In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Whataburger hires Holland & Knight to defend a patent infringement lawsuit in East Texas, and DLA Piper turns to a team from Vinson & Elkins to defend it in a legal malpractice lawsuit in Harris County over its alleged employment of a “fake lawyer.”
The Litigation Roundup is a weekly feature highlighting the work Texas lawyers are doing inside and outside the state. Have a development we should include next week? Please let us know at tlblitigation@texaslawbook.net.
Dallas County District Court
Amazon Named in Warehouse Worker’s Suit Alleging Abduction, Sexual Assault
Amazon.com Services has been sued by the family of a developmentally disabled warehouse worker who alleges her supervisor abducted and sexually assaulted her after she showed up for work in August 2023.
Safety supervisor Mario Carranza is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit Ashton Williams’ father filed on her behalf Dec. 11.
According to the lawsuit, Williams was hired by Amazon in February 2021 as part of the company’s collaboration with the Texas Workforce Commission’s assisted employment program for working adults with disabilities.
Williams was assigned to work at a warehouse in Irving, Texas, but did not have a dedicated workstation or supervisor, and instead was trained to “follow the directions of whomever presented themselves as the supervisor for the day,” according to the lawsuit. Carranza was often Williams’ supervisor.
Before she clocked in for work Aug. 25, 2023, Carranza allegedly told her they were going on a “trip” that day and proceeded to take her to a nearby restaurant for tacos before checking into a Motel 6 where the lawsuit alleges the sexual assault occurred.
Williams, who was dropped off and picked up by her father every day, told him what happened and he reported the incident to police.
The family criticizes Amazon’s “human indecency and corporate apathy” throughout the 15-page lawsuit, alleging the company was uncooperative with Williams’ father, Louis Williams, when he attempted to report the assault and was uncooperative with Irving police officers who investigated, as well.
“Specifically, Detective Curtis informed Louis that Carranza had been arrested at the Amazon warehouse, but that Amazon was uncooperative in aiding with the execution of the arrest warrant, to the point that the arresting officer had to threaten to ‘batter down the warehouse doors’ before Amazon allowed the officers to enter and arrest Carranza,” the lawsuit alleges.
“Upon information and belief, Amazon has yet to take any corrective action against Carranza or even conduct an investigation. Instead, even after Carranza was arrested on Amazon’s premises for assaulting another of its employees, Amazon continued to schedule Carranza for his regular shifts.”
The lawsuit also alleges Carranza had been the subject of other complaints from female coworkers prior to the alleged sexual assault of Williams.
The case has been assigned to Dallas County District Judge Martin Hoffman.
Williams is represented by Jennifer J. Spencer and James E. Hunnicutt of Jackson Spencer Law in Addison.
Counsel for the defendants had not filed an appearance as of Monday.
The case number is DC-24-21597.
Harris County District Court
DLA Piper Hires V&E to Defend Malpractice Lawsuit
About a month after the law firm was accused of legal malpractice for allowing a “fake lawyer” to represent the firm and give legal advice to two clients, DLA Piper has hired Vinson & Elkins to defend it in the litigation brought by Noble Generation and Caelum Capital.
Project development company Noble and its finance partner Caelum, both based in Harris County, filed suit Nov. 15 against DLA Piper LLP (US) and DLA Piper (Argentina) taking aim at the conduct of “fake lawyer” Juan Manuel Barros, who the plaintiffs say has no law license.
In its answer filed Dec. 16, DLA Piper told the court it “generally denies all of the allegations” in the petition.
Noble and Caelum hired Barros in September 2021 to “assist them with multiple energy projects in Argentina,” according to the lawsuit, including “multimillion-dollar solar projects.” Barros was identified on the firm’s website as a “partner to the energy department,” according to the lawsuit.
Noble and Caelum allege that in October 2022, Barros informed them he was leaving DLA and they signed a new engagement letter with him in February 2023 but “never received any disengagement agreement or status report from DLA itself.”
“Unfortunately, because Barros was not a real attorney, and wholly unqualified, the transactions failed, either due to incompetence or because Barros usurped those opportunities for his own,” the suit alleges. “To add insult and further injury, when the last deal cratered and the Texas clients informed Barros they would be exiting the country, Barros misappropriated their funds and dropped communication.”
Barros, who the suit alleges was practicing without a law license, allegedly misappropriated the funds in January 2024.
The case has been assigned to Harris County District Court Judge Kristen Brauchle Hawkins
DLA Piper is represented by George M. Kryder, Jeremy M. Reichman, Emalee H. LaFuze and Patrick W. Mizell of Vinson & Elkins.
