Waiving Doctor-Patient Privilege. The Second Circuit granted a writ of mandamus and reversed an order that required a prisoner's psychiatric records to be disclosed in a case where the prisoner brought a 1983 action alleging that correctional officers used excessive force on him. The prisoner was not seeking damages for mental or unusual emotional injury.

The decision in In re Sims can be found here.

Evidence after summations. The Second Circuit, in United States v. Crawford, held that the district court had abused its discretion in reopening the record after summations to allow the posecution to put in additional evidence.

The decision in this case can be found here.

Cash-based defined benefit plans. The Second Circuits, joining the other circuits that have considered the issue, has held that cash-based defined benefit plans do not inherently result in age-based reduction in the rate of benefit accrual and do not violate ERISA. The Court noted that there had been some confusion among the district courts of the Second Circuit as to law on this issue.

The decision in Hirt v. The Equitable Retirement Plan for Employees, Managers and Agents can be found here.

Attempted Deceit -- Certified Questions. The Second Circuit, in Amalfitano v. Rosenberg has certified the following questions to the New York State Court of Appeals:

Can a successful lawsuit for treble damages brought under N.Y. Judiciary Law 487 be based on an attempted but unsuccessful deceit upon a court by the defendant?

In the course of such a lawsuit, may the costs of defending litigation instituted by a complaint containing a material misrepresentation of fact be treated as the proximate result of the misrepresentation if the court upon which the deceit was attempted at no time acted on the belief that the misrepresentation was true?

The decision can be found here.

Prerequisite. The Second Circuit has held that it is not a prerequisite to liability under the Americans with Disabilities Act to request an accommodation when the employer is aware of its employee's disability or the disability is apparent. The decision in Brady v. Walmart Stores, Inc. can be found here.