News & Knowledge

In a significant legal victory for the FormanWatkins NCAA Compliance and Sports Litigation team, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a former student-athlete against their client, an SEC head football coach, and his University employer. The lawsuit alleged discrimination based on race and sex, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and gross negligence. FormanWatkins attorneys W.G. Watkins, Mitch McGuffey, and Courtney Hunt represented the head coach with Mr. McGuffey arguing the appeal before the Fifth Circuit. The court issued a per curiam opinion affirming the district court’s dismissal stating, “The plaintiff has not demonstrated a violation of his rights under applicable law, nor has he shown that the actions of the defendant were motivated by discriminatory intent.”  The appellate court issued its mandate on September 27, 2024.

Representing a private transportation company against a global job review website, the FormanWatkins team of Win Gault, Courtney Hunt, and Molly McNair secured a potentially precedential win in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi in a matter involving defamation via third-party internet reviews. The opinion is a rare instance in which a website was not granted immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 is designed to protect websites from being treated as the publisher of third-party content. This immunity has been broadly interpreted and courts have differed on the extent of this protection, especially in the ever evolving and rapidly changing landscape of the internet. The FormanWatkins team successfully argued that Section 230 did not apply because the defendant’s website created and significantly contributed to the content in question. Therefore, the defendant’s motion to dismiss the defamation claim was denied and FormanWatkins’ client may prosecute its claims.

FormanWatkins secured a significant win on behalf of a construction client when the Jefferson County Circuit Court granted summary judgment and dismissed all claims brought by 190 residents of a downtown Birmingham neighborhood.  Several FormanWatkins attorneys worked on the case during the nearly 6-year span of litigation in state and federal court, including Win Gault, Caroline Upchurch, Jake Banks, Mitch McGuffey, Haley Arndt, and Catherine Pettis Rule. The 190 plaintiffs alleged millions of dollars in damages resulting from construction activities during an Alabama Department of Transportation’s (“ALDOT”) I-59/I-20 interstate and bridge project. Our client served as the general contractor for the project. Plaintiffs made claims for trespass, private nuisance, and negligence, among others. The FormanWatkins team successfully argued statutory immunity under Alabama law arising from compliance with contract specifications as set by ALDOT. On July 2, 2024, Judge Marshell Jackson Hatcher found that the plaintiffs failed to meet the burden of proof required to nullify the statutory immunity. The scope of the immunity statute has not been fully examined by the Alabama appellate courts.   This ruling stands as a pivotal outcome in a complex legal battle centered on the impacts of large-scale, government-led infrastructure projects on local communities. FormanWatkins also served as lead counsel in enforcing indemnity and additional insurance obligations related to the claims.