Jonathan Bilyk News
Ex-Jurupa teacher, fired over alleged anti-faith directives, to get $360K in deal to end religious discrimination suit
Former Jurupa Valley High School teacher Jessica Tapia had sued when she was fired, allegedly after refusing to comply with school administrator's demands she stop talking about her Christian beliefs on social media and at school, and refer to transgender students by their preferred pronouns
Appeals court: CA Supreme Court ruling makes Macy's next retailer unable to escape PAGA class action
A panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said a recent ruling from the California Supreme Court makes it impossible for Macy's to escape a class action under California's controversial Private Attorney General Act, even though the lead plaintiff's "individual claims" must go to arbitration
Class action: Allstate wrongly using workers' comp benefits to reduce, deny underinsured motorist claims
The lawsuit claims Allstate has a company policy of allegedly using the payment of workers' comp benefits to deny or reduce claims for uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage for people injured while driving on the job, allegedly violating California law
Judge OKs Google location tracking class action deal to pay $42M to mostly left-wing groups
The $62M settlement ends class action accusing Google of misleading users into believing their location history had been turned off. The deal includes no money for Google users, though, only $18.6M for lawyers and big money for non-profits, which objectors said is a 'slush fund' for left-wing activism
CA Supreme Court majority: Race may need to be considered by cops when detaining 'nervous' suspects
A unanimous California Supreme Court has ruled police cannot choose to detain suspects simply because they act nervously or seek to avoid interacting with officers. But a majority on the court called for future decisions to account for black suspects' fear of police, potentially allowing them to outright flee from officers
Lawyers seek $217M+ fees for work on Google Icognito privacy settlement
The settlement, supposedly worth $5 billion, requires Google to delete billions of data files allegedly collected by Google while allegedly monitoring people's supposedly secret web browsing. But the deal doesn't include any direct payments from Google to consumers on a classwide basis
SCOTUS appears poised to undo rulings that left cities in 'straitjacket' when addressing homeless encampments
Precise contours on the eventual ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court remain cloudy, but oral arguments revealed the court's conservative majority will most likely overturn rulings from the Ninth Circuit that critics said essentially created a constitutional right for the homeless to camp in parks and other public spaces
Pre-trial jail inmates aren't entitled to minimum wage for jail kitchen work, CA Supreme Court says
A class action lawsuit claimed that, since state penal laws don't explicitly limit their earning abilities in jail, people not yet convicted of crimes should still be protected by California's minimum wage laws while working in the jail for private services vendors. Not so, California Supreme Court said.
Privacy class action firms jockey for control of 23andMe data breach claims; Edelson calls for new approach
Data privacy class action firm Edelson P.C. is seeking to control 40 class actions, potentially worth huge money, against 23andMe for allegedly allowing genetic info to be stolen in a data breach. In a new filing, Edelson is asking courts to reconsider how they decide which lawyers should lead
Judge: Nestle can't melt class action over white chocolate content in TollHouse white baking chips
A San Jose federal judge said a recent decision from a California state appeals court in a virtually identical case against Walmart will require Nestle to work harder to beat the class action accusing the company of misleading consumers
SCOTUS: CA appeal court wrong to block man from suing El Dorado County over $23K 'traffic fees' for one house
The U.S. Supreme Court took to task the California Third District Court of Appeals for ruling that the Fifth Amendment's prohibition on property takings doesn't apply to permit fee schemes enacted by legislatures, like the El Dorado County Board.
California election authorities can't bump Fong from race to replace McCarthy in Congress, appeals panel says
A California state appeals court has ruled California Secretary of State Shirley Weber misinterpreted the state's election laws in attempting to block Republican State Assemblyman Vince Fong from the ballot in the contest to replace former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
Appeals panel: Investors can go after Genius Brands for over-boosting 'Rainbow Rangers'
A federal appeals panel says a L.A. federal judge wrongly tossed a lawsuit against kids TV producer Genius Brands for misleading investors about the prospects for its show "Rainbow Rangers" and for boosting a report that they could be bought by Disney or Netflix
Appeals panel: Local density caps OK'd by voters don't defeat state law allowing denser housing
California appeals judges said Senate Bill 10, which allows cities and counties to approve certain higher-density housing developments, don't violate the state constitution by overriding local voter initiatives setting housing density caps.
'De facto invisible': High costs, state rules, lack of online access can block public from monitoring 'public' court proceedings
A settlement has resolved a class action vs federal courts over fees charged to access online court documents. But high costs for certain records and varying court rules about public access to court records in Illinois and elsewhere create a legal patchwork that mostly limits public view into the courts
Meta can't escape class action claiming Facebook 'Potential Reach' for ads misled advertisers
A majority on a split panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said it should only matter that Facebook allegedly inflated the "Potential Reach" of "boosted" ads, not by how much individual advertisers may have been misled, if at all
Lawsuit accuses San Diego of operating discriminatory anti-white homebuyer assistance program
The lawsuit seeks a court order blocking the city of San Diego from administering its first-time homebuyer assistance program which the lawsuit said intentionally excludes white applicants.
Realtors to pay $418M to end home seller commission class action; Big changes coming to home sale process
Lawyers who brought the lawsuits could be in for a big payday, as well, potentially claiming $140 million from the deal, plus $69 million from earlier settlements with large real estate brokerages facing similar claims of alleged collusion to boost real estate agent commissions
Disability rights advocates say California must allow voters with 'print disabilities' to vote electronically from home
A group of California voters who are blind or otherwise have "print disabilities" have joined with disability rights advocate organizations to sue the state of California, claiming California's vote-by-mail program discriminates against them because they must print and mail their completed ballots
Objectors to Sacramento marijuana shop owner residency rule win chance to press constitutional claims
A federal appeals panel ruled that a federal district judge had wrongly attempted to duck the thorny constitutional questions by citing the deep conflict between federal and California state marijuana laws