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Sept. 6, 2024 – A plaintiff’s failure to honestly and meaningfully address a question of appellate jurisdiction under
28 U.S.C. section 2107 rendered his appeal frivolous, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in
Upchurch v. O’Brien, 22-2541 (Aug. 6, 2024). As a result, the Seventh Circuit held, sanctions under
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (FRCP) 38 were appropriate. The Great Outdoors Timothy O’Brien and his wife Margaret owned a resort on Catfish…
Continue Reading Failure to Address Jurisdictional Issue Rendered Appeal Frivolous

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Aug. 29, 2024 – Whether the right to counsel had attached at a probable cause hearing wasn’t a settled matter of law, meaning an attorney wasn’t deficient when he failed to object to a lineup identification that occurred without counsel present, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District I) has ruled in

State v. Robinson​, 2020AP1728 (Aug. 6, 2024). On Dec. 18, 2017, a man walked into a U.S. Bank branch on West Capitol Drive in Milwaukee and slipped…
Continue Reading Failure to Object to Post-hearing Lineup Identification Not Deficient

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Aug. 29, 2024 – The FBI was not required to seek a warrant before obtaining cell phone data on an armed man heading toward the site of civil unrest because of exigent circumstances, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has held in
U.S. v. Karmo, No. 23-1082 (July 31, 2024). Civil unrest broke out in Kenosha on Aug. 23, 2020, after the police shot a Black man while attempting to arrest him. Michael Karmo and…
Continue Reading No Warrant Required for Cell Phone Data of Armed Man Heading Toward Unrest

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Aug. 29, 2024 – In a case of first impression, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District III) has applied the other-acts evidence statute to a sexual assault case. In State v. Hill, 2022AP1718 (Aug. 6, 2024), the Court of Appeals held that the analysis for admitting other-acts evidence under State v. Sullivan, 216 Wis. 2d 768, 576 N.W. 2d 30 (1998), doesn’t apply to prior conviction evidence sought to be admitted under section 904.04(2)(b). In August 2022, the Douglas…
Continue Reading Sullivan Test Inapplicable to Prior Conviction Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases

On August 20, 2024 the federal district court for the Northern District of Texas struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s ban on non-compete agreements, which was set to take effect on September 4, 2024. The court had previously granted relief from the FTC rule only for the plaintiffs in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission. However, this week’s ruling provides that the FTC cannot enforce the rule against any employer in the country, and the rule will not go…
Continue Reading Federal Court Strikes Down FTC’s Ban On Non-Competes

A federal court judge has issued an injunction barring the Federal Trade Commission from implementing its non-compete rule slated to go into effect on September 4, 2024. The FTC rule banned most non-compete clauses in employment agreements and required, among other things, that employers provide all employees subject to a non-compete clause with notice that the employer could no longer enforce it. The FTC rule is now a nullity unless the FTC successfully appeals the ruling, which could take…
Continue Reading FTC Non-Compete Ban Struck Down

Employers across the U.S. can breathe a sigh of relief. A federal court in Dallas, Texas stopped the Federal Trade Commission’s Final Rule banning almost all non-competition agreements. The case is Ryan LLC v. Chamber of the United States of America et al. (N.D. Tex., Case No. 3:24-cv-00986-E; Documents 211 [opinion] and 212 [final judgment]). Although an appeal by the FTC is likely, employers can stop worrying about the September 4th effective date of the Final Rule, which is…
Continue Reading Court Strikes Down Nationwide FTC Final Rule Banning Nearly All Non-Competes

Today, a federal court judge in Dallas, Texas, ruled  the Federal Trade Commission went too far in issuing its nationwide noncompete ban that was set to become effective September 4, 2024. We anticipate the FTC will appeal and will update you as we know more. In the meantime, do not hesitate to contact the Employment & Benefits Team for more information about the proposed rule and how this may affect your business.

 
Continue Reading Breaking News: Federal Court Halts FTC Noncompete Ban!

