Doctors sued county for the unreimbursed portion of their invoices for emergency medical treatment given to participants in the county's health plan. Under the Knox-Keene Act, a health plan must reimburse noncontracting health care providers for the reasonable value of the emergency care they render to health plan participants. A provider that thinks it has been underpaid may sue a… Read More
The registrar of voters gave Brennan wrong information about the number of signatures needed to qualify a proposition for the ballot, causing Brennan to expend more to get more signatures than actually needed to place its proposition on the ballot. Brennan sued the county for the registrar's negligent misrepresentation. Held, county's demurrer should have been sustained. Gov. Code 818.8 and… Read More
Reversing dismissal of this antitrust suit, the decision holds that plaintiff's complaint adequately alleged a violation of Sherman Act section 1 by reason of NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy which required realtors who listed properties on a rival multiple listing service, such as plaintiff's, to also list those properties on an NAR listing service. The complaint alleged that the claimed violation… Read More
This decision affirms denial of defendant's motion to disqualify the private attorneys whom San Diego hired on contingency fee contracts to prosecute this suit for civil penalties under B&P Code 17200. The contingency fee contracts specified that the City Attorney retained ultimate control over the litigation or its settlement, and the contracts contained other clauses required under County of Santa… Read More
Dameron required emergency room patients to sign a "conditions of admission" agreement, which assigned to the hospital the patients' rights under their auto insurance policies' uninsured or underinsurance motorist coverages and under the medical payments coverage. This decision holds that assignment of un-or underinsured motorist coverage is contrary to public policy and unenforceable because it is merely a way to… Read More
Following State of California ex. rel. Dept. of Transportation v. Superior Court (Hall) (1985) 37 Cal.3d 847, this decision holds that,under Veh. Code 20012, a plaintiff is an "interested person," entitled to production of unredacted motor vehicle accident reports showing names and contact information for drivers and witnesses involved in other similar accidents at or around the same location as… Read More
World Services holds intellectual property rights in Narcotics Anonymous' publications as trustee under a trust created by a loose association of Narcotics Anonymous adherents, known as the Fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous. The Autonomous Region sued World Services claiming it breached its fiduciary duties under the trust. This opinion affirms dismissal of the action on the ground that Autonomous Region lacks… Read More
In this asbestosis case, plaintiffs added Air Brake in place of a Doe defendant shortly after Boeing produced documents showing that Air Brake designed the brake shoes for its light rail cars, specifying brake pads containing asbestos. The trial court erred in granting summary judgment on limitations grounds after concluding that plaintiffs "knew or should have known" of Air Brake's… Read More
This decision holds that an insurer's allegedly wrongful denial of an insurance claim or its claim handling leading to that denial cannot be the basis of a viable claim under the Insurance Fraud Pevention Act (Ins. Code 1871.7). The Act was designed to prevent fraudulent insurance claims not impose added duties on or create new remedies against insurers in connection… Read More
The right of a trademark owner to control the distribution of its trademarked product does not extend beyond the first sale of the product, and trademark rights are “exhausted” as to a given item upon the first authorized sale of that item. This first sale doctrine applies not only to the resale of the product in unmodified form by the… Read More
While an employer has an affirmative duty to provide employees with a safe place to work (Lab. Code, § 6400(a); Seabright Ins. Co. v. US Airways, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 590, 603), this decision holds that this duty does not include ensuring that an off-site meeting place for coworkers and business associates--such as at an employee’s private residence is safe… Read More
Following Roes, 1-2 v. SFBSC Management, LLC (9th Cir. 2019) 944 F.3d 1035, this decision holds that when a class action settles before class certification, the district court may not apply a presumption of fairness to the settlement based on arms-length negotiation between experienced counsel. Instead, the court mus employ extra caution and more rigorous scrutiny in evaluating a pre-certification… Read More
This decision holds that losses due to COVID closures are not covered by the business income and extra expense coverage of a business insurance policy since to trigger coverage the loss must be due to an impairment of operations caused by direct physical loss or damage to property. For there to be coverage under this policy language, some external force… Read More
Under CCP 425.13, a plaintiff may not bring a claim for punitive damages in a medical malpractice case without first moving for and obtaining a court order allowing her to amend to allege that claim. The statute also provides that the motion to amend must be brought before the earlier of 2 years from filing of the action or 9… Read More
Under Public Contracts Code 20104.50, a government entity that pays a contractor more than 30 days after receipt of an undisputed payment request must pay the contractor 10% interest on the delayed payment. However, this decision holds that payment more than 30 days after receipt is not a breach of the construction contract if that contract only incorporates the Public… Read More
A store owner that holds its premises open to the public owes invitees a duty of care to keep the premises reasonably safe. A business that owns or leases only part of a larger business premises owes invitees a duty of care with regard to the entire premises, not just the part the business owns, leases or operates in. So,… Read More
Plaintiff did not allege an actionable equal protection claim based on a "class of one" discrimination. To state such a claim, the plaintiff must allege facts showing it was treated differently from others who were similarly situated in all material respects. Because they operate a materially different business model, at a significantly different price point, using new and different technology,… Read More
Plaintiff's complaint alleged a viable Sherman Act section 1 antitrust conspiracy among dentist members of the Dental Board of California to harass and intimidate plaintiff which sought to engage in a disruptive new direct to consumer model of marketing clear dental aligners to members of the public. The members of the dental board were not immune from antitrust liability merely… Read More
Under the Madrid Protocol implemented in 15 USC 1141 et seq, and under 15 USC 1057, the holder of a trademark registered in a foreign country can obtain registration of the trademark in the United States as well, and obtain the benefit of a constructive use date pegged to the date of the foreign registration or application for US registration. … Read More
If a foreign sovereign entity is subject to suit under one of the exceptions to immunity otherwise conferred by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, the Act does not affect the substantive law governing the entity's liability. Instead, 28 USC 1606 provides that when not entitled to immunity, "the foreign state shall be liable in the same manner and to the… Read More
