A federal court may award sanctions using civil procedures only if the sanctions are compensatory in nature, recompensing the harmed party for harm that was caused by (would not have occurred but for) the sanctioned party's sanctionable conduct. For any sanctions beyond that or having a punitive or deterrent purpose, the court must employ criminal type of procedure with an… Read More
The trial court prejudicially erred in granting plaintiff's in limine motion to exclude defendant from introducing evidence and seeking allocation of fault to two defendants (the State of California and an adjoining landowner) which had settled out of the case before trial. Under Prop. 51, a defndant is entitled to have the jury allocate fault (and thus the share of… Read More
This split decision holds that when the case is in federal court under their federal question jurisdiction, federal common law, rather than the law of the state or foreign country in which the contract was entered into, governs threshold questions of arbitrability, such as whether a nonsignatory to the arbitration agreement may enforce it through equitable estoppel. Under federal common… Read More
Allegedly defamatory emails that Simplified sent Trinity and a co-defendant seeking documents and other information for its later-filed lawsuit were protected activity for purposes of the Anti-SLAPP statute (CCP 425.16(e)). The emails were also protected by the absolute litigation privilege, so Trinity could not prove a probability of success on the merits. The trial court properly granted Simplified's Anti-SLAPP motion… Read More
Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903 ane the ABC test it adopted for distinguishing employees from independent contractors for purposes of IWC wage orders applies retroactively to all cases pending on the date Dynamex became final. Since Dynamex decided an issue of first impression, no one could reasonably have relied on the prior uncertain state… Read More
A creditor or other holder of property of the bankrupt estate does not violate the automatic stay (11 USC 362(a)(3)) by merely continuing to hold that property after the debtor files a bankruptcy petition. Instead, 11 USC 542 governs the circumstances under which the bankruptcy court can compel a holder of property of the bankrupt estate to turn the property… Read More
Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, an employee may take 12 weeks of unpaid family or medical leave in a 12 month period. This decision holds that when the employee works on a 7 days on, 7 days off schedule, the off days as well as the on days are counted toward the 12 weeks of allowed leave. Read More
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's regulation interpreting 49 U.S.C. § 31141(c) governing preemption of state law relating to commercial motor vehicle safety was entitled to Chevron deference. The regulation reasonably found California's meal and rest breaks statutes preempted by federal law since the state laws required more frequent and longer rest and meal breaks than federal law and with… Read More
A subpoena served on a third party witness to produce business records is a deposition subpoena. If the subpoenaed witness objects rather than producing the requested documents (in whole or in part), the subpoenaing party has 60 days to move to compel compliance with the subpoena. Meet and confer efforts in the meanwhile do not continue the 60 day deadline… Read More
Negligent misrepresentation differs from intentional misrepresentation on at least two elements. For fraud, the defendant must know the representation is false; whereas, for negligent misrepresentation, lack of a reasonable basis to believe the representation is true will suffice. Also, for negligent misrepresentation, no showing of intent to deceive is required, just an intent to induce reliance on the misstated fact. … Read More
On remand from the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal decides that the plaintiff hospital cannot prevail on its claim of equitable tolling of the statute of limitations to petition for relief from the state agency's decision against it. The decision clearly stated that it was effective immediately. The state APA sections (Gov. Code 11521 and 11523) clearly provide that… Read More
The district court properly dismissed this false labeling suit against Target. The label of its biotin food supplement stated "helps support healthy fair and skin." Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 343(r)(6)(B)), FDA regulation of food supplement labels preempts state law. Here, the label met the FDA's three requirements for such a label. Target had… Read More
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting defendant's forum non conveniens motion, but did err in dismissing the action rather than merely staying it. The suit was by residents of China against a California resident regarding alleged misuse of funds donated to the defendant's charitable foundation for his personal benefit. China was an available forum. It was… Read More
Under CCP 340.5, the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice claim expires at the earlier of three years from the date of injury or one year from the date of discovery. Injury from the failure to diagnose a latent, progressive condition occurs “when the undiagnosed condition develops into a more serious condition,” and that more serious condition is made… Read More
There was no due process violation in the city's hiring outside counsel on an hourly fee basis to prosecute nuisance abatement suits. Also, a fee award to the City as the prevailing party in the litigation was not an undue burden on the defendant's First Amendment right to petittion government by defending the nuisance abatement suit. Health & Safety Code… Read More
A person who buys the property from the former landlord may sue a defaulted tenant for unlawful detainer based on a notice to quit which the former landlord served on the tenant before selling the property to the buyer/plaintiff. Furthermore, the notice to quit is not defective for failing to name the person to whom the property is to be… Read More
Under the Uniform Voidable Transfer Act, a "transfer" made with actual intent to defraud creditors is voidable. This decision holds that the statutory term "transfer" does not impose any requirement that property be transferred from a debtor to a third party. Instead, a transfer from the debtor to himself can qualify as a voidable "transfer" for purposes of the UVTA… Read More
During a political campaign, one candidate's election manager wrote a letter to the editor, posted to websites and sent emails accusing plaintiff of having used his charitable foundation to make contributions to city council members in return for their voting to have plaintiff's company named as the contractor for a large construction project. This decision holds that the trial court… Read More
The trial court erred in granting defendant summary judgment on the issue of duty of care when defendant moved for summary judgment, and its statement of undisputed facts related, only to the different issue of causation. A court may grant a summary judgment motion on an issue not raised by the moving party, but only if the moving party's statement… Read More
Defendant waived its right to compel arbitration by participating in a putative class action for 24 months after service before moving to compel arbitration. It could not excuse the delay on its belated discovery of the arbitration agreement bearing plaintiff's signature sisnce it alleged arbitration as an affirmative defense in its answer, knew that when plaintiff was hired its policy… Read More
