This Week in the Fifth Circuit

It's that time of year, campers.  The courts are back to it and the Fifth Circuit is no exception, releasing several opinions this week that civil law wonks will want to know about.

• Rio Grande Royalty Co., Inc. v. Energy Transfer Partners, Inc. (pdf) affirms the 12(b)(6) dismissal of a putative class action attempting Texas common law fraud claims complaining of a failure to disclose alleged market manipulation concerning the price of gas.  Chief Judge Jones wrote the court's opinion. 
• Jackson v. Watkins (pdf) affirms (per curiam) a summary judgment rejecting an employment discrimination claim by a male, Caucasian attorney from the Dallas County District Attorney's office who complained that Caucasian section chiefs had been improperly replaced with African Americans.  The court ruled that he failed to rebut each of the nondiscriminatory reasons offered for his dismissal.
• Positive Software Solutions, Inc. v. New Century Mortgage Corp. (pdf) holds that the district court did not have "inherent authority" to impose sanctions for conduct occurring in an arbitration.  The conduct did not occur before the court, and stretching inherent power so far threatened to entangle the judiciary in arbitration--which by definition is intended to be nonjudicial.  Judge Smith wrote the Court's opinion.
• Anderson v. Cytec Industries, Inc. (pdf) affirms (per curiam) the denial of ERISA disability benefits to a participant claiming PTSD after Hurricane Katrina.  The Court found no abuse of discretion in the administrator requiring objective, clinical proof that the participant (who had been functional with PTSD) was no longer able to function where it appeared the participant's refusal to return to work in New Orleans might have been due to an inability to find suitable housing for his disabled spouse, not his own claimed psychological disability.  
• In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litigation (pdf) rejects the government contractor immunity defense of a defendant who contracted with the Army Corps of Engineers to accomplish its "Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock Replacement Project" in New Orleans.  (It had been alleged that negligently performing this work had contributed to post-hurricane flooding).  Judge Smith wrote the Court's opinion.

But my favorite is the most recent.  I think it is my favorite because it shows that karma is still alive and well in the Fifth Circuit.

• Reed v. City of Arlington (pdf) says that you can't collect on a million dollar judgment against a defendant (in this case the plaintiff's employer) after fooling your bankruptcy creditors into thinking you have no assets by keeping the judgment a secret when you file for bankruptcy protection.  Judicial estoppel (and Chief Judge Jones, the author of the opinion) will bar your claim. 

And that's the way it was.  Tune in next week for the first in a series of Nerdlaws for the discriminating brief writer.