California statute extending state wage laws governing public works to cover delivery drivers of ready-mix concrete is not preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act and does not violate concrete companies’ equal protection rights. Read More
Defendant-employer was not vicariously liable for an after-work car accident which the defendant’s employee caused while on the phone with another employee, as the call related to personal matters, not work. Read More
Plaintiff homeowner stated a viable wrongful foreclosure claim against mortgage loan servicer who told plaintiff that it would not accept plaintiff's offer to reinstate the loan, even though the offer was made more than 5 business days before the trustee's sale. Read More
Uber's arbitration agreements with its drivers are enforceable and delegate arbitrability questions to the arbitrator and the named plaintiffs could not opt out of the arbitration agreement on behalf of all class members. Read More
Defendant wrongly removed the case under federal officer removal provision, since defendant was not acting as a government contractor in selling weapons with the plaintiff, even if the defendant acted as a government contractor in selling the same weapons to the US military. Read More
Auto insurance coverage limit for injury “to each person” applies to any damages, including loss of consortium damages, flowing from a bodily injury to a single person—even if that person is not the only one who suffers from the loss of consortium. Read More
By being the surviving subsidiary in a reverse triangular merger, defendant did not sell or transfer its assets, and so did not trigger a right of first refusal under a contract by which it acquired one of those assets. Read More
First Amendment’s ministerial exception barred seminary dean-plaintiff’s claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but not breach of contract, since the latter is a matter of compliance with a faculty handbook and hence does not turn on an ecclesiastical inquiry or excessively entangle the court in religious matters. Read More
By failing to raise it in the trial court, the defendant tribe waived its sovereign immunity defense as to an equipment rental agreement under which attorney fees had been awarded to the plaintiff. Read More
Since plaintiff restaurant workers alleged their employers took the tip credit for unrelated untipped work hours and for related untipped work exceeding 20% of their work time, they stated viable claims for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Read More
By committing an intentional tort in the state, a person purposely directs his actions toward the state, subjecting himself to personal jurisdiction there, unless the state’s exercise of jurisdiction over him does not comport with fair play and substantial justice under the seven-factor Paccar test. Read More
Section 9 of the standard-form deed of trust, which allows the lender to take steps to preserve its interest in the property (including defending litigation) and charge the cost of doing so to the borrower, is in the nature of an indemnity provision under which the lender could add its litigation expenses to the principal debt secured by the deed… Read More
Once the court orders an appraisal in an action for involuntary dissolution of a closely held corporation, the plaintiff may no longer voluntarily dismiss the action. Read More
Under the 2008 amendment to the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is no longer necessary for an employee to show that his perceived disability limited or was perceived to limit a major life activity in order to show evidence of “disability”; all that the employee need plead or prove is that the employer regarded him as physically or mentally impaired. Read More
District court properly granted employer’s motion to decertify an opt-in FLSA class on the ground that it fails to satisfy the "similarly situated" requirement, since the employer showed that the class claims were based on a vague "culture" of not reporting overtime supported only by vaguely reported experiences of individual employees, and nothing sufficient to suggest a uniform practice or… Read More
In determining whether the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA) preempts a state court class action alleging fraud in connection with securities transactions, a district court should not dismiss the action without first allowing the plaintiff leave to amend—as it might do so to eliminate class claims and by that or other means avoid SLUSA preemption. Read More
For purposes of 11 USC 1141(d)(3), a bankrupt debt does not "engage in business" after plan confirmation merely by acting as an employee of a business owned and operated by a third person. Read More
There is no private right of action for a violation of Bus. & Prof. Code 9884.9, which requires car repair facilities to provide the customer a written estimate and obtain written customer approval before beginning repairs on a car. Read More
Plaintiff's False Claims Act complaint alleged that all the defendant health insurers submitted false claims using false diagnoses of patients' medical condition from the same vendor, and no further differentiation among the health insurers was needed to satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) since they all acted the same way. Read More
Plaintiff stated viable causes of action under the unfair competition and false advertising laws, and for breach of warranty, by stating that Bayer's One-A-Day vitamins are mislabeled—two a day is required to meet recommended daily allowances for most vitamins. Read More
