California Appellate Tracker

The settlement released claims of all class members who had bought iPhones on which Apple software throttled performance to avoid overtaxing the battery, but the settlement fund was payable only to those class members who submitted an attestation that they had experienced the slowing of the iPhone's functions as a result of the throttling.  This decision holds that the settlement… Read More

Incentive awards to individual plaintiffs in a class action are permissible when reasonable in amount and not an improper preferential allocation of substantial settlement funds to individual plaintiffs to the class' detriment. Read More

Though it did most other things right, the district court erred in expressly employing the wrong standard to decide whether the class action settlement in this case was fair, just, and equitable.  In a pre-certification settlement, like this one, the district court may not presume the settlement is reasonable but must instead exercise heightened scrutiny.  Application of the wrong standard… Read More

The district court correctly dismissed this suit on claim preclusion grounds.  A different environmental advocacy group had earlier brought suit in Oregon challenging the same Fish & Wildlife plan for bull trout.  The Oregon district court dismissed the complaint with leave to amend.  The plaintiff elected not to amend, instead appealing unsuccessfully.  Then the current plaintiff sued to challenge the… Read More

Medicare regulations allow MediCal to place a lien on and recover medical expenses it paid for a plaintiff due to injuries suffered by reason of a third party tortfeasor's wrongs.  However, the MediCal recovery may be made only from the portion of any recovery by the plaintiff for past medical expenses, not from other portions of the award or settlement. … Read More

The hirer of an independent contractor may, despite the Privette doctrine, be liable for injuries suffered by the contractor's employees if the hirer furnishes faulty equipment and asks or requires the contractor or its employees to use that equipment.  But not so if the hirer merely allows the contractor or its employees to use the faulty equipment.  In the latter… Read More

An arbitrator did not exceed her powers and the trial court correctly refused to vacate the arbitration award under CCP 1286.2(a)(4) for exceeding powers.  The award limited the indemnity to which the parties' contract otherwise entitled defendant on equitable grounds. Nothing in the agreement prohibited the arbitrator from doing so.  Absent express provision to the contrary, the arbitrator may reasonably… Read More

An arbitration award may be set aside if “procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means."  (CCP 1286.2(a)(1).)  This decision holds that the opponent's citing a statute that wasn't effective until after the events giving rise to the arbitrated claims is not an undue means because the losing party had ample opportunity at and after the arbitration hearing to bring… Read More

An arbitrator’s power to “correct” an award under CCP 1284 and 1286.6 is narrowly “limited to evident miscalculations of figures or descriptions of persons, things or property [citation] and nonsubstantive matters of form that do not affect the merits of the controversy. But an arbitrator also can exercise a nonstatutory power to amend the award if “an issue is omitted… Read More

CCP 1281.97(a)(1) provides that the party that drafted a consumer or employee arbitration agreement must pay its share of the arbitration fees within 30 days of the payment due date.  Failure to do so is a material breach of the arbitration agreement, allowing the opposing party to elect out of arbitration.  This decision holds that the 30-day deadline is firm,… Read More

“In divining a term’s ‘ordinary meaning,’ courts regularly turn to general and legal dictionaries.” (De Vries v. Regents of University of California (2016) 6 Cal.App.5th 574, 591.) But, courts “must exercise ‘great caution’ when relying on a dictionary definition of a common term to determine statutory meaning because a dictionary ‘ “is a museum of words, an historical catalog rather… Read More

The trial court correctly granted the defendant water pipe (hookah) manufacturer judgment on the pleadings against plaintiff's claim that it violated Prop. 65 by failing to warn that if used to smoke marijuana, the hookah would expose the smoker to marijuana smoke that contains carcinogens.  The opinion follows regulations implementing Prop. 65 in holding that the proposition covers only products… Read More

This decision reverses a judgment for the employee in a suit for unpaid overtime wages because of a botched special verdict question regarding the employer's affirmative defense that the employee was an exempt executive under Wage Order No. 5.  The question asked only if the employee spent more than 50% of her time on exempt duties.  The question overemphasized the… Read More

Under 11 USC 365, a bankrupt may assume a lease that "has been" in default only if it (a) cures the default, (b) compensates the landlord for any monetary loss caused by the default, and (c) provides adequate assurance of future performance of the lease.  This decision holds that the bankrupt must satisfy the three conditions with respect to the… Read More

Under CCP 473(d), a court may correct a clerical error in a judgment at any time.  This decision holds that the trial court properly invoked that authority to correct the renewal of a judgment.  The original judgment had been against Audrey Douglas in her capacity as administrator of Billy Joe Douglas' estate.  The judgment creditor's application for renewal of the… Read More

On remand after Bonni v. St. Joseph Health System (2021) 11 Cal.5th 995 held that 8 of Bonni's 10 retaliation claims arose from protected activity under CCP 425.16(e), this decision holds that the absolute litigation privilege precludes Bonni from proving a probability of success on those 8 claims.  Defendant's reports to the Medical Board are statutorily required and hence subject… Read More

This decision holds that the insured's original complaint failed to allege a covered business interruption loss due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.  However, it also holds that it was error to deny the insured leave to amend since the demurrer had been sustained to the insured's original complaint, the insured requested leave to amend and described in some detail what additional… Read More

Following Arroyo v. Rosas (9th Cir. 2021) 19 F.4th 1202, this decision affirms the district court's order declining supplemental jurisdiction over Unruh Act claims in this disability discrimination case.  California's procedural restrictions on disability discrimination suits under Civ. Code 52(a) and 55.56 are an exceptional circumstance warranting the refusal to exercise supplemental jurisdiction (which would allow plaintiffs the chance to… Read More

Good language requiring appellant to address in the opening brief arguments the respondent made in the trial court, even if not relied on by that court in entering the appealed order since the appellate court reviews the correctness of the appealed order not the reasons the trial court states for entering it. Read More

Under CCP 1987.2, a party that moves to quash a subpoena for that party's personal identifying information may recover attorney fees upon demonstrating (i) he prevailed on the motion to quash, (ii) the underlying action arises from the party's exercise of free speech rights on the Internet, and (iii) the plaintiff in that proceeding did not make a prima facie… Read More