Torts

To survive express and implied preemption, a state law claim against a medical device manufacturer must allege a claim that is based on conduct that violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act but is wholly based on state law which would give rise to recovery even if the federal act did not exist. Here, plaintiff's claims of negligence and… Read More

A sorority did not owe a duty of care to guests of its off-campus party to protect them from assault and battery by uninvited persons crashing the party.  The measures that plaintiff claimed the sorority should have taken to prevent the harm--hiring private security personnel and maintaining and enforcing an invited guest list--were highly burdensome.  To justify that degree of… Read More

An animal that is not itself sick is not a product for purposes of a design defect products liability case.  Here, a rat that Petco sold as a pet had a bacterial infection that did not produce a disease affecting the rat but one that rarely, but in this case, fatally, produces a disease in humans.  This decision holds that… Read More

Flying into a tirade at a 13-year-old girl who had been drugged and raped and yelling at her that she was stupid and it was her fault is extreme and outrageous conduct that exceeds that bounds of decency tolerated in a civilized community and so the tirade supports a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.  To make matters worse,… Read More

Probate Code 859 provides for an award of double damages if the court finds that the defendant son has in bad faith wrongfully taken . . . property belonging to a . . . dependent adult, . . .  or has taken . . . the property by the use of undue influence in bad faith or through the commission… Read More

A governmental entity is immune from suit for the conduct of its employees or agents which could constitute a tort only if done by the governmental entity itself, in this case an abuse of process suit based on its employees and agents allegedly misuse of discovery in a civil action to audit the plaintiff's records for unclaimed property. Read More

Plaintiff's evidence, if believed by a fact-finder, would have supported the contention that defendant's ginkgo-infused pills had no mind-sharpening properties, contrary to defendant's advertising claims; so defendant was not entitled to summary judgment. Read More

The going-and-coming rule might not bar a claim against at-fault driver’s employer; though the driver was on a personal mission, the employer allegedly required him to drive a company truck at all times. Read More

A trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding statutory attorney fees to plaintiff after she prevailed in a trespass action; despite a small damage award, the plaintiff won important equitable relief enforcing her property rights against a defendant. Read More

A university does not owe a non-student a duty of care with respect to physical safety at unsponsored, unauthorized third party activities off-campus such as a fraternity party, even if the university exercises some minimal control through university policies and police patrols. Read More

If injured on the job, a borrowed employee’s sole recourse is to claim benefits under the Longshore & Harbor Workers Compensation Act, he or she cannot sue the borrowing employer in tort. Read More

Trial court prejudicially erred in giving a special jury instruction that in determining whether the city's failure to repaint a faded cross-walk and maintain bushes was negligent, the jury could not consider the condition of the adjacent property or the design of the intersection. Read More

Apple owes no duty of care to plaintiffs whose daughter was killed by a motorist who was driving while using FaceTime on his iPhone; proximate causation was also lacking. Read More

Plaintiff may succeed on a negligent hiring and supervision theory by alleging that an employer’s negligent hiring of employee put him in a position to commit wrongful acts outside the scope of his employment which he would not otherwise have been able to commit, even if the harm was not committed in the course and scope of employment. Read More

The primary assumption of the risk didn't shield a youth water polo league from liability for repeat concussions suffered by a goalie due to the league's failure to promulgate concussion management and return to play protocols, which resulted in goalie being returned to play while already concussed and suffering further injury.  Read More

Defendant’s repeated kicks and punches of the plaintiff was sufficient evidence of malice and/or intent to injure, thus providing sufficient justification for a punitive damages award. Read More

A plaintiff's success in fending off a demurrer, summary judgment motion, or other pretrial motions does not immunize it from a later finding that the False Claims Act cause of action was frivolous and corresponding award of attorney fees. Read More

Sheriff’s office could be sued for negligence after it voluntarily assumed the duty of searching for a missing biker but negligently delayed the search effort until the following morning, by which time the biker had died. Read More

None of the exceptions to hearsay rule applied to permit admission of plaintiff’s supervisor’s testimony that he had seen defendant’s name on invoices and shipping orders for asbestos-containing pipes. Read More

The Right to Repair Act precludes class actions premised on a violation of the Act’s standards for new residential construction. Read More