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Aug. 13, 2024 – A company that twice promptly re-assigned an employee after he’d complained about racial harassment by his supervisors did not create a hostile work environment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in Clacks v. Kwik Trip, Inc., No. 23-1983 (July 24, 2024).In June 2018, Kwik Trip, Inc. (Kwik Trip) hired Stanford Clacks, a Black man, as a truck driver at its distribution center in La Crosse.Clacks second trainer, Tom Roerkohl,…
Continue Reading Prompt Re-assignment Defeats Claims of Hostile Workplace

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Aug. 13, 2024 – Statements from a juvenile who was subjected to psychological pressure by police in three interviews conducted over 26 hours must be suppressed, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District IV) has ruled in State v. Kruckenberg, 2023AP396 (July 25, 2024).

At 2 a.m. on Jan. 9, 2021, the police went to a residence in Albany to check out a report of a missing newborn.

The police learned that C.D., age 14, had four days earlier…
Continue Reading Police Pressure on Juvenile Requires Suppression of Statements

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Aug. 13, 2024 – A district court did not err by denying a motion for sanctions against attorneys for plaintiffs who sued a company with an inaccurate timekeeping system, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in Mazurek v. Metalcraft of Mayville, Inc., No. 22-1743 (Aug. 2, 2024).Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi wrote the majority opinion, joined by Judge Michael Scudder. Judge Thomas Kirsch dissented.In October 2017, Richard Mazurek filed a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)…
Continue Reading Plaintiffs’ Memories of Labor Violations Sufficient to Avoid Rule 11 Sanctions

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Aug. 13, 2024 – The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) properly applied a substantial compliance standard when accepting nomination papers that were blurred and omitted some words, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District I) has ruled in Hess v. WEC, 2023AP1350 (July 30, 2024).In the spring of 2023, Paul Melotik began circulating nomination papers after Gov. Tony Evers called a special election to fill a vacancy in State Assembly District 24.On May 23, 2023, Melotik submitted the nomination papers,…
Continue Reading Blurry Nomination Papers Complied With Statutory Requirements

A “pedestrian way” is defined in the statutes as “a walk designated for the use of pedestrian travel.”  (Wis. Stat. § 346.02(8)(a)).  But is a sidewalk a pedestrian way?  The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in a case of first impression, answered that question, “NO.”

In the case of Sojenhomer LLC v. Village of Egg Harbor, the Supreme Court held, in a 4-3 decision, that the definition of “pedestrian way” does not include “sidewalks” for the purpose of determining the…
Continue Reading A Municipality’s Power to Condemn: A Sidewalk and Pedestrian Way Walk Into A Bar…

When first passed on March 9, 2011, Wisconsin Act 10 restricted collective bargaining rights for public sector employees. Act 10 allowed “public safety employees” to continue to collectively bargain with their municipal employers, but effectively eliminated collective bargaining rights for all other municipal employees. Act 10 survived legal challenges in both Federal[1] and Wisconsin Courts[2].

On July 3, 2024, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Frost issued a decision and found that parts of Wisconsin’s Act 10 …
Continue Reading Potential Restoration of Collective Bargaining Rights for Municipal Employees in Wisconsin? 

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August 5, 2024 – Wisconsin’s “right to farm” law does not bar a lawsuit over the alleged failure to repair an agricultural drainage tile system, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District IV) has ruled in

Buchholz v. Schmidt, 2023AP1400 (July 18, 2024)Ben Buchholz and Steven Schmidt owned farmland in Dodge County.A road separated the Buchholz and Schmidt properties. A culvert running beneath the road carried stormwater from Buchholz’s property over Smith’s property and into a drainage way.Buchholz and…
Continue Reading Right-to-Farm Law Doesn’t Bar Lawsuit Over Private Drain Tile

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Aug. 4, 2024 – Evidence of new treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a new and highly relevant sentencing factor for a defendant convicted of homicide, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (District IV) has held in State v. Schueller, 2023AP1755 (June 20, 2024).Robert Schueller served in the U.S. military in Vietnam. He was diagnosed with PTSD in the 1980s.In 2004, Schueller shot and killed a man during a fight in the parking lot of a tavern in…
Continue Reading New Treatment Options Are Relevant to Potential Re-sentencing