California Case Summaries ADR™ provides summaries of new arbitration, mediation, ADR, and select civil cases.
NOTE: The current issue of California Case Summaries Civil™, which provides summaries of all of the new California civil cases, has numerous additional case summaries from the California Supreme Court and/or the California Courts of Appeal. To SUBSCRIBE to California Case Summaries Civil CLICK HERE
By Monty A. McIntyre, Esq.
Mediator, Arbitrator & Referee
For ADR Scheduling: contact Kelsey@adrservices.org
National ABOTA Board Member & Civil Trial Lawyer
California attorney since 1980
Phone: (619) 990-4312 | Email: monty@montymcintyre.com
Web: www.montymcintyre.com
CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT
Civil Procedure (Expert Witnesses)
Perry v. Bakewell Hawthorne (2017) _ Cal.5th _ , 2017 WL 712748: The California Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision affirming the trial court’s order granting summary judgment for defendant. The California Supreme Court ruled that, when a court determines an expert opinion is inadmissible because disclosure requirements were not met, the opinion must be excluded from consideration at summary judgment if an objection is raised. (February 23, 2017.)
CALIFORNIA COURTS OF APPEAL
Civil Procedure (Anti-SLAPP)
Argentieri v. Zuckerberg (2017) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2017 WL 605313: The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s order granting defendant’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike a complaint regarding an allegedly defamatory statement made by the general counsel for Facebook related to pending litigation. The sole issue on appeal was whether plaintiff had established a probability of prevailing on the claim. The Court of Appeal ruled that plaintiff had no probability of prevailing on his claim because the alleged defamatory statement was subject to the fair and true reporting privilege in Civil Code section 47(d). (C.A. 1st, February 15, 2017.)
Employment (FEHA)
Atkins v. City of Los Angeles (2017) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2017 WL 588127: The Court of Appeal affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded a judgment for plaintiffs following a jury trial in an action for damages under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) by five recruit officers of the Los Angeles Police Department who were terminated or constructively discharged from the Police Academy. Each plaintiff had suffered temporary injuries while training at the Police Academy. The Court of Appeal ruled that the plaintiffs were not “qualified individuals” under FEHA for purposes of their discrimination claim but did satisfy this requirement for their failure to accommodate claim. Requiring the City to assign temporarily injured recruit officers to light-duty administrative assignments was not unreasonable as a matter of law. Because plaintiffs had completed only hours or weeks of their Academy training, the jury’s award of future economic losses through the time of their hypothetical retirements was unreasonably speculative, and this portion of the damages award was vacated as well as the trial court’s award of attorney fees and costs. (C.A. 2nd, February 14, 2017.)
Torts
Doe v. United States Youth Soccer (2017) _ Cal.App.5th _ , 2017 WL 706179: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s order sustaining a demurrer without leave to amend in a case alleging sexual abuse of a minor by her former soccer coach. The Court of Appeal ruled that defendants had a duty to conduct criminal background checks of all adults who would have contact with children involved in their programs. As a result, the fourth amended complaint adequately alleged a cause of action for negligence. (C.A. 6th, February 22, 2017.)
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