California Appellate Tracker

Distinguishing Hutcheson v. Eskaton FountainWood Lodge (2017) 17 Cal.App.5th 937, this decision holds that a durable power of attorney that did not follow the statutory form granted the agent authority to agree to arbitration of disputes between the principal, an ailing elder, and the elder care facility to which she had been transferred.  The power of attorney specifically allowed the… Read More

As in Turrietta v. Lyft, Inc. (2021) 2021 Cal. App. LEXIS 815, the plaintiff in a parallel wage and hour case appealed from an order approving a class action and PAGA claim settlement.  Contrary Turrietta, but without citing it, this decision holds that even though he opted out of the class, the objector had standing to appeal from the final… Read More

Following Dennison v. Rosland Capital LLC (2020) 47 Cal.App.5th 204 and other decisions, this opinion holds that a clear delegation clause, letting the arbitrator decide arbitrability questions was rendered ambiguous and ineffective by a severance clause that referred to an arbitrator or court finding any portion of the arbitration unenforceable.  The arbitration clause in an employment setting was unconscionable as… Read More

The district court erred in holding that this class settlement was not a coupon settlement within CAFA's meaning (see 28 USC 1712.  The settlement gave class members $36 or higher vouchers for defendant's services or products.  The relatively low amount of the smallest vouchers and limited (251) number of products or services they could purchase, showed these were coupons even… Read More

So long as the landlord does not contract with them and does not demand or accept rent from them, the landlord need not let subtenants cure the tenant's rent default.  Accordingly, the landlord's 3-day notice to quit served on the subtenants was proper though it did not offer them the alternative of curing the tenant's rent default.  Also, under San… Read More

Plaintiff and defendant were a married couple living in Georgia.  While on a visit to California, husband assaulted and battered wife.  The requirements for California to exercise specific jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant are satisfied when the defendant travels to California and commits a tort while in California--if the suit arises from that tort. California has an interest in deterring… Read More

The Catholic church has a special relationship with minor parishioners who are in its custody and control when attending catechism classes or other church-sponsored programs, on church premises or elsewhere.  The Rowland factors provide no reason to immunize the church from owing a duty of care to protect such parishioners from sexual abuse by priests or other church employees.  That… Read More

Mentioning an existing lawsuit in the debtor's statement of affairs is insufficient.  The claim must actually be listed as an asset in the debtor's schedules.  Otherwise, the claim is "unscheduled" and is not abandoned when the bankruptcy trustee decides it is a no asset estate and the bankruptcy court discharges the debtor and closes the case.  Accordingly, here, where plaintiff… Read More

University did not deny male student fair process when it suspended him for two years for unconsented sex with another student without holding a hearing at which the male student could cross-examine the female victim.  Where credibility is crucial, a hearing and cross-examination may be required, but here, the male student's own account of the evening and the female student's… Read More

Lacy, an employee, filed a complaint with the state Department of Labor claiming her employer, Crestwood, had retaliated against her in violation of Lab. Code 98.7 for complaining about having been assaulted at work.  The DLSE commenced an investigation of the complaint.  Meanwhile, Crestwood filed a petition to compel arbitration under the arbitration clause in Lacy's employment contract.  The trial… Read More

Agreeing with decisions from many other districts, this decision holds that an employer cannot compel arbitration of its worker's PAGA claim, as the claim is by the state, not by the worker who signed the arbitration agreement.  Iskanian v. CLS Transportation (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348 remains good law and was not undermined by Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis (2018) 138… Read More

In a FEHA suit, a prevailing defendant may not recover its fees and costs unless the court finds the action was frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless when brought, or the plaintiff continued to litigate after it clearly became so.” (Gov. Code, § 12965(b).)  The employer may compel arbitration of FEHA claims, but only if the arbitrator may award any remedy a… Read More

To have standing to move to disqualify another party's attorney, the movant must generally be a present or former client of the challenged attorney, or at least a person who shared confidential information with that attorney in the course of a confidential or fiduciary relationship.  Otherwise, the movant is generally not affected by any breach of the attorney's duties of… Read More

Because the employer did not keep adequate records to show how much of an employee's pay was based on commissions, the trial court correctly divided the entire compensation received by the employee during the week by 40 to determine his base pay for calculating the 150% of base pay owed for overtime work.  Had the employer kept better records, the… Read More

Under the Displaced Janitor Opportunity Act (Lab. Code 1060 et seq.) a successor janitorial company must hire the janitorial workers of a predecessor company at the same site for at least 60 days after taking over the site.  Here, the building owner supposedly terminated the janitorial service contract on the 13th of the month and claimed that there were no… Read More

The plaintiff insurer did not void its claim for equitable contribution by other insurers allegedly covering the loss by alleging that after paying for the insured's defense, it discovered facts that it claimed showed it owed the insured no coverage.  The duty to defend attaches immediately and is not undermined by later discovery of facts that show coverage was not… Read More

The trial court correctly refused to take judicial notice of insurance policies that were not matters of public record. The existence of a contract between private parties cannot be established by judicial notice under Evidence Code section 452(h). (Gould v. Maryland Sound Industries, Inc. (1995) 31 Cal.App.4th 1137, 1145.) Read More

The insurer did not breach its policy or the duty of good faith in settling plaintiff's claim which arose from destruction of her house by a wildfire.  Under the policy, she was entitled to the least of (a) the policy limit, (b) the cost to rebuild the same house, or (c) the actual cost paid for reconstruction.  Here, the insurer… Read More

This opinion affirms the trial court's denial of attorney fees sought by plaintiff in long-running litigation between the two parties.  Plaintiff recovered $38,0000 in the original proceeding.  It waited more than a year after the remittitur issued ending the appeal from that judgment before filing a separate action to enforce the judgment against the supersedeas bond that defendant had posted… Read More

Hoffman's recordation of an abstract of judgment against Weeden's property was protected activity under CCP 425.16(e), satisfying his Anti-SLAPP motion's first prong.  The litigation privilege also shielded Hoffman from liability on Weeden's claim for slander of title, and that cause of action was properly stricken.  However, the litigation privilege did not apply to or bar Weeden's claims to quiet title… Read More