Daniel Fisher News
Judge must ask more questions before dropping 'rape shield' in school sex abuse case
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - A sex-abuse trial involving a school teacher that was halted after several days can only resume after the judge makes a more thorough determination of whether the plaintiff can be asked about a subsequent episode of abuse, California’s highest court ruled.
Labor class actions under PAGA needn't be manageable, California court rules
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - Sticking to its interpretation of the law unless the California Supreme Court decides otherwise, an appeals court ruled that labor lawsuits under the state Private Attorneys General Act needn’t meet the manageability requirements of other class actions.
Synagogue shooter's hunting license wasn't valid, court rules in lawsuit against gun shop
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Congregants at a synagogue that was the target of a 2019 fatal shooting incident can sue the gun shop that sold the assailant his gun, a California appeals court ruled, citing a statute passed after the attack that established the shooter didn’t possess a valid hunting license when he bought his gun.
Uber must face labor class action, even though Plaintiff has to arbitrate
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Declaring itself to be the “final arbiter” on California law, the California Supreme Court ruled an Uber Eats driver can pursue a class action on behalf of other drivers even though the U.S. Supreme Court last year held the driver himself must submit labor claims to an arbitrator.
No antitrust claim for salesman fired after bad-mouthing merger
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A title-insurance salesman who tried to win customers by warning them about the anticompetitive effects of a pending merger has no case, a California court ruled, saying he wasn’t the right party to make an antitrust claim.
Appeals court tees off on Calif. plaintiff lawyers in case against Kia
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - An aspiring actress who suffered a traumatic brain injury after the driver of the Kia Forte she was riding in made a sudden U-turn across a three-lane highway won’t get a second chance at winning money from the manufacturer after a California appeals court rejected her arguments Kia should have been penalized for withholding documents and the jury room was too small.
Maxine Waters can be sued for claiming opponent faked Navy discharge papers
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - Congresswoman Maxine Waters must face trial over a political opponent’s claim she said he had been dishonorably discharged from the Navy even after he produced documents showing the statement was false, a California appeals court ruled.
Lawsuits over warning signs on streets are fair game, California Supreme Court says
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - California law provides broad immunity from lawsuits over how cities design their streets but plaintiffs can still sue over a lack of warning signs, the state’s highest court ruled, upholding a 50-year-old precedent against arguments it was illogical.
Court allows plaintiff to have wife/witness at deposition, as emotional support
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A man who claims he needs his wife present at a deposition to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder will probably get his wish even though she could be a witness in his lawsuit against the hospital he accuses of causing his PTSD.
Los Angeles city attorney loses lawsuit over typhus infection from homeless encampment
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A Los Angeles deputy city attorney who says she contracted typhus from the trash-infested homeless encampments around City Hall can’t sue the city for failing to maintain cleaner conditions, an appeals court ruled.
Calif. cities can collect soda taxes despite state law
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - California cities can collect sales taxes on soda and sugar-sweetened drinks despite a state law that would have penalized them by cutting them off from all sales taxes, an appeals court ruled, upholding a trial court decision declaring the law unenforceable.
Nursing home sanctioned over discovery delays it blamed on COVID-19
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California nursing home operator deserved more than $50,000 in sanctions for repeatedly missing deadlines to turn over evidence in an elder abuse lawsuit, an appeals court has ruled.
Johnson & Johnson stuck with $344 million California judgment
Johnson & Johnson has no further avenues for challenging a $344 million judgment in California after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the case, which J&J and other said was based upon an unconstitutionally vague consumer-protection status.
$25 million verdict stands despite judge's ex parte communications
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California school district lost its bid to overturn a $25 million wrongful-dismissal verdict despite citing communications between the trial judge and a colleague who was an ex-partner of the winning law firm, after an appeals court found no reason to suspect a conflict.
Court: Losing your foot was notice of possible malpractice claim
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A man who developed gangrene and had to have his foot amputated waited too long to sue a California county for medical malpractice, an appeals court ruled, rejecting the plaintiff’s argument he only discovered he had a potential claim after visiting the Mexican consulate on another matter months after his foot was cut off.
No evidence to support 'whistleblower' claim against addiction center, court rules
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A would-be whistleblower who was on the job for less than six months convinced California insurance regulators a detoxification center ran up tens of millions of dollars in improper bills but a trial judge was correct to dismiss her claims for lack of evidence, an appeals court ruled.
California AG sues Amazon over... low prices?
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing Amazon for harming consumers. Not by charging them too much, but by pushing merchants on its platform to charge the lowest prices available.
School district off the hook for erasing video evidence of sexual assault
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - A California school district was unduly censured for routinely erasing video footage that might have been valuable evidence of a sexual assault, an appeals court ruled, finding there was not enough evidence the district knew at the time it would be sued.
Court rejects plaintiff lawyers' attempt to eliminate California's cap on fees
FRESNO, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - A law firm has no basis for suing to eliminate California’s cap on contingency fees and non-economic damages in malpractice lawsuits, an appeals court ruled, citing previous decisions by the state Supreme Court as well as the law firm’s speculative theories about how the caps deny plaintiffs the right to sue.
Judge strikes down California firearms fee-shifting law
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) - Citing California Governor Gavin Newsom’s harsh criticism of a similar law in Texas aimed at pro-choice advocates, a federal judge struck down a California law designed to make it too costly for gun-rights activists to challenge firearms regulations.