California Appellate Tracker

Under Gov. Code 53069.4, a municipality may adopt an administrative hearing procedure for enforcement of its ordinances.  The administrative decision is reviewable by a mandate petition in superior court.  So long as the sum involved is $25,000 or less, the petition commences a limited jurisdiction case and any appellate review is conducted by the appellate department of the superior court,… Read More

Exercising a peremptory challenge against a single prospective juror for a discriminatory reason forbidden by CCP 231.5 is enough to require reveral of the judgment in favor of the party that exercised the discriminatory peremptory.  In 2015, the Legislature amended CCP 231.5 to incorporate FEHA's definition of discrimination (Gov. Code 11135).  This decision broadly interprets the two sections, reading them… Read More

A divorce decree required ex-husband to maintain wife as 25% owner of his life insurance policy and forfeited to her the entire ownerhip interest if he stopped paying the premiums and she took over that burden.  That's what happened, as defendant's agent knew.  The agent's knowledge was imputed to defendant.  The insurance policy’s requirements for changing ownership do not control… Read More

Following Landis v. Pinkertons, Inc. (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 985, this decision holds that an arbitrator lacks the power to correct a final award.  Here, the arbitrator issued an award that resolved all submitted issues, including denying the defendant's motion for an attorney fee award, but then later issued a revised award granting $73,000 in attorney fees to defendant.  The revised… Read More

A school owes its minor students a duty to take reasonable measures to protect them against foreseeable harm from third parties.  So, while the school cannot be held vicariously liable for an employee's sexual abuse of a student (because sexual abuse is outside the course and scope of employment), the school may be held liable for negligent hiring, supervision, and… Read More

A hospital reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank that a doctor had resigned from its list of doctors with staff privileges while under investigation.  The report was protected speech under CCP 425.16(e) under the holding in Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System (2021) 11 Cal.5th 995. Read More

The federal Food and Drug Act preempts plaintiffs' state law claims based on the drug manufacturers' alleged failure to assure that patients received Medication Guides (which are part of the FDA-approved drug label).  The FDA leaves enforcement of regulations dealing with drug labels in the FDA's hands, barring private suits to enforce FDA regulations.  Under California law, drug manufacturers have… Read More

The trial court properly awarded Travelers' opponent attorney fees under CC 1717.  The opponent had successfully prosecuted an administrative complaint which resulted in voiding the agreement containing the attorney fee clause.  The administrative proceeding was an "action" for purposes of CC 1717 and it was "on the contract" since had Travelers prevailed it could have collected attorney fees for enforcing… Read More

In 2004-2011, Travelers issued workers compensation policies to Adir Int'l, LLC which contained a reference to a side agreement allowing retroactive recalculation of the premiums.  The policies were filed with the Insurance Commissioner, as required; the side agreement was not.  When Travelers demanded retroactive premiums, Adir sued for a declaration that the side agreement was illegal and unenforceable since it… Read More

Under Gov. Code 854.8, the state is generally immune from liability for injury to an inpatient at a mental institution.  This decision holds that the statutory immunity bars plaintiff's claim for damages for a sexual assault she suffered while a patient at Napa State Hospital. Read More

An employer's arbitration clause was unconscionable and couldn't be saved by severance.  It required the employee to pay costs he would not incur in a court suit--a $250 filing fee and cost of a postponement if he requested one, neither of which could be shifted to the employer if the employee prevailed.  The clause also provided for an appeal to… Read More

An order compelling arbitration is not a final judgment entitled to res judicata or collateral estoppel effect because it cannot be appealed until after judgment is entered confirming the arbitration award. Read More

If a respondent fails to file a notice of defense to an accusation by the ABC Bd., it may act based on its own evidence.  However, the ALJ has discretion to hold an evidentiary hearing even if no notice of defense is filed, and the board may vacate a decision if a motion requesting relief for inadvertence, surprise or excusable… Read More

A taxpayer may not pursue a court action for a refund of property taxes without first applying to the local board of equalization for a reduction and then filing an administrative claim for a refund. (Rev. and Tax. Code, §§ 1603, 5097; see Steinhart v. County of Los Angeles (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1298.)  Here, plaintiffs sought to bring a class… Read More

In a case involving interstate commerce, the FAA governs and the federal standard for waiver as interpreted in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. (2022) 142 S.Ct. 1708 applies.  Here, the trial court properly denied arbitration since the defendant waited 17 months from the filing of the complaint before moving to compel arbitration.  During that time plaintiff attempted to take discovery.  Defendant… Read More

A 998 offer automatically expire when a trial court orally grants the offeror’s summary judgment motion.  The offer cannot be accepted after the oral ruling. Read More

The trial court correctly denied defendants' claim for enhanced costs under CCP 998.  Their offer was invalid because it required a general release of all claims, including claims not sued upon. Read More

The trial court properly denied plaintiff attorney fees under CCP 1021.5 when it obtained a preliminary injunction requiring Prop. 65 warnings on coffee but later lost on summary judgment.  The temporary warnings did not confer any substantial benefit on the general public.  The Coffee Regulation later adopted by the agency responsible for Prop. 65 showed that coffee poses no significant… Read More

During this litigation about whether Prop. 65 requires warnings about the carcinogen acrylamide in coffee, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment issued a legislative regulation stating that chemicals known to be included in coffee created by the process of roasting or brewing coffee do not pose a significant risk of cancer.  (27 CCR 25704.)  The trial court correctly granted… Read More

The economic loss rule does not bar a claim for fraudulent inducement to buy a car.  Plaintiffs here alleged that Nissan fraudulently induced them to buy a Nissan Sentra by intentionally concealing facts about its defective transmission which caused dangerous gaps in power to the wheels.  Under the reasoning of Robinson Helicopter Co. v. Dana Corp. (2004) 34 Cal.4th 979,… Read More