California Appellate Tracker

The Right to Repair Act (Civ. Code 895 et seq.) does not apply at all to product liability claims against a non-builder manufacturer of a product that a builder incorporates into a residence--unless the product defect causes the residence to violste one of the building standards set out in Civ. Code 896.  (Civ. Code 896(g)(3)(E).)  Here, however, a defect in… Read More

In 2018, the California electorate adopted Prop. 11 which enact Lab. Code 880 et seq., providing that ambulance employees must remain reachable by a communications device during their work shifts, including rest breaks. Lab. Code 889 expressly made the new law applicable to any and all actions pending on, or commenced after October 25, 2017. This decision holds that the… Read More

In building a house on his own property, defendant severed roots of a large pine tree that was partly on defendant's property and partly on plaintiff's.  Following Scholes v. Lambirth Trucking Co. (2020) 8 Cal.5th 1094, this decision holds that plaintiff can recover only single damages for killing the pine tree.  The injury to the tree occurred from severing roots… Read More

Adams, a lawyer, switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent, and then filed this case challenging the constitutionality of Delaware's constitutional provisions that allow only a bare majority of judges on its top five courts to be of the same political party and require that the remaining judges on the top three courts be of the other major political… Read More

Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (42 USC 2000bb-1, 2000bb-2) allows a private right of action for "appropriate relief" against a "government," a term defined to include an official or other person acting under color of law of the United States.  This decision holds that the definition of "government" expands the term's normal meaning to include officials in their individual… Read More

Under the Stored Communications Act (18 USC 2701, 2707) creates a private right of action against a person who intentionally accesses, without authorization, an electronic communication system, thereby obtaining an electronic communication in the system's electronic storage.  For this purpose, electronic storage includes storage by the system for the purpose of backup.  This decision holds that wife raised triable issues,… Read More

Substantial evidence supported the trial court's finding that the husband and wife who owned and managed the defendant corporation were alter egos of the corporation and liable for the corporation's Labor Code violations in a suit brought by a former employee.  The evidence showed that the corporation had paid some of the couple's personal debts and that the couple had… Read More

Plaintiff sued a corporation, took its default on a breach of contract claim.  Plaintiff also sued the corporation's owner and a related corporation.  After voluntarily dismissing the contract cause of action against those defendants, plaintiff continued to pursue tort claims against them for fraudulent conveyance and conspiracy, attempting to hold them liable on the default judgment against the corporation.  The… Read More

To admit her disabled, ill brother, for whom she acted as conservator, to a skilled nursing facility, plaintiff signed an admission agreement as well as two arbitration agreements, one for medical malpractice disputes, the other for all other disputes.  Plaintiff sued after the facility's poor care led to her brother's death.  The trial court denied the facility's motion to compel… Read More

Following Ward v. United Airlines, Inc. (2020) 9 Cal.5th 731 and Oman v. Delta Air Lines, Inc. (2020) 9 Cal.5th 762, this decision holds that California's wage and hour laws apply to seamen working on a ship that sailed between California ports and oil drilling platforms outside California's jurisdictional limits.  The seamen performed most of their work in California--though the… Read More

Disagreeing with Batze v. Safeway, Inc. (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 440, this decision holds that Amrican Pipe tolling applies to this later-brought individual suit on the same Labor Code violations alleged in two prior putative class actions, both alleging that Staples misclassified its store managers as exempt employees even though they spent more than 50% of their work time performing functions… Read More

Summary judgment was improperly entered against plaintiff on claims for negligence and intentional tort arising from a violent collision between plaintiff and defendant during an adult "no check" ice hockey league game.  Plaintiff produced evidence that, if believed, showed that defendant had not only violated league rules but had intentionally injured plaintiff or engaged in conduct so reckless as to… Read More

Plaintiff sued the manufacturer of Pop Secret popcorn, claiming it committed unfair business practices and breached the warranty of merchantability, by including partially hydrogenated oils (artificial trans fat) in the popcorn after the FDA had concluded that the ingredient was no longer approved for human consumption.  This decision holds that plaintiff failed to allege a sufficient injury in fact to… Read More

This decision holds that the trial court correctly denied enforcement of an arbitration clause in a contraxt for other than medical services because the arbitration clause was one of the standard terms of the contract, on the reverse side, while the customer signed the agreement only on the front side.  The arbitration clause was in the same 8-pt. types as… Read More

If a defendant unsuccessfully moves to compel arbitration of a lawsuit filed against it, the lawsuit continues in court.  So for purposes of Civ. Code 1717, the plaintiff does not become the prevailing party on the contract simply by defeating the motion to compel arbitration.  However, if not yet having been sued, a party files an independent petition to compel… Read More

Debtor abusively filed an earlier bankruptcy on behalf of a business entity, voiding a nonjudicial foreclosure sale of the entity's real property held the same day.  In debtor's later personal bankruptcy, creditor filed a claim, contending it was entitled to damages from the debtor on state law claims for abuse of process and tortious interference with business relations based on… Read More

Under CCP 2023.010 and 2023.030, providing evasive or false discovery responses is a discovery abuse for which the court must grant the opposing party monetary sanctions unless it finds there was substantial justification for the discovery abuse or awarding sanctions would be unjust.  Here, the trial court found substantial abuse of discovery in providing false responses, but erroneously failed to… Read More

A party seeking to invoke federal admiralty jurisdiction over a tort claim must satisfy both a location test and a connection test.  To satisfy the location test, the tort must occur on navigable waters, which means waters that by themselves or through connection with others form a continued highway over which commerce with other states or countries may be carried… Read More

To obtain review of an OSHA Appeals Bd. decision, the aggrieved party must petition the Appeals Bd. for reconsideration of the underlying decision (whether of an ALJ or the Appeals Bd.), but this decision holds, there can be no second petition for reconsideration unless (a) on the first reconsideration the Appeals Bd. reverses the underlying decision, thus creating a new… Read More

After Iran nationalized its oil industry in 1951, it owned the oil fields and Abadan oil refinery.  Iram contracted with international oil companies for those companies to provide management and other services to operating companies that were incorporated in the Netherlands and owned in part by the international companies and in part by Iram.  This decision holds that the international… Read More