John Gilpin Heyburn II

United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky district Deceased · served 1992–2015 Appointed by George H. W. Bush (Republican) 22 signed orders read

Judge Heyburn no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Heyburn decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Heyburn treated a benefits plan's wording as decisive and refused to infer administrator discretion from ambiguous drafting.

“Defendant has the opportunity and obligation to make such important provisions of its benefit plan clearly understandable.”

Heyburn declined summary judgment where the factual record did not conclusively establish residence, notice, or misrepresentation.

“The record is replete with serious disputes about what exactly happened at the property from March 2004 until the fire in March 2005.”

Procedural preferences

Heyburn separated federal defenses from federal jurisdiction and remanded state claims that did not require interpretation of a collective-bargaining agreement.

“For all these reasons, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs purely state law claims do not require interpretation of any agreement between INTEC and Defendant and, therefore, § 301 of LMRA does not preempt those claims.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Owners Insurance v. State Auto Property & Casualty Co.
· 2013-10-08
Summary judgment (Owners Insurance) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment is SUSTAINED and State Auto shall reimburse Owners Insurance a pro-rata share of the settlement in the amount of $129,500.”

Sims v. Marriott International, Inc.
· 2001-03-26
Summary judgment (Marriott) Denied

“Therefore, this Court will deny Defendant’s motion for summary judgment.”

Woodrum v. Lane Bryant the Ltd.
· 1997-05-20
Motions to remand (employee) Denied

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiffs motion to remand this action to state court is DENIED.”

Underhill v. Caudill
· 2001-01-19
Summary judgment (employer) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is SUSTAINED and Plaintiffs complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Lynch v. McFarland
· 1995-08-04
Motions to dismiss (boat operator) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Plaintiff’s cause of action for the tort of outrage is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Motion to release registry funds (injured plaintiff) Denied

“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiffs motion to pay over monies deposited in the Court’s registry is DENIED.”

Wilson v. Webb
· 1994-12-01
Motions to dismiss (school employee) Denied

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant Luttrell’s motion to dismiss is DENIED.”

Bishop v. Atmos Energy Corp.
· 1995-05-04
Motions to dismiss (third-party defendant) Granted

“Consequently, for all the reasons stated, Stanley Jones Corporation is entitled to assert its statute of limitations defense, which results in the dismissal of the Leonards’ clams against it.”

Fleming v. United States Postal Service
· 1998-02-23
Motions to dismiss (United States) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants’ motion to dismiss is SUSTAINED and Plaintiffs complaint is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.”

Saneii v. Robards
· 2001-05-24
Motions to dismiss (home sellers) Granted

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Kulkarni v. Metropolitan Life Insurance
· 2001-07-11
Summary judgment (plan administrator and insurer) Granted in part

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants’ motions are DENIED in part and SUSTAINED in part.”

Rodgers v. Apple South, Inc.
· 1999-02-24
Summary judgment (employer) Denied

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to Plaintiffs 42 U.S.C. § 1981 claims is DENIED.”

Yeager v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance
· 1994-05-11
Summary judgment (disability insurer) Denied

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendant’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The sampled historical matters included contract, foreclosure, forfeiture, and public-benefits disputes. The sampled records did not contain usable motion timelines.

A historical record

Judge Heyburn no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.