Cases — July 10th through 16th, 2022

Contract ~ Noncompete ~ Trade Secret ~ Wrongful Termination General Water Technologies, Inc., v. Van Zweden (Utah Ct. App., July 14, 2022) (affirming jury determination that defendants were liable for misappropriation of trade secret design of water-filtration system, but reversing its determination of liability for misappropriation of secret pricing information) Discrimination ~ Retaliation *Drevaleva v. […]

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Cases—April 10th through 16th, 2022

DISCRIMINATION ~ RETALIATION *Glapion-Pressley v. City and County of Denver (10th Cir., April 14, 2022) (Glapion-Pressley failed to show error in the dismissal of her claims for failure to satisfy Title VII’s verification requirement before the EEOC) MISCELLANEOUS *Hurst v. McDonough (10th Cir., April 12, 2022) (affirming summary judgment in favor of McDonough on Hurst’s […]

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Cases — March 20th through 26th, 2022

Wages Butler v. Mediaport Entertainment, Inc. (Utah Ct. App., March 24, 2022) (affirming summary judgment dismissing Butler’s counterclaims against his former employer in their litigation over the validity of an employment agreement: Butler failed to show sufficient evidence of damages) *Cases marked with an asterisk are not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of law […]

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Cases—March 6th through 12th, 2022

Discrimination ~ Retaliation Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Roark-Whitten Hospitality 2, LP (10th Cir., March 10, 2022) (among other things, reversing compensatory damages award against Roark-Whitten on the EEOC’s claims against it for unlawful employment practices: the district court failed to explain why it ordered compensatory damages in the amount of only $35,000 despite the […]

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Cases — January 30th through February 5th, 2022

Contract~Noncompete~Trade Secret~Wrongful Termination Jensen Tech Services v. Labor Commission (Utah Ct. App., February 3, 2022) (setting aside Commission decision identifying respondent Herrera as Jensen’s employee for workers’ compensation purposes: the Commission failed to properly and completely apply the legal standards that govern employee-vs.-independent-contractor determinations; its right-to-control analysis, moreover, was faulty) Workers Compensation ~ Occupational Safety […]

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Cases — January 16th through 22nd, 2022

Contract ~ Noncompete ~ Trade Secret ~ Wrongful Termination Ostler v. Department of Public Safety (Utah Ct. App., January 21, 2022) (reversing denial of Ostler’s motion to amend his complaint after dismissal: Because both sides put forth reasonable interpretations of the contact provision at issue, the provision was, by definition, ambiguous. Thus, Ostler’s amended complaint […]

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Cases — January 2nd through 8th, 2022

Miscellaneous Schvaneveldt v. South Davis Metro Fire Service Area (Utah Ct. App., January 6, 2022) (granting South Davis’s motion for summary disposition and dismissing for lack of jurisdiction: astonishingly, no statute in the Utah Code confers jurisdiction on the courts over South Davis’s final decision to terminate Schvaneveldt—a serious gap in Utah statutory law: employees […]

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Cases — November 21st through 27th, 2021

Discrimination~Retaliation *Rohwedder v. Rocky Mountain Pies, LLC (10th Cir., November 23, 2021) (affirming dismissal with prejudice of Rohwedder’s employment-discrimination suit: although failure to exhaust administrative remedies is no longer a jurisdictional defect, it can be and was properly raised as an affirmative defense by Rocky Mountain; Rohwedder thus failed to state a claim under 12(b)(6); […]

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Cases — November 14th through 20th, 2021

Workers’ Compensation~Occupational Safety & Disease Boynton v. Kennecott Utah Copper, LLC (Utah, November 18, 2021) (reversing summary judgment in favor of Kennecott on Boynton’s take-home asbestos exposure claim in connection with his wife’s mesothelioma death: premises owners are liable to their employees‘ co-habitants for take-home asbestos exposure) Sysco v. Labor Commission (Utah Ct. App., November […]

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Cases — September 26th through October 2nd, 2021

Contract~Noncompete~Trade-Secret~Wrongful Termination *Williams v. Keller (10th Cir., October 1, 2021) (affirming dismissal of Williams’ malicious prosecution claim after his dismissal and later the indictment brought against him as a result of his alleged unlawful exportation of goods in connection with his employer’s F-16 foreign military sales program: the indictment was dismissed, but Williams failed to […]

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