Justia U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Plaintiff filed suit against her former employer, Alfa, alleging disability discrimination in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiff contends that, although Alfa claims she was terminated because of automation of some of her job responsibilities, she was actually terminated because of the high costs to Alfa in treating her multiple sclerosis (MS).The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Alfa, concluding that plaintiff was denied full discovery. In this case, Alfa did not demonstrate a burden or abuse of process sufficient to justify such limitations on discovery, and especially in light of the relevant nature of the information sought by plaintiff. Therefore, the district court committed a clear error of judgment by denying plaintiff the opportunity to depose the then-Executive Vice President of Human Resources. View "Akridge v. Alfa Mutual Insurance Co." on Justia Law

These appeals involve several issues related to the convictions of four drug smugglers under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. Defendants were caught by the Coast Guard off the coast of the Dominican Republic and 180 kilograms of cocaine were discovered. Defendants were convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute and to possess cocaine with intent to distribute.The Eleventh Circuit concluded that the United States had jurisdiction over defendants' stateless vessel. Furthermore, no evidentiary hearing was required for that ruling, and any error in delaying it was harmless. The court also concluded that sufficient evidence supported defendants' convictions because their indictments did not obligate the government to prove that they knew the identity of the controlled substance they carried. Finally, the district court afforded them a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense. Accordingly, the court affirmed defendants' convictions. View "United States v. Nunez" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit granted a petition for review of the BIA's order affirming an IJ's discretionary denial of petitioner's application for asylum and grant of withholding of removal. The court concluded that when an asylum applicant is denied asylum but granted withholding of removal, 8 C.F.R. 1208.16(e) requires reconsideration anew of the discretionary denial of asylum, including addressing reasonable alternatives available to the petitioner for family reunification. And where the IJ has failed to do so, the BIA must remand for the IJ to conduct the required reconsideration.In this case, the IJ failed to consider petitioner's asylum claim under section 1208.16(e). Therefore, the BIA's failure to remand on this issue was manifestly contrary to law and an abuse of discretion. The court explained that it is clear that neither the IJ nor the BIA conducted the proper reconsideration because the record contained no information about petitioner's ability to reunite with his family, information that the agency must review under section 1208.16(e). Accordingly, the court vacated the BIA's order and remanded to the BIA with instructions to remand to the IJ for reconsideration of the discretionary denial of asylum. View "Thamotar v. U.S. Attorney General" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed defendant's convictions for four counts of mail fraud, three counts of making false statements, and two counts of money laundering. In relevant part, a jury found defendant guilty of mailing U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) several forms, which falsely claimed large business expenditures from 2005 to 2007, as part of a scheme to acquire federal government subsidies under the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Act of 2000 (CDSOA).The court rejected defendant's contention that the district court erred by asking defendant if he wanted to waive his right to testify. Rather, the court concluded that the district court did not err in requesting an on-the-record waiver of defendant's right to testify. The court explained that nothing in the framing of the two neutral, straight-forward questions by the district court undermined defendant's right to testify or improperly intruded into the attorney-client relationship by suggesting the district court's contrary leaning as to what defendant should decide.The court also concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in declining to give defendant's requested jury instructions on the CDSOA because the absence of the CDSOA instruction in no way impaired the defense. The court declined to reverse defendant's conviction based on the district court's alleged Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 30(b) violation when it revised the mail-fraud jury instruction to correct a statement of the law or its refusal to give a curative instruction. Finally, the court concluded that the district court did not err, plainly or otherwise, in giving a modified Allen charge similar to the pattern instruction. View "United States v. Anderson" on Justia Law

