California Appellate Tracker

A plaintiff may state a viable claim for unjust enrichment even if the plaintiff did not supply the consideration that it claims defendant unjustly received.  But in that circumstance, the plaintiff must show it has a greater right to what defendant received than the defendant does.  It is not enough to show that the defendant got a windfall while plaintiff… Read More

(In Goonewardene v. ADP, LLC (2019) 6 Cal.5th 817, the Supreme Court held that a non-party to a contract make invoke it as a third party beneficiary only if it established all three of the following:  (1) it would in fact benefit from performance of the contract, (2) providing that benefit to it was a motivating purpose of the parties… Read More

A Workers Compensation judge's finding that the employer did not discriminate against the employee based on her industrial injury under Lab. Code 132a does not necessarily preclude the employee's claims for disability discrimination under FEHA--at least when the Workers Comp. judge expressly refuses to decide whether the employer discriminated against the employee based on her disability as opposed to the… Read More

Pinkert established a donor advised fund at Schwab, allowing him to take current year tax deductions for charitable donations that were not distributed until later.  He sued Schwab for charging excessive fees to the fund and for mismanaging it, both of which decreased the amounts ultimately distributed to charities.  This decision holds that Pinkert lacked Article III standing as he… Read More

Under CRC 8.108(c), the time to appeal is extended by a "valid" motion to vacate judgment under either CCP 473(b) or 663.  To be "valid," the motion must satisfy the procedural prerequisites of such a motion (including timely filing) and must be based on a proper ground for such a motion, but it need not be substantively meritorious.  Here, plaintiffs… Read More

During construction of a development in South Lake Tahoe, a worker for a subcontractor slipped on an icy floor, falling from a ladder and injuring himself.  This decision holds that the trial court granted defendant summary judgment based on the Privette doctrine which bars claims by an injured worker for an independent contractor against the hirer of that contractor.  This… Read More

Following Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (2022)  13 Cal.5th 93, this decision holds that penalty pay for missed rest and meal breaks is "wages" and failure to pay those wages triggers waiting time and wage statement penalties under Lab. Code 202 and 206, and liability for attorney fees under Lab. Code 218.5 which directs a fee award to a… Read More

An employer's decision not to renew an employee's employment contract is an adverse employment action that will support a claim for discrimination or retaliation. Read More

The police owe a duty of care in employing deadly force.  However, that duty applies only where it is the police's use of force that kills or injures the plaintiff, not where, as in this case, the police's use of force triggers another person to engage in violence that kills or injures the plaintiff.  Here, the police fired at an… Read More

This decision holds that under Civ. Code 9564 (providing for attorney fees in suits on construction surety bonds) and CCP 1032, the prevailing party is entitled to recover attorney fees and costs even if that party has been represented at no cost to that party--as here, the prevailing surety's defense was paid under by the construction contractor-principal on the bond… Read More

A group of plaintiffs represented by law firm A filed a parallel putative class action to one filed by law firm B.  B's suit was allowed to proceed.  A's was stayed.  When notice of a tentative settlement of B's suit was sent, A sent a letter to class members urging them to opt out.  B obtained court orders sending corrective… Read More

This decision holds that CRC 2.259(c) and 8.77(d) both apply to excuse late filing of notices of appeal in appropriate circumstances.  Rule 2.259(c) requires a court to deem a document filed on the day of the attempted filing if a technical problem with the court's filing system prevents the filing.  Rule 8.77(d) allows a court to deem a document filed… Read More

In this case, ZF sued TAT claiming that the director TAT appointed to ZF's predecessor, ZF Micro Devices, intentionally destroyed that corporation by disparaging its management and working behind the scenes to undermine its efforts to obtain funding.  This decision holds that ZF's claim is legal and must (at ZF's demand) be tried to a jury.  A director's duty to… Read More

(A school district did not owe students a duty of care to prevent a teacher's husband from entering the classroom and killing her in front of her students, thus causing the students emotional distress.  The husband's violent criminal behavior was not reasonably foreseeable, as he had previously visited his wife at the school without incident.  Also, protecting against this sort… Read More

(The Federal Tort Claim Act's discretionary function immunity did not shield the United States from liability for the alleged conduct of its employees in maliciously instigating false state court criminal charges against plaintiff (in retaliation for her whistleblowing).  The employees' alleged conduct in knowingly lying under oath, tampering with witnesses, or fabricating evidence to support the false criminal charges had… Read More

Usually, any agreement to waive the employee's right to sue under PAGA is unenforceable.  But there is an exception for collective bargaining agreements that cover construction workers, provide for wages, hours and working conditions, set forth a grievance and arbitration remedy for Labor Code violations, allow the arbitrator to award all remedies authorized by the Labor Code and clearly waive… Read More

Joining Inns-by-the-Sea v. California Mutual Ins. Co. (2021) 71 Cal.App.5th 688 and many later decisions, this case holds that COVID-19 and the accompanying stay at home orders did not cause physical loss or damage to the insured's business premises and so did not give rise to business interruption coverage under its CGL policy. Read More

The settlement agreement in this case provided that defendant "shall pay" plaintiff $3 million as full and final settlement of plaintiff's cliam.  The next sentence stated that payment of the $3 million "will be paid out of escrow" from a specific sale of a piece of real property.  This decision holds that the settlement was not conditional and was not… Read More

The Ellis Act does not preempt San Francisco's Rent Ordinance section 37.9A which requires landlords exercising their right to remove units from the rental market to give the displaced tenants a specific notice of their right to relocation payments and to make the required relocation payments.  This decision also holds that strict, not substantial compliance, is required with the ordinance's… Read More

While the primary purpose of appointing a receiver (here, to sell radio stations) is to enforce and obtain payment of a judgment, the judgment debtor cannot automatically obtain the receiver's discharge and return of its property by posting adequate security for or paying the judgment.  The court retains discretion to continue the receivership thereafter to assure that the judgment debtor's… Read More