Justia U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

At 4:15 p.m. on Friday, March 8, the plaintiff’s attorney in a civil-rights case opened an electronic case file in the Southern District of Illinois by e-mailing the complaint and civil cover sheet to the clerk’s office as required by the local court rules. The clerk received the e-mail, opened a new case file in the Case Management/ Electronic Case Filing system (CM/ECF), and at 5:11 p.m. notified the attorney that it was available to receive uploads. On the next business day (Monday) the attorney’s assistant tried to upload the complaint but encountered problems with the electronic payment system. On Tuesday, March 12, she paid the filing fee and uploaded the complaint. The deadline to sue was Monday, March 11, and under local rules, the complaint was not “filed” until it was uploaded into CM/ECF. The district court dismissed. The Seventh Circuit remanded for reinstatement. Under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[a] civil action is commenced by filing a complaint with the court,” and a paper is “filed” by “delivering it … to the clerk.” Although the filing process was not complete under the local rules until the complaint was uploaded, transmitting the complaint via e-mail effectively “delivered” it to the clerk for purposes of Rule 5(d)(2). View "Farley v. Koepp" on Justia Law

Durukan America, a Texas candy company, sued Rain Trading, an Illinois wholesaler, and its president, Canbulat, breach of contract and deceptive practices for allegedly refusing to pay for $86,000 in merchandise. To prove service, Durukan filed with the court two affidavits from a process server. After a month passed without an answer from the defendants, the district court entered a default judgment for Durukan. About a year later, after Canbulat was arrested for failing to respond to a citation to discover evidence, the defendants moved to vacate the default judgment, submitting an affidavit and records to show that they were never served. Canbulat provided corroboration that he was not at the location where service purportedly occurred. Without holding a hearing to address the dueling affidavits, the district court denied the motion. The Seventh Circuit vacated and remanded, holding that the district court should have held a hearing to resolve the factual conflict in the affidavits. View "Durukan Am., LLC v. Rain Trading, Inc." on Justia Law

Humphrey sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of her daughter Teniscia, alleging that medical malpractice during Teniscia’s 2008 birth left her permanently disabled. Teniscia’s father, Lee, participated in the litigation, but did not ask to be joined as a party. Humphrey and Lee are not married; Teniscia lives with Humphrey, but both are Teniscia’s legal custodians. The case was settled for $13 million, used to buy an annuity to provide care over the course of Teniscia’s life. Porter, who represents Lee, demanded a share of the 25% contingent fee that had been negotiated between Humphrey and her lawyer, who opposed this request, arguing that Lee was not a party and that Porter had not performed any of the legal work that led to the settlement. After the settlement Lee moved to file an amended complaint naming himself as a plaintiff. The district court denied Lee’s motion, stating that Lee not only had approved the settlement but also had not filed an administrative claim, as the FTCA requires. Lee then moved to intervene. The court denied that motion as untimely. Porter unsuccessfully sought fees notwithstanding Lee’s non-party status. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, concluding that the district court could not have allowed intervention even on a timely motion. View "Lee v. United States" on Justia Law

After Pajian filed for bankruptcy, Lisle Savings Bank, a creditor, filed a proof of claim ($330,472.19) in the bankruptcy court, but missed the bankruptcy court’s filing deadline (set under FED. R. BANKR. P. 3002(c)) by several months. The Bank argued that Rule 3002(c) applies only to unsecured creditors; as a secured creditor, it asserted, it was entitled to file a proof of claim at any time until plan confirmation. The bankruptcy court agreed with the Bank. The Seventh Circuit reversed, holding that a secured creditor must file its proof of claim by the 90-day deadline specified by Rule 3002(c). View "Pijian v. Lisle Savings Bank" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, a Vietnam veteran, was diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. In 2004 the VA declared him 100 percent disabled. Nonetheless, the Illinois Department of Human Services hired him that year as a “certified nurse assistant residential case worker” and assigned him to a residential facility. Two years later, he claims, a resident and members of the resident’s family assaulted plaintiff with an iron pipe and baseball bats. The Department suspended him on the complaint of the resident’s family and allegedly subsequently discharged him on the basis of an investigation by the Department of Children and Family Services that resulted in a preliminary finding that he had committed child abuse and neglect. The finding of child abuse was retracted. In 2014 he sued, alleging violation of the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. 794(a), which forbids discrimination on the basis of disability by agencies that receive federal money. The district judge dismissed, finding that plaintiff failed to state a claim and that his claim was untimely. The Department was not served with process. The Seventh Circuit reversed in part, noting that it is not clear when plaintiff was discharged and that it can take a long time for a discharge to ripen. View "Rutledge v. Ill. Dept, of Children & Family Servs." on Justia Law

