De Fontbrune v. Wofsy

When a motion to dismiss raises a question of foreign law, the court may consider declarations or other “evidentiary” material regarding the content of relevant foreign law without converting the motion into a summary judgment motion; here, the Court of Appeal held that a French “astreinte” award was an enforceable foreign damage judgment, not an…

Esparza v. Kaweah Delta Dist. Hospital

Compliance with the Government Tort Claims statute’s claim presentation requirement may be alleged generally—as by checking a box on the Judicial Council form complaint stating that “Plaintiff … has complied with applicable claims statutes.”  Reaffirming Perez v. Golden Empire Transit Dist. (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1228 and finding that it was not overruled expressly or impliedly…

Rothstein v. Superior Court

When cases are merely related—as opposed to consolidated—transfer of one of them to a new judge based on an effective 170.6 challenge does not require or allow transfer of the other related case in which no challenge is filed.  H sued W to dissolve their marriage.  Judge B was assigned to handle the case and…

Dang v. Maruichi American Corp.

The National Labor Relations Act did not preempt a manager’s state law wrongful termination claims, as his termination did not arguably interfere with employees’ right to organize—they had already voted to join a union when the manager was fired for goading them into unionizing.  A maintenance manager’s wrongful termination suit was not preempted by the…

Regalado v. Callaghan

A judgment in favor of a contractor’s injured employee and against the homeowner who hired the contractor is affirmed under the “retained control exception” to the independent contractor rule, since the homeowner retained control by assuming responsibility for obtaining building permits and city inspections—one purpose of which is to assure that the work is safely…

San Francisco Apartment Ass’n v. City & County of San Francisco

California’s Ellis Act preempts a key section of San Francisco’s Planning Code, penalizing a landlord’s withdrawal of a unit from the rental market by denying for ten years any permit to merge the withdrawn unit with any other.  San Francisco’s Planning Code section 317 which denied housing unit mergers for ten years after an apartment…

Mills v. AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Ins. Exchange

Insurer is entitled to summary judgment against a claim under an auto insurance policy which the insurer had canceled before an accident, due to the insured’s failure to respond within 30 days to written inquiry whether the insured wanted his driving age son to be included as an insured under the policy, since that information…

Perez v. U-Haul Co. of California

An arbitration clause excepting “any class or representative suit” from arbitration excludes from arbitration individual, as well as group, claims brought under the Private Attorney General Act (“PAGA”; Labor Code 2698 et seq).  The trial court correctly denied an employer’s motion to compel a plaintiff/employee to individually arbitrate whether the plaintiff was an aggrieved employee…

Jorge v. Culinary Institute of America

Employer was entitled to judgment NOV in a negligence case brought against a plaintiff injured by employee’s negligent driving of his own car on his way home from work, since the employee’s commute was subject to the “going and coming rule.”  Trial court erred in denying employer judgment NOV in this personal injury action caused…

People ex rel. Allstate Ins. Co. v. Dahan

If the state does not intervene in an insurance false claims case, the plaintiff insurer may enforce the entire judgment against the defendants without first having the court determine the insurer’s share of the proceeds of the action.  Under Ins. Code 1871.7(g)(2)(A), if an insurer brings a qui tam insurance false claims case in which…

Kimzey v. Yelp!, Inc.

The Communications Decency Act (47 USC 230) shielded Yelp! from liability for an allegedly defamatory review of plaintiff’s business as plaintiff alleged no facts to support his speculation that Yelp! rather than a customer wrote the review.  Plaintiff’s defamation complaint against Yelp! for running a bad review of plaintiff’s locksmith business is dismissed under the…

Mendez v. Rancho Valencia Resort Partners, LLC

Judgment for defendant in a private nuisance action was affirmed as substantial evidence supported the trial court’s findings that the noise from defendants’ resort was not unreasonable nor was the injury to the plaintiff substantial, even if the noise violated the county noise ordinance.  The decision affirms a judgment for defendant after a bench trial…