California Appellate Tracker

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

Plaintiffs failed to allege a viable claim of trespass to chattels against defendants whom they alleged accessed and copied, without authority, computer files containing private legal and medical information about them and other workers compensation plaintiffs.  Under Intel Corp. v. Hamidi (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1342, a trespass to chattels claim cannot be stated for computer hacking (either sending or copying… Read More

Under Probate Code 145, a spouse waives his or her interest in the other spouse's estate by entering into "a complete property settlement agreement after or in contemplation of a separation, dissolution or annulment of their marriage."  This decision holds that to operate as such a waiver, the settlement agreement need not recite that it waives that right nor that… Read More

This decision affirms the CFPB's judgment against CashCall under 12 U.S.C. § 5536(a)(1)(B) which prohibits unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices in consumer finance.  CashCall made loans to consumers at rates that were usurious under the laws of the states where they resided, attempting to circumvent those laws by a choice of Indian tribal law in its loan agreements. … Read More

This decision affirms dismissal of a 10b-5 securities complaint, holding that the complaint did not adequately allege falsity or loss causation.  The alleged omission concerned the results of a stage 1 drug trial for a cancer treatment drug.  Nektar reported that the drug increased cancer-fighting T cells by 30 times in the stage one test group of 10 patients.  Plaintiffs… Read More

Under Rule of Professional Conduct 1.12, a former judge may not act as counsel  in connection with a matter in which the he participated personally and substantially as a judge without the informed written consent of all parties.  This decision affirms an order disqualifying a former judge under this rule.  It holds that any party to the proceeding in which… Read More