California Appellate Tracker

Following Contreras v. Superior Court (2021)  61 Cal.App.5th 461 and Provost v. YourMechanic, Inc. (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th 982, this decision holds that even when the arbitration agreement delegates arbitrability issues to the arbitrator, a plaintiff bringing a PAGA claim cannot be compelled to arbitrate the threshold issue of whether she is an "employee" with standing to bring a PAGA claim… Read More

In this case interpreting an old water decree, the court recognizes that use of the disjunctive "or" can, depending on context, mean either "one or the other, but not both" (its exclusive meaning) or "one or the other or both" (its inclusive meaning). Which meaning is to be given "or" depends on the context in which it is used. Here,… Read More

A landowner does not owe invitees a duty to provide adequate onsite parking so that the invitee won't be exposed to risks from traffic on adjoining streets that the invitee must cross to access the landowner's property from available offsite parking.  Both precedent (Vasilenko v. Grace Family Church (2017) 3 Cal.5th 1077) ad the Rowland factors weigh against such a… Read More

Applying Kisor v. Wilkie (2019) 139 S.Ct. 2400 and its analysis of Auer deference, this decision concludes that a decision of the HHS Departmental Review Board which interpreted an ambiguous HHS Medicare regulation was entitled to Auer deference.  The Board's interpretation was "authoritative" because the Board issues HHS' final decision in contested cases, subject to federal court review.  The interpretation… Read More

Under the deferential abuse of discretion standard used to review trial court orders granting a new trial, this decision affirms a new trial order based on juror misconduct.  It finds there was substantial evidence to support the trial court's implied finding that the defendant had not forfeited its right to complain of bias by failing to act promptly (before verdict)… 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 gravamen of the complaint was the priest's sexual molestation and… Read More

Defendant initially violated HBOR by refusing to consider plaintiff's loan modification application because only his deceased wife was the borrower on the loan, but defendant cured its violation after suit was filed by canceling the pending foreclosure, accepting and review plaintiff's loan modification application, and offering him a trial payment plan intended to lead to a loan modification.  Thinking he… Read More

The gist of a teacher's FEHA claim for retaliation for filing a complaint with the DFEH was the defendant's adverse employment action, not the protected activity of the investigation it conducted leading up to that action or its later protected action of defending the adverse employment action before a review commission.  Accordingly, the case did not arise from conduct protected… Read More

In determining whether a defendant's tortious conduct was the proximate cause of plaintiff's damage, the court must view the general set of circumstances not the particular facts of the case.  So, here, the defendant escrow company's negligence in closing an escrow for the sale of a house led foreseeably to the seller's incurring damages in the form of attorney fees… Read More

The trial court abused its discretion in denying plaintiff's motion to amend the complaint in response to the trial court's ruling, before trial, on a motion in limine that plaintiff could not introduce evidence of attorney fees as damages under the tort of another theory because those damages were not alleged in the complaint.  Plaintiff sought leave to amend to… Read More

When a contract provides that a third party (such as an engineer) will determine whether a party has sufficiently performed the contract, the third party's decision is conclusive and binding on the parties in the absence of bad faith, fraud, or gross negligence.  Here, to settle prior litigation, three landowners agreed that they would each remediate a mudslide on their… Read More

The CMA sued under the UCL seeking an injunction banning Aetna's policy of discouraging its in-network doctors from referring patients to out-of-network doctors.  This decision holds that the CMA's diversion of its time and assets to help its doctor members fight Aetna's policy doesn't qualify as a loss of money or property under B&P Code 17203 and that absent a… Read More

Although California and Indiana both generally enforce spendthrift trusts, the law of both states allow creditors to collect from the trust's assets when required by strong public policy--for example, to pay child support owed by the spendthrift beneficiary.  This decision holds that under the law of both states, the trust's assets are accessible to pay attorney fees that an opposing… Read More

After firing Towner, an investigator in the County's District Attorney's office, the County sought a writ of mandate to enjoin the County's Civil Service Commission from reviewing the termination.  In support of its writ petition, the County publicly filed confidential reports of its investigation of Towner's conduct, in violation of Gov. Code 832.7, part of the Police Officer's Bill of… Read More

AB-5 which codifies the ABC test of employee status is a generally applicable labor law that affects a motor carrier’s relationship with its workforce but does not bind, compel, or otherwise freeze into place the prices, routes, or services of motor carriers, we conclude that it is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (49 USC… Read More

An insurer may waive the insured's forfeiture of the policy through non-payment of the premium even though a loss has occurred during the period between lapse of the policy due to non-payment and reinstatement upon late payment of the premium.  The loss-in-progress rule (Ins. Code 22, 250) does not prevent the insurer from waiving the forfeiture in this situation because… Read More

Following Bolger v. Amazon.com, LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5th 431, this decision holds that Amazon.com is strictly liable in tort for defective products sold through its website even if Amazon does not manufacture or sell the products itself. Read More

Under Probate Code 24(c) and 17200, the successor in interest to a person who has a present or future interest in a trust is a "beneficiary" with standing to request an accounting from the trustee.  Here, the trial court wrongly dismissed a petition to compel an accounting at a case management conference based on the trustee's objection without giving prior… Read More

Following  Langere v. Verizon Wireless Services, LLC (9th Cir. 2020) 983 F.3d 1115 and Microsoft Corp. v. Baker (2017) 137 S.Ct. 1702, this decision holds that the Court of Appeal lacks appellate jurisdiction over an appeal from a voluntary dismissal entered for the purpose of trying to appeal from an order compelling arbitration in a putative class action.  It does… Read More

The IWC's wage orders setting minimum wages and the method of calculating hours of work for purposes of paying minimum wages do not apply to the University of California which is not a political subdivision of the state and does not otherwise fall within the definition of a public employer under Wage Order No. 4.  Instead, the University is a… Read More