Torts

The trial court correctly granted defendant summary judgment in this slip-and-fall injury suit in an exercise facility's sauna room.  The release of claims in the fitness center's membership agreement absolved the fitness center of liability for ordinary negligence.  Plaintiff failed to submit evidence creating a triable issue of fact as to gross negligence.  She claimed to have fallen because the… Read More

Plaintiff sued for defamation, alleging that defendants falsely told several reporters that plaintiff had provided explicit nude photographs of Bezos to the National Enquirer as part of a conspiracy to damage Bezos.  On defendants' Anti-SLAPP motion, plaintiff's only evidence was his declaration stating that several news reporters had told him that Bezos told them plaintiff had given the photos to… Read More

The trial court erred in granting defendant school district summary judgment.  Plaintiff, a student at the district's high school was stabbed by third person when following after school sports practice, she briefly visited a Starbucks and then returned to the high school to recover her books from her school locker.  The brief diversion to Starbucks did not interrupt the school's… Read More

Plaintiffs' decedent suffered a massive heart embolism while in the bathroom of a Southwest Airlines plane flying from Oakland to Orange County.  When the airplane's flight attendants became aware something was wrong, they wrongly diagnosed the problem as a terrorist threat.  The pilot contacted the Orange County Sheriff's office, which sent officers to the plane on arrival and removed all… Read More

Plaintiffs sued claiming they had been sexually molested while minors by a Roman Catholic priest.  They sought to hold the Archdiocese vicariously liable for ratifying the molestation and directly liable for its own negligence in failing to supervise the priest.  The trial court correctly denied the Archdiocese's Anti-SLAPP motion.  The allegations about the Bishop's supporting the priest's defense of another… Read More

Plaintiffs failed to allege a viable claim of trespass to chattels against defendants whom they alleged accessed and copied, without authority, computer files containing private legal and medical information about them and other workers compensation plaintiffs.  Under Intel Corp. v. Hamidi (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1342, a trespass to chattels claim cannot be stated for computer hacking (either sending or copying… Read More

Generally, a landlord does not owe a duty of care with respect to open and obvious dangers on the property.  There is an exception, however, when it is foreseeable that, because of necessity or other circumstances, a person may choose to encounter the condition.  Here, the exception applied because the obviously dangerous stairway, with uneven risers and no handrail, led… Read More

Defendant admitted negligence in an auto accident case.  But the trial court correctly denied plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict on causation.  Defendant's expert said only that the accident caused additional injury "if the plaintiff's testimony is believed."  The jury could and did disbelieve plaintiff.  Plaintiff could not complain on appeal about the wording of jury instructions since he invited… Read More

Florida does not violate the Medicare Act by asserting a lien for 37.5% of a Medicare recipient's settlement of his claim against a third party tortfeasor for injuries treated with Medicare benefits.  Under Florida law, there is a presumption that 37.5% of any personal injury settlement is paid for past and future medical expenses unless rebutted by clear and convincing… Read More

Malefactors unrelated to Uber obtained Uber stickers from its website and placed them on their cars.  Then they picked up women who thought the men were Uber drivers.  This decision holds that Uber is not liable for the fake drivers' rape of the women.  Uber didn't have a special relationship with the women that imposed any duty on it to… Read More

A medical expert testifying about causation in support of the party bearing the burden of proof in a medical malpractice case must be able to express an opinion “to a reasonable medical probability,” which means more likely than not.  If the defendant tries to prove that something other than its alleged negligence caused plaintiff's injury, it bears the burden of… Read More

The trial court erred in vacating entry of judgment in California on a sister state judgment rendered in Missouri where plaintiffs lived.  Missouri had personal jurisdiction over the California defendants since they had sent allegedly fraudulent communications to plaintiffs in Missouri, inducing the Missouri plaintiffs to enter into a contract for defendants' adoption services and pay defendants from Missouri.  An… Read More

Under the out-of-pocket loss rule for fraud damages, a purchaser cannot recover the purchase price as consequential damages.  However, in applying the out-of-pocket loss rule, the trier of fact is not limited to considering the market value of the product or service on the date it was purchased, but may also consider post-sale evidence that bears on its market value… Read More

A school owes its students a duty of care to protect them from foreseeable harm; that is, risks that the school knows or reasonably should know to exist.  Here, the school had no prior indication that one of its teachers was having an affair with an underage student.  The risk of inappropriate sexual behavior by teachers is not so great… Read More

In this asbestosis case, plaintiffs added Air Brake in place of a Doe defendant shortly after Boeing produced documents showing that Air Brake designed the brake shoes for its light rail cars, specifying brake pads containing asbestos.  The trial court erred in granting summary judgment on limitations grounds after concluding that plaintiffs "knew or should have known" of Air Brake's… Read More

While an employer has an affirmative duty to provide employees with a safe place to work (Lab. Code, § 6400(a); Seabright Ins. Co. v. US Airways, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 590, 603), this decision holds that this duty does not  include ensuring that an off-site meeting place for coworkers and business associates--such as at an employee’s private residence is safe… Read More

Under CCP 425.13, a plaintiff may not bring a claim for punitive damages in a medical malpractice case without first moving for and obtaining a court order allowing her to amend to allege that claim.  The statute also provides that the motion to amend must be brought before the earlier of 2 years from filing of the action or 9… Read More

A store owner that holds its premises open to the public owes invitees a duty of care to keep the premises reasonably safe.  A business that owns or leases only part of a larger business premises owes invitees a duty of care with regard to the entire premises, not just the part the business owns, leases or operates in.  So,… Read More

If a foreign sovereign entity is subject to suit under one of the exceptions to immunity otherwise conferred by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Act does not affect the substantive law governing the entity's liability.  Instead, 28 USC 1606 provides that when not entitled to immunity, "the foreign state shall be liable in the same manner and to the… Read More

This decision affirms a judgment holding that Ins. Code 533 bars insurance coverage for a judgment against Conagra for the public nuisance caused by Fuller Paint's pre-1950 advertising promoting the use of lead-based paint for interior paint on residential units.  In the liability trial, the trial court found that Fuller had kwown at the time it made the advertisements that… Read More