A consent decree that defendant entered into with the Attorney General which prohibited defendant from charging any fee it couldn't show was to reimburse a reasonable cost defendant incurred did not moot the prayer in this UCL class action for a public injunction banning defendant from charging its $45 processing fee for each new rent-to-own contract. The consent decree did… Read More
There are only two elements to a misappropriation of trade secrets claim: the existence of a trade secret, and its unauthorized dissemination, disclosure or use. It is not necessary for the plaintiff to prove it was damaged or the defendant was unjustly enriched. Those issues are relevant only to an award of damages or restitution. Even absent damages or enrichment,… Read More
Under McGill v. Citibank, N.A. (2017) 2 Cal.5th 945, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to compel arbitration because the arbitration clause forbade award of a public injunction in any forum. Contrary to the defendant's argument, its arbitration agreement did not authorize the arbitrator to award a public injunction. It provided instead that arbitration is to be “conducted only… Read More
Part of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, Lab. Code 248.5(e) provides that “any person or entity enforcing this article on behalf of the public as provided for under applicable state law shall, upon prevailing, be entitled only to equitable, injunctive, or restitutionary relief ." This decision holds that "enforcing this article on behalf of the public" refers… Read More
While this petition for mandamus and suit for injunctive relief was pending, the Legislature amended Gov. Code 54237.9 to require the Department of Transportation to sell homes it has bought to make way for freeways at the original purchase price without adjustment for inflation. Since this suit sought only prospective relief--sale of the homes at the original purchase price without… 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 decision dismisses defendant's appeals from several trial court orders under the appellate disentitlement doctrine. Defendant had refused to obey a long string of court orders in this long running dispute over a construction contract for defendant's casino. Defendant refused to obey an order compelling arbitration. Then it got an injunction against arbitration from its own newly formed tribal court,… Read More
This decision holds that the district court erred in denying Comcast's motion to compel arbitration even though its arbitration clause precluded customers from litigating public injunction claims in any forum. First, the decision holds that the mere presence of the clause in the arbitration agreement does not automatically invalidate the arbitration agreement for all purposes--but rather only in cases that… Read More
A court may abstain from adjudicating a suit that seeks equitable remedies if granting the requested relief would require a trial court to assume the functions of an administrative agency, or to interfere with the functions of an administrative agency. Here, plaintiff sought injunctive relief against a local water service district to prevent a particular employee from operating its water… 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 preliminary injunction properly issued to require Uber and Lyft to stop misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors. Under the ABC test adopted in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 and AB5 (Lab. Code 2775), one who provides labor or services for pay is presumed to be an employee unless the hiring entity proves all… Read More
When a government entity sues and seeks a preliminary injunction to halt violation of a statute, it need only show a reasonable probability of success on the merits, and then a rebuttable presumption arises that public harm from the violation outweighs harm to the defendant from the injunction. (IT Corp. v. County of Imperial (1983) 35 Cal.3d 63.) To overcome… Read More
This decision upholds a Workplace Violence Prevention injunction issued against a perennial attendant at LA City Council meetings who threatened a city attorney who advised the Council at those meetings. The defendant made threats against the attorney. He put swastikas and KKK symbols on public comment cards at the Council meetings, indicated he thought the attorney was Jewish, and repeatedly… Read More
The district court erred in entering a nationwide injunction against the Trump Administration's unlawful restrictions on federal grants to localities, requiring them to forego the grants or foreswear their "sanctuary" statutes or ordinances. The only plaintiffs in this case were San Francisco and California. They suffered injury only within California, and they could be restored to their rightful position by… Read More
The trial court erred in granting a temporary restraining order on an ex parte basis in this case. The declaration supporting the request for the TRO did not present admissible evidence of any impending emergency that required relief on an ex parte basis, as opposed to a noticed motion. The case challenged the Governor's emergency order regarding voting by mail… Read More
Plaintiff contractor was entitled to recover its bid preparation costs on a promissory estoppel theory after it obtained an injunction to stop the winning bidder from proceeding with work but did not receive the contract itself. Read More
A trial court may issue a preliminary injunction mandating an affirmative act that changes the status quo, but only in extreme cases when the right to the injunction is clearly established; in this case, the trial court properly ordered defendant software developer to turn over source code to its customer, the plaintiff, so plaintiff could alter the software to make… Read More
