Timothy D. DeGiusti

James v. Department of Veterans Affairs

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2011-03-10

The case involved Ronald James, an employee at the Oklahoma Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who sued the Department of Veterans Affairs under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act alleging age discrimination in a promotion decision favoring a younger colleague and retaliation through a reprimand, suspension, and reassignment after complaining about discrimination. The court granted in part and denied in part the defendant's motion for summary judgment. It applied the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework and found that the plaintiff could not establish a prima facie case or pretext for the promotion and certain disciplinary actions, but determined there were genuine issues of material fact regarding the retaliatory reassignment claim, though it also addressed whether administrative remedies were exhausted for that claim.

labor & employmentcivil rights

Bays Exploration, Inc. v. PenSa, Inc.

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2011-02-11 · cited 1×

This case involved a dispute between Bays Exploration, Inc., the operator of jointly owned oil and gas wells in Oklahoma, and PenSa, Inc., a non-operator working interest owner, regarding participation elections in wells, payment of joint interest billings, and related contractual obligations under joint operating agreements. Bays sought partial summary judgment on several issues, including the timeliness of PenSa's elections, its failure to pay billings, the validity of an operator's lien, and the non-existence of fiduciary or good faith duties under Oklahoma law. The court granted the motion in part and denied it in part, finding that some elections were untimely based on the agreements, PenSa breached by not paying, the lien was valid, and no tort claims for fiduciary duty or good faith existed, but allowing certain contract-based claims to proceed due to factual disputes and contractual provisions.

business & regulatorypropertyprocedure

Muhammad v. Comanche Nation Casino

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2010-09-28 · cited 1×

The case involves a personal injury lawsuit brought by Veronica Muhammad against Comanche Nation Casino in Oklahoma state court after she slipped and fell on the premises. The defendant removed the case to federal court, asserting federal question jurisdiction based on issues of tribal sovereignty and whether state courts have jurisdiction over tort claims against Indian tribes under federal law, including IGRA and Public Law 280. The plaintiff moved to remand, arguing that her complaint presented only a state-law tort claim without a federal question on its face. The court granted the motion to remand, reasoning that defenses involving tribal immunity or federal preemption do not convert a state-law claim into one arising under federal law for purposes of jurisdiction, and that complete preemption does not apply to such slip-and-fall claims.

torts & liabilityfederal powerprocedure

Grimes v. CIRRUS INDUSTRIES, INC.

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2010-04-12

BOWDISH v. Federal Express Corp.

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2010-03-18 · cited 8×

Oklahoma Department of Securities Ex Rel. Faught v. Mathews

District Court, W.D. Oklahoma · 2010-02-10 · cited 1×

Affiliations

Decision record

Timothy D. DeGiusti

Affiliations

Decision record