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William A. Anderson v. American General Life Insurance Company

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 19-11478 · judgment February 19, 2020


Certiorari denied · October 5, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 0% cert probability

Before the decision, well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.

Questions presented

This court has held that concerning punitive damages, in cases where the employer was found to have acted with actual malice or reckless indifference to the plaintiffs federally protected rights and was high up on the corporate hierarchy, that once those criteria were established, the employer may assert a good faith defense to vicarious liability for punitive damages where the employment decisions of managerial agents were contrary to the employer’s good faith efforts to comply with Title VII. Similarly, Federal Circuit Courts have held the same in recent years. Their Reasoning is straightforward and clearly defined. Officers of the court have an obligation to promote justice and are held to a higher standard of legal and ethical obligations. In the spirit of due process, this court has held that an officer of the court has an ethical duty of due diligence to investigate the allegation of fabricated or false evidence prior to making a ruling based upon that evidence, magnified when given notice of the potential falsification, and also an opportunity to respond to the evidence presented identifying the falsification. This court has held concerning contract law that, at the least, 3 basic elements must exist - Offer, Acceptance, and Consideration. This court has also held, as a general rule, that a court will construe ambiguous contracts terms against the drafter of the agreement. Minus ambiguity, an officer of the court is held to a higher standard of legal and ethical obligation to follow the agreement upon which they entered into agreement with between all parties. The questions presented are:

  1. Is it a violation for an Arbitrator to assert a defense on behalf of a defendant of which the defendant did not request or present on their own behalf?

  2. Once identified as false evidence “prior” to ruling, does a ruling officer of the court violate due process or commit judicial misconduct by ruling on an issue utilizing that false evidence that was non-existent?

  3. Whether an officer of the court violates a contractual agreement when they switch from agreed upon terms between all parties to a term that creates a detriment to one party?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
William A. Anderson

For respondent
Michael B. de Leeuw
Cozen O'Connor

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Proceedings

  1. Oct 05 2020
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Sep 09 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/29/2020.
  3. Sep 01 2020
    Reply of petitioner William A. Anderson filed. (Distributed)
  4. Aug 21 2020
    Brief of respondent American General Life Insurance Co. in opposition filed.
  5. Jul 17 2020
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 21, 2020)