California Appellate Tracker

Summary judgment was improper where questions of fact remained as to whether the plaintiff was a domestic work employee of defendant caregiver placement agency for purposes of the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights, Lab. Code 1450 et seq., rather than an independent contractor as the defendant claimed. Read More

As a condition of subdivision map approval and an encroachment permit in 1989, Prout agreed to dedicate to the state a 20 foot-wide strip of land along the side of his subdivision-to-be where it abutted a public highway, so he could not later sue for inverse condemnation when CalTrans used the strip to expand the adjoining highway two decades later. Read More

The federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act preempted the plaintiff’s state law claim that defendant falsely advertised its Vitamin E supplement as promoting cardiovascular health. Read More

A holdover tenant is no longer in contractual privity with the landlord; so although the holdover tenancy is presumed to continue on the same terms as the preceding lease, only essential terms of the preceding lease are presumed to carry forward—and a right of first refusal is not one of these essential terms. Read More

In a groundwater pollution case, the trial court abused its discretion in awarding sanctions against the Water District since it had a reasonable basis for denying requests for admission based on evidence the defendant used contaminants on its property and on expert testimony that that release of those chemicals contaminated the groundwater. Read More

For non-coastal lands, public use alone, no matter how prolonged, cannot by itself create a public dedication of private lands; rather there must be an express irrevocable offer of dedication by the owner and its acceptance by the pertinent public authority. Read More

Fannie Mae’s release of Desktop Underwriter software did not bring it within the statutory definition of a consumer credit reporting agency for purposes of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Read More

A governmental entity is immune from suit for the conduct of its employees or agents which could constitute a tort only if done by the governmental entity itself, in this case an abuse of process suit based on its employees and agents allegedly misuse of discovery in a civil action to audit the plaintiff's records for unclaimed property. Read More

Background music is not part of the normal overall experience at a bar, so the bar need not provide hearing-impaired patrons with listening aids in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or its California law counterpart. Read More

When the arbitration agreement delegates arbitrability issues to the arbitrator, a court must compel arbitration even if it finds the argument that the dispute is arbitrable to be “wholly groundless.” Read More

Fees charged by a mediator for a mediation not ordered by the court may be recoverable as ordinary costs in the discretion of the trial court. Read More

When a law firm or client acquires an opponent's attorney-client information through surreptitious means such as hiring an outside counsel a former employee of the opposing party, the outside counsel in question must be disqualified from the representation. Read More

The litigation privilege did not immunize coverage counsel's transmission of the claimant's tax returns to the insurer and its forensic accountant, which enabled the claimant to state a viable invasion of privacy claim on the basis that tax returns are privileged. Read More

After employee provided uncontradicted evidence that he worked overtime hours he could not be denied compensation merely because his employer failed to keep accurate time records of the employee's hours of work; rather, at that point the employee's memory of time spent on special projects sufficed, and the burden shifted to the employer to disprove the claimed hours. Read More

Because the University of Southern California’s disciplinary procedures did not adequately allow for the accused student to cross-examine victim in a rape case, it denied fundamental fairness, and a subsequent disciplinary decision had to be overturned. Read More

A default judgment was vacated as it exceeded the sum prayed for in the indemnity cross-complaint on which it was based, even though it incorporated by reference the complaint which asked for $10 million. Read More

Delegation provision in the insurance contract’s arbitration clause was void because it was added by an endorsement that had not been filed with or approved by the Insurance Commissioner. Read More

There is a constitutional right to a jury trial of a claim for nominal statutory damages of $1000 under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. Read More

Plaintiff’s 998 offer made 19 days after service of the complaint was ineffective because the defendant then lacked sufficient information about the plaintiff’s injuries to reasonably evaluate the offer. Read More

Union members need not arbitrate state statutory claims unless their collective bargaining agreement clearly and unmistakably consigns the claims to arbitration, expressly mentioning the statute or the rights it confers. Read More