A claim under the Administrative Procedure Act that a federal administrative agency's regulation is contrary to the enabling statute must be filed within 6 years after the claim accrues. 28 USC 2401. This decision holds that the claim accrues and the six years begins to run when the plaintiff is injured by the challenged regulation--since before then, the plaintiff lacks… Read More
This decision overrules Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (1984) 467 U.S. 837 and holds that the APA requires courts to construe statutes, including those with ambiguities, de novo, without deference to the administrative agency's interpretation of the statute. Read More
The bankruptcy code does not authorize a release and injunction that, as part of a Chapter 11 plan of reorganization effectively seek to discharge claims against a nondebtor without the consent of affected claimants. Under 11 USC 1123(b), a Chapter 11 plan may contain five specific types of orders, all of which concern the debtor's rights and responsibilities, and "… Read More
When the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial, so the SEC must proceed in court, and not before its own administrative tribunals to recover civil penalties. Securities fraud replicates common law fraud. The 7th Amendment applies to all actions, including statutory claims, not within equity or… Read More
The district court abused its discretion in certifying classes in this suit by plaintiffs who had accepted defendants' agreements for lump sum payments in return for the plaintiffs' rights to receive payments over time under structured settlements from prior litigation. In every state, defendants' agreements had to be approved by a state court, some with more, some with less stringent… Read More
Manufacturers of drugs and medical devices owe a duty to warn physicians, as learned intermediaries, but not patients, of risks posed by their products. This decision holds that when a manufacturer breaches the duty to warn, the patient must prove that the lack of warning caused the patient harm. To prove causation, the patient need not show that the physician… Read More
A Fourth Amendment malicious-prosecution claim under 42 U. S. C. §1983 may be brought against defendants if they lacked probable cause for any one of several charges on which defendants arrested plaintiff--so long as the charge lacking probable caused or prolonged the arrest. Read More
Plaintiff's counsel's voluntary narrowing of the class definition in a pending class action did not clearly exclude from the class color-blind employees like plaintiff. So American Pipe tolling did not end for plaintiff upon that narrowing but only later when the 8th Circuit reversed the class certification order. Read More
Before filing a PAGA suit, a plaintiff must send a pre-suit notice to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the employer describing the facts and theories to support the alleged violation. Lab. Code 2699.3. This decision holds that while the pre-suit notice must include nonfrivolous allegations that other aggrieved employees exist, it is sufficient for the presuit notice to… Read More
Facebook does not violate privacy by creating temporary "face signatures" of faces of persons (including non-users of Facebook) in pictures posted on Facebook. BIPA prohibits only use of "information" or "identifiers" that can be used to identify an individual. Facebook's face signatures can't be used to identify the persons in the pictures and those signatures are not stored on Facebook. … Read More
Discriminatory enforcement of CC&Rs by an HOA can support a claim for discrimination in housing under 12 USC 3604. But here, all that the HOA did was write plaintiffs a letter threatening enforcement action. It never took the threatened action and took no other step to enforce the CC&Rs against plaintiffs, and plaintiffs did not alter their conduct to avoid… Read More
Deciding a question left open in Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Superior Court (2020) 9 Cal.5th 215, this decision holds that in a case involving coverage for injuries occurring over multiple coverage periods, the insured can reach an excess policy after "vertically" exhausting any primary insurance policies for the same period, but need not exhaust all primary insurance policies "horizontally" over… Read More
In seeking a preliminary injunction against an employer's actions pending proceedings before the NLRB, that agency must meet the same four traditional factors outlined in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (2008) 555 U. S. 7: likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, balance of equities in plaintiff's favor, and injunction in public interest. In simply allowing courts… Read More
To establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must show it has suffered or is likely to suffer an injury in fact and causation--that the injury in fact is caused by the defendant's allegedly wrongful act and therefore is redressable by injunction or damages. Causation is simply established when the plaintiff challenges a government regulation that governs the plaintiff, but more… Read More
Recognizing a split of Court of Appeal decisions on the issue, this decision holds that when the plaintiff does not deny that the arbitration agreement bears his handwritten signature, his declaration stating that he doesn't recall signing the document does not create a factual dispute about the signature's authenticity. See Iyere v. Wise Auto Group (2023) 87 Cal.App.5th 747, 757-758,… Read More
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in overruling objections to questions defense attorney asked plaintiff's future medical damages expert about whether plaintiff's future medical expenses would be covered by Medicare once plaintiff reached 65 and whether Medicare insurers paid full billed medical rates. Under Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc. (2011) 52 Cal.4th 541, plaintiff can only… Read More
In a Domestic Violence Restraining Order proceeding, the plaintiff wife was unrepresented by counsel; the defendant, her former husband had counsel. The trial court did not violate defendant's due process rights by assisting plaintiff during her testimony by asking her very broad, open-ended questions designed to allow her to tell the court about the incidents on which she based her… Read More
Overruling Riley v. Hilton Hotels Corp. (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 599, this decision holds that Government Code section 36900, subdivision (a), does not grant citizens in general any private cause of action to sue for violation of a city ordinance. Hence, there is no statutory right to bring a civil action for a violation of a municipal ordinance. Read More
A liability insurer liable on claims against the debtor is a "party in interest" that is entitled to raise and have heard its objections to the debtor's Chapter 11 plan under 11 USC 1109(b). The Bankruptcy Code uses party in interest to broadly cover anyone whose interests might be adversely affected by a Chapter 11 plan. The legislative history shows… Read More
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act barred plaintiff's unjust enrichment, negligence, and UCL claims that Facebook for allowing third parties to post fraudulent ads on Facebook. Those claims sought to impose liability on Facebook as a publisher or speaker of the false ads. However, plaintiff's breach of contract and breach of implied covenant claims based on Facebook's alleged promises… Read More
