2nd Circuit Opinions

Golden v. NBCUniversal Media, LLC - VPPA Claim Dismissed

The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of Sherhonda Golden's Video Privacy Protection Act claim against NBCUniversal Media, LLC, holding that information transmitted to Facebook through a tracking pixel on Today.com did not constitute "personally identifiable information" under VPPA. The court applied its prior ruling in Solomon v. Flipps Media, Inc., finding that an ordinary person could not identify a user's video-watching habits from a URL combined with a Facebook identification number with little or no extra effort. Golden argued that intervening Supreme Court precedent overruled Solomon, but the court rejected this argument.

Theodoridis v. Islamic Republic of Iran – Second Circuit Reverses Iran 9/11 IIED Ruling

The Second Circuit reversed the Southern District of New York's denial of default judgment on Plaintiffs' intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED) claims against Iran, holding that the district court erred in its application of the 'severe emotional distress' element under New York law. The appellate court reviewed the legal question de novo, found the district court's conclusion unsupported, vacated the denial, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. The case arises from the 2016 amendment to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act permitting non-U.S. nationals to sue foreign states under the terrorism exception for injury and death resulting from terrorist acts.

Second Circuit Affirms Kennedy's Supervised Release Revocation

The Second Circuit affirmed the April 15, 2025 judgment revoking Jamel Kennedy's supervised release and sentencing him to nine months' imprisonment followed by an additional five-year term of supervised release. Kennedy argued the district court procedurally erred by exclusively relying on the "seriousness" of his violation conduct—a factor impermissible under 18 U.S.C. § 3583(c). Applying plain error review because Kennedy failed to raise the objection below, the appellate court found no reversible error.