Justia U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Egg Harbor Township authorized construction of a Community Center and, as required by N.J.S. 52:38-3 adopted a project labor agreement (PLA). All contractors working on the project were required to sign the PLA, which contained a “supremacy provision,” providing that the PLA, with the local Collective Bargaining Agreements, superseded any national agreement, local agreement or other collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Sambe, the general contractor, signed the PLA. Sambe subcontracted roofing work to Donnelly, which signed the PLA and agreed that any party it selected to perform work would also be required to sign the PLA. Donnelly selected the Carpenters Union to perform the work, even though it was not a signatory to the PLA, apparently because the two were parties to a CBA. Sheet Metal Workers protested. The NLRB assigned the work to Carpenters and later concluded that Sheet Metal violated the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. 185, by maintaining a section 301 suit against Donnelly and Sambe following that decision. In the parallel litigation district court granted summary judgment on Sheet Metal’s breach of contract claim. The Third Circuit granted the NLRB’s petition for enforcement of its order; vacated the breach of contract judgment against Donnelly and Sambe; and remanded the with directions to enter judgment in favor of Donnelly and to conduct further proceedings on the claim against Sambe. View "Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Ass'n v. E.P. Donnelly, Inc." on Justia Law

In 2011, Shulman and his companies, Kisano and Trasteco, filed suit in the Western District of Pennsylvania against Lemster and his company, Steel Equipment, claiming violations of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, intentional interference with contract, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty. Shulman added his business partner, Sapir, and certain of his entities as defendants, with claims of fraud. A magistrate recommended that the action be dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds, reasoning that Israel would be the more appropriate forum and the court dismissed “on the understanding that the case may be refiled in Israel and that the defendants waived certain statute of limitations defenses.” The Third Circuit affirmed, holding that the district court properly considered public interest factors and the “oppressiveness and vexation” standard. View "Kisano Trade & Inv. Ltd. v. Lemster" on Justia Law

The multinational telecommunications firm Nortel declared bankruptcy in 2009 and various debtors comprising the Nortel brand auctioned their business lines and intellectual property, raising $7.5 billion. The debtors subsequently disputed whether they had agreed to allocate the auction funds through arbitration. The Bankruptcy Court held that they had not agreed to arbitrate their disputes about allocation. The Third Circuit affirmed: the contract at issue does not reflect the debtors’ intent to arbitrate disputes about the auction funds. The court declined to consider the Joint Administrators’ related challenge to the Bankruptcy Court’s decision to allocate the contested funds, noting that the Bankruptcy Court has not yet held the hearing to allocate the funds, so that review would be premature. View "In Re: Nortel Networks, Inc." on Justia Law

U.S. Marshals discovered that Gillette had not registered as a sex offender and was living in St. Croix with a teenage boy. They arrested him for violation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, 42 U.S.C. 16901, and failure to register as a sex offender within 10 days of establishing residency in a state other than the state within which he was convicted, in violation of the Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, 42 U.S.C. 14072(g)(3) (repealed 2009). M.B., a 15-year-old boy, stated that he had been living with Gillette since he was about 12, and that they had been sexually involved. Agents learned that Gillette had also victimized M.B.’s younger cousin, A.A. The district court dismissed the federal counts for lack of evidence of interstate travel by Gillette after SORNA’s effective date and found that Gillette’s failure to register after relocating did not violate the Wetterling Act because the Virgin Islands is not a “State” as contemplated by that law. Gillette was convicted on local charges and sentenced to 155 years. The Third Circuit affirmed the convictions: under these circumstances, the district court retained concurrent jurisdiction over the local charges after the federal charges were dismissed. View "United States v. Gillette" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs are among 24,000 New Jersey merchants who entered into contracts for credit or debit point of sales terminals with Defendants and filed a class action, alleging that Defendants charged small business owners unconscionable and exorbitant fees for leasing terminals and added extra costs not included in the contracts. On July 31, 2013, the district court denied class certification. On August 19, 2013, Plaintiffs sought permission to appeal the denial pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), conceding that the Rule 23(f) petition was filed beyond the 14 day deadline. The Third Circuit dismissed, stating that the time to file a Rule 23(f) petition runs from entry of the order, not service of a document. Counsel’s mistake or ignorance of the rules does not constitute excusable neglect; Fed. R. App. P. 26(b)(1) states that a court cannot extend the time for filing a petition for permission to appeal. The court also noted that no motion for reconsideration was filed in the district court. View "Eastman v. First Data Corp." on Justia Law

