California Appellate Tracker

Writ of mandate issued to quash service of summons on foreign battery manufacturer, LG.  LG had availed itself of a California forum through its regular sales to three electric car manufacturers of the same type of battery that plaintiff claimed injured him.  However, plaintiff failed to show that defendant's sales to the car manufacturers were related in any way to… Read More

The female complainant in a university's disciplinary proceeding against a male student for alleged sexual assault on the complainant was not an indispensable party to the male student's mandate proceeding against the university for violating his due process rights in its proceedings which resulted in disciplining him.  While the complainant had an interest in the mandate proceeding, complete relief could… Read More

An order denying a nonstatutory motion to vacate judgment is appealable if the appellant claimed that the judgment was void. Read More

Summary judgment for defendant affirmed.  Defendant met its initial burden of disproving causation, a necessary element of plaintiffs' claims, by evidence showing that (a) stray voltage must exceed certain levels to be felt by a human being and that the voltages in plaintiffs' home were far lower, (b) a person would receive a shock only by touching surfaces with differing… Read More

A presiding judge's order denying a request by a vexatious litigant, who is subject to a pre-filing order, leave to file a new lawsuit is not an appealable order. Read More

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's 12/28/2018 order stating that California's meal and rest break statutes were "no longer" enforceable as to interstate truckers of goods preempted state law only prospectively and did not eliminate claims for missed meal and rest breaks that occurred before the order was issued. Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in staying this case under CCP 410.30 on the ground of forum non conveniens.  The complaint sought a declaration regarding the plaintiffs' duty to defend and indemnify defendants under various insurance policies for opioid litigation brought against defendants throughout the country.  There was already an on-going coverage action involving plaintiff and defendant… Read More

Counties that impose a documentary transfer tax may require that any deed or other conveyance state on its face the assessor's parcel number of the property being transferred  However, this decision holds, that the parcel number cannot create an ambiguity as to the bounds of the property being conveyed if the deed otherwise fully describes the conveyed property.  The parcel… Read More

Agreeing with Magadia v. Wal-Mart Associates, Inc. (9th Cir. 2021) 999 F.3d 668, this decision holds that the employer did not violate Lab. Code 226(a)(9) by not stating a wage rate or hours worked for a true-up of overtime pay for the preceding month's work based on the flat rate bonus paid that month.  The statute requires wage statements to… Read More

Despite the fact that CCP 222.5(a) was amended in 2018 to provide that a trial court "shall" allow a party to make a brief statement of the case before commencement of voir dire, this decision holds that the trial judge may exercise discretion to control the content of the pre-voir dire statement, and that this judge acted within the bounds… Read More

The FAA does not preempt California law insofar as it invalidates a waiver of an employee's right to bring PAGA claims arising out of Labor Code violations that affected the plaintiff employee.  However, the FAA does preempt California law (Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348 and progeny) insofar as it precludes waiver of the employee's… Read More

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that neither party prevailed in this action against a subcontractor and its bonding company.  The plaintiff city won on liability but was awarded only nominal damages though it had sought $3.4 million.  The trial court could properly conclude that the win on damages was not a total victory for the… Read More

Plaintiffs sued claiming they had been sexually molested while minors by a Roman Catholic priest.  They sought to hold the Archdiocese vicariously liable for ratifying the molestation and directly liable for its own negligence in failing to supervise the priest.  The trial court correctly denied the Archdiocese's Anti-SLAPP motion.  The allegations about the Bishop's supporting the priest's defense of another… Read More

The Housing Accountability Act (Gov. Code, § 65589.5), adopted to ease California's shortage of affordable housing, restricts local agencies' ability to block "housing development projects" or require them to reduce their proposed housing density.  This decision holds that the act does not apply to a project that proposes to build only single-family residences, not any multiple family housing units. Read More

This decision holds that (1) a probate court does not have inherent equitable power to award attorney fees except from a beneficiary's share of a trust or estate involved in the litigation, but (2) Probate Code 15642(d), the court may award attorney fees against a party payable from his personal assets for filing a bad faith petition to remove a… Read More

Under 28 U. S. C. §1782, a district courts may order testimony or the production of evidence “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal.”  The statute reaches only governmental or intergovernmental adjudicative bodies, not private arbitral panels. Read More

This decision holds that an employer did not have to pay job applicants for the time and expense of taking drug tests as a precondition for employment.  The employer's control over the drug tests was not control over the performance of work and so didn't make the applicants employees.  Nor was the drug test a condition subsequent to employment.  Instead,… Read More

The district court correctly dismissed this 1983 action brought by entities that had interests in California Insurance Company, an entity that the California Insurance Commissioner had sued to place in conservation in a California state court due to various unapproved corporate transactions.  Under the prior exclusive jurisdiction doctrine, when a court of competent jurisdiction has obtained possession, custody, or control… Read More

Following Van Patten v. Vertical Fitness Group, LLC (9th Cir. 2017) 847 F.3d 1037, 1044-1045, this decision affirms summary judgment for defendant in this TCPA suit based on a finding that plaintiff gave his express consent to defendant's text messaging his cellphone.   A person who knowingly releases his cellphone number consents to be called at that number so long as… Read More

Plaintiff, a Russian citizen residing in Russia, obtained an arbitration award against defendant, a Russian citizen residing in California.  Plaintiff domesticated the arbitration award, securing a judgment against defendant in a federal district court in California so that plaintiff could execute on defendant's California assets.  Thereafter, defendant engaged in a series of complex domestic and foreign efforts to shelter his… Read More