Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner
How Judge Rovner rules, drawn from 43 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Rovner decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
At summary judgment, conflicting sworn accounts about a material event create a jury question even when one account appears more plausible. Credibility determinations cannot supply the factual premise for summary judgment or for qualified immunity resting on the same disputed facts.
“A court’s job on summary judgment is not to resolve swearing contests or decide which party’s facts are more likely true.”
A modest but concrete out-of-pocket expense can establish injury in fact. When a misleading communication causes a recipient to spend money and time correcting the problem, the small dollar amount does not defeat standing.
“even when an injury is slight, an ‘identifiable trifle’ suffices to establish standing”
Procedural preferences
She construes a broad catchall by reference to the specific statutes listed immediately before it. An insurer invoking a catchall exclusion should show that the asserted claim resembles those neighboring examples rather than relying on isolated breadth in the catchall's wording.
“what gives us the best indication of what types of ‘recording’ and ‘distribution’ the catchall provision was meant to capture are the three statutes identified immediately prior to the catchall”
Cautions
A pay-discrimination comparator requires evidence of the comparator's actual compensation. Arguments about similar work or qualifications cannot overcome the absence of proof that a pay disparity existed.
“The failure to provide evidence of White’s compensation alone prevents a finding of disparate pay as to White.”
An objection to a vocational expert's job-number methodology must be raised before the administrative law judge. Focusing cross-examination on ability to perform the jobs while leaving the estimate's sources and methods unchallenged forfeits the reliability objection.
“Schmitz thus forfeited any objection to the reliability of Lott’s job-number estimates.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“As these conflicting accounts make clear, there are material disputes of fact that make resolution of this case on summary judgment inappropriate. We therefore reverse and remand to the district court for the appropriate fact finder to determine which version of the facts might prevail.”
“Given the current data and the availability of safe and effective vaccines, it could not. If circumstances change, Barbee is free to file a new motion. AFFIRMED.”
“But Mack adequately alleged an injury in fact, and supported her allegations with evidence that the defendants' violation of the statute caused her to suffer monetary damages, albeit of modest size. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings.”
“Because the facts here support the judge's conclusion that a minor-role reduction was not warranted, we AFFIRM.”
“Because the defendant has been released from custody without further supervision and faces no collateral consequences of the revocation of supervised release, this appeal is DISMISSED as moot.”
“We vacate and remand for further proceedings. We conclude that the Access or Disclosure Exclusion, found only in the 2016 and 2017 policies issued to Mullins, bars coverage for BIPA claims, but the Statutory Violation Exclusion, found in all three of the policies, does not.”
“Accordingly, the court applied the correct law and properly granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants. The decision of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“We therefore conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Aerotek to comply with the subpoena. The judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment.”
“Because Eaton lacks any evidence that the decision-makers knew that she had engaged in protected activity, she has failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact in support of causation for her retaliation claim. The district court correctly granted summary judgment in favor of Findorff. AFFIRMED.”
“Therefore, the district court properly granted summary judgment for the defendants. The decision of the district court is AFFIRMED.”
“The ALJ’s decision is supported by substantial evidence. We therefore AFFIRM the district court’s judgment.”
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