Torts

A breach of contract is not "wrongful conduct" sufficient to support a claim for interference with prospective economic relationships.  Here, plaintiff narrowed its claim to interference based on the defendant's breach of a nondisclosure agreement.  Held, the trial court erred in submitting that claim to the jury since it was the court's responsibility to determine whether the alleged conduct was… Read More

This decision affirms a demurrer to numerous claims by sellers against eBay for various charges and other policies it enforces against them under its user agreement.  Although the user agreement is an adhesion contract, the decision holds that it and eBau's policies are published on its website, and though they are lengthy, sellers are under no time pressure to agree. … Read More

Aiding and abetting requires not only actual knowledge of the specific wrongdoing allegedly aided, but also a conscious decision to participate in tortious activity for the purpose of assisting another in performing a wrongful act.  That is, the defendant must have acted with the intent of facilitating commission of the tort. Read More

Indian tribes and their business entities are entitled to tribal immunity from suit in state court.  However, the tribe's officers and employees may not invoke tribal immunity if the suit seeks to recover damages or other relief from them individually.  Tribal judges, however, are entitled to common law judicial immunity from suit for actions taken in their official role as… Read More

The district court erred in dismissing the plaintiff police officers' defamation complaint against a city council member for her telling a crowd that that a fatal shooting by the police constituted “a blatant murder at the hands of the police,” and calling for the Seattle Police Department to be held accountable “for their . . . individual actions.”  It was… Read More

A governmental entity is liable for a dangerous condition of its property only if it has actual or constructive notice of the condition and doesn't fix it.  The entity has constructive notice of a dangerous condition only if (1) the dangerous condition existed for a sufficient period of time before the plaintiff’s injury, and (2) it was sufficiently obvious that… Read More

In this attorney malpractice case, the trial court properly ruled against plaintiff on the case-within-a-case, establishing that the underlying insurance claim had no merit, so the attorney's negligence in not filing suit in a timely manner did not cause plaintiff's loss.  The insurance claim arose under a contractor's CGL policy, and the policy's own work exclusion clearly barred insurance coverage… Read More

CCP 340.5's one-year statute of limitations, not the general two-year limitations period for personal injuries applied to this action by an emergency room patient who was injured when she collapsed on the way back from the bathroom.  The emergency room nursing staff made a medical decision that the patient did not need to be accompanied to and from the restroom. … Read More

Best Buy is not liable for an independent contractor's negligent installation of a Best Buy washer on the plaintiff's premises which resulted in extensive water damage.  Best Buy hired firm 1 to transport Best Buy products to purchasers' properties.  Firm 1 contracted with local transportation companies to provide the actual transportation and installation services.  The local company that transported and… Read More

Plaintiff sued the manufacturer of his hip replacement for product liability failure to warn and defective manufacture.  This decision affirms summary judgment for the defendant.  The failure to warn claim failed because plaintiff's doctor who chose and implanted the hip replacement testified that he kept closely abreast of developments in hip replacement surgery and was aware from reading scientific journals… Read More