In this appeal involving an alleged conspiracy by several state officials to violate a former physician's civil rights by pinning the blame for his patient's death on him, the district court dismissed the physician's claims involving actions taken within the scope of the receivership for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The district court dismissed the remaining claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. In this case, a pre-med student began working in the physician's medical practice and then later moved into his home. The physician started prescribing the student hydrocodone and increasingly stronger medications for headaches and abdominal pains. The student later died of a drug overdose.The Eleventh Circuit concluded that the district court had jurisdiction to review the claims against the receiver for his acts taken within the scope of the receivership but that these claims fail because the receiver is entitled to judicial immunity. The court explained that, although the Barton Doctrine does not apply, Defendants Lambros, Ekonomou, and the Law Firms are entitled to judicial immunity. The court also concluded that the district court correctly dismissed the 42 U.S.C. 1985 claims for failure to allege racial or class-based animus; the physician's remaining allegations fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and he is not entitled to amend his complaint. Accordingly, the court vacated in part and affirmed in part. View "Chua v. Ekonomou" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed defendant's 62-month sentence for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine. The court upheld the district court's application of a firearms enhancement under USSG 2D1.1(b)(1). In this case, the government has met its burden by producing evidence that the rifle was present at the site of the drug possession charge. Furthermore, defendant failed to meet his burden to negate the nexus presented by the government. Therefore, the court concluded that the district court's factual findings related to the firearms enhancement were not clearly erroneous, and the district court did not err in applying the enhancement. View "United States v. Montenegro" on Justia Law

After plaintiff was attacked by his cellmate, he filed suit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and five prison employees under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Fed. Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S. Ct. 1999 (1971). Plaintiff alleged that prison officials negligently assigned the cellmate to plaintiff's cell and that their conduct also violated his Eighth Amendment rights.The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's FTCA claim against the United States based on the discretionary function exception to the FTCA's waiver of sovereign immunity. The court explained that inmate-classification and housing-placement decisions fall squarely within the discretionary function exception. The court also affirmed the district court's dismissal without prejudice of plaintiff's Bivens claim against the prison employees for failure to exhaust his administrative remedies. View "Shivers v. United States" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded the denial of social security disability benefits to plaintiff, who stated that he was no longer able to work due to various psychiatric conditions, which included chronic depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. The court held that the SSA's denial of plaintiff's application for disability benefits was not supported by substantial evidence where the ALJ did not articulate adequate reasons for discounting evidence of plaintiff's mental illness, which provided support for a finding of disability. In this case, the ALJ gave little or no weight to three pieces of evidence in the record indicating that plaintiff's mental illness prevents him from maintaining a job: (1) the opinions of plaintiff's treating psychiatrist, (2) the opinions of a consulting psychologist who examined plaintiff at the request of the SSA, and (3) plaintiff's own testimony as to the severity of his symptoms. View "Simon v. Commissioner, Social Security Administration" on Justia Law

Plaintiff, who seeks to knock down his beachfront mansion and to build a new one, filed suit against the town, claiming that the criteria the town's architectural review commission used to deny his building permit violated his First Amendment free speech rights and his Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and equal protection. In this case, plaintiff wants to knock down his "traditional" beachfront mansion and to build a new one, almost twice its size, in the midcentury modern style. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the town.The Eleventh Circuit concluded that summary judgment was not granted too early and affirmed on the First Amendment claim because there was no great likelihood that some sort of message would be understood by those who viewed plaintiff's new beachfront mansion. The court also affirmed the district court's summary judgment on the Fourteenth Amendment claims because the commission's criteria were not unconstitutionally vague and plaintiff has not presented evidence that the commission applied its criteria differently for him than for other similarly situated mansion-builders. View "Burns v. Town of Palm Beach" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal without prejudice of plaintiff's 42 U.S.C. 1983 action against the State of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), and about 42 correctional officials.The court agreed with its sister circuits that a plaintiff's duplicative complaint is an abuse of the judicial process and is properly dismissed without prejudice as malicious under the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA). The court explained that, given plaintiff knowingly filed the third complaint at issue here containing claims duplicative of claims he had already asserted in two other pending civil actions, and in light of his history as a prolific serial filer, the district court did not abuse its discretion by dismissing this third complaint without prejudice as malicious under 28 U.S.C. 1915A(b)(1). The court also concluded that the district court did not err in alternatively dismissing plaintiff's complaint as barred by the three strikes provision of the PLRA where the complaint as a whole does not sufficiently allege that plaintiff was under imminent danger of serious physical injury. View "Daker v. Ward" on Justia Law