California Appellate Tracker

A Controller notice of noncompliance under CCP 1576 is not a prerequisite to a false claims action for failre to report (reverse false claim) and pay (conversion) unclaimed property to the State of California.  The complaint in this case adequately alleged that cashier's checks were similar written instruments to money orders and thus that the banks had an obligation to… Read More

The Legislature amended H&S Code 1799.102 after Van Horn v. Watson (2008) 45 Cal.4th 322 to extend the statutory immunity for Good Samaritans who render emergency medical or nonmedical care or assistance at the scene of an emergency.  For these purposes, H&S Code 1797.70 defines "emergency" to mean "a condition or situation in which an individual has a need for… Read More

To be an automatic telephone dialing system within the TCPA's meaning, the system must randomly or sequentially generate telephone numbers, not other sorts of numbers.  So a system that selects telephone from a previously entered list of telephone numbers is not an autodialer even if the system automatically generates the ID numbers assigned to each telephone number on the stored… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in entering a preliminary injunction under the CLRA against defendants continuing to sell puppies which they falsely claimed were healthy but in fact were not and died in many cases within days after sale.  Defendants' main argument on appeal was that the evidence didn't show that they sold the puppies that plaintiffs'… Read More

Under a manuscript endorsement, Yahoo's insurance policy provided covereage for “injury . . . arising out of . . . [o]ral or written publication, in any manner, of material that violates a person’s right of privacy.”  This decision holds that the "restrictive relative phrase" "that violates a person's right of privacy" might under standard rules of English usage and the… Read More

Following remand from the US Supreme Court, this decision holds that Unicolors' copyright registration is valid even though the application was incorrect in failing to comply with the "single unit" requirement because Unicolors did not know its application was inaccurate.  The decision rejects all of defendant's other attacks on the judgment, except for reducing damages by half to remove damages… Read More

In this case involving a slip-and-fall on a sidewalk on defendant's property, the trial court erred in granting the defendant summary judgment under the trivial defect doctrine.  Defendant failed to meet his initial burden of showing the discontinuity of pavement was a trivial defect, providing only a declaration that stated the conclusion that the separation was less than an inch… Read More

Civ. Code 1962 requires a residential landlord to give the tenant notice of the name, phone number and street address of each owner and manager of the premises and to update that information if it changes, as by sale of the property to a new owner.  The statute forbids service of a notice to quit or commencement of an unlawful… Read More

A shopping center landlord was not entitled to immunity from an independent contractor's personal injury suit under Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689 because the landlord did not hire the contractor.  A shopping center tenant did.  Also, the landlord did not delegate to the tenant the landlord's responsibility for maintaining in safe condition the portion of the premises… Read More

Plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact precluding summary judgment on her disability discrimination claim.  Defendant fired her because she failed a physical exam which allowed an inference that defendant regarded plaintiff as disabled due to balance and strength deficits in her right leg as shown on the physical exam.  Plaintiff also raised a triable issue as to whether she… Read More

Under Lab. Code 925(a)(1), an employer may not require an employee to agree to adjudicate in another state a dispute arising in California.  This decision holds that the provision does not prohibit a court or arbitrator in another state from adjudicating whether section 925 applies.  Here, Zhang was a full partner of Dentons, so there was ample room for questioning… Read More

Following Light v. California Department of Parks & Recreation (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 75 and looking holistically at the evidence, plaintiff raised a triable issue of fact precluding summary judgment on her sex discrimination and retaliation claims.  The defendant was not entitled to a presumption of nondiscrimination based on the same actor (hiring and firing) her since the hiring was tied… Read More

Recognizing there is a split of authority on the question, this decision holds that rulings on evidentiary issues in connection with a summary judgment motion should be reviewed for abuse of discretion, not de novo.  However, on the merits, an order granting a new trial (after te grant of a summary judgment motion) is reviewed de novo. Read More

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