In Koussaya v. City of Stockton, published September 21, 2020, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant city and defendant police officers. The plaintiff was a teller in a bank robbed at gunpoint. Police officers confronted the robbers at the bank. The robbers took the plaintiff and two others…
In Granny Purps, Inc. v. County of Santa Cruz, published August 5, 2020, the Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed in part and reversed in part a trial court's dismissal of a lawsuit after an order sustaining a demurrer. The county's ordinance limited cultivation of medical marijuana to 99 plants. The plaintiff corporation's marijuana dispensary was…
In Willis v. City of Carlsbad, published May 12, 2020, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1 affirmed a judgment after jury trial in favor of the defendant city. The plaintiff, a city police officer, reported perceived misconduct in 2012. In 2013, after the report was revealed, he was reassigned from a crimes of…
In E.D. Coats v. New Haven Unified School Dist., published March 12, 2020, the First District Court of Appeal, Division 2 reversed a judgment on the pleadings against a former student plaintiff, but affirmed the judgment against her foster mother's case. From 2014-2015, when the student was 17, one of her teachers engaged in multiple acts…
In Lincoln Unified School Dist. v. Superior Court (Jones), published March 3, 2020, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a writ directing a trial court to reverse its decision granting a petition under Government Code section 946.6 for relief from claim requirements. The plaintiff's son was injured during high school football tryouts. The plaintiff presented…
In Roger v. County of Riverside, published January 22, 2020, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 2 reversed a judgment for the defendant county entered on demurrer and summary judgment. The plaintiff was a physician whom the court held in contempt when he refused to produce documents a court-appointed receiver requested to be produced in…
On October 13, 2019, the Governor signed into law AB 128, which makes significant changes in both the statute of limitations for claims for childhood sexual assault, and the status of lawsuits against public entities for childhood sexual assault that were previously barred by the Government Claims Act. The new laws go into effect January…
In Le Mere v. Los Angeles Unified School Dist., ordered published May 14, 2019, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 affirmed dismissal of an action after a demurrer was sustained without leave to amend. In a lawsuit filed in 2015, the school teacher plaintiff alleged she suffered harassment, retaliation, and discrimination from the date…
In Last Frontier Healthcare District v. Superior Court (Harper), published March 26, 2019, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a writ reversing a trial court order granting a Government Code section 946.6 petition for late claim relief. The plaintiff had surgery on February 17, 2017 at the Modoc Medical Center. She alleges the surgery was…
In Estill v. County of Shasta, published July 31, 2018, the Third District Court of Appeal reversed an order granting new trial after the trial court granted the defendant county summary judgment. The plaintiff, a jail employee, was the subject of an internal affairs investigation in 2009. In September 2009, the sheriff's office served the plaintiff…