I have written about Judge Lynn Hughes of the Southern District of Texas here and here. He has earned a reputation as a Judge who consistently makes anti-plaintiff comments in court, who makes disparaging comments about minorities – and even once barred a female attorney from his court room apparently simply passed on her name.
Judge Lynn Hughes
Judge Hughes Reversed Again
The Fifth Circuit has again tried to rein in Judge Lynn Hughes of the Southern District in Houston. In Bailey v. KS Management Services, No. 21-20335 (5th Cir. 5/26/2022), Judge Hughes again prohibited discovery by the plaintiff. As the Fifth Circuit noted, this is the third time some plaintiff has appealed a no-discovery order…
Judge Hughes Removed from Another Case
150 Houston Methodist Employees Fired or Quit
On June 12, Judge Hughes dismissed the lawsuit filed by 178 employees of the Houston Methodist hospital. I wrote about that dismissal here. Those employees have already submitted their notice of appeal.
Now, more than 150 employees of that same hospital have quit or been fired, because they refused to take the vaccine. See CBS…
Judge Dismisses Vaccine Lawsuit
The Houston Methodist Hospital required all of its employees to get a vaccine against the COVID19 virus. Some 178 employees sued. They argued, among other things, that requiring employees to accept a vaccine not fully approved by the FDA amounted to Nazi science experiments in a concentration camp. Note to future advocates: avoid over-the top…
Judge Hughes Reversed Again
Judge Lynn Hughes of the Southern District of Texas is at it again. In the case of Miller v. Sam Houston State Univ., No. 19-20752 (5th Cir. 1/29/2021), Judge Hughes flat denied the Plaintiff any depositions, while granting summary judgment against the plaintiff. Worse, he made statement after statement expressing skepticism about the plaintiff’s…
Judge Hughes Bars Prosecutor
Some judges are exceedingly difficult. Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston seems to consistently press folks’ buttons. Most recently, he has barred a female Assistant U.S. Attorney from his court. Tina Ansari has appeared in Judge Hughes’ court twice in the past few weeks. She was excused from the court by Judge Hughes both times right…
Case Reassigned to a Different Judge
Judge Lynn Hughes in the Southern District of Texas is a difficult judge. He harangues attorneys who appear before him. He cancels discovery, even though the federal rules of civil procedure provide otherwise. He is a difficult judge on several levels. In the case of USA v. Swenson, No. 17-20131 (5th Cir. 7/3/2018), the…
Fifth Circuit Finds Affidavits Conclusory
In a recent decision, the Fifth Circuit overruled Judge Lynn Hughes, again. The Fifth Circuit reversed Judge Hughes’ grant of summary judgment on several claims. The claims started when Karen D’Onofrio left Vacations to Go, the largest seller of ocean-going cruises in the world. Karen was a sales representative for Vacations. After a couple of…
Fifth Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment
The Fifth Circuit reversed a summary judgment, but the district court ruling was by Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston. So, perhaps that is not so surprising, after all. I have written about Judge Hughes before here and here. In the case of Cannon v. Jacobs Field Services North America, Inc., No. 15-20127 (5th…