Following Urbino v. Orkin Services of California, Inc. (9th Cir. 2013) 726 F.3d 1118, this decision holds that statutory penalties cannot be aggregated in a PAGA suit to meet the $75,000 amount in controversy threshold for traditional diversity jurisdiction purposes. Instead, the statutory penalties and attorrney fees attributable solely to the named plaintiff must exceed $75,000 for there to be… Read More
Under Gov. Code 66498.1, a local agency’s approval of a vesting tentative map confers upon a developer the right to proceed with development in substantial compliance with the ordinances, policies, and standards in effect at the time the vested tentative map is approved. Here, the city approved the developer's vesting tentative map before its citizens passed an initiative measure that… Read More
The trial court erred in compelling arbitration of plaintiff's individual wage and hour claims while retaining jurisdiction over his PAGA claims. The employer's arbitration clause contained a waiver of "representative" claims--a word broad enough to encompass PAGA claims. Since PAGA claims cannot be waived, the purported waiver was invalid. But the arbitration clause also said that the waiver provision was… Read More
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding $654,000 in attorney fees despite the fact that the plaintiff individually recovered only $2,300. Plaintiff's success benefitted 130 other owners in a homeowners association. In any event, attorney fee awards need not be proportional to the damage award. Though fee awards may be reduced for partial success, a high fee-to-damage… Read More
Corporate directors acting under a conflict of interest cannot obtain the benefit of the business judgment rule. A director who votes on a measure when he has a conflict of interest bears the burden of showing that the measure or the transaction it approve was just and reasonable to the corporation, considering only the corporation's interests. Here, some directors of… Read More
Though not called "ministers" and though lacking as rigorous a religious education, teachers at a Catholic or other religious school, whose duties include educating students in the tenets of their religious faith fall within the "ministerial exception," based on the First Amendment, which prevents courts from adjudicating wrongful termination or employment discrimination claims brought by employees of religious institutions whose… Read More
Both employer and employee signed a three-page standalone arbitration agreement, but both failed to put their initials by the bolded provision that said both waived the right to a jury trial. This decision holds that the parties are bound by the arbitration agreement. Their signatures showed their assent to its terms which unequivocally bound them to arbitrate. The employee's uncommunicated… Read More
This decision reverses a summary judgment for the defendant in a medical malpractice case. It holds that the defendant did not satisfy its initial summary judgment burden because the expert witness declaration which was the centerpiece of its motion failed to state reasons and a factual basis for the conclusion that the defendant had conformed to the applicable professional standard… Read More
The portion of 47 U.S.C. 227(b) added in 2015 to exempt calls to collect debts owed to or guaranteed by the federal government from the TCPA's ban on robocalls to cellphones is an unconstitutional restriction on free speech. The exception is content-based as it draws distinctions based on the message conveyed in the telephone call. The exception may be invalidated… Read More
Two years after this case was removed to federal court on diversity grounds, the parties discovered that one of the properties at issue in the case was partly owned by a trust of which one trustee was a non-diverse California resident. The plaintiff moved to join the non-diverse trustee as a defendant. The district court granted the joinder, severed the… Read More
Distinguishing Andrews v. Foster Wheeler (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 96 and following Gaggero v. Yura (2003) 108 Cal.App.4th 884 instead, this decision holds that no logical inference that the plaintiff possesses no facts to support his claim can be drawn from the plaintiff's improper use of the procedure under CCP 2030.230 (pointing to documents from which an answer can be drawn)… Read More
Under CCP 1094.6, a petition for administrative mandate must be filed within 90 days after the administrative decision becomes final. But that statutory period does not begin to run until the administrative agency mails its decision to the petitioner with a notice that warns of the 90-day limit on petitioning for mandate and states the date on which the administrative… Read More
In reviewing an order denying an Anti-SLAPP motion in a malicious prosecution case, the appellate court applies the norrmal standard of review, drawing all inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Those inferences will not affect the case when it proceeds to trial. And the appellate court's affirmance of the order denying the Anti-SLAPP motion will only preclude a summary… Read More
The interim adverse judgment rule did not prevent this malicious prosecution action because the maliciious prosecution defendant had engineered a denial of the defense summary judgment motion in the underlying action by withholding of a critical piece of evidence in willful violation of multiple court orders--which had it been produced would have resulted in summary judgment being awarded. The withheld… Read More
A unilateral dismissal of the underlying action while facing a motion for terminating discovery sanctions was a favorable termination sufficient to serve as the basis for a malicious prosecution action by the former defendant even though the dismissal was accompanied by a negotiated payment of less than all of the former defendant's legal fees. The slight reduction in fees was… Read More
This decision affirms a judgment against Anthem for violating the Cartwright Act by a vertical boycott. Anthem announced that it would not accept "wrapped" health insurance plans of the type that Ben-E-Lect offered to small employers, and Anthem said it would terminate any of its agents who attempted to offer Anthem insurance plans in a "wrapped" package, such as those… Read More
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
Once an arbitrator has issued an "award," the arbitrator can alter or amend the award only within a prescribed time period and for strictly limited reasons. CCP 1283.4. Also, entry of an award triggers the court's jurisdiction to consider a petition to confirm or vacate the award. So whether an arbitrator's ruling is an "award" has important consequences. When the… Read More
Under Civ. Code 2924.15, HBOR's provisions apply only to owner-occupied properties. But the section goes on to define "owner-occupied" as property that is the borrower's principal residence and security for a loan made for consumer purposes. This decision reads the definition literally, holding that so long as the property is the borrower's principal residence, HBOR's provisions apply even if the… Read More
Summary judgment was properly entered for the employer in this wage and hour case. The employer's expert showed that the employer's time rounding of clock in and out times to the nearest 15 minutes was facially neutral and neutral in practice as well. Also, the employer disproved the employee's claim that he was denied meal and rest breaks. Each weekly… Read More
