Remedies

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

The parties' arbitration provision said that "except for claims seeking injunctive or other equitable relief," the parties agreed to arbitrate any dispute between them.  Plaintiff filed suit including among others claims for specific performance, rescission, and violation of the UCL.  This decision holds that all of those claims are equitable or seek equitable relief and thus are not arbitrable under… Read More

Under Welf. & Inst. Code 15610.57 and 15657, authorize enhanced remedies for the negligent failure of any person having the care or custody of an elder or a dependent adult to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person in a like position would exercise."  Building on Winn v. Pioneer Medical Group, Inc. (2016) 63 Cal.4th 148, this decision… 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

The trial court erred in granting relief from a default judgment under CCP 473's attorney fault provision.  That provision permits relief only when the attorney error causes the client's default to be entered, not when, as in this case, the error occurs after entry of default and before entry of a default judgment.  This is true even in a quiet… Read More

Compensation for expected but unearned future income to which the plaintiff has no legal entitlement is not recoverable as restitution under the UCL, regardless whether it is characterized as lost market share. Lost profits are damages, not restitution, and are unavailable in a private action under the UCL.  Here, the trial court properly dismissed plaintiff optometrist's UCL claim against a… Read More