California Appellate Tracker

Although the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding from evidence the digitized spreadsheets of meal break and rounding of work hours for lack of a proper foundation, it did abuse its discretion in excluding an expert witness' opinion based on those digitized spreadsheets.  An expert may rely on inadmissible evidence if based on information that is reliable… Read More

Following Kim v. Reins Internat. California, Inc. (2020) 9 Cal.5th 73, this decision holds that the plaintiff in this case had standing to pursue a PAGA suit against her employer because she alleged she had been a victim of one of the alleged violations of the Labor Code by her employer.  She did not lose her standing to sue under… Read More

This decision holds that an employer cannot be penalized under Lab. Code 1197.1(b) for failure to pay minimum wages if it has paid at least minimum wages to the employees on or before their scheduled pay day, even if it violates Lab. Code 201, 202 by failing to pay an employee who is fired immediately on termination or one who… Read More

Under Idaho law, a title insurance policy that excluded coverage for claims that were "not shown by the public record" did not exclude coverage of claims that arose from the county's official road maps that described a road through the insured's property.  "Public records" was undefined in the policy and could be reasonably be construed to include official documents brought… Read More

In hospital peer review committee proceedings, a person hired by a hospital to serve as a hearing officer may be disqualified for financial bias under Business and Professions Code section 809.2(b), on grounds that the officer has an incentive to favor the hospital in order to increase the chances of receiving future appointments.  Under the statute, a hearing officer is… Read More

Chevron was not bound by a lease agreement entered into by Aramco, not Chevron, with the persons whose heirs are appellants here.  Furthermore, the lease agreement did not incorporate by reference or otherwise the arbitration clause in the concession agreement that Chevron had signed with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 13 years earlier--even though the lease was of land to… Read More

The International Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards contains a self-executing direction for the courts of the signatory states to compel arbitration of agreements falling within the Convention's scope.  Since that provision is self-executing and not an "Act of Congress," the McCarran-Ferguson Act does not reverse preempt it.  Accordingly, the Convention preempts Washington state law that… Read More

This decision affirms denial of the employer-defendant's motion to compel arbitration under an agreement that delegated arbitrability questions to the arbitrator.  The arbitration agreement and its delegation clause were both unconscionable for the same reasons.  Procedurally, the agreement was presented as an adhesion contract that employees had to sign to retain employment.  Also the agreement was nine pages of 10… Read More

This decision reverses a summary judgment, finding that a question of fact exists as to whether defendant insurer acted reasonably to settle this catastrophic injury case within the insured's $25,000 policy limits.  During the week the plaintiff's policy limits demand remained open, defendant did not transmit the offer to its insured for his consent.  Defendant also repeatedly failed to send… Read More

The TCPA (47 USC 227(b)(1)(A)) and the FCC's implementing regulation (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1)) both prohibit any calls made by an autodialler (or with a pre-recorded message) to a cellphone regardless of the content of the call or message--unless it is an emergency call or one made with the recipient's express consent.  The FCC's regulation imposes additional restrictions on telemarketing calls… Read More

On a discretionary appeal from a class certification order under Fed. R. Civ. P. 23(f), the Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to review any issue bound up with the decision to certify the class.  Thus, in this case, on a 23(f) appeal from an order certifying two nationwide TCPA classes, the Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to consider whether the… Read More

This decision affirms a judgment against Monsanto for failing to warn of the toxic nature of Roundup.  It holds that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (7 USC 136 et seq.) does not preempt state common law duty to warn and defective design products liability claims.  There was substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict of liability on those… Read More

An appeal automatically stays a mandatory injunction, but not a prohibitory injunction.  Here, the trial court ordered the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors to remove and replace one of its sitting members based on the trial court's finding that the board had violated the Brown Act (Gov. Code 54950) requiring open meetings.  A mandatory injunction is one that commands a… Read More

A defendant may be held liable for negligent entrustment of a vehicle and negligent hiring of the employee who drives it if the employer fails to make a reasonable effort to determine whether the employee has a valid driver's license before allowing him to drive the vehicle.  See Veh. Code 14604, 14606(a).) Read More

Under Family Code 1615, a premarital agreement must be signed by an independent lawyer on behalf of a party that is otherwise unrepresented by counsel in connection with the agreement.  Absent signature by an independent lawyer, the premarital agreement is void, not voidable, and cannot be ratified by the unrepresented spouse's later conduct.  Also parties cannot circumvent the independent counsel… Read More

Following Esparza v. KS Industries, L.P. (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 1228, this decision holds that an employee cannot be compelled under a predispute arbitration clause to arbitrate a PAGA claim.  The FAA does not preempt this rule.  The employer failed to show that the employee who filed the suit was employed under a collective bargaining agreement so the LMRA  301 did… Read More

Straumann, a Swiss company, and its Swiss-resident officer, Hemm, established purposeful contacts with California by entering into an agreement to be the exclusive distributor outside the United States for Rodo, a California company making dental products.  Hemm was a member of Rodo's board at the time, but negotiated the exclusive distributorship as Straumann's agent.  Rodo's shareholders sued claiming that Rodo's… Read More

The D'Amico v. Board of Medical Examiners (1974) 11 Cal.3d 1 doctrine about summary judgment affidavits not being allowed to contradict admissions in discovery is not a doctrine regarding the admissibility of evidence, but rather whether the contradictory evidence can be given an weight.  Here, an expert changed his answer on the key question of whether a plaintiff was exposed… Read More

Hom entered into a lease with tenant.  The lease granted extensive rights to lenders to tenant, including performing tenant's obligations and assuming its rights under the lease.  Tenant sued Hom who cross-complained against tenant and Petrou, a lender to tenant.  As part of his settlement with tenant, Hom dismissed his cross-complaint against Petrou as well.  Petrou was awarded attorney fees… Read More

The district court correctly denied plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction before compelling arbitration of the plaintiff's wage-and-hour misclassification claims.  Plaintiff had sought an injunction requiring Uber to reclassify all its drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.  That injunction would have changed, not preserved, the status quo pending arbitration.  Also, there was no urgent need for an injunction before… Read More