Jonathan Bilyk News
Judge won't let Disney run to appeals court to win OK to fire actors over political speech
A Los Angeles federal judge said Disney can't go to an appeals court to seek to overturn her refusal to dismiss a lawsuit from former "Mandalorian" actor Gina Carano, accusing the company of violating her rights by firing her from the show over her conservative political views, which Disney said was "offensive"
Meta, social media operators can't pull plug on states' suit over young people's 'addiction'
An Oakland federal judge said a bipartisan coalition of nearly three dozen state attorneys general had provided enough evidence to this point that Meta and other social media companies knew their products were addictive to young people and misled the public about the risks, leading to societal harms
SCOTUS ends Uber's challenge to the lingering effects of AB5, won't hear appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to overturn an appeals court's decision that California lawmakers didn't violate the constitutional rights of Uber, Postmates and similar companies by targeting them with AB5, a labor law that would have exposed the companies to massive liability over the employment classification of drivers
SCOTUS won't review CA court's decision, clearing path for state, city lawsuits vs Uber, Lyft
The Attorney General and city attorneys for L.A., San Diego and San Francisco have sued Uber and Lyft under the controversial AB5 labor law, seeking to extract a big payday from the companies, ostensibly on behalf of workers, over claims the companies misclassified drivers as independent contractors
Stanford, Cal Tech, USC among top U.S. universities hit with class action over financial aid practices
A new class action lawsuit says some of America's top colleges and universities have for nearly two decades violated U.S. antitrust law by collectively making it harder for students to obtain need-based financial aid by forcing them to include non-custodial parent income on applications
Polls in Bay Area, elsewhere in CA show big support for Prop 36, despite Dem leaders' opposition
Prop 36 would restore to police and prosecutors powers to address property and drug crimes that had been stripped by away 10 years ago by Prop 47, which helped to fuel California's current crime problems and was strongly supported by Kamala Harris
Appeals court: ADA doesn't nix Montana state law blocking 'vax discrimination'
The federal appeals judges said a Montana federal judge overreached in declaring that the Americans with Disabilities Act all but required health care organizations to require workers to be vaccinated against Covid and other communicable diseases to protect 'immunocompromised disabled persons'
CA lawmakers exempt Capitol Annex project from state enviro review law, can't be sued
A state appeals court said California lawmakers didn't violate the state constitution by specifically and immediately exempting the $1.2B Capitol Annex project from the state's controversial California Environmental Quality Act, in an apparent move to thwart legal challenges seeking to halt the project
California, enviro activists hit ExxonMobil with lawsuits over plastics recycling
The state's new lawsuit accuses ExxonMobil of misleading Americans into believing recycling is a "cure-all" for plastic waste. ExxonMobil says the lawsuit is just an attempt by the state to absolve itself of blame for flooding landfills and the environment with plastic
Google privacy settlement a $62M windfall for trial lawyers, left-wing groups: Court filings
Twenty GOP state attorneys general have filed a brief in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of a group of objectors, seeking to undo approval of a settlement that would steer most of $62 million from Google to trial lawyers and the ACLU and other groups to advance left-wing social and political causes
Judge: Lawsuits over supposedly toxic acne medicines blocked by federal drug safety, labeling law
A L.A. federal judge has tossed class action lawsuits against the makers of Proactiv and other acne medicines that contain benzoyl peroxide. The judge said the FDA has declared the medications safe, so plaintiffs can't cite a controversial private lab's findings that they are not
Lawsuit challenges CA laws targeting online election parody videos the state considers 'deceptive misinfo'
The lawsuit was filed by online content creator "Mr. Reagan," who famously published a video mocking Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris using AI tech to make it seem she described herself as "the ultimate diversity hire" and which drew pointed direct attacks from Gov. Newsom
23AndMe says $30M data breach settlement in jeopardy from 'mass arbitration' claims
23AndMe has agreed to pay $30 million to settle millions of claims over a 2023 data breach. Attorneys stand to make $7.5 million from the deal. However, the company said other lawyers are threatening the deal with parallel arbitration and state court claims
Judge: Parents have a right to transgender students' records, but teachers can't be forced to report student transitions
A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge delivered a partial win to both sides in the dispute between a Chino school district and California state officials over a school district policy requiring school staff to notify parents and provide student records if their children are 'social transitioning' gender
Appeals court: CA can ban guns in many 'sensitive places,' but not as many as lawmakers wanted
A federal appeals panel delivered a split decision on SB2, saying they believe Second Amendment lets California ban concealed carry in parks, restaurants, libraries, stadiums and amusement parks, but not necessarily public transit, churches or hospitals, by simply declaring public spaces 'sensitive'
Black Lives Matter can't advance class action over LAPD response to 2020 riots
A federal appeals panel said an L.A. federal judge was wrong to allow the class action to continue because such a suit on behalf of thousands of people who clashed with police or were arrested would sweep up proper police response with potential constitutional violations amid alleged excessive force
California violated 1st Amend by trying to force X to turn over info on content moderation: Appeals court
California lawmakers said AB587 only about "transparency," but also hinted the law's reporting requirements could be used to force X Corp. to comply with state desires to censor "hate speech" and other kinds of controversial posts the state may find objectionable
'Under the radar' antisemitism: Santa Ana school district sued for allegedly creating anti-Jewish curriculum in secret
Jewish organizations have filed suit against an Orange County school district, accusing the Santa Ana Unified School District of allegedly allowing pro-Hamas leftwing activists to lead a secret committee to craft antisemitic and anti-Israel ethnic studies courses in violation of state law behind closed doors
Appeals court: Christian schools don't need to violate beliefs on sex, gender under Title IX
A federal appeals panel has rejected a lawsuit brought by LGBTQ students who sought to use the First Amendment to end an exemption for religious schools under the federal Title IX sex discrimination law and force them to abide by federal edicts concerning sex and gender in order to receive federal education money
Disney wants appeals court to rule it has First Amendment right to fire actors over political beliefs
The Walt Disney Company has asked a federal judge for permission to appeal to a federal appeals court over a judge's ruling that actor Gina Carano can continue her lawsuit against Disney for firing her from "The Mandalorian" TV series over political statements Disney said didn't align with its "values"