Noble Generation and Caelum Capital are represented by Lance Kassab, David Kassab and Catherine Holte of The Kassab Law Firm.
The case number is 2024-80708.
James Harden’s Restaurant Named in Suit over Fatal Drunken Driving Crash
The family of an NFL cornerback who was killed in a multifatality car crash last year has intervened in a lawsuit alleging staff at a Houston restaurant owned by James Harden overserved the driver who caused the November 2023 incident.
13 Strikes, which does business as Thirteen by James Harden, was named as a defendant in the lawsuit alongside Team Harden. The lawsuit was filed Dec. 6 by the family of Taylar Jackson, a passenger who was killed when the car she was in was T-boned by an allegedly intoxicated Christian Daniel Herrera after he ran a red light.
Herrera was one of seven people killed in the crash.
The family of former NFL cornerback Derek “DJ” Hayden, who was also killed in the crash, intervened in the lawsuit on Friday. Hayden was a native of Missouri City and a standout at the University of Houston, earning first team all-conference honors. He was selected as the 12th overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft by the then-Oakland Raiders.
The case has been assigned to Harris County District Judge Tamika Craft-Demming.
The Jackson family is represented by Richard “Trey” Barton III of Houston. The Hayden family is represented by Chris Lindstrom and T. Micah Dortch of Dortch Lindstrom Livingston Law Group.
Counsel information for the defendants was not available Monday.
The case number is 2024-85332.
Eastern District of Texas
Whataburger Taps Holland & Knight to Defend Patent Suit
Whataburger has hired Holland & Knight to defend it against claims that the map on its mobile app infringes three patents held by Nearby Systems.
Kristopher L. Reed of Holland & Knight in Dallas filed his appearance in the case Friday. Whataburger has until Jan. 31 to file an answer in the suit.
Austin-based Nearby Systems filed suit Nov. 20, the same day it filed a similar lawsuit in the same court against Truist Financial Corporation. It alleges the map on Whataburger’s app, which allows users to locate and order from the restaurant of their choice, infringes three patents covering technology that allows for “mashing mapping content displayed on mobile devices.”
Court records show Nearby Systems has filed many patent infringement suits in the Eastern District of Texas, including against Dollar General, Cinemark, Rent-A-Center, Jason’s Deli and CVS Health.
The case has been assigned to Chief U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap.
Nearby Systems is represented by Carey Rozier, James McDonough III and Jonathan Hardt of Rozier Hardt McDonough.
The case number is 2:24-cv-00954.
Central District of California
FTC Accuses Southern Glazer’s of Price Discrimination
On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit accusing Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the country’s largest coast-to-coast distributor of wine and liquor, of breaking federal law by selling its products to mom and pop liquor stores at prices higher than those enjoyed by large, chain retailers.
Southern Glazer’s is accused of violating the Robinson-Patman Act with its “anticompetitive and unlawful price discrimination” since at least 2018. The Act makes it illegal to harm competition via price discrimination.
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan issued a statement saying the conduct alleged here results in citizens having fewer choices and paying higher prices.
“The law says that businesses of all sizes should be able to compete on a level playing field,” she said. “Enforcers have ignored this mandate from Congress for decades, but the FTC’s action today will help protect fair competition, lower prices, and restore the rule of law.”
The lawsuit specifies what percentage more Southern Glazer’s allegedly charges independent retailers for wine and spirits, but that information is redacted.
Three FTC commissioners voted to file the complaint, which seeks a nationwide permanent injunction, while two dissented. Some of the large stores that have allegedly benefitted from Southern Glazer’s pricing structure include Total Wine & More, Costco and Kroger.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter.
The FTC is represented by its own Christina J. Brown and John D. Jacobs.
Southern Glazer’s counsel had not filed an appearance as of Monday.
The case number is 8:24-cv-02684.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Omni Hotels Gets New Trial in $25M Sex Discrimination Case
A three-judge panel on Monday agreed Omni Hotels Management is entitled to a new trial because the trial judge erred in handling the verdict form where a jury awarded $25 million in damages on a Title VII claim.
In the underlying case, a jury in March 2023 found that Sarah Lindsley, who worked at hotels in Corpus Christi and Tucson, Arizona, had alleged she was paid less than the prior director of food and beverage, who was male, and that she was only paid less because of her sex. She alleged Omni had violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII.
