Latest 3 Cases: In re: Point Center Financial, Inc. (Bankruptcy), Grodzitsky v. American Honda Motor Co. (Class Action), International Alliance of ...

A Constitutional Commitment to Access to Literacy: Bridging the Chasm Between Negative and Positive Rights

EVAN CAMINKER

Michigan Law dean emeritus Evan Caminker discusses a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in which that court held that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause secures schoolchildren a fundamental right to a “basic minimum education” that “can plausibly impart literacy.” Caminker—one of the co-counsel for the plaintiffs in that case—explains why the decision is so remarkable and why the supposed dichotomy between positive and negative rights is not as stark as canonically claimed.

Read More

In re: Point Center Financial, Inc.

Docket: 18-56398

Opinion Date: April 29, 2020

Judge: Marbley

Areas of Law: Bankruptcy

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment affirming the bankruptcy court's order granting a Chapter 7 trustee's motion to exercise management rights over Dillon and authorizing the trustee's assumption of the operating agreement with Dillon. Dillon is a limited liability company created to hold title to foreclosed property securing investments by private investors in Point Center Financial, and appellants are the former principal of Point Center Financial, the debtor, and members of Dillon. The panel held that the Harkey parties have standing to pursue this appeal; the bankruptcy court had subject matter jurisdiction to confirm the vote establishing the trustee as manager of Dillon and to hear the assumption motion; the bankruptcy court properly authorized the trustee to exercise management rights over Dillon after the majority of Dillon's members voted for the trustee to manage Dillon; the bankruptcy court properly extended its own deadline for assumption of the operating agreement pursuant to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9006(b)(1)(2); and the panel need not reach the question of equitable mootness because it affirmed the district court on other grounds.

Grodzitsky v. American Honda Motor Co.

Docket: 18-55417

Opinion Date: April 29, 2020

Judge: Rawlinson

Areas of Law: Class Action

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's order excluding plaintiff's expert opinion, and denying class certification in a design defect case concerning 2003–2008 Honda Pilot vehicles. Plaintiff's expert opined that the window regulators were not sufficiently durable when exposed to vibrations at certain frequencies. The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding plaintiff's expert opinion under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993); the district court properly held that the expert's opinion was unreliable due to his failure to utilize a workable standard supporting his design defect theory, the lack of supporting studies or testing to demonstrate a common design defect, and deficiencies in the expert's methodology; and, in the absence of the report, plaintiffs failed to demonstrate commonality, as the remaining evidence consisted solely of highly individualized complaints.

International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees v. National Labor Relations Board

Docket: 19-70651

Opinion Date: April 29, 2020

Judge: Hunsaker

Areas of Law: Labor & Employment Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the NLRB's decision that PSAV did not violate the Act by failing to produce documents responsive to Local 15's first document request. At issue in this collective bargaining case was whether PSAV effectively retracted its claim of inability to pay the union's wage and benefits proposals, thereby limiting its obligation to produce financial documents to the union, and whether PSAV failed to bargain in good faith. The panel held that substantial evidence supported the Board's findings that PSAV did retract its inability-to-pay claim. In this case, PSAV did not refer to financial nonviability after retracting its inability-to-pay claim, nor does the larger context of the parties' negotiations suggest that PSAV’s position was based on a lack of financial viability. The panel also held that PSAV's conduct both at and away from the bargaining table did not establish that it acted in bad faith in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.