Gerard Edmund Lynch
How Judge Lynch rules, drawn from 42 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Lynch decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
A public employee can plausibly allege protected citizen speech by showing that cooperation with an outside misconduct investigation fell outside the employee's ordinary job responsibilities. The practical inquiry is the employee's role when speaking, not merely whether the subject touched the workplace.
“Long’s complaint adequately alleged that when she cooperated with the Commission’s investigation she acted in her capacity as a private citizen, not pursuant to her work responsibilities as Court Clerk.”
An online-service immunity defense does not warrant dismissal when the complaint plausibly alleges that the defendant materially helped develop the unlawful content. Active participation in development is treated differently from neutral display of third-party material.
“Appellees are not entitled to Section 230 immunity at this stage because allegations in the Complaint support an inference that they ‘directly and materially contributed to’ the creation of delete tunes.”
Procedural preferences
He keeps pleading review and evidentiary review procedurally distinct. After a case has proceeded through discovery on a summary-judgment motion, converting that motion into a dismissal motion instead of applying the summary-judgment standard is reversible error.
“We conclude only that, for the reasons we articulated in Lugo, the district court committed procedural error when it converted defendants’ motion for summary judgment into a motion to dismiss.”
Before authorizing notice to potential members of an FLSA collective, a court must establish personal jurisdiction over the defendant for those workers' claims. Conditional certification does not postpone the claimant-by-claimant jurisdictional inquiry.
“a district court must ensure its personal jurisdiction over the defendant with regard to the claims of those to be notified.”
Cautions
A disagreement over an arbitral administrator's fee allocation ordinarily remains an intra-arbitration procedural issue. Section 4 does not provide general judicial review of how the chosen administrator manages a party's nonpayment.
“But a party’s decision not to abide by the procedural determinations of an arbitrator or arbitral body is ordinarily not a ‘failure, neglect, or refusal to arbitrate’ under § 4 – it is simply an intra-arbitration delinquency that arbitral bodies, like JAMS here, are empowered to manage.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Because no warrant issued here during the term of supervised release, under the plain terms of the governing statute the district court lacked power to revoke the supervised release term after its expiration ... The judgment of the district court revoking Janvier's supervised release is reversed. REVERSED.”
“Under these circumstances, Smith's appointment was improper from the outset, and he may not be required to continue serving as Barton's attorney. REVERSED AND REMANDED.”
“We hold only that defendants are not entitled to absolute prosecutorial immunity with respect to Simon's allegation that she was unlawfully detained for investigative interrogation. Accordingly, the judgment is VACATED and REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“Because the Generating Tax is a tax within the meaning of the TIA, and Vermont provides an adequate state court forum for Entergy's challenges to the validity of that tax, the TIA deprives the federal courts of jurisdiction to consider those challenges. The judgment of the district court dismissing Entergy's complaint for lack of jurisdiction is accordingly Affirmed.”
“Because we conclude that Crane's proffered evidence sufficed to assert a colorable federal defense at the removal stage, we reverse.”
“Because the whistleblower antiretaliation provision of the Dodd-Frank Act, 15 U.S.C. 78u-6(h), does not apply extraterritorially, and Liu has failed to plead facts constituting a domestic application of the antiretaliation provision, the district court correctly granted Siemens's motion to dismiss. The judgment of the district court is therefore AFFIRMED.”
“Accordingly, we DENY the motion for a preliminary injunction at this time ... and REMAND the matter for further proceedings in the district court consistent with this opinion and our prior opinion in this case.”
“For the reasons stated above, we VACATE the judgment dismissing the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and AFFIRM the denial of class certification. The case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that all of Gabinskaya's arguments are without merit, and we therefore AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“Swain's challenge to the district court's subject matter jurisdiction therefore fails, because under Distajo complete diversity is measured by reference to the parties to the petition to compel arbitration. ... Accordingly, the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over the petition to compel arbitration ... we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
“Because the Lugo factors weigh heavily in Obeya's favor, we hold that the BIA erred when it retroactively applied the Diaz-Lizarraga standard to his removal proceedings. ... We therefore GRANT Obeya's petition for review and REVERSE the order of the BIA. The matter is REMANDED to the BIA for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.”
“Because we find both arguments unavailing, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.”
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