Disagreeing with Turrietta v. Lyft, Inc. (2021) 2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 815, this decision holds that the plaintiff in one PAGA action is sufficiently aggrieved by an unfair settlement of a different plaintiff's parallel PAGA suit to have standing to appeal from the judgment following approval of settlement in the other action--so long as the appellant became a party to… Read More
A school owes a duty to protect students from sexual abuse by school employees, even if the school does not have actual knowledge of a particular employee’s history of committing, or propensity to commit, such abuse. However, to hold a school liable for failure to report suspected child abuse as required by Pen. Code, § 11164 et seq., the plaintiff… Read More
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding costs against plaintiff under CCP 2033.420 for having denied defendant's requests of admission regarding the breach of oral promise claim alleged in the complaint. The evidence at trial showed that plaintiff could not have maintained a good faith belief, at the time he denied those requests, that he would prevail… Read More
On a motion to compel arbitration, the moving party bears a slight initial burden of proving the existence of an arbitration agreement and can satisfy that burden simply by attaching the signed agreement to the motion to compel, without authenticating it. However, if the plaintiff disputes that he or she entered into the agreement and submits a declaration saying he… Read More
The trial court abused its discretion in dismissing this action as a sanction under CCP 128.7 on the ground that there was no reasonable ground for thinking it was not barred by the statute of limitations. The action sought to quiet title to the property that the plaintiff had purchased in 2008 with knowledge of prior agreements purportedly assigning "coverage… Read More
A breach of contract is not "wrongful conduct" sufficient to support a claim for interference with prospective economic relationships. Here, plaintiff narrowed its claim to interference based on the defendant's breach of a nondisclosure agreement. Held, the trial court erred in submitting that claim to the jury since it was the court's responsibility to determine whether the alleged conduct was… Read More
The trial court correctly excluded most of a declaration by Synchrony Bank's litigation assistant which attempted to show that plaintiff had agreed to the arbitration provision of the bank's credit card agreement. Though the declaration attached copies of account statements and different versions of the credit card agreement containing the arbitration clause, it did not attach any record showing the… Read More
This decision affirms a demurrer to numerous claims by sellers against eBay for various charges and other policies it enforces against them under its user agreement. Although the user agreement is an adhesion contract, the decision holds that it and eBau's policies are published on its website, and though they are lengthy, sellers are under no time pressure to agree. … Read More
Aiding and abetting requires not only actual knowledge of the specific wrongdoing allegedly aided, but also a conscious decision to participate in tortious activity for the purpose of assisting another in performing a wrongful act. That is, the defendant must have acted with the intent of facilitating commission of the tort. Read More
The defendant bail bond agency violated Cal. Code Regs., tit. 10, sec. 2079 by soliciting the plaintiff to make bail for her employee and co-defendant in a criminal possession of fireworks prosecution. The cited section forbids bail bondsmen from soliciting bail from other than the accused and his or her immediate family unless that person has, without prior solicitation by… Read More
Plaintiff insured's losses due to COVID-19-related restrictions on its business were not covered by the business interruption insurance policy defendant had issued to it. To be covered, the business interruption had to result from physical loss of or damage to property at the insured location. Instead, the business interruption resulted from county closure orders that were issued due to the… Read More
This decision dismisses as moot a suit that a taxpayer brought seeking to enjoin a program for granting emergency aid to undocumented aliens in California during the COVID pandemic. The program proceeded while the case was pending. All the program's money was spent. There is no way to get the money back and no realistic threat that the program will… Read More
This suit by one drug company against its competitor for the latter's attempts to derail FDA approval of the plaintiff's drug gave rise to an Anti-SLAPP motion. The decision holds that the defendant's citizen's petition with the FDA seeking to prevent FDA approval of plaintiff's drug was protected activity under CCP 425.16(e) and that the Noerr-Pennington doctrine shielded defendant from… Read More
Under Gov. Code 44808, a school district is immune from liability for injuries students suffer while not on school property, except if the district has undertaken to transport the student to and from school or has undertaken a school-sponsored activity off premises. Here, due to bullying by other students during the school year, which the district allegedly took insufficient steps… Read More
A district court may decline jurisdiction over an action that seeks only declaratory relief, so long as the district court properly considers the factors listed in Brillhart v. Excess Ins. Co. (1942) 316 U.S. 491 and Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Dizol (9th Cir. 1998) 133 F.3d 1220. However, the district court cannot decline jurisdiction if the declaratory relief claim… Read More
The automatic stay on appeal under CCP 916 applies only to civil actions, not special proceedings. A proceeding under the Sister State Money Judgments Act (CCP 1710.10 et seq.) is a special proceeding because it is commenced simply by filing the sister state judgment with a California court, not by filing a complaint. Accordingly, CCP 916 does not apply to… Read More
Under the outside reverse alter ego doctrine, a trial court may amend a judgment against an individual to also name a corporation or LLC which is the judgment debtor's alter ego. This decision holds that the trial court did not err in applying that doctrine to add an LLC defendant to a sister state judgment against Schaefer after the judgment… Read More
This decision affirms a summary judgment for the employer in a FEHA disability discrimination case. The employer met its McDonnell Douglas burden of proving a nondiscriminatory reason for terminating the plaintiff; namely, her chronic absenteeism and failure to document dispensing of prescription medicine properly. Plaintiff didn't produce any evidence showing the employer's reason was pretextual. Though the employer had misclassified… Read More
Indian tribes and their business entities are entitled to tribal immunity from suit in state court. However, the tribe's officers and employees may not invoke tribal immunity if the suit seeks to recover damages or other relief from them individually. Tribal judges, however, are entitled to common law judicial immunity from suit for actions taken in their official role as… Read More
The district court erred in dismissing plaintiff's sex discrimination/hostile working environment claim. The employer failed to take immediate corrective action when a customer at the nail salon sexually propositioned plaintiff, a male pedicurist. Instead of doing so, the employer sent plaintiff back to complete the pedicure of the offending customer. Also, the later remarks by fellow workers about the incident… Read More
