Fourth Circuit

Background

On June 23, 2025, Judge Matthew J. Maddox of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland denied a motion by President Donald J. Trump and other officials (“Defendants”) to stay his order reinstating three Democratic CPSC Commissioners: Mary Boyle, Alexander Hoehn-Saric, and Richard Trumka Jr. (the “Commissioners”). The motion, filed on June 16, 2025, sought to pause the court’s injunction, prohibiting any action to effectuate the Commissioners’ removal, while the case is appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to the district court’s decision, Defendants filed an emergency motion for a stay with the Fourth Circuit on June 17, 2025, which was denied on July 1, 2025. The next day, the Trump Administration submitted an application to the U.S. Supreme Court for an administrative stay and a stay pending appeal.

On August 24, 2020 in Ann Finch v. Covil Corp., 972 F.3d 507 (4th Cir. 2020), the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a North Carolina federal district court’s decision, sustaining a $32.7 million verdict in favor of  the plaintiff in an asbestos-related wrongful death lawsuit against insulation contractor Covil Corporation. On appeal, Covil argued that the district court erred in instructing the jury as to proximate cause and refused to reduce the damages award, however the three-judge panel found no fault with the district court’s jury instructions or its rationale for refusing to reduce the jury verdict.