City of San Jose v. Superior Court
Writings in a public employee’s or officer’s private e-mail account must be produced pursuant to a California Public Records Act request if the writings concern the conduct of public business. Read More
Writings in a public employee’s or officer’s private e-mail account must be produced pursuant to a California Public Records Act request if the writings concern the conduct of public business. Read More
Summary judgment was properly granted against truck repairman plaintiff who had sued brake manufacturers and designers for asbestos exposure, since he introduced no evidence linking defendants to any products that he had used in repairing trucks. Read More
One-year statute of limitations on legal malpractice claim started running when defendant law firm filed a motion to withdraw from representing plaintiff—not when the court later granted that motion. Read More
California’s Civil Discovery Act applies to California Public Records Act proceedings, but trial courts should manage discovery tightly in those proceedings. Read More
A factoring agreement under which an agricultural products distributor sells its accounts receivable to a factor at a discount is not a breach of the distributor’s fiduciary duties to growers, so the factor is not liable for the distributor’s debts to growers. Read More
Statements and conduct during a hospital’s peer review of a staff physician are protected under the Anti-SLAPP statute, and cannot be challenged by the physician unless he has successfully sought relief in court from the peer review’s conclusion. Read More
Defendant hospital's report to Board of Registered Nursing regarding plaintiff, a registered nurse, and her allegedly improper monitoring of a patient to whom she had given narcotics, was absolutely privileged under Civ. Code 47(b) and therefore could not be the subject of a viable defamation claim. Read More
A homeowner’s application to have a homeowner’s association enforce a tree-trimming covenant against his neighbor was protected activity under the Anti-SLAPP statute, and the neighbor’s quiet title claim had no chance of success after the homeowner withdrew the application thus removing any cloud on the neighbor’s title. Read More
A $30 million arbitration award is vacated as the arbitrator exceeded his powers by awarding punitive damages that the claimant first requested the day before the arbitration hearing. Read More
The trial court abused its discretion in denying fees to three of plaintiff’s four lawyers because their time records were not properly authenticated, an objection the defendant did not raise. Read More
A California state court cannot compel a party to undergo a vocational rehabilitation examination by the opposing party’s expert. Read More
When an employer pays an employee on a commission basis, the employer must separately pay the worker the minimum wage for the meal and rest break time, and cannot later deduct those wages from the employee’s future commissions. Read More
Substantial evidence supported court's determination that plaintiff had not obtained sole ownership of the road easement between his property and defendant's; fence and gate did not constitute adverse possession because they had been erected by defendant’s predecessor to prevent plaintiff's mobile home park's tenants from crossing onto defendant's property. Read More
In order to reach a jury, plaintiff did not need to introduce evidence that unwelcome sexual advances from plaintiff’s supervisor are both severe and pervasive; since the statute is disjunctive, she only needed to proffer evidence of one of these aspects. Read More
If a party fails to exchange expert witness information in response to a timely demand, and the time to respond expires before the summary judgment motion is filed, the non-responding party may not rely on expert testimony to oppose the summary judgment motion over the moving party's objection, unless the trial court relieves the non-responding party of its default. Read More
While it is illegal to supply from the United States "all or a substantial portion" of the components of a patented invention for assembly or combination abroad, the export of a single component of the patented invention cannot constitute a "substantial portion" of the components and so cannot violate the statute; “substantial” is a quantitative test, not a qualitative one. Read More
The going-and-coming exception to respondeat superior absolved defendant from liability for injuries from car crash caused by employee who was offered free bus transportation to job site but elected to drive, and who was not on the clock during the car journey. Read More
Youth soccer league owes duty of care to child participants to perform criminal background checks on adult volunteers and employees, but no duty to warn or train the children or their parents about the risk of sexual misconduct. Read More
An order denying class certification or striking class allegations is not a final or appealable order and is not certifiable for immediate appeal under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b); instead a party may only seek appellate review under Rule 23(f) or 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Read More
The governmental immunity for misrepresentations does not bar a claim for business disparagement, but suit was properly dismissed anyway because the alleged slander did not specifically refer to the plaintiff's product or business. Read More