In May of 2023, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case, and in so doing, established a bright line which will likely have a significant impact on public entities and “public meetings”. The matter of B. Alan Gloss, Et Al. v. Ann B. Wheeler, Et Al. (Record No. 210779) established a more expansive definition of what constitutes a public meeting of government officials.[1] Facts and Background The underlying facts revolve around an impromptu meeting of the Prince William Board of Supervisors in May 2020 in which members discussed local unrest in the wake of the George Floyd killing. Several residents of the County filed a “Petition for Mandamus and Injunction” in Prince William Circuit Court alleging that five members of the Board of Supervisors knowingly and willfully violated Virginia FOIA (VFOIA) by attending a meeting as defined by VFOIA without complying with statutory requirements of the act. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death ignited nationwide protests including a protest in Prince William County on May 30, 2020. The protest began peacefully, but subsequently turned violent. An “unlawful assembly” was declared at approximately 8:00 p.m., but the group of protestors continued to grow in number. Events escalated and included acts of vandalism and violence. County officials began characterizing the events as “riots”. At approximately 10:00 p.m., police officials sent an email to members of the Board of Supervisors providing information about the unrest. Board members were advised that police were attempting to regain order, and portions of roads within the county remained closed. ...
Written by Jessica, Gorman, Esq. Edited by Bob McAdam, Esq. Another opinion recently issued by the Full Commission serves as a reminder that every case is fact specific. In Agyemang v. The Gardens at Warkwick Forest, JCN VA00001874767 (January 10, 2023) the Full Commission reversed and vacated an award issued by the Deputy Commissioner. In doing so, the Commission interpreted the “actual risk test.” The Claimant, a food attendant, alleged that she sustained an injury by accident to her left hand on May 1, 2021. She sought medical benefits and periods of indemnity benefits. The Employer raised numerous defenses against the claim, including that the Claimant did not suffer a compensable injury by accident arising out of and in the course of her employment. The Deputy Commissioner concluded that the Claimant proved that her injury arose out of her employment. The Deputy Commissioner summarized the evidence as follows: The Claimant testified that as she was placing several small, light plastic coffee mugs atop a refrigerator in a kitchen in the course of her work as a food attendant, she jammed her left hand on the refrigerator. The histories contained in the available medical records as well as her report of injury to the employer track the Claimant’s credible testimony regarding this incident. Although the Claimant’s injury may have occurred as a result of her own inadvertence, a Claimant’s negligence does not bar an award of compensation and it is found that her injury occurred as a result of an accident as defined under the Act. This incident is an “identifiable incident or sudden precipitating event,” that occurred as a...
Written by Daniel Royce, Esq. Few public risk issues are as poignant, topical, and controversial as liability faced by law enforcement officers for actions undertaken in the line of duty. Our TVs and Social Media feeds are replete with stories of officers accused of bad behavior in the line of duty. Often, these matters result in civil actions where Courts are thrust into the difficult role of deciding cases wrought with emotion in an area of law not always well understood. The Supreme Court of Virginia was recently faced with such a case in the matter of Colas v. Tyree, 2023 Va. Lexis 4*, Record No. 211226 (Sup. Ct. Va., Jan. 26, 2023). As often the case, the facts underlying this matter are tragic. On February 9, 2019, Officer Bradley Colas shot and killed Jeffrey Tyree. The Estate of Tyree brought an action for gross negligence and battery. The Estate alleged that police (and specifically Colas) shot Tyree while he was unarmed and lying on the ground. The trial Court denied Colas’ motion to strike, and the jury found Colas liable and awarded damages to Tyree’s Estate on the battery count only. Colas appealed the matter on the grounds that his Motion to Strike should have been granted because at the time he discharged his weapon, he was acting in defense of another, and thus the fatal shot was justified. In other words, Colas was asserting he had proved his affirmative defense as a matter of law. The Court found that the Estate’s own un-contradicted evidence established that Colas was justified, and applied the adverse party witness rule in...
Written by Stephanie G. Cook, Esq. Edited by Bill Pfund, Esq. Between March 16, 2020 and July 8, 2020, the Supreme Court issued several “emergency orders” in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which tolled all statute of limitations. Since then, there has been considerable debate as to when the tolling period created by these emergency orders runs. In fact, the courts in Virginia have essentially been split on the issue. See Tinsley v. Clarke, 2022 U.S. Dist. Lexis 56625 (W.D. Va. March 28, 2022) and Proctor v. AECOM, Inc., 2021 U.S. Dist. Lexis 162142 (E.D. Va. August 26, 2021); see also English v. Quinn, 2022 Va. Cir. Lexis 7 (Roanoke City Cir. Court Feb. 7, 2022); but then see Ceriani v. Dionsysus, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. Lexis 73499 (E.D. Va. April 20, 2022); Heck v. Guion, 108 Va. Cir. 179 (City of Chesapeake Cir. Court June 4, 2021) and Brown v. State Farm, 107 Va. Cir. 343 (Culpeper County Cir. Court March 11, 2021). In general, plaintiffs have taken the position that the emergency orders tolled and extended all statutes of limitations. Thus, plaintiffs argued they had an additional 126 days (the time between March 16, 2020 and July 8, 2020) to file their Complaint in a personal injury action. For example, in Virginia, the statute of limitations for a personal injury suit is 2 years. Assume the date of an automobile accident was November 19, 2019. Generally, the time for plaintiff to file his or her suit in such a case would have run by November 19, 2021. However, due to these emergency orders, a plaintiff would likely...
The Tenth Order Extending Declaration of Judicial Emergency through October 11, 2020 can be viewed here. The period of Judicial Emergency (during which applicable statutes of limitations are effected) now extends from March 16, 2020 through October 11,...
According to the August 31, 2020 edition of Virginia Lawyers Weekly, the following courts have had their plans approved for the resumption of jury trials beginning in September: Henrico Circuit Court Norfolk Circuit Court Stafford Circuit Court Alleghany Circuit Court The plans for these courts are posted on the home web page of Virginia’s Judicial System linked here. Additional information is included on the Virginia Judicial System web page, including a “court by court” listing of Notices, Orders, Announcements, etc. related to individual courts. This information can be found here....
