Justia U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

A child was seriously injured when she was hit in the head by an object thrown by a lawnmower being operated at the federal building adjoining her childcare center. Separate entities provided child care and lawn maintenance, under contract with the federal government. The district court dismissed a suit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 2671-2680. The First Circuit affirmed. While noting that the landscaping and child care operators were independent contractors, the court applied the discretionary function exception to federal liability. The agreements and their actual execution show that the government did not carve out responsibility for safety measures from its otherwise comprehensive delegation of day-to-day authority to the companies. Federal law allows the government discretion to hire independent contractors and to adopt, or not adopt, safety measures suggested by the plaintiffs.

A citizen of Guatemala unlawfully entered the U.S. in 1989. In 1997 he was convicted, in Massachusetts, of willful and malicious destruction of property and two counts of assault and battery. The convictions were the result of domestic violence incidents; he has no children. In 2007 he was charged as removeable under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(6)(A)(i). An Immigration Judge rejected his motion to cancel removal under the cancellation of removal (8 C.F.R. 1240.64, 1240.66) under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act. The BIA affirmed. The First Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the determination that petitioner did not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion. Petitioner's due process rights were not violated by the handling of his case.

Plaintiff obtained a lease and permits and renovated a space for a tavern, but was unable to obtain transfer of the previous operator's liquor license or a new license. He began to sell liquor without a license. A police crack-down culminated in a raid, after which business declined. Without holding a hearing, the city decided not to approve a license. The business closed. The district court dismissed claims under state negligence law and 42 U.S.C. 1983. The First Circuit affirmed. Plaintiff did not adequately allege deprivation of a federal right; the city's actions were not conscience-shocking. Plaintiff had no property interest in a liquor license.

After agents traced an Internet site containing child pornography to a computer shop, they obtained a warrant and searched hard drives of the owner's personal computers, where they found files containing pornography. The owner was convicted of knowing possession of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. 2252(a)(4)(B) and sentenced to 84 months in prison. The First Circuit affirmed. A reasonable jury could rationally conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant knew that his own computer contained the files, even if he did not download them himself, and that they were obtained by Internet file sharing.

During a fight in a bar, the insured hit an individual with a glass mug, resulting in emergency surgery and permanent scars. The parties negotiated a settlement of civil liability that included the injured party's promise not to pursue criminal charges. The homeowner's insurance policy at issue covers only accidental injuries and prohibits the insured from making voluntary payments. The company invoked the voluntary payment clause and refused to pay the settlement or attorney fees. The district court ruled in favor of the company. The First Circuit affirmed, finding that, even if there was a duty to defend, the company did not breach that duty. The company had investigated the claim, as required, and the actions of the parties' efforts to avoid criminal prosecutions prevented its participation in negotiations.

The union that represents postal workers raised concerns that newly hired non-veteran employees had begun work earlier, and thus received higher seniority rankings, than veteran employees, despite the fact that the veteran employees had applied for their positions earlier than had the non-veterans. Because the post office hiring register includes tests scores and other confidential, USPS keeps the information confidential under the Privacy Act,5 U.S.C. 552a and refused to disclose information requested by the union. In a claim under the NLRA, 29 U.S.C. 158(a)(5), an ALJ ordered USPS to furnish the union with the complete 2007 hiring register. The NLRB narrowed the order to the records of 22 employees at issue. The First Circuit vacated, holding that the employees have a legitimate, substantial privacy interest in the records, so that the Board was required to engage in a balancing of interests that was not part of its original analysis.

Hospital records state that decedent died of a nonsurvivable head injury following an accidental fall at a casino. An insurer refused to pay, claiming that the fall was likely caused by a stroke, so that death was not "accidental" within the meaning of the policy. The company's expert testified accordingly. The district court entered judgment in favor of the company. The First Circuit affirmed. The district court did not err in admitting the expert's testimony; it fell within the scope of his previously disclosed report. The estate was not prejudiced by any difference between the report and testimony.

Defendant robbed a federally-insured bank and, while escaping in a stolen car, crashed head-on into a car driven by a teen-aged girl. In state court he was convicted of resisting arrest, receiving a stolen vehicle, operating a motor vehicle under intoxication causing serious bodily injury, reckless operation of a motor vehicle, refusing to stop for a police officer, and operating a vehicle with a suspended license and sentenced to five years in prison, of which he had served one year prior to his federal sentencing. In federal court, he pled guilty bank robbery (18 U.S.C. 2113(a)). The district court calculated a total offense level of 23, which among other adjustments included a four-level increase for the serious bodily injuries; the court found defendant to be a career offender and refused to give credit for time served in state prison. The court imposed a within-guidelines sentence of 158 months, to be served concurrently with the state sentence, but without the credit. The First Circuit affirmed, finding that the sentence did not result in double punishment because the conduct punished by the state ultimately had no impact on the federal sentence.

A employee made a series of attempts to obtain benefits under the company's long-term disability policy. A copy of the plan, which he obtained during internal appeals, contained no limitation on filing suit to challenge denials, but did reserve the right to make alterations to the plan. The plan was later amended to include a one-year limitation on bringing suit. Employee did not receive notice of the change. In 2005 the plan issued a final written rejection. In 2008 the employee filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. 1109 and 1132. The district court dismissed. The First Circuit reversed. While the plan did not engage in deceptive conduct that would implicate equitable estoppel, equitable tolling applies based on the failure to give notice of the change. The employee was reasonably diligent.

In 1999 plaintiff pled guilty to making false statements while working on a project funded by the Federal Highway Administration (18 U.S.C. 2, 1014, and 1020). The agreement prohibited plaintiff from participating in any FHWA-funded project for a year. Plaintiff challenged Puerto Rico agencies' subsequent actions. The parties negotiated settlements; plaintiff entered into an agreement allowing it to bid on FHWA projects. Puerto Rico then enacted Law 458, which prohibits award of government contracts to any party convicted of a crime constituting fraud, embezzlement, or misappropriation of public funds and requires rescission of any contract with a party convicted of a specified offense. The statute states that it does not apply retroactively. One agency cancelled plaintiff's successful bids, another withdrew its consent to the settlement. The district court rejected claims of violation of the federal Contracts Clause and breaches of contract under Puerto Rico law. The First Circuit affirmed with respect to the constitutional claim. Any breach of the settlement agreements did not violate the Contracts Clause, even if committed in an attempt to unlawfully enforce Law 458 retroactively; defendants have not impaired plaintiff's ability to obtain a remedy for a demonstrated breach. Given the stage of the litigation, the district court should have retained the breach of contract claims.