California Appellate Tracker

Negligent misrepresentation differs from intentional misrepresentation on at least two elements.  For fraud, the defendant must know the representation is false; whereas, for negligent misrepresentation, lack of a reasonable basis to believe the representation is true will suffice.  Also, for negligent misrepresentation, no showing of intent to deceive is required, just an intent to induce reliance on the misstated fact. … Read More

On remand from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal decides that the plaintiff hospital cannot prevail on its claim of equitable tolling of the statute of limitations to petition for relief from the state agency's decision against it.  The decision clearly stated that it was effective immediately.  The state APA sections (Gov. Code 11521 and 11523) clearly provide that… Read More

The district court properly dismissed this false labeling suit against Target.  The label of its biotin food supplement stated "helps support healthy fair and skin."  Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 343(r)(6)(B)), FDA regulation of food supplement labels preempts state law.  Here, the label met the FDA's three requirements for such a label.  Target had… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting defendant's forum non conveniens motion, but did err in dismissing the action rather than merely staying it.  The suit was by residents of China against a California resident regarding alleged misuse of funds donated to the defendant's charitable foundation for his personal benefit.  China was an available forum.  It was… Read More

Under CCP 340.5, the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice claim expires at the earlier of three years from the date of injury or one year from the date of discovery.  Injury from the failure to diagnose a latent, progressive condition occurs “when the undiagnosed condition develops into a more serious condition,” and that more serious condition is made… Read More

There was no due process violation in the city's hiring outside counsel on an hourly fee basis to prosecute nuisance abatement suits.  Also, a fee award to the City as the prevailing party in the litigation was not an undue burden on the defendant's First Amendment right to petittion government by defending the nuisance abatement suit.  Health & Safety Code… Read More

A person who buys the property from the former landlord may sue a defaulted tenant for unlawful detainer based on a notice to quit which the former landlord served on the tenant before selling the property to the buyer/plaintiff.  Furthermore, the notice to quit is not defective for failing to name the person to whom the property is to be… Read More

Under the Uniform Voidable Transfer Act, a "transfer" made with actual intent to defraud creditors is voidable.  This decision holds that the statutory term "transfer" does not impose any requirement that property be transferred from a debtor to a third party.  Instead, a transfer from the debtor to himself can qualify as a voidable "transfer" for purposes of the UVTA… Read More

During a political campaign, one candidate's election manager wrote a letter to the editor, posted to websites and sent emails accusing plaintiff of having used his charitable foundation to make contributions to city council members in return for their voting to have plaintiff's company named as the contractor for a large construction project.  This decision holds that the trial court… Read More

The trial court erred in granting defendant summary judgment on the issue of duty of care when defendant moved for summary judgment, and its statement of undisputed facts related, only to the different issue of causation.  A court may grant a summary judgment motion on an issue not raised by the moving party, but only if the moving party's statement… Read More

Defendant waived its right to compel arbitration by participating in a putative class action for 24 months after service before moving to compel arbitration.  It could not excuse the delay on its belated discovery of the arbitration agreement bearing plaintiff's signature sisnce it alleged arbitration as an affirmative defense in its answer, knew that when plaintiff was hired its policy… Read More

This decision reverses a judgment confirming an arbitration award on the ground that the award violates public policy.  The award interpreted a provision of the union's memorandum of understanding with plaintiff department to mean that after one year the employing state agency not only had to delete negative material from the employee's file but also barred the agency from retaining… Read More

The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (18 USC 1831 et seq.) proscribes the wrongful acquisition, disclosure or use of a trade secret without the owner's permission.  Unlike the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the DTSA does not contain a provision expressly disallowing claims for continued unpermitted use of the trade secret after the DTSA's enactment, if the use began… Read More

The trial court properly confirmed an arbitration award.  Contrary to the loser's claim, the fact that many years before the arbitrator had been a founding member of and lawyer for GLAAD, an LBGTQ organization, was not a fact that the arbitrator should have disclosed as showing potential for bias.  The case did not involve any LBGTQ issues, and the loser's… Read More

The decision affirms an order denying a nursing facility's motion to compel arbitration. The son and wife separately signed admission papers for the patient, including an arbitration agreement.  To overcome the trial court's finding that the patient had not authorized the son and wife to act for him in that regard, on appeal the defendant would have to show it's… Read More

A medical practice's summary of Relative Value Unit data for all its employees for several years was a trade secret.  Though the RVU system was a well-known system for evaluating physician efficiency and so no trade secret, each employee's annual RVU production was not publicly known and so it could be a trade secret.  The historical RVU productivity data had… Read More

CCP 2019.210 provides that in a trade secret  misappropriation case under Civ. Code 3426, before commencing discovery relating to the trade secret, the party alleging the misappropriation shall identify the trade secret with reasonable particularity.  This decision holds that the plaintiff cannot wait to raise a new alleged trade secret in opposition to a summary judgment motion directed towards its… Read More

California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Civ. Code 3426.7) preempts other remedies for misappropriation of trade secrets such as a claim for unfair competition under B&P Code 17200. Read More

This decision finds that plaintiff stated a viable claim for fraudulent transfer of properties from Shahen Minassian to his wife Alice via a fraudulent marital dissolution degree with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors, including plaintiffs who secured a $100 million judgment against Shahen in underlying litigation.  The complaint alleged badges of actual intent to defraud:  transfer to… Read More

This decision affirms an order denying an employer's motion to compel arbitration in a wage and hour case. Though the employer called the plaintiff an independent contractor, the relationship was close enough to an employment relationship to make the Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83 standards of unconscionability applicable.  The arbitration provision was procedurally unconscionable… Read More