California Appellate Tracker

A Washington Consumer Protection Act claim against an HMO over its restrictive practices regarding mental health treatment was not completely preempted by ERISA since the claims arose solely under Washington law, which requires that health insurers treat mental health conditions no less favorably than somatic health problems. Read More

An attorney who represented two clients directly in conflict with each other was properly disqualified from representing either of them. Read More

A claim for $10/hour minimum wages under San Jose's ordinance is not preempted by the National Labor Relations Act since the claim arose independently of the relevant collective bargaining agreement. Read More

When the entire contract containing an arbitration clause is illegal as contrary to statute or to public policy (as, here, an attorney fee agreement that is unenforceable due to undisclosed ethical conflict) the arbitration clause and any subsequent arbitration award are unenforceable.  Read More

An employer cannot require a disabled job applicant to submit to additional medical tests at his own expense as a condition of employment. Read More

When a question of foreign law arises, the burden is on the party relying on foreign law to raise the specific legal issues governed by foreign law and to provide the district court with the information needed to determine the meaning of the foreign law; if this burden is not met, the district court may rely on other law, usually… Read More

Decedent’s will stating "I exercise any Power of Appointment which I may have over that portion of the trust or trusts established by my parents for my benefit ...."  was a sufficient indicator that the decedent knowingly and intentionally exercised the power given him by his parents’ trust; the will do not have to identify the exact title of the… Read More

While a title isn't normally supposed to be an issue in an unlawful detainer action, under the Ellis Act the trial court should have considered relevant evidence of the landlord's phony sale of another unit in considering the landlord's intent to withdraw the building from the rental market (or not). Read More

An appeal of a federal district court’s remand order does not stay proceedings in the state court and so does not toll the 5-year deadline for commencing trial. Read More

Ads for musical, political or artistic works are not categorically excluded from protection under the Anti-SLAPP statute, but still must concern a matter of public interest to be protected; here, an ad for Michael Jackson’s posthumous record album was protected because its claim Jackson was the lead singer on three tracks addressed a matter of public interest. Read More

Andrew Noble offers further thoughts on this important case. Read More

In a design defect case, industry custom is not admissible to prove the design was safe or the manufacturer acted reasonably in adopting it, but may be admissible as other Barker v. Lull factors in assessing risk vs. benefit of challenging design. Read More

Washington's unlawful detainer statute violates due process insofar as it permits summary issuance of a writ of restitution without hearing if the landlord claims non-payment of rent and the tenant fails to file a timely, sworn written statement in dispute. Read More

Class action settlement and judgment in a case brought under the California Labor Code had res judicata effect on a subsequent class action involving same employees and same employer based on the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More

A tenant was entitled to judgment in this unlawful detainer action because the landlord’s 3-day notice to quit included in the sum demanded to cure the rent default a $50 late fee and the landlord failed to prove at trial the fee was not an illegal penalty. Read More

Defendant was entitled to summary judgment because it was the only party who obtained expert declarations on the elements of a standard of care and causation of damage, neither of which could be established solely from plaintiff’s own testimony. Read More

A homeowner should have been allowed to amend his complaint to allege that the party foreclosing on his house lacked any interest in his loan since that the prior owner of the loan had already assigned it to someone else before executing the assignment to the foreclosing party. Read More

In a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, statutory damages are limited to the lesser of $500,000 or 1% of the defendant's net worth, and the net worth calculation is the plaintiff’s burden to prove just as all the other elements are. Read More

To appeal from the Labor Commissioner's ruling on an employee’s wage claim, the employer must post a bond in the amount of the award; failure to do so results in dismissal of the appeal unless the employer is indigent. Read More

The Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act is not unconstitutionally vague merely because some types of consumer reports fall within its scope as well as within the scope of the Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, and an employer seeking any information about a consumer other than creditworthiness can easily comply with both statutes simply by complying with the stricter requirements of… Read More