Plaintiff sustained multiple bite wounds after intervening in a dog fight between her dog Moosie and the neighbors pit bull Princess. Plaintiff claimed the Emergency Doctrine, which relieves a person from liability, in this instance for contributory negligence, for his or her own action or inaction when faced with an emergency that his or her conduct did not help to create. The court determined that her decision to wait until her dog could no longer yelp indicated that she had time to … [Read more...]

The court held that: (1) To state a claim under Title I of the ADA, the plaintiff must allege that he/she can perform the essential functions of his/her job with or without reasonable accommodation to be a “qualified individual” as defined under the ADA; and (2) A benefit plan that is private and not offered to the public in general, but rather limited to employees, is not a “public accommodation” under Title III of the ADA. Seese v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, 14-cv-03286 (D. Minn. … [Read more...]

In Nathanson et al. v. Spring Lake Park Panther Youth Football Association et al., the court determined that because the Football Association has games scheduled in advance suggests that there is some sort of arrangement with the City allowing access and control to the fields and, therefore, it is plausible that the Football Association satisfies the legal definition of a place of public accommodation and, for that reason, the court denied Defendants Motion to Dismiss and refused to consider … [Read more...]

Common Enterprise defense in an employee’s third party action under Minn Stat. Sec. 176.061. When analyzing the “same or similar hazards” McCourtie factor to determine whether the employer and a third party were engaged in a common enterprise, a court must look at the general risks employees are exposed to and not solely the exact risk that caused the injury at issue. Schirmers v. Cnty. of Anoka, No. A14-2019 (Minn. Ct. App. July 20, 2015) (unpublished) … [Read more...]

An employer may, in certain circumstances, raise the defenses of waiver and laches when a plaintiff brings a claim under § 515 of ERISA. Midwest Constr. & Distribution Indus. Benefit Trust v. Ferguson Enterprises, Inc., No. 0:14-CV-00853-ADM-HB (D. Minn. July 14, 2015). … [Read more...]

Minnesota courts typically treat appraisal awards as arbitration awards, and a party cannot collect pre-award interest when their contract specifies that the party cannot receive payment on a loss until after the appraisal panel issues an award. Hous. Redevelopment Auth. of Redwood Falls v. Hous. Auth. Prop. Ins., No. 0:14-CV-04741-PAM-HB (D. Minn. July 14, 2015). … [Read more...]