Cases — March 4th through 10th, 2018

Discrimination/Retaliation/Wrongful TerminationKnopf v. Williams (10th Cir., March 5, 2018) (reversing summary judgment denying Mayor Williams qualified immunity on Knopf’s protected-speech retaliation claim: Knopf did not carry his burden to show violation of an established constitutional right:  his speech was not protected private speech)*Sidlo v. MillerCoors, LLC (10th Cir., March 7, 2018) (affirming summary judgment for […]

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Cases — March 12th through 18th

Labor Unions*Society of Prof’l Eng’g Employees in Aerospace v. Spirit Aerosystems, Inc. (10th Cir., 15 March 2017) (reversing summary judgment in favor of Spirit Aerosystems:  an individual employee’s grievance (challenging company-wide policy) was in fact subject to arbitration under the parties’ collective bargaining agreement)Workers Compensation/Occupational Safety and Disease *Williams v. Berryhill (10th Cir., March 17, 2017) (reversing Commissioner denial […]

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Cases — October 16th through 22nd

Workers Compensation/Occupational Safety and Disease *Razo v. Colvin (10th Cir., October 21, 2016) (affirming denial of disability benefits and supplemental income because the ALJ properly addressed Razo’s impairments and the opinions of the treating physician and the vocational expert) *Shelton v. Colvin (10th Cir., October 18, 2016) (affirming denial of disability benefits and supplemental income: […]

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Cases — June 12th through 18th

Discrimination/Retaliation *Ghogomu v. Delta Airlines (10th Cir., June 16, 2016) (affirming summary judgment in favor of Delta Airlines on Ghogomu’s Title VII and state-law claims) Labor Unions*United Steel Union No. 348 v. Magellan Midstream Holdings (10th Cir., June 16, 2016) (affirming summary judgment in favor of the Union concluding that agreement requiring that certain positions […]

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Cases — January 3rd through 9th

Discrimination / Retaliation*Lewis v. Twenty-First Century Bean Processing (10th Cir., January 5, 2016) (affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant on plaintiff’s age- and race-discrimination claims)WagesNesbitt v. FCNH, Inc. (10th Cir., January 5, 2016) (affirming the district court’s order denying defendant FCNH’s motion to stay the proceedings and to compel arbitration)Workers’ Compensation*Lynn v. Colvin (10th Cir., January […]

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Cases — May 24th through 30th

Contract/Noncompete Anderson v. Larry H. Miller Communications (Utah Ct. App., May 29, 2015) (affirming summary judgment in favor of Larry H. Miller based upon the absence of a contract)    Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc,, v. Cahill (10th Cir., May 26, 2015) (affirming lower court’s lifting stay pending arbitration and resuming litigation because defendant failed to […]

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Cases — January 18th through 24th

Workers Compensation/Occupational Safety and Disease Carver v. Colvin (10th Cir., January 20, 2015) (affirming denial of supplemental security income) Contract/Noncompete/Trade Secret/Wrongful Termination Velez v. DeBry & Associates (Utah Ct. App., January 23, 2015) (affirming the lower court’s finding that res judicata barred Velez from litigating his claim in district court because he failed to bring […]

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Cases — December 7th through 18th

Defamation Singer v. Steidley (10th Cir., December 18, 2014) (dismissing for lack of jurisdiction questions of defamation as well as qualified and absolute immunity) Discrimination Hartigan v. Utah Transit Authority (10th Cir., December 10, 2014) (upholding summary judgement in favor of the UTA on Hartigan’s Title VII claims for gender discrimination and retaliation) Workers’ Compensation […]

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Arbitration Agreement Enforceable Against Employee Despite Illegality of Provision

In Kepas v. eBay, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, with one judge dissenting, affirmed a district court’s decision to compel an employee to arbitrate a dispute.  Applying California law, the Court reasoned that, although the arbitration agreement impermissably allowed the arbitration costs to be shifted to Kepas and the agreement was procedurally unconscionable, the defects were […]

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Union Arbitration Award Successfully Vacated.

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appellate court having jurisidiction over Utah, affirmed a district court’s vacation of an arbitrator’s award in a union dispute. While acknowledging that “judicial review of arbitral decisions is among the narrowest known to law,” the Court in Air Methods Corporation v. Office and Professionl Employees International Union […]

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