Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Caroline Pennington (Associate-Birmingham, AL) secured dismissal of all claims in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama, on behalf of Wilson Elser's Housing Authority client and several of its employees. The clients were collectively alleged to have engaged in conspiracy, fraud, and racial discrimination against the plaintiff in this case, a minority business owner. The plaintiff alleged that the Housing Authority stopped awarding his company various open-bid projects after learning his business was minority-owned. His 36-page complaint detailed the number of bidding opportunities, contract awards, and payments awarded before our client allegedly discovered that his business was minority-owned, as well as various actions taken by the Housing Authority and its employees.

Rebecca and Caroline filed a dispositive motion arguing that, despite its length and factual detail, the complaint failed to state a viable claim. They demonstrated that the plaintiff did not identify which individual defendants engaged in the conduct underlying the claims, that the conspiracy allegations failed under the Intracorporate Conspiracy Doctrine, and that the plaintiff failed to adequately establish that race, rather than his failure to submit the lowest bids, was the reason he was not awarded the contracts. In response, the plaintiff argued that the pleading sufficiently demonstrated that he was denied an equal opportunity during the bidding process due to differences in how the Housing Authority communicated with other bidders. During oral argument, the court agreed that the pleading was insufficient to state a claim and ultimately granted an order in favor of Wilson Elser’s clients, dismissing all claims. 

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) won a defense verdict for an international vegetation management client in a pollution nuisance and trespass case. The Plaintiff landowner accused the firm’s client of dumping massive amounts of rubbish and debris on its property and sought nearly $ 1 million in damages to remediate the land.

At trial, Rebecca aggressively cross-examined Plaintiff’s land appraisal expert to demonstrate that Plaintiff did not have sufficient evidence to show diminution in property value. Plaintiff’s expert conceded when questioned by Rebecca that his valuation of diminution in value was based solely on the cost of remediation, which is insufficient under Alabama law.

Additionally, Rebecca was able to obtain admissions from the Plaintiff's witnesses that they could not provide information regarding how much of the alleged debris was placed on the property by the Defendant as opposed to other parties. She also established that the witnesses had no evidence that the Defendant ever placed garbage on the property, despite the presence of garbage depicted in several of the Plaintiff's photographs.

Ultimately, a verdict was entered in our client’s favor on all claims.

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) secured summary judgment for an entertainment venue client in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama. The plaintiff alleged she was brutally assaulted by the venue’s security staff while being wrongfully detained in a stairwell. Rebecca moved for summary judgment based on insufficient evidence to support the plaintiff’s allegations. The plaintiff argued that the claims should go before a jury because her testimony alone about what occurred was sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact, particularly in the absence of video footage from the alleged location of the assault disputing her version of events. Rebecca countered that extensive video footage from before and after the alleged assault contradicted the plaintiff’s account. She prepared a detailed, minute-by-minute demonstrative timeline for the court that compared the footage to the plaintiff’s testimony, showing that the plaintiff’s version of the facts was impossible. Relying on Alabama law, which provides that when opposing parties tell two different stories, and one is blatantly contradicted by the record such that no reasonable jury could believe it, the court should not adopt that version of the facts in ruling on a motion for summary judgment. The court agreed and granted summary judgment on all claims.

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Porter Simpler (Associate-Birmingham, AL) obtained complete dismissal of a complaint against a housing authority client alleging various Title VII claims, including sex discrimination, hostile work environment, and retaliatory discharge. Rebecca and Porter argued that the plaintiff failed to state a claim. Plaintiff alleged that male employees were treated more favorably and outlined a year-long history of her supervisor treating her harshly, regularly cursing at her, using other inappropriate language, and threating to fire her; a few days after she contacted the EEOC to make a complaint, her employment was terminated. Rebecca and Porter argued that the male employees were not similarly situated to provide an inference of sex discrimination. They argued the allegations that the plaintiff's supervisor used profanity and other inappropriate language did not amount to a hostile work environment under Eighth Circuit precedent. As to the retaliation claim, Rebecca and Porter pointed out that the overwhelmingly detailed complaint contained allegations that supported an inference that the plaintiff was discharged because of her work performance rather than retaliation. Further, even if the plaintiff had sufficiently pled but-for causation, the record from the pleadings supported that there were “lawful, obvious alternative explanations for the alleged conduct” that rendered the complaint implausible. The court agreed and dismissed all the claims.