Initially, the jury answered special interrogatories on the first verdict form it was given indicating Omni wasn’t liable under either the EPA or Title VII but that the hotel owed more than $25 million in Title VII damages. U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr, who presided over the trial, found those answers “internally inconsistent,” amended the verdict form for clarity and told the jury to continue deliberating, according to the opinion.
“After renewed deliberation, the jury found for Lindsley on her Title VII claim only, again awarding her over $25 million in Title VII damages,” and Judge Starr entered judgment accordingly.
Omni had argued the jury’s answers required the court to enter judgment in its favor, but the Fifth Circuit determined the “inconsistencies” in the answers necessitate a new trial.
“The jury found that any pay disparity Lindsley incurred resulted from a factor other than sex (an affirmative defense to liability under both the EPA and Title VII), yet Omni owed $25 million for a Title VII violation,” the Fifth Circuit held.
“And the damages answer conflicted with the general verdict that followed from the jury’s affirmative-defense finding. Thus, Rule 49(b)(4) applies. Under Rule 49(b)(4), the district court had no power to enter judgment upon receipt of the second verdict form as it did,” the court held. “Rather, the proper course of action would have been to either order more deliberation or order a new trial. The district court therefore erred in entering judgment upon the second verdict form.”
Lindsley filed suit in October 2017.
Judges Edith Brown Clement, Kurt D. Engelhardt and Cory T. Wilson sat on the panel.
Lindsley is represented by Jay Ellwanger, David Henderson of Ellwanger Law, Holt Lackey of Holt Major Lackey and James A. Vagnini of Valli Kane & Vagnini.
Omni is represented by Michael Hudlow Jr. of Hoblit Darling Ralls Hernandez & Hudlow and David Schlottman of Jackson Walker.
The case number is 23-11167.
Man Charged with Capital Murder, Convicted of Fraud, to be Resentenced
A three-judge panel on Thursday determined Keith Todd Ashley, a man from Allen who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on 17 counts of fraud tied up in an alleged scheme to murder a client for life insurance proceeds, will be getting a new trial.
Ashley, 52, who has also been indicted on a capital murder charge in state court in Dallas County, was convicted by a federal jury in October 2022 and sentenced in August 2023 on charges including mail fraud, wire fraud, Hobbs Act robbery, bank theft for operating a Ponzi scheme and “allegedly murdering one of his clients in order to steal funds from the client’s bank account and benefit from the client’s life insurance proceeds,” according to the Fifth Circuit opinion.
Ashley held many jobs, including working as a nurse, paramedic, insurance broker, investment advisor and owner of a brewery business. In the underlying fraud scheme, prosecutors alleged he began stealing money from clients he served as a financial advisor in 2016, using their funds they thought were being invested instead to pay off other clients and to keep his brewery operational.
The federal jury was told Ashley went so far as to murder a client in February 2020 and stage it to look like a suicide so he could collect his life insurance policy.
He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant to consecutive 240-month prison sentences for each of the 15 counts of wire and mail fraud and life sentence enhancements were imposed for the Hobbs Act robbery and bank theft convictions.
On appeal, the government conceded there wasn’t enough evidence to support Ashley’s conviction on five of the fraud counts and that the life sentence enhancement handed down for the bank theft conviction did not apply.
The Fifth Circuit vacated Ashley’s convictions stemming from the prosecution’s contention that he defrauded or intended to defraud the life insurance company, Midland National.
“Ashley urges that these convictions were not supported by sufficient evidence because Ashley did not make false representations to Midland National or benefit from the insurance proceeds, and that mailing Midland National was immaterial to the scheme,” the Fifth Circuit wrote. “However, we need not reach these arguments because the government did not sufficiently prove that Ashley was engaged in a scheme to defraud Midland National, as the first element of the crime requires.”
Four of Ashley’s convictions were affirmed by the Fifth Circuit panel: one based on his transfer of $150,000 in client funds, another based on the his transfer of $75,000 in client funds, one count of wire fraud related to his use of the deceased client’s cell phone to transfer $20,000 to his own bank account, and a related count for bank theft stemming from that $20,000 transfer.
The case will now return to Judge Mazzant for resentencing. It appeared, based on a search of Dallas County District Court records Monday, that the capital murder charge against Ashley remains pending.
Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod and Judges Jacques L. Wiener Jr. and Cory T. Wilson sat on the panel.
The government is represented by Sean Day, Heather Rattan and Bradley Visosky of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ashley is represented by James Whalen of Frisco.
The case number is 23-40482.