Justia U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for Medtronic in an employment discrimination action brought by plaintiff under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Plaintiff alleged that he was terminated based on his morbid obesity, but the district court held that morbid obesity was not a physical impairment under the relevant EEOC regulations and interpretive guidance.The panel held that it need not determine whether morbid obesity itself is an impairment under the ADA, and affirmed the district court's judgment for Medtronic on alternative grounds. The panel held that, even assuming that morbid obesity were an impairment, or plaintiff suffered from a disabling knee condition that the district court could have considered, he would have to show some causal relationship between these impairments and his termination. In this case, there was no basis for concluding that he was terminated for any reason other than Medtronic's stated ground that he falsified records to show he had completed work assignments. View "Valtierra v. Medtronic Inc." on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims against Ultimate Software, operator of the Experience Project website, for its alleged role in the death of her son. Her son purchased heroin from another user through the site and died of fentanyl toxicity from the heroin.The panel held that Ultimate Software, as the operator of Experience Project, is immune from liability under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) because its functions, including recommendations and notifications, were content-neutral tools used to facilitate communications. The panel also held that plaintiff failed to plead sufficient facts to show that Ultimate Software colluded with drug dealers on the Experience Project, and Ultimate Software did not owe a duty to plaintiff's son. View "Dyroff v. The Ultimate Software Group" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's order denying Schwab's motion to compel arbitration in a class action brought by a former participant in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) retirement plan. Plaintiff alleged that defendants violated ERISA and breached their fiduciary duties by including Schwab-affiliated investment funds in the Plan—despite the funds' poor performance—to generate fees for Schwab and its affiliates.In light of the Supreme Court's intervening case law, the panel held that its holding in Amaro v. Continental Can Co., 724 F.2d 747 (9th Cir. 1984), that ERISA claims were not arbitrable, was no longer good law. The panel held that the holding in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, 570 U.S. 228 (2013), that federal statutory claims are generally arbitrable and arbitrators can competently interpret and apply federal statutes, was irreconcilable with Amaro. Accordingly, the court remanded. View "Dorman v. The Charles Schwab Corp." on Justia Law

Non-citizens subject to expedited removal under 8 U.S.C. 1228 have a statutory right to counsel in reasonable fear proceedings before immigration judges. The Ninth Circuit granted a petition for review of an IJ's decision affirming an asylum officer's negative reasonable fear determination in expedited removal proceedings. The panel held that petitioner had a statutory right to counsel; the colloquy at the beginning of the hearing before the IJ was inadequate to waive that right; and no showing of prejudice was required. Accordingly, the panel remanded for further proceedings where petitioner will be given the opportunity to proceed with counsel. View "Zuniga v. Barr" on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction and sentence for second degree murder and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the murder conviction and held that the district did not plainly err in failing to instruct the jury on absence of heat of passion as an element of second-degree murder.The panel also held that, because second degree murder can be committed recklessly, rather than intentionally, it does not categorically constitute a crime of violence under the elements clause. Likewise, second degree murder cannot constitute a crime of violence under the unconstitutionally vague residual clause. Therefore, the panel reversed defendant's conviction for discharging a firearm. Finally, the panel held that the district court plainly erred by imposing mandatory restitution under 18 U.S.C. 3663A, because second degree murder is not categorically a crime of violence. View "United States v. Begay" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit affirmed defendant's sentence for attempted illegal reentry after deportation. The district court applied a ten-level enhancement to defendant's base offense level under USSG 2L1.2(b)(3)(A), which applies to a defendant charged under 8 U.S.C. 1326 who was previously ordered deported or removed and who subsequently committed a felony offense for which the sentence imposed was five years or more.The panel held that the single sentence rule in USSG 4A1.2(a)(2) applies to the enhancements in USSG 2L1.2(b)(2) and (b)(3). In this case, the district court aggregated defendant's two 3.5-year sentences to produce a seven-year sentence for purposes of applying the enhancement, relying on section 4A1.2(a)(2). Accordingly, the panel rejected defendant's argument that the district court wrongly applied the single sentence rule in calculating his sentence. View "United States v. Cuevas-Lopez" on Justia Law

Defendants appealed their convictions for conspiracy to traffic counterfeit goods, and conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and to introduce misbranded food into interstate commerce. Defendants' convictions stemmed from their scheme to sell counterfeit 5-hour Energy liquid dietary supplements.The Ninth Circuit held that it need not resolve the issue of whether prior civil deposition testimony of a witness, who has subsequently invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, may be introduced against defendants in a criminal trial without violating their Confrontation Clause right to confront the witnesses against them. Rather, the panel held that even if the district court erred by concluding that the witnesses were unavailable, the error was harmless because the outcome of the trial would not have changed had the depositions been excluded. View "United States v. Shayota" on Justia Law

Members of the Tribe filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging violations of various federal statutory and constitutional rights, stemming from traffic citations issued to members of the Tribe from a sheriff's deputy inside the boundaries of the Chemehuevi Reservation. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment to defendants.The panel held that the Chemehuevi Reservation includes Section 36, and that Section 36 is Indian country. Therefore, the County does not have jurisdiction to enforce California regulatory laws within it. Furthermore, the panel held that the individual members have a cause of action under section 1983 against defendants. However, the Tribe cannot assert its sovereign rights under the statute. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded in part. View "Chemehuevi Indian Tribe v. McMahon" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence obtained from warrantless searches of his cell phone by a Customs and Border Patrol official. Applying United States v. Cotterman, 709 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2013) (en banc), the panel held that manual cell phone searches may be conducted by border officials without reasonable suspicion but that forensic cell phone searches require reasonable suspicion. The panel clarified Cotterman by holding that "reasonable suspicion" in this context means that officials must reasonably suspect that the cell phone contains digital contraband. Furthermore, cell phone searches at the border, whether manual or forensic, must be limited in scope to a search for digital contraband.In this case, the panel held that the officials violated the Fourth Amendment when their warrantless searches exceeded the permissible scope of a border search. Therefore, most of the evidence from the searches of defendant's cell phone should have been suppressed. Finally, the panel held that defendant's Brady claims were unpersuasive. Because the panel vacated defendant's conviction, the panel did not reach his claim of prosecutorial misconduct. View "United States v. Cano" on Justia Law

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's dismissal of an action brought by a group of exotic dancers against their employer under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Arizona state law. The panel held that the district court erred in concluding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiffs failed to prove at the outset of the case that they were employees rather than independent contractors; plaintiffs' employment status is a merits-based determination, not an antecedent jurisdictional issue; and plaintiffs' federal law allegations were not so patently without merit as to justify dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Accordingly, the panel remanded for further proceedings. View "Tijerino v. Stetson Desert Project, LLC" on Justia Law