Free Nebraska Supreme Court case summaries from Justia.
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Nebraska Supreme Court Opinions | Goes v. Vogler | Citation: 304 Neb. 848 Opinion Date: January 17, 2020 Judge: Lindsey Miller-Lerman Areas of Law: Construction Law, Contracts | The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that Defendants owed damages to their general contractor and two of its subcontractors (collectively, Plaintiffs) for the construction of a residential home, holding that judgment was correctly entered for Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs filed construction liens and brought contract suits claiming unpaid balances for construction services rendered. The district court determined that the contract was a cost-plus agreement, that defects in workmanship were punch list items and not a breach by the general contractor, and that Defendants committed the first material breach of contract and owed damages to Plaintiffs. Defendants appealed, arguing that the contract was a fixed-price contract breached by the general contractor and that, even under a cost-plus contract, the general contractor breached a fiduciary duty to provide a full account for its bills when it requested draw payments. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the district court did not err when it found that the construction contract was a cost-plus contract and that Defendants breached that contract when they failed to pay draws required under the contract; and (2) the general contractor met its obligations under the contract. | | State v. Case | Citation: 304 Neb. 829 Opinion Date: January 17, 2020 Judge: Lindsey Miller-Lerman Areas of Law: Criminal Law | The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for assault by a confined person, holding that the district court did not err in its challenged evidentiary rulings and that there was sufficient evidence to support Defendant's conviction. On appeal, Defendant challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction and asserted that the district court erred when it refused his proposed self-defense instruction and when it admitted a recording of a telephone call he made from jail. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the evidence didn't support a self-defense instruction, and therefore, the district court did not err when it refused the instruction proposed by Defendant; (2) the district court did not err when it admitted the recording of the telephone call into evidence; and (3) the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant's conviction. | | Eddy v. Builders Supply Co. | Citation: 304 Neb. 804 Opinion Date: January 17, 2020 Judge: Funke Areas of Law: Labor & Employment Law, Personal Injury | The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Nebraska Workers' Compensation Court dismissing Plaintiff's petition alleging that she had sustained a severe and permanent brain injury as a result of an accident with a nail gun while she was at work for Builders Supply Company, Inc., holding that the compensation court did not err in concluding that Plaintiff had been willfully negligent. The workers' compensation court dismissed Plaintiff's petition upon finding that she intentionally shot herself in the head with the nail gun. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the compensation court (1) did not abuse its discretion in excluding the testimony of Plaintiff's expert witness as a discovery sanction; (2) did not abuse its discretion in declining to grant Plaintiff a second continuance; and (3) did not err in finding that Plaintiff acted with willful negligence. | | Drought v. Marsh | Citation: 304 Neb. 860 Opinion Date: January 17, 2020 Judge: William B. Cassel Areas of Law: Labor & Employment Law | The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of Employer and dismissing two former employees' complaint seeking paid time off (PTO) compensation under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act (Wage Act), holding that the employees did not meet the written employment agreement's stated conditions to earn PTO. As an affirmative defense to Employees' claims, Employer argued that Employees' claims were barred by the terms of the agreement. Specifically, Employer argued that because Employees did not have billable hours and did not bill hours to a client no PTO accrued under the agreement. The district court sustained Employer's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that because Employees did not bill to clients more than forty hours of work per week Employees did not earn PTO under the terms of the employment agreement. | |
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