when it entered summary judgment because the defendant engaged in lawful competition as was allowed under state law. The circuit court further concluded that plaintiffs failed to raise a triable issue of fact with respect to the element of causation. (LEE and PRYOR, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Class Action Certification
| N.D. Ill., Eastern Div.
Scott v. Dart, No. 23-1312
(April 29, 2024)
(WOOD)
Vacated and remanded.
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit alleging that Cook County provided inadequate dental care to pretrial detainees in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court refused to certify the class and plaintiff appealed, despite the named plaintiff having voluntarily settled his claim. The circuit court vacated and remanded, concluding that the district court abused its discretion in denying class certification finding that if it followed the district court’s rationale then a class of detainees would never be able to certify as a class because medical care, by its nature, is individualized. (KIRSCH and JACKSON-AKIWUMI, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Bankruptcy
| S.D. Ind., Indianapolis Div.
Bush v. U.S., No. 16-3244
(April 29, 2024)
(EASTERBROOK)
Vacated and remanded.
In a decision on rehearing, the circuit court revised it prior decisions in a case involving the question of whether a bankruptcy court can determine the amount of a debtor’s tax obligations when the debtor is unlikely to pay them. Circuit court vacated the judgment of the district court with instructions to determine whether related-to jurisdiction applied and, if so, whether to abstain from asserting jurisdiction in favor of the Tax Court. (SYKES and FLAUM, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Wrongful Death
| W.D. Wis.
Estate of Wallmow v. Oneida County, No. 23-2141
(April 17, 2024)
(ST. EVE)
Affirmed.
District court did not err when it granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in a case where plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging a series of constitutional claims after the plaintiff’s decedent committed suicide in a county jail. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, finding that there were no constitutional violations where the record did not support the inference that the defendant knew that the decedent faced a serious risk of harm and that the jail followed its own policies regarding suicide risk. (EASTERBROOK and SCUDDER, concurring)
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Federal 7th Circuit / Civil
Discrimination
| S.D. Ind., Indianapolis Div.
Circle City Broadcasting I, LLC v. AT&T Services, Inc., No. 23-1787
(April 16, 2024)
(SCUDDER)
Affirmed.
Plaintiff filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination against the corporation’s majority owner when the defendants declined to pay broadcast fees for the rights to carry the plaintiff’s two Indianapolis-based television stations. The district court entered summary judgment for the defendant, concluding that plaintiff failed to identify evidence permitting a jury to find that the decisions not to pay the broadcast fees reflected anything other than lawful business choices and the Seventh Circuit affirmed. (WOOD and LEE, concurring)
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