Consent Decree Deadlines Extended Due to Attorney Conduct by In litigation by African-American farmers against the Department of Agriculture alleging racial discrimination in lending practices, a consent decree was entered. After class counsel's failure to meet crucial deadlines, the district court interpreted the decree to allow extension of the deadlines …
Title VII Claims Subject to Equitable Tolling by The Title VII 300-day EEOC filing requirement is subject to the doctrine of equitable tolling when the employee is excusably ignorant of the discriminatory act or the existence of a claim. The D.C. Circuit reserves this power for "extraordinary and carefully circumscribed …
Client-Client Meeting Notes Not Privileged by A corporation asked its general counsel to conduct an internal investigation of alleged wrongdoing. For purposes of attorney-client privilege, the general counsel was the attorney and the client was the firm and its partners and employees. Therefore all communications from partners or employees to …
Feres Doctrine Bar Military Prisoners FTCA Claim by Feres Doctrine Bar Military Prisoner's FTCA Claim The plaintiff, a prisoner at the U.S. Army disciplinary facility, serving 29 years for kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder, was hurt by a falling ceiling while watching television. His Federal Tort Claims Act suit is …
District Court Erred in Appointing Court Monitor by In the litigation about the Department of the Interior's mismanagement of the Indians' money, the district court erred in reappointing a court monitor over the government's objection. The monitor was charged to "monitor and review" all trust reform activities and to report …
Al-Qaida Member Lacks Standing to Challenge Special Administrative Measures by The plaintiff, an al-Qaida member convicted of the terrorist bombing of the American embassy in Kenya, challenged the regulations that authorize surveillance of attorney-client contact. Since no such measures are in effect for him, and since the regulations require notice …
No Remedy for Contractor Suit Against Unicor by The plaintiff contractor sued Federal Prison Industries (a/k/a/ Unicor) under the Contract Disputes Act in the Court of Federal Claims. That court lacked jurisdiction because Federal Prison Industries is a "non-appropriated fund instrumentality" for which the United States was not financially answerable …
EEOC Complaint Must Allege Scope of Later Litigation by At 131: "The purpose of the charge and government investigation is to address and resolve discrimination charges as quickly and inexpensively as possible, without the cost and duration of formal litigation. The scope of any subsequent lawsuit is limited to 'the …
BOP Work Release Injunction Vacated as Moot by The plaintiff was notified he would be transferred out of a community corrections center pursuant to the Department of Justice's abruptly announced policy change prohibiting assignment to such facilities except for the last 10% of a prisoner's sentence. He obtained a preliminary …
Preliminary Injunction Granted in BOP Work Release Suit by The plaintiff took a plea with the expectation based on past practice that he would serve his sentence in a halfway house; the probation office so recommended to the sentencing judge, who adopted the recommendation. The Department of Justice then decided …
District of Columbia is "Suable Entity" Under 42 U.S.C. §1983 by District of Columbia is "Suable Entity" Under 42 U.S.C. §1983 The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C.) held that the district can be sued under 42 U.S.C. §1983. Twenty-three D.C. prisoners at the Lorton Reformatory …
Substantial Compliance with Administrative Remedy Rules Satisfies PLRA Despite Prisoner's Procedural by Substantial Compliance with Administrative Remedy Rules Satisfies PLRA Despite Prisoner's Procedural Deficits The District of Columbia's Court of Appeals has held that procedural defects in a prisoner's pursuit of administrative remedies does not bar a civil suit per …
Maryland Guard's Sexual Harassment Suit Settled For $250,000 by While denying all claims of sexual harassment, the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services on January 19, 2006 has agreed to a $250,000 settlement with former guard, LaShawn Jones, to avoid a trial. Jones claimed she endured sexual propositions, …
$35,000 Verdict in District of Columbia Slip and Fall by As District of Columbia Lorton Correctional Facility prisoner Kevin Allan was exiting a prison van, he requested assistance to step on the milk crate used as a step. Despite being in leg irons, handcuffs, and a waist restraint, guards told …
Class Settlement No Bar to Federal Parolee's Damages Suit by The plaintiff was arrested on a parole violation warrant; the charges were dismissed a few months later and plaintiff's lawyer notified parole authorities; the government said the case remained "open and ongoing" despite the failure to return an indictment. After …
D.C. Court Upholds BOP Work Release Policy Change by The Department of Justice abruptly changed its policy to forbid service of prison sentences in community correction centers. The prior policy was to honor judicial recommendations that sentences be served in a community correction center. The new policy did not deny …
Title VII Plaintiff Can Rely on EEO Statements for Exhaustion Purposes by The court applies equitable principles to excuse the plaintiff from exhausting one aspect of her Title VII claim because she withdrew the relevant administrative charge based on the incorrect advice of an EEO counselor. At 17-18: "Failure to …
District of Columbia Challenges Census Bureau Enumerating Prisoners as Residents of Virginia by The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, held that the District of Columbia did not have standing to sue the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Census Bureau's having enumerated D.C. prisoners at the Lorton …
D.C. Prison Conditions Violate Eighth Amendment Rights by The United States District Court, District of Columbia, ordered that (1) prison conditions at the Occoquan Facility, D.C., violated prisoner's Eighth Amendment rights; (2) the housing of "protective custody" prisoners with the punitive segregation prisoners violated the protective custody prisoner's Eighth Amendment …
Court Of Appeals Overturns Prison Population Cap in DC Case by The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, concluded that the Supreme Court required them to vacate the District Court's order imposing a population limit at Occoquan Facility of the D.C. Lorton Correctional Complex prison generally and …
