Civil Procedure

This case discusses the  disputes are "capable of repetition, yet evading review" exception to the rule normally requiring dismissal of moot cases.  To fall within the exception, the action or appeal must be of inherently limited duration and there is a reasonable expectation that the appellant will be subjected to the same type of order in the future.  This case… Read More

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (47 USC 230) immunized YouTube from liability for exercising editorial functions in restricting the availability of or advertising in connection with videos posted to its website.  Therefore, the trial court correctly sustained YouTube's demurrer to tort claims by a poster of videos that YouTube had restricted access to or barred from bearing ads… Read More

Under FRCivP 24(a), a would-be intervenor must show that it has a significant protectable interest as to the property or transaction involved in the dispute which may be impaired by resolution of the case as well as that the motion to intervene was timely and the existing parties don't or can't protect the intervenor's interest.  Here, the plaintiff sought a… Read More

This decision affirms a judgment on demurrer in a UCL suit by a consumer contending that Tootsie Roll committed unlawful and unfair business practices in the period between 2010 and 2016 by including partially hydrogenated oils in its candy bars.  The FDA considered the issue eventually deciding to ban PHOs, but only from 2018 onward in order to give food… Read More

Under In re On-Line DVD Rental Antitrust Litig. (Frank v. Netflix, Inc.) (9th Cir. 2015) 779 F.3d 934), a court considers three factors to decide if a class settlement is a "coupon settlement subject to CAFA's (28 USC 1712's) restriction on attorney fee awards. First, do class members receive only a discount on services and must pay more out of… Read More

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's regulation interpreting 49 U.S.C. § 31141(c) is given retroactive effect so that federal law preempts even meal and rest break claims that the trucker plaintiffs filed before the regulation was adopted.  The preemption regulation was intended to and does apply regardless of when the alleged meal and rest break violation occurred. Read More

Defendant employer failed to pay the arbitrator's fees within 30 days.  Accordingly, the trial court correctly granted plaintiff's motion for reconsideration of the order compelling arbitration.  CCP 1287.98 allows a party to avoid arbitration under an employment or consumer contract if the party that drafted the arbitration agreement and moved to compel arbitration does not pay arbitration fees within 30… Read More

The trial court is not required to consider grounds for summary judgment that the movant's papers do not identify, but the court may, in its discretion, consider an additional ground if an evidentiary basis for the additional ground appears in the summary judgment record, and (2) the opponent has notice of and an opportunity to respond to the additional ground. … Read More

In a county that no longer uses a judgment book, judgment is "entered" for purposes of post-trial motions and appeal time when a copy of the judgment in filed by the clerk.  The clerk's entry in the register of actions that judgment has been entered is neither required nor sufficient.  Instead, it is the filing of the judgment document that… Read More

Employer filed an untimely appeal from a Labor Commissioner ruling ordering the employer to pay a substantial sum to the plaintiff employee.  After the untimely appeal was dismissed, the trial court properly ordered the bond forfeited to the employee and entered judgment in the bond amount against the employer.  Though filing a bond is a prerequisite to the trial court's… Read More

To register a sister-state judgment in California under CCP 1710.010 et seq., the judgment creditor need not show that the defendant is subject to personal jurisdiction in California.  If the sister-state judgment is otherwise enforceable, the defendant received due process in the original forum state and need not be afforded all due process rights in the states in which the… Read More

The Legislature amended H&S Code 1799.102 after Van Horn v. Watson (2008) 45 Cal.4th 322 to extend the statutory immunity for Good Samaritans who render emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency.  For these purposes, H&S Code 1797.70 defines "emergency" to mean "a condition or situation in which an individual has a need for… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in entering a preliminary injunction under the CLRA against defendants continuing to sell puppies which they falsely claimed were healthy but in fact were not and died in many cases within days after sale.  Defendants' main argument on appeal was that the evidence didn't show that they sold the puppies that plaintiffs'… Read More

Under a manuscript endorsement, Yahoo's insurance policy provided covereage for “injury . . . arising out of . . . [o]ral or written publication, in any manner, of material that violates a person’s right of privacy.”  This decision holds that the "restrictive relative phrase" "that violates a person's right of privacy" might under standard rules of English usage and the… Read More

In this case involving a slip-and-fall on a sidewalk on defendant's property, the trial court erred in granting the defendant summary judgment under the trivial defect doctrine.  Defendant failed to meet his initial burden of showing the discontinuity of pavement was a trivial defect, providing only a declaration that stated the conclusion that the separation was less than an inch… Read More

Plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact precluding summary judgment on her disability discrimination claim.  Defendant fired her because she failed a physical exam which allowed an inference that defendant regarded plaintiff as disabled due to balance and strength deficits in her right leg as shown on the physical exam.  Plaintiff also raised a triable issue as to whether she… Read More

Under Lab. Code 925(a)(1), an employer may not require an employee to agree to adjudicate in another state a dispute arising in California.  This decision holds that the provision does not prohibit a court or arbitrator in another state from adjudicating whether section 925 applies.  Here, Zhang was a full partner of Dentons, so there was ample room for questioning… Read More

Following Light v. California Department of Parks & Recreation (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 75 and looking holistically at the evidence, plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact precluding summary judgment on her sex discrimination and retaliation claims.  The defendant was not entitled to a presumption of nondiscrimination based on the same actor (hiring and firing) her since the hiring was tied… Read More

Recognizing there is a split of authority on the question, this decision holds that rulings on evidentiary issues in connection with a summary judgment motion should be reviewed for abuse of discretion, not de novo.  However, on the merits, an order granting a new trial (after te grant of a summary judgment motion) is reviewed de novo. Read More

Under Gov. Code 53069.4, a municipality may adopt an administrative hearing procedure for enforcement of its ordinances.  The administrative decision is reviewable by a mandate petition in superior court.  So long as the sum involved is $25,000 or less, the petition commences a limited jurisdiction case and any appellate review is conducted by the appellate department of the superior court,… Read More