State medical board, who was investigating a doctor for over-prescription of addictive drugs, did not violate privacy rights of doctor’s patients by obtaining database information on drugs which pharmacies had dispensed to them. Read More
Plaintiff, a rider in an endurance horse race who was injured when defendant’s horse bolted after being kicked by a tailgating horse, could not recover in negligence action because she had assumed the risk; horse tailgating and its dangerous aftermath are a normal part of that sport. Read More
Lawsuit alleging that defendant had contaminated real property through its ordinary business operations on the site, which it had used as a bulk terminal for petroleum products, was barred by three-year statute of limitations applicable to injuries to real property. Read More
Although government entities are immunized from liability for injuries caused by the natural condition of any unimproved public property, a campground counts as an improvement; so child could sue county after he was injured by a falling tree at a county-owned campsite. Read More
City could not claim sovereign immunity after plaintiff was injured by falling tree limb in a city park because the trail on which plaintiff had been walking had no causal connection to the injury. Read More
A homeowner is not generally responsible for supervising a child invited to his property if the child is accompanied and supervised by a parent, although the homeowner can assume and/or relinquish that duty; here, where homeowner assumed the supervisory duty but then relinquished it to a grandparent who proceeded to let the child drown, homeowner was not liable for the… Read More
Before a court may order a website to produce identifying information about an anonymous poster of information on the website, the plaintiff must establish a prima facie case, including, in a defamation case, proof of falsity of the posting’s allegedly defamatory statements. Read More
Plaintiff could not sue defendant for defamation after defendant rated plaintiff’s website as carrying adult content and copyright-infringing material, since these ratings addressed matters of public interest and were therefore protected by the Anti-SLAPP statute. Read More
A whistleblower suit under Health and Safety Code 1278.5 cannot be stricken under the Anti-SLAPP statute, since defendant’s alleged wrongful purpose or motive in firing plaintiff was not protected Anti-SLAPP activity. Read More
Defendant could not get a settlement agreement invalidated by claiming plaintiff United States had committed fraud on the court, since the later-discovered information on which defendant relied either didn't show fraud at all or only filled in details of fraud that defendant suspected before it settled. Read More
A plaintiff that submitted a non-responsive bid lacked standing to challenge the award of a public contract to a different bidder. Read More
Plaintiff could sue and the court had subject matter jurisdiction of its suit even though plaintiff was a dissolved limited liability company. Read More
It is the substance of a post-trial motion, not its title, that controls its effect on the appeal period; so a motion for stay disguised as a Rule 59 motion to alter or amend the judgment does not toll the appeal period though a true Rule 59 motion would do so. Read More
The judgment was affirmed due to the inadequacy of the appellant’s opening brief. Read More
The trial court did not err in granting defendant summary judgment based on plaintiff’s failure to submit a proper statement of undisputed facts even after having been warned and given a second chance to file a proper statement. Read More
Trial court properly excluded defense expert’s proposed testimony that plaintiff was under the influence of marijuana at the time of auto accident at issue, since hospital tests did not indicate an active concentration of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) in plaintiff’s blood when he was hospitalized after the accident. Read More
Under Spanish law, the prescriptive period for claims to possession of a Pisarro painting stolen from a German Jewish citizen by the Nazis and later sold to a Spanish museum, may not have expired if the museum had acquired the painting knowing all along that it was stolen. Read More
By choosing arbitration under the International Chamber of Commerce rules, the parties clearly delegated to the arbitrator questions regarding the scope of the arbitration clause including whether it allowed impleader of a claim against a surety that was not a party to the arbitration clause. Read More
Disabled plaintiff stated a viable claim for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act against a used car dealership, based on its refusal to accommodate his need for the temporary installation of hand controls for the brake and accelerator so plaintiff could test-drive a car he was considering buying. Read More
Dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds affirmed in suit by Florida corporation against to residents of Mexico over contract to raise crops in Mexico; neither party was a California resident and Mexico had a greater interest in adjudicating the dispute. Read More
