California Appellate Tracker

Kinder was a patient at defendant's residential skilled nursing facility.  The trial court correctly denied a motion to compel arbitration of Kinder's personal injury claim because she did not sign the facility's arbitration agreement.  Instead, her adult child signed for her.  The facility produced no evidence to show that the signer had actual or ostensible authority to sign for Kinder. … Read More

Calling contrary language in SI 59 LLC v. Variel Warner Ventures LLC (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 146 dicta, this decision holds that despite Civ. Code 1668, a release may be enforceable while the claim still has not accrued for statute of limitations purposes, at least so long as the plaintiff is aware of the claim she releases and the wrongful acts… Read More

The trial court improperly entered summary judgment for defendant on class claims that it violated H&S Code 1374.72, which requires parity of treatment for mental illness as for physical illness, and Civ. Code 51 by treating persons with mental disabilities less well than those with physical disabilities.  Plaintiffs' evidence raised triable issues of fact as to whether Kaiser's reimbursement and… Read More

A successor owner of the property is entitled to reinstate a defaulted deed of trust under Civ. Code 2924c even if the successor owner is not a party to the defaulted loan and deed of trust and does not assume any obligation under that loan and deed of trust.  Here, plaintiff bought the property at a foreclosure sale held by… Read More

Under CCP 1281.91 and the Ethical Standards for Neutral Arbitrators, an arbitrator must disclose pending and prior arbitrations (during the previous 5 years) involving the parties to a dispute referred to him.  The arbitrator must also disclose the results in the prior cases.  However, this decision holds that the arbitrator need not disclose the results in pending cases as those… Read More

Kaiser's arbitration clause satisfied H&S Code 1363.1's requirement that a health plan's arbitration clause be prominently displayed immediately before the patient's signature.  The enrollment was by computer.  The arbitration clause appeared just before a button marked "save" and a warning that by hitting that button, the patient would be agreeing to Kaiser's terms and conditions and enrolling in the health… Read More

A fan who was injured in an altercation that took place among persons attending an LA Rams football game properly lost his suit against the Rams and their crowd management services agent because he failed to raise, on summary judgment, a triable issue of fact as to whether the defendants' failure to act in the manners he claimed breached their… Read More

Under CCP 484.090, to secure an attachment, the plaintiff must, among other things, prove the probable validity of its claim and that the amount secured by the attachment is greater than zero.  Under CCP 484.015(b)(4), the amount that the plaintiff seeks to secure by attachment is reduced by "the value of any security in the property of the defendant held… Read More

Defendant didn't infringe on plaintiff's First Amendment rights by restricting him from talking to potential witnesses and other of defendant's employees about plaintiff's alleged transgressions while defendant conducted an investigation of those matters.  Plaintiff was not prevented from speaking about matters of public concern, but only from discussing his own alleged violation of defendant's policies—a matter of private, personal concern. Read More

Judgment was entered against Hewitt in 2012 for violating the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.  The judgment required him to pay nearly $500 million in equitable monetary relief.  In AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC (2021) 141 S.Ct. 1341, the Supreme Court held that the FTC Act did not authorize awards of equitable monetary relief.  Hewitt moved to vacate that portion… Read More

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act preempted plaintiff's claim that defendant's label on a dietary supplement was misleading in naming the supplement "Glucosamine Sulfate" when its active ingredient was glucosamine hydrochloride.  The majority held that the FDA's labeling regulations governed the product name as well as the information in the nutrition facts panel and that following those regulations, the… Read More

Tenant locked himself out of his apartment.  Landlord did not have an on-premises manager or a 24-hour call line, or any other means for tenant to reenter his apartment, so he climbed to the roof and tried to jump down to his balcony.  He missed and suffered significant injuries.  The trial court erred in holding that the landlord owed him… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that plaintiff's suit was the catalyst that at least in part caused the city to increase its land use plan's allocation of areas for low cost housing to satisfy its regional allocable share of the county's affordable housing needs.  That was true even though it took the Legislature enacting a… Read More

The trial court did not err in denying a motion to compel arbitration in this case on the ground of unconscionability.  The employee was required as a condition of employment to sign the arbitration agreement and a separate confidentiality agreement.  The two had to be construed together since they both dealt with resolution of disputes arising out of plaintiff's employment… Read More

Under Lab. Code 2785, the exemptions are retroactive.  Here, a securities investment advisor with a registered broker-dealer (one of the exempt categories) sued for wage and hour violations which occurred before the exemption was enacted.  This decision holds that section 2785, making the exemption retroactive, is constitutional.  There was a rational basis for treating securities investment advisors differently; hence, the… Read More

Former nanny sued parent-employers on four wage-and-hour claims and also for defamation based on statements parents made to a friend the parents involved in an attempt to obtain a release of claims by the nanny in exchange for a severance package.  Held, the statements were not protected speech under the Anti-SLAPP statute since litigation was not then threatened or seriously… Read More

Plaintiff made a sufficient showing of constitutional "malice"--i.e., knowledge of falsity or reckless with respect to truth--to survive an Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss.  In this case, plaintiff, an opposing candidate, sued Maxine Waters for falsely accusing him of having been dishonorably discharged by the Navy.  Plaintiff showed Waters an official-looking document saying he was honorably discharged.  Waters didn't investigate whether… Read More

In response to Smith v. Superior Court (L'Oreal USA, Inc.) (2006) 39 Cal.4th 77, the Legislature enacted Lab. Code 201.3(b), which provides that a temporary worker hired by a staffing company and working on assignment for another employer is not terminated for purposes or receiving a final pay check when the temporary assignment ends, but only when the staffing agency… Read More

This decision holds that an unsecured creditor that was the chair of the committee of unsecured creditors in East Coast's Chapter 11 proceeding lacked Article III standing to appeal from the bankruptcy court's order awarding the Chapter 11 trustee the maximum allowable fees.  The confirmed Chapter 11 plan provided for the debtor's reorganization and full payment of all allowed claims,… Read More

Under Civ. Code 1943, an agreement to rent or lease real property is presumed to be month-to-month unless stated otherwise in writing, except that for real property used for agricultural or grazing purposes, the presumed term is year-to-year unless otherwise expressed in the rental agreement or lease.  Here, assuming arguendo that a cannabis grower (of plants in pots set on… Read More