Chivalry contracted with Rehtmeyer to develop and manufacture a board game. Chivalry paid Rehtmeyer over $128,000, but the relationship deteriorated. Rehtmeyer never produced the game. Chivalry sued for breach of contract and won a judgment of $168,331.59, plus $621.25 in costs in Illinois state court. Rehtmeyer never paid. Chivalry issued a citation to discover assets. At the citation examination, Rehtmeyer testified that she had no ownership interest in any real estate; securities, stocks, bonds or similar assets; office or electronic equipment; nor a personal checking or savings account. Because Rehtmeryer had not produced required documents, Chivalry continued the citation and filed a motion to compel production, which was granted. She did not comply. The state court twice more ordered her to produce all the documents required by the citation. Months later, Chivalry sought a rule to show cause. The day before the scheduled hearing, Rehtmeyer filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. Chivalry appeared to object to the discharge of the debt owed to it, claiming that Rehtmeyer had concealed her assets and income during the citation proceedings. The bankruptcy court denied Chivalry’s objection. The district court affirmed. The Seventh Circuit reversed, finding that Rehtmeyer concealed assets with the requisite intent. View "Jacobs v. Marcus-Rehtmeyer" on Justia Law

Kipp, an Illinois resident, purchased a chairlift ticket at Devil’s Head Ski Resort in Merrimac, Wisconsin. He claims that as a result of the “unreasonably fast speed” of the lift in the boarding area, he was injured (broken collarbone) as he was attempting to board it. After allowing Kipp to conduct limited discovery, the Illinois district court dismissed the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction, noting that the defendant’s only offices are in Wisconsin. The company does not engage in print or broadcast advertising in Illinois, but it does attend a trade show that takes place in Chicago every year. At the show, Ski Enterprise representatives speak with potential customers and obtain their email addresses. The company later sends out “email E blasts” to those contacts. There is also a website, through which customers can reserve rooms at the resort; they cannot purchase lift tickets on the site. The resort offers a vacation package called the “Chicagoland Express,” but the package is not limited to Illinois residents. Approximately 60 to 75 percent of the resort’s clients are from Illinois. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, describing defendant’s contacts with Illinois as insubstantial and episodic. View "Kipp v. Ski Enter. Corp." on Justia Law

The district court certified a nationwide class action, alleging that Nestlé and Waggin’ Train sold dog treats that injured the dogs. The parties reached a settlement, to which the district court has given tentative approval pending a fairness hearing under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(e). That hearing is scheduled for June 23, 2015. The order tentatively approving the settlement enjoins all class members from prosecuting litigation about the dog treats in any other forum. One case affected by this injunction has been pending for two years in Missouri, and was certified as a statewide class action before the federal suit was certified as a national class action. Curts, the certified representative of the Missouri class, intervened to protest the injunction, citing 28 U.S.C. 2283, the AntiInjunction Act. The Seventh Circuit stayed the injunction, noting that the district judge did not explain why he entered the injunction. Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(d)(1)(A) provides that every order issuing an injunction must “state the reasons why it issued.” An injunction that halts state litigation is permissible only if it satisfies section 2283 in addition to the traditional factors. The district judge was silent about everything that matters. View "Adkins v. Nestle Purina PetCare Co." on Justia Law

Iqbal bought a gasoline service station and contracted with S-Mart Petroleum for gasoline. Iqbal then hired Patel to conduct the business, ceding operational control to him. He chose Patel on the recommendation of Johnson, S-Mart’s president. Patel ran the business but did not pay for the gasoline, leading S-Mart to sue. The Indiana state court entered a judgment of more than $65,000 against Iqbal as guarantor. Under a settlement, Iqbal gave S-Mart a note, secured by a mortgage on the business premises. When he still did not pay, a state court entered a second judgment against him, and the property was sold in a foreclosure auction. Iqbal filed a federal suit, alleging that Patel and Johnson acted in cahoots to defraud him out of his business and seeking treble damages under 18 U.S.C. 1964, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The district court dismissed the complaint as barred by the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because it challenged the state court’s judgments. The Seventh Circuit reversed, reasoning that Iqbal seeks damages for activity that (he alleges) predated the state litigation and caused injury independently of it. View "Iqbal v. Patel" on Justia Law

Nelson, a former employee of the Lake County Auditor’s office, brought suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against Katona, individually and as Lake County Auditor, and Lake County Indiana, claiming that she was unlawfully terminated from her job in retaliation for her political support of Barack Obama. After trial, the court entered judgment against Nelson in accordance with the jury’s verdict. The Seventh Circuit rejected Nelson’s appeal. Nelson failed to move for a judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) before the case was submitted to the jury and did not make any motion pursuant to Rule 50(b) or Rule 59 after the verdict. Failure to comply with Rule 50(b) forecloses any challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal. A post‐verdict motion is necessary because “[d]etermination of whether a new trial should be granted or a judgment entered under Rule 50(b) calls for the judgment in the first instance of the judge who saw and heard the witnesses and has the feel of the case which no appellate printed transcript can impart.” View "Nelson v. Holinga-Katona" on Justia Law