California Appellate Tracker

Under CCP 400, a mandate petition attacking an order denying a motion to change venue must be filed within 20 days after service of notice of judgment (plus 5 days if service is by mail).  Here, the clerk served the challenged order by mail on May 12.  The last day to file the petition was 25 days later, or Monday,… Read More

Following Rittmann v. Amazon.com, Inc. (9th Cir. 2020) 971 F.3d 904, this decision holds that drivers who drove goods from in-state warehouses to Domino's franchisees in California are workers engaged in interstate commerce within the meaning of the exception to the FAA's scope.  These drivers handled the last stage of transportation of the goods from out-of-state sources to the California… Read More

Mrs. Ek, while working at See's, caught COVID allegedly due to See's negligent failure to implement procedures to prevent spread of infection.  While Mrs. Ek was home sick, she infected Mr. Ek, who later died of COVID.  This decision holds that the Workers Comp. Act does not preempt Mr. Ek's heirs' wrongful death suit.  The derivative injury doctrine under which… Read More

An adult daughter, who had authority to make health care decisions for her elderly mother and who signed the admissions documents for the mother to be admitted to defendant's residential care facility for the elderly, lacked a power of attorney to act for the mother and so also lacked authority to sign an arbitration agreement on the mother's behalf as… Read More

A family court judge has jurisdiction to rule on the Attorney General's motion to unseal financial records submitted to the family court.  The public's right to documents on which a court bases its decision overrides the couple's privacy rights.  However, the record was unclear as to whether the court actually considered the records before making any substantive decision in the… Read More

Following Delaney v. Baker (1999) 20 Cal.4th 23, this decision holds that MICRA's one-year limitations on medical malpractice claims and $250,000 limit on non-economic damages did not apply to this elderly woman's who was sexually assaulted by the defendant elder care facility's male attendant, based on a jury's finding that the defendant was not only guilty not only of general… Read More

Under the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (15 USC 1693g), a consumer is liable without limit for unauthorized transfers if (a) the consumer fails to report the unauthorized transactions within 60 days after the bank sends the consumer a statement showing the unauthorized transactions, and (b) the bank can show it would have avoided the later unauthorized transactions if the customer… Read More

Mountain Lakes church affiliated itself with the Church of God, a hierarchical church.  Mountain Lakes was a separately incorporated religious corporation and a separate entity from the national Church of God corporation.  However, the Mountain Lakes church held its church property as the national body's agent.  Mountain Lakes obtained a fire insurance policy from GuideOne on the church property, but… Read More

A volunteer working for a charitable organization without the expectation of payment for his work is not an employee for purposes of state wage and hour laws.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying certification of an alleged class of all workers for the defendant charity who did not receive pay for their work.  There was a… Read More

The department and its employees did not owe a duty to warn the decedent of a parolee's violent tendencies.  The victim was not in a special relationship with the department.  The department had not made any representations to her regarding her safety or the parolee's likely future acts, so she was not relying on the department to warn her of… Read More

Comerica sought to vacate an adverse arbitration award on the ground that the arbitrator's disclosure of prior matters with plaintiff's counsel said a prior matter settled before a final award without disclosing that the settlement came after an interim award.  This decision holds that even if the disclosure would otherwise have permitted vacatur of the award, Comerica forfeited its challenge… Read More

Plaintiff was the executrix as well as a beneficiary of her parents' estate. She claimed that a relative and co-beneficiary conspired with two other defendants to fraudulently induce her, as executrix, to take a large loan at usurious rates secured by the parents' house, the estate's principal asset, after which the co-beneficiary misappropriated most of the loan funds.  This decision… Read More

The trial court correctly denied defendant's Anti-SLAPP motion in this suit over alleged misappropriation of ideas for a proposed TV show.  To warrant protection under CCP 425.16(e)(4), the conduct out of which the suit arises must not only be in furtherance of the exercise of free speech but also concern a matter of public interest.  Here, acts done in creating… Read More

In this defamation case by a real estate developer against a political consultant, the trial court correctly denied the consultant's Anti-SLAPP motion.  While the allegedly defamatory political campaign mailers that the consultant prepared were protected activity, the developer proved a probability of success on his defamation claim.  The mailers stated that the developer "wants his money back" directly under factual… Read More

The Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (IFPA; Ins. Code 1871, et seq.) allows qui tam plaintiffs to file lawsuits on the government’s behalf and seek monetary penalties against perpetrators of insurance fraud.  To prevent duplicative lawsuits, the IFPA contains a “first-to-file rule” (Ins. Code 1871.7(e)(5)) that bars parties from filing subsequent actions related to an already pending lawsuit.  This decision holds… Read More

Plaintiff's record request under the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code 6250 et seq.) should have been granted.  It sought all emails between county employees and four specified internet domains over a six year period regardless of subject matter.  The County was able to sort its email records and list 42,000 responsive emails.  The County claimed, however, it would be… Read More

Under 28 USC 1367(c)(4), the district court may decline jurisdiction of state law claims  if in extraordinary circumstances there are compelling circumstances for declining jurisdiction.  This decision affirms the district court's ruling that there were extraordinary circumstances in this ADA, physical barriers case, because California's Legislature had amended Civ. Code 52(a) and 55.56 to discourage repeat litigation by a small… Read More

Plaintiff owner of a gated residential community sued defendant, a private water company, for repeated failures of a 12-inch water main that defendant constructed at plaintiff's request to serve two fire hydrants in the development as well as the domestic water needs of the residents.  This decision affirms the defense judgment.  The inverse condemnation claim failed because the water main… Read More

Affirming an order denying an employer's motion to compel arbitration of the worker's wage and hour, retaliation and discrimination in employment claims, this decision holds the agreement was at least minimally procedurally unconscionable as it was an adhesion contract.  It also holds two provisions substantively unconscionable, one requiring any claims to be brought within a year of discovery (despite statutes… Read More

Substantial evidence supported the jury verdict finding that defendant had violated Sherman Act section 1 by agreeing with a competitor to fix the terms of credit they would make available to plaintiff.  Terms of credit are part of the price; hence, horizontal agreement to fix credit terms are illegal per se.  Substantial evidence also support the jury verdict finding defendant… Read More