In Chapter 11 liquidation of KB Toys Inc. and affiliated entities, the Residual Trustee of the KBTI Trust sought to disallow certain trade claims that ASM (a company in the business of purchasing bankruptcy claims) obtained from creditors. Under 11 U.S.C. 502(d) a claim can be disallowed if a claimant receives property that is avoidable or recoverable by the bankruptcy estate. The Bankruptcy Court disallowed the claims, concluding that a claims purchaser holding a trade claim is subject to the same 502(d) challenge as the original claimant. ASM was on “constructive notice” of potential preference actions, could have discovered the potential for disallowance with “very little due diligence,” and was not entitled to protection as a “good faith” purchaser. The district court and Third Circuit affirmed, holding that a trade claim that is subject to disallowance under502(d) in the hands of the original claimant is similarly disallowable in the hands of a subsequent transferee. View "In re: KB Toys Inc." on Justia Law

Rahman filed a securities class action against KB, an importer of infant furniture and products, and individuals, alleging violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5 and (2) and Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. The complaint alleged that defendants misled investors by artificially inflating KB’s stock price by issuing deceptive public financial reports and press releases dealing with compliance with customs laws and overall financial performance. A second amended complaint specified failure to disclose product recalls, safety violations, and illegal staffing practices. The district court dismissed for failure to satisfy the heightened scienter pleading standard required by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, 15 U.S.C. 78u-4(b)(2). The Third Circuit affirmed. View "Rahman v. Kid Brands, Inc." on Justia Law

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), states that provide special education funds are eligible for federal funds to implement state-wide special education programs that guarantee a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to eligible disabled children, 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(1)(A). Pennsylvania enacted 24 P.S. 25-2509.5, its special education funding formula, under which each school district receives a base supplement, calculated by apportioning the total amount of base supplement money available among all districts based on the average daily membership of the district from the prior year under the assumption that 16% of students in each district are disabled. Plaintiffs, disabled students who attend schools in districts with a 17% or greater enrollment of special needs students and with a market value/personal income ratio of .65 or greater, claimed that Pennsylvania’s method violates IDEA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act The district court found that the formula did not deprive the class of a FAPE as required by the IDEA and did not discriminate in violation of either the ADA or RA. The Third Circuit affirmed, noting that there was no evidence that any class member was deprived of a service available to nonclass members. View "CG v. PA Dep't of Educ." on Justia Law

Blair participated in the sale of guns. After his arrest, he pled guilty as a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). A presentence report recommended that Blair be sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). Blair had pled guilty in Pennsylvania in 1987, to third-degree robbery in the form of “physically tak[ing] or remov[ing] property from the person of another by force however slight,” and to armed burglary. In 1991, he pled guilty to four counts of first-degree robbery. The 1991 charging documents state that, for each count, the “[f]elony committed or threatened” was “[a]ggravated [a]ssault.” The PSR recommended that each of the 1991 counts be treated as a separate criminal episode. Blair argued that his 1987 conviction was not for the generic offense of burglary required under ACCA; that “robbery by force however slight” is not a violent felony under ACCA; and that his 1991 convictions qualified as, at most, one violent felony because the charging documents did not conclusively establish that the crimes were “committed on occasions different from one another.” The district court determined that his 1987 convictions were for violent felonies and that the 1991 convictions “at a minimum” established three separate violent felonies and sentenced Blair to 180 months. The Third Circuit affirmed. View "United States v. Blair" on Justia Law

Since September 11, 2001, efforts to restructure the FBI as the “domestic equivalent” of the Central Intelligence Agency have included revising internal FBI guidelines. The Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), released by the Attorney General in 2008, authorizes FBI agents to engage in limited racial and ethnic profiling when conducting proactive assessments of criminal and terrorist threats and allows the FBI to collect and map data related to “[f]ocused behavioral characteristics reasonably believed to be associated with a particular criminal or terrorist element of an ethnic community.” The ACLU launched an initiative entitled “Mapping the FBI,” including a series of coordinated FOIA requests (28 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)(A)) seeking records related to the FBI’s use of ethnic and racial data. One request targeted six FBI field offices in New Jersey and sought information concerning implementation of authority to collect information and map racial and ethnic demographics and behaviors in local communities. The FBI identified 782 pages of potentially responsive records, eventually released 312 pages (some of which were partially redacted), withheld 186 pages as duplicative, and withheld 284 pages as exempt from disclosure. The ACLU sought an injunction for release of the withheld records. The district court ruled in favor of the FBI. The Third Circuit affirmed, rejecting a challenge to the in camera procedure employed for determining whether reliance on FOIA exclusion provision was justified.View "Am. Civil Liberties Union v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation" on Justia Law