In County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health v. Superior Court (California Restaurant Assoc.), published March 1, 2021, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 4 issued a peremptory writ of mandate directing a trial court to vacate an order. The petitioner county issued an order barring outdoor dining during a surge in the COVID-19…
In Schimd v. City and County of San Francisco, published February 1, 2021, the First District Court of Appeal, Division 4 affirmed dismissal after demurrer of a lawsuit brought by two San Francisco taxpayers challenging the administrative decision of the San Francisco Board of Appeals authorizing the removal of a bronze sculpture that was originally…
In Moser v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., published January 12, 2021, a divided panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendant department. An officer in the department was shot. The suspect was later arrested. The plaintiff, a SWAT team sniper in the department, posted a comment on…
In Boyer v. City of Simi Valley, published October 14,2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed in part and affirmed in part dismissal at the pleadings stage of a lawsuit challenging a city mobile billboard ban. The ordinance banned mobile billboards on public property. It excluded authorized emergency or construction-related vehicles. The plaintiff challenged the…
In CAPEEM V. Torlakson, published September 3, 2020, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed judgment in favor of the State Board of Education and State Department of Education against a challenge brought by parents of Hindu children in California state schools. The state defendants developed model curriculum outlines concