The following summaries are of recent published decisions of the California appellate courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. The summaries are presented without regard to whether Severson & Werson represented a party in the case.
Defendant city government is immune from liability for accidents caused by police vehicular pursuits if it has promulgated a suitable written pursuit policy and requires annual training and certification by all officers that they have received, read, and understood the policy, even if not all the officers actually sign the required certifications. Read More
Although government entities are immunized from liability for injuries caused by the natural condition of any unimproved public property, a campground counts as an improvement; so child could sue county after he was injured by a falling tree at a county-owned campsite. Read More
City could not claim sovereign immunity after plaintiff was injured by falling tree limb in a city park because the trail on which plaintiff had been walking had no causal connection to the injury. Read More
Governmental immunity from liability for injuries on recreational trails does not shield a city from liability for injury from errant golf balls hit from an adjoining commercial golf course on city property. Read More
Plaintiff, who was held involuntarily for 72 hours for a mental health evaluation, could not sue hospital and officers who had probable cause to detain her, due to their qualified immunity. Read More
A court must determine at the outset of a suit against a foreign sovereign whether the expropriation of property in violation of international law exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies; it is not sufficient to decide that the plaintiff makes a non-frivolous argument for its application. Read More
Under Government Code 850.4, a governmental entity was immune from liability for injuries the firefighter-plaintiff incurred when a truck ran over her while she was sleeping in a temporary firefighting base camp, as the injuries resulted from the condition of firefighting facilities. Read More
Plaintiff cannot sue the United States for negligent injuries suffered in a foreign country, and plaintiff suffered her injury in Spain when she was prematurely born with brain damage, not in the United States where she was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Read More
Because a county charged admission for entry into a campground located inside a county-owned park, and PG&E maintained a power line to the campground’s bathroom, PG&E could not claim immunity for injuries suffered by the public in connection with the bathroom—even though PG&E received no portion of the campground fee. Read More
Although a governmental entity is legally required to grant a minor leave to file a late government claim, when it fails to do so, the minor must petition the superior court within a year or lose the right to sue. Read More
The governmental immunity for misrepresentations does not bar a claim for business disparagement, but suit was properly dismissed anyway because the alleged slander did not specifically refer to the plaintiff's product or business. Read More
Governmental immunity shielded the owner of the adjacent golf course, which had granted a trail easement to the government, from claims by a plaintiff who was injured by an errant golf ball while hiking on the trail. Read More
Design immunity shielded city from liability for a pedestrian that a left-turning driver killed in a crosswalk since an authorized city official designed the intersection, the design was reasonable when adopted and the design was causally related to the accident. Read More
