California Appellate Tracker

Auto insurance coverage limit for injury “to each person” applies to any damages, including loss of consortium damages, flowing from a bodily injury to a single person—even if that person is not the only one who suffers from the loss of consortium. Read More

By being the surviving subsidiary in a reverse triangular merger, defendant did not sell or transfer its assets, and so did not trigger a right of first refusal under a contract by which it acquired one of those assets. Read More

First Amendment’s ministerial exception barred seminary dean-plaintiff’s claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but not breach of contract, since the latter is a matter of compliance with a faculty handbook and hence does not turn on an ecclesiastical inquiry or excessively entangle the court in religious matters. Read More

By failing to raise it in the trial court, the defendant tribe waived its sovereign immunity defense as to an equipment rental agreement under which attorney fees had been awarded to the plaintiff. Read More

Since plaintiff restaurant workers alleged their employers took the tip credit for unrelated untipped work hours and for related untipped work exceeding 20% of their work time, they stated viable claims for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More

By committing an intentional tort in the state, a person purposely directs his actions toward the state, subjecting himself to personal jurisdiction there, unless the state’s exercise of jurisdiction over him does not comport with fair play and substantial justice under the seven-factor Paccar test. Read More

Section 9 of the standard-form deed of trust, which allows the lender to take steps to preserve its interest in the property (including defending litigation) and charge the cost of doing so to the borrower, is in the nature of an indemnity provision under which the lender could add its litigation expenses to the principal debt secured by the deed… Read More

Once the court orders an appraisal in an action for involuntary dissolution of a closely held corporation, the plaintiff may no longer voluntarily dismiss the action. Read More

Under the 2008 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is no longer necessary for an employee to show that his perceived disability limited or was perceived to limit a major life activity in order to show evidence of “disability”; all that the employee need plead or prove is that the employer regarded him as physically or mentally impaired. Read More

District court properly granted employer’s motion to decertify an opt-in FLSA class on the ground that it fails to satisfy the "similarly situated" requirement, since the employer showed that the class claims were based on a vague "culture" of not reporting overtime supported only by vaguely reported experiences of individual employees, and nothing sufficient to suggest a uniform practice or… Read More

In determining whether the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA) preempts a state court class action alleging fraud in connection with securities transactions, a district court should not dismiss the action without first allowing the plaintiff leave to amend—as it might do so to eliminate class claims and by that or other means avoid SLUSA preemption. Read More

For purposes of 11 USC 1141(d)(3), a bankrupt debt does not "engage in business" after plan confirmation merely by acting as an employee of a business owned and operated by a third person. Read More

There is no private right of action for a violation of Bus. & Prof. Code 9884.9, which requires car repair facilities to provide the customer a written estimate and obtain written customer approval before beginning repairs on a car. Read More

Plaintiff's False Claims Act complaint alleged that all the defendant health insurers submitted false claims using false diagnoses of patients' medical condition from the same vendor, and no further differentiation among the health insurers was needed to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) since they all acted the same way. Read More

Plaintiff stated viable causes of action under the unfair competition and false advertising laws, and for breach of warranty, by stating that Bayer's One-A-Day vitamins are mislabeled—two a day is required to meet recommended daily allowances for most vitamins. Read More

Air quality district sued plaintiff for violating various state laws banning emissions of air contaminants in his agricultural activities; the district was entitled to win its Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss plaintiff’s cross-complaint since it arose from the district's protected conduct in suing him for his emissions. Read More

The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act does not preempt the California Labor Commissioner from examining whether truck drivers are independent contractors or employees entitled to the benefit of California's wage and hour laws. Read More

Only a current beneficiary or trustee may petition to set aside amendments to a trust on the ground of lack of mental capacity and undue influence based on Probate Code 17200. Read More

A defendant does not waive an objection to personal jurisdiction by defending on the merits after having litigated the objection to an adverse ruling in the district court. Read More

The filed-rate doctrine, as codified in Ins. Code 12414.26, barred plaintiff’s claim that a title insurer improperly charged additional document preparation and delivery service fees. Read More