Torts

A hospital could not be held liable for a doctor’s malpractice on a respondeat superior theory when the hospital’s conditions of admission, which the patient signed many times in non-emergency situations, clearly disclosed that all doctors who treated patients at the hospital acted as independent contractors.  Read More

After trial court clerk improperly posted copy of confidential pleading that revealed plaintiff’s true name in his revenge porn lawsuit (in which plaintiffs are ordinarily permitted to proceed anonymously), the trial court compounded the error by ruling that all future filings would have to be in plaintiff’s real name.  Read More

To support an award of damages for lost earning capacity, plaintiff must introduce evidence showing the career it is reasonably probable plaintiff would have pursued but for the tortious injury and the amount plaintiff would have earned in that career.  Read More

Employer was entitled to judgment NOV in a negligence case brought against a plaintiff injured by employee’s negligent driving of his own car on his way home from work, since the employee’s commute was subject to the “going and coming rule.”  Read More

The Communications Decency Act (47 USC 230) shielded Yelp! from liability for an allegedly defamatory review of plaintiff’s business as plaintiff alleged no facts to support his speculation that Yelp! rather than a customer wrote the review.  Read More

Judgment for defendant in a private nuisance action was affirmed as substantial evidence supported the trial court’s findings that the noise from defendants’ resort was not unreasonable nor was the injury to the plaintiff substantial, even if the noise violated the county noise ordinance.  Read More

Trial court erred in denying summary judgment to defendant in misappropriation case, since defendant showed uncontradicted evidence that plaintiff had signed a contract consenting to the challenged use of his name and likeness.  Read More

In seeking indemnity under an express contractual indemnity clause, an indemnitee is not limited to either the pleadings or proof the claimant presented in the underlying negligence action.  Read More

Leaseholder whose lease stated he would indemnify the lessor against claims “arising out of, in connection with, or involving the use or occupancy of the leased premises” was not obligated to indemnify lessor against an injury that occurred in the common area (here, the stairs), even though injured party was a worker climbing stairs with a bucket of soapy water… Read More

In a medical malpractice action, a foreign doctor may testify as an expert on the standard of care since that standard is no longer governed by practice in the locality where the defendant doctor practiced.  Read More

To discover the identity of a person who posted an anonymous Internet comment, plaintiff must present prima facie evidence of all elements of a defamation claim; here, plaintiff fell short as the comment was non-actionable opinion, not defamatory fact.  Read More

Popular soft-porn star adduced prima facie proof that in publishing her picture with an article about HIV in the L.A. porn industry the defendant  news website edited her picture and its caption, making it more likely that the article would imply plaintiff had HIV, thus overcoming defendant’s Anti-SLAPP motion in her defamation suit.  Read More

A mandated reporter of elder abuse is immune from liability for having filed an affidavit in support of a citizen’s arrest of a worker suspected of having stolen property from nursing home residents.  Read More

A bar and dance club owed a duty of care to protect patrons against sexual assault in its bathroom areas; a unisex bathroom with ADA stalls that had floor to ceiling walls and lockable doors, together with the sexually charged atmosphere of the club and lax security guard policy, indicated there was a clearly foreseeable risk of nonconsensual sex in… Read More

For purposes of the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, both Facebook and its individual users had to consent before defendant could have its users initiate Facebook messages inviting others to use defendant’s website; the consent of the individual users alone was insufficient.  Read More

Though had an economic interest in plaintiff’s contract of employment with its supplier, Apple is not immune from the plaintiff’s complaint that Apple intentionally interfered with that contract by inducing the supplier to terminate plaintiff for resisting Apple’s allegedly wrongful efforts to steal the supplier’s technology.  Read More

Kaiser's Health Plan, a Know-Keane health care service plan, is not a single enterprise (or alter ego of) Kaiser Foundation Hospitals or Southern California Permanente Medical Group and so is not liable for their alleged torts.  Read More

The component parts doctrine does not shield a manufacturer from strict products liability for injuries a worker suffers by using the manufacturer’s product for its intended purpose in manufacturing a different, composite product of which the manufacturer’s product is a part Read More

Defendant church owed a duty of care to persons using its parking lot to avoid exposing them to an unreasonable risk of harm—even though the risk was from conditions on the busy road adjoining the parking lot, which the church did not own.  Read More

The Supreme Court endorses the implied false certification theory of violation of the federal False Claims Act, but only if the undisclosed facts (such as violations of law) would be material to the United States’ decision to pay the claim.  Read More