8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Digest: July 25, 2019.

Byline: Minnesota Lawyer

CIVIL OPINIONS

Appellate Practice

Subject-Matter Jurisdiction; Remand Order

Where appellant challenged a District Court order remanding a personal-injury case to state court based on lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, the appellate court cannot review the merits of the order where the remand order was based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction, so the appeal is dismissed. Appeal is dismissed.

18-2841 Vasseur v. Sowell, appealed from the Western District of Missouri, Gruender, J.

Bankruptcy

Dischargeability of Claims; Default Judgment; Preclusive Effect

Where creditors challenged an order directing the entry of summary judgment in favor of the debtors on a motion to determine the dischargeability of their claims, the judgment is affirmed because the creditors abandoned the claim by withdrawing their motion for partial summary judgment and submitting the matter to the bankruptcy court on an agreed record without renewing the claim that the state court judgment should be given preclusive effect. Judgment is affirmed.

18-6023 Abel v. Queen, appealed from U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Nail, J.

Civil Practice

ERISA; Failure to State Claim; Emergency Air Transport

Where an emergency air-transport company brought claims against an insurer for allegedly inadequate reimbursements for air-ambulance services provided to the insurer's plan members, the plaintiff did not have the right to seek equitable relief under ERISA, and the judgment is affirmed because the District Court did not err in finding that the conduct was not actionable because it fell within the state act's safe harbor. Judgment is affirmed.

18-2264 Air Evac EMS Inc. v. USAble Mutual Insurance Company, appealed from the Eastern District of Arkansas, Melloy, J.

Civil Rights

42 U.S.C. 1983; Racially Motivated Arrest and Prosecution; Statute of Limitations

Plaintiffs filed suit against defendants, alleging that plaintiffs' arrest on charges of conspiracy and witness-tampering following a domestic disturbance was racially motivated in violation of the First, Sixth, Eighth, and 14thAmendments. The District Court dismissed plaintiffs' 42 U.S.C. 1983 claims, finding them time-barred and concluding plaintiffs had failed to state a claim.

Where plaintiffs' complaint consisted of non-specific conclusory allegations against defendants as a group and failed to support a plausible claim that any defendant deprived plaintiffs of their constitutional rights, the District Court properly dismissed the complaint. Judgment is affirmed.

18-2524 Perez v. Doe, appealed from the District of Nebraska Erickson, J.

Civil Rights

Fatal Police Shooting; Unreasonable Force; Qualified Immunity

Plaintiffs, the administrators of decedent's estate, filed suit against a police officer who shot and killed the decedent while pursuing him as a suspect. Plaintiff alleged the officer violated decedent's constitutional rights by using unreasonable force. The District Court granted summary judgment after ruling the officer's actions were objectively reasonable.

Where decedent confronted the officer with a knife and refused repeated commands to drop it, the officer's decision to open fire could fall within the bounds of reasonableness and therefore did not violate a clearly established right, entitling the officer to qualified immunity. Judgment is affirmed.

18-1126 Swearingen v. Judd, appealed from the Southern District of Iowa, Colloton, J.

Civil Rights

Qualified Immunity; Disputed Issues; Jurisdiction

Where a trooper who shot and killed a man while responding to a domestic-disturbance call challenged the denial of qualified immunity, the appeal turned on disputed issues of fact as to what occurred before the shooting, so the appellate court lacked jurisdiction, and the appeal is dismissed. Dismissed.

17-3358 Thompson v. Dill appealed from the Western District of Missouri, Grasz J.

Employer Employee

ADA; Failure to Accommodate; Disparate Treatment

Plaintiff requested that defendant, his employer, accommodate his chronic back...