California Appellate Tracker

Defendant disability insurer wrote plaintiff insured in 2015 that it had determined his disability arose from illness rather than accident and so would stop paying benefits in 2018 when he turned 65 as the policy allowed for illness-caused disability.  Plaintiff sued for breach of contract and breach of implied covenant in 2019, more than four years after the 2015 letter,… Read More

This decision holds that the US DOJ may move to dismiss a False Claims Act suit whenever it has intervened in the litigation, whether during the period the complaint remained sealed or thereafter.  However, the government must give the relator notice and an opportunity to be heard regarding the dismissal.  In deciding whether to approve dismissal, the court must apply… Read More

42 USC 1983 confers a right of action against a person who, under color of state law, acts to deprive the plaintiff of rights, privileges and immunites secured by the Constitution and laws.  "Laws" means federal statutes, so long as those statutes unambiguously confer federal rights on individuals and enforcement under section 1983 does not conflict with a specific enforcement… Read More

This decision holds that usury savings clauses are unenforceable as against public policy except when the loan agreement would otherwise violate usury restrictions only due to some unanticipated post-agreement event.  A usury savings clause is a provision stating that if the loan agreement would otherwise require payment of usurious interest, it is to be construed to charge only the maximum… Read More

The trial court properly granted defendant property owner summary judgment under Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689.  Plaintiff was injured while working as a contractor's employee, fixing the building's HVAC system.  Plaintiff failed to raise a triable issue of fact under the Kinsman v. Unocal Corp. (2005) 37 Cal.4th 659 exception to Privette.  Plaintiff fell through the ceiling… Read More

Contrary to holdings in prior cases, this decision holds that a party does not impliedly waive grounds for challenging a trial judge for cause under CCP 170.1 or 170.3 by waiting past the earliest opportunity to challenge the judge.  CCP 170.3(b)(2) provides that there cannot be a waiver of the right to disqualify a judge for personal bias or prejudice… Read More

The district court abused its discretion in approving a $1.7 million fee award in a class action copyright infringement case in which class members received only $50,000 in a claims made settlement and no injunctive or other non-monetary relief.  While $1.7 million might be an actual assessment of fees by the hours times rate lodestar method, the resulting amount must… Read More

This decision holds that sexually graphic, violently misogynistic music played constantly throughout defendant's warehouse could create a hostile working environment constituting sex discrimination in employment.  Music with sexually derogatory and violent content, played constantly and publicly throughout the workplace, can foster a hostile or abusive environment and thus constitute sex discrimination.  Harassment, whether aural or visual, need not be directly… Read More

Under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (Civ. Code 1946.2), a landlord cannot terminate a lawful tenancy after a year of its duration except for just cause--either a tenant default or a landlord move-in or removal of the unit from the rental market.  This decision holds that there is a triable issue of fact as to whether that section applies. … Read More

An electrician working on a lengthy project at a farm caught a disease caused by a fungus that spreads from bird feces particularly if the feces are mixed with soil over an extended period.  Following Sarti v. Salt Creek, Ltd. (2008) 167 Cal.App.4th 1187 and distinguishing Miranda v. Bomel Construction Co., Inc. (2010) 187 Cal.App.4th 1326, this decision holds that… Read More

Plaintiff was the first attorney defendant hired on a contingent fee basis in an underlying case.  Plaintiff properly acquired an attorney's lien on any recovery in the underlying case.  Defendant fired plaintiff and hired Williams in his stead.  Williams also acquired an attorney's lien.  After the underlying suit was favorably resolved, plaintiff sued to recover his fees from the recovery. … Read More

This decision holds that the trial court properly denied defendants' Anti-SLAPP motion because defendants failed to show that the suit arose from protected speech.  The suit sought declaratory and injunctive relief to invalidate AB 1936 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.) which renamed Hastings College of Law (due to Hastings' alleged involvement in the massacre of Native Americans in Mendocino County).  The legislation… Read More

Under Lab. Code 2810.3, an outsourcing employer is liable for employees' wages for work done for another entity if the work is within the outsourcer's usual course of business.  Here, the court holds that the section did not apply to defendants which were corporations that bought produce from farming corporations for which the workers were employed.  While the defendants' produce… Read More

A Delaware corporation's bylaw requiring any shareholder derivative suit be brought in Delaware Chancery Court is enforceable.  Such a forum selection clause does not offend any federal statute or public policy.  Here, the complaint alleged a claim under Securities Exchange Act section 14(b) (15 USC 78n) which governs proxy statements.  The Securities Exchange Act's non-waiver provision applies only to the… Read More

This suit was filed in the name of a trust, not its trustee.  After lengthy litigation with the original defendants, an intervenor moved to expunge the lis pendens on the ground that the trust was not a legal entity and could not sue in its own name.  The trial court agreed, held it had no subject matter jurisdiction, and dismissed… Read More

Gov. Code 818 immunizes governmental agencies from liability for damages imposed primarily for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.  This decision holds that section 818 bars a claim for treble damages under CCP 340.1(b) for a childhood sexual assault resulting from the defendant's concerted effort to hide evidence relating to such assaults.  Section 340.1 imposes… Read More

The NLRA does not shield strikers who fail to take “reasonable precautions” to protect their employer’s property from foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent danger due to the sudden cessation of work.  Here, workers waited until the employer's cement trucks were loaded with wet concrete.  Then they struck, allowing the concrete to harden and destroying the employer's trucks.  That conduct was not… Read More

A claim under section 11 of the Securities Act (15 USC 77k) may be stated only by purchasers of shares registered under the registration statement that contains the allegedly misleading statements, not other unregistered shares that become marketable once the registration of other shares is accomplished. Read More

The federal False Claims Act prohibits "knowingly" submitting a false claim.  It defines knowingly to mean actual knowledge, deliberate ignorance, or reckless disregard of truth or falsity.  (31 U.S.C. §3729(b)(1)(A).)  This decision holds that especially as read against the background of common law fraud which the False Claims Act builds on, the statutory definition of "knowingly" sets a standard governed… Read More

This decision holds that a complaint alleging a false implied certification violation of the California False Claims Act must be pleaded with particularity.  But, it also holds that the plaintiff satisfied that standard in this case in which plaintiff claimed that remarketing agents had breached their contracts with local agencies in setting the interest rates on local agencies' variable rate… Read More