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Porter Simpler (Associate-Birmingham, AL) prevailed on a motion to dismiss in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas, in a construction defect case against Wilson Elser’s construction company client. The plaintiff alleged that a pool constructed by our client in 2018 had structural issues. Rebecca and Porter filed a motion to dismiss, based on the Arkansas five-year Statute of Repose. To avoid dismissal, the plaintiff amended the complaint, alleging the client fraudulently concealed the pool’s structural defects by covering them with concrete, thereby invoking a statutory fraud exception to the five-year time limit. Rebecca and Porter then filed a motion to dismiss the amendment, arguing that the plaintiff’s pleading still failed, as our client’s act of covering the pool's structural issues with concrete did not amount to fraudulent concealment under Arkansas law, which requires the alleged fraud to be "furtively planned and secretly executed." After additional briefing and oral arguments, the court dismissed all claims against the client.

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Porter Simpler (Associate-Birmingham, AL) obtained dismissal on a motion for summary judgment in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The plaintiff alleged she suffered catastrophic crush injuries to her foot and $3.7 million in damages resulting from use of a defective work safety shoe. The plaintiff alleged our shoe company client misrepresented the extent of the shoe's safety and, in addition to compensatory and punitive damages, sought a statewide injunction enjoining the sale of the shoe in all manufacturing areas with crush risk hazards and for our client to issue refunds to past consumers. In response, Rebecca and Porter filed a motion for summary judgment arguing their client did not have the requisite connection to the safety design and sale of the shoe to create liability under Alabama law. It was undisputed that our client’s company name was included on the shoe at issue, but Rebecca and Porter explained that this by itself was not enough to create liability, and presented evidence demonstrating the company was not involved in the specific safety design and did not have any interaction with the plaintiff to support the misrepresentation claims. In opposition to these arguments, the plaintiff submitted numerous business organization records claiming that the defendant was operating as the same entity that was responsible for the licensing of the product. At the hearing on the summary judgment, the plaintiff’s counsel argued that he needed more time to gather information about the corporate structure of our client but later conceded there was inadequate evidence to create liability. The court granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims with prejudice.

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) secured a third summary judgment win for a global pharmaceutical distributor client arising out of a pile-up accident caused by a tractor trailer that collided with several vehicles, which resulted in the death of an 11-year-old girl and catastrophic physical injuries to nearly a dozen other people. The plaintiffs sued for negligent and wanton selection and supervision, alleged failure to comply with Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations, and failure to provide and verify insurance. Rebecca argued that all claims against the client were preempted under the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (FAAAA). The U.S. District Court, Middle District of Alabama agreed and entered summary judgment in two related cases covering 11 plaintiffs’ claims and the wrongful death action. This third action was brought by the sister of the young girl that died, who was also a passenger in the vehicle and suffered substantial injuries. In attempting to defeat summary judgment in this third case, plaintiff’s counsel argued that the Eleventh Circuit law of federal preemption relied on by the defense was narrowly tailored and only applicable to claims involving cargo theft, and not claims that involve tort claims for personal injury. Rebecca responded to this argument by directing the court to new precedent from the Eleventh Circuit, which found such arguments to be unavailing and specifically applied FAAAA preemption in the personal injury context. 

Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Alexander Makarenko (Associate-Birmingham, AL) won summary judgment for a national retailer client that faced various premises liability claims following an injury caused during construction to the entryway of the retail store. The plaintiffs’ claims included negligence and wantonness, invoking punitive damages. Additionally, the plaintiff sought more than half a million dollars for medical costs, pain, suffering, and future limitations. Rebecca and Alex filed a motion for summary judgment on all claims, arguing that the plaintiff failed to properly establish that her injury was caused by the allegedly dangerous conditions at the entrance of the store, that the defendant had fulfilled its duty to warn of the construction conditions, and that the plaintiff could have avoided injury by exercising reasonable care. After briefing and oral arguments, the Madison County Circuit Court, agreed that summary judgment was appropriate and disposed of all claims.

Eleanor Jolley (Partner-Atlanta, GA) and Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) obtained dismissal of all claims made against a multinational energy corporation accused of negligently and wantonly allowing the plaintiff to be brutally assaulted at two of its fuel-branded gas stations. Eleanor and Rebecca argued that all of the claims were time-barred and that the plaintiff had failed to prosecute the claims by failing to properly serve the complaint on the appropriate legally recognized agent. The plaintiff argued that his service on an individual owner for one of the fuel stations was sufficient service. In response, Eleanor and Rebecca maintained that there was insufficient evidence to show the level of control necessary to establish agency and that an alleged parent-subsidiary relationship alone was insufficient to establish agency for purposes of effectuating service of process. Following briefing and oral argument, the Circuit Court of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, granted our dispositive motion dismissing all the claims with prejudice.