Articles

7th Circuit affirms ruling for employer on discrimination claims

Indiana’s Southern District Court properly granted summary judgment to a black man on a discrimination case against his former employer after finding the man failed to prove his termination was based on discriminatory practices, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

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District court to reconsider convicted robber’s sentence

A man convicted in federal court of two armed robberies will get a chance at a more lenient sentence after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent warranted review of the sentence previously imposed on the man.

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Year End Review - Indiana Tech Law School

Top 10 legal stories of 2017 focus on law schools, court changes

The closing of 4-year-old Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne, and the revelation that 138-year-old Valparaiso University Law School faced an uncertain future, made law school troubles the top legal news story of 2017, as determined by the staff of Indiana Lawyer. Changes on the federal and state bench also were among the year’s top stories.

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7th Circuit upholds denial of environmental insurance claim

A northern Indiana couple cannot seek insurance coverage for pre-existing environmental pollution they discovered on their businesses’ property because the language of their insurance policy unambiguously exempts coverage for known or unknown property damage occurring before their policy began, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

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7th Circuit upholds qualified immunity

The Department of Correction’s religious director was entitled to qualified immunity on a complaint alleging he violated two Jewish plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights by failing to delay their transfer to a facility that did not offer Jewish group worship services, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday.

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7th Circuit upholds Armed Career Criminal Act sentence

An Indiana man sentenced to 15 years under the Armed Criminal Career Act has lost his appeal of his sentence after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals determined he met the requirements of three prior violent offenses to warrant the Act’s mandatory 15-year minimum.

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7th Circuit affirms ruling for laid off tenured teacher

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down the retroactive application of an Indiana law that removed job security protections for tenured teachers, finding the application to teachers who were tenured before the law took effect is a substantial impairment to their constitutional contractual rights.

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Ivy Tech entering mediation in Title VII case

The case against Ivy Tech Community College which convinced the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals that Title VII protections do include discrimination based on sexual orientation now appears to be headed toward mediation.

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COA reverses directed verdict in OB-GYN’s favor

A northern Indiana trial court must revisit the issue of whether a doctor adequately informed his patient of the risks associated with having a natural birth after the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a grant of a directed verdict in the doctor’s favor on the issue of informed consent.

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Magnus-Stinson issues warning to parties filing frivolous motions

Indiana Southern District Chief Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson has issued a stern warning to any defendants considering filing an affirmative defense of failure to exhaust administrative remedies under the Prison Litigation Reform Act – provide evidence to support that claim or abandon the defense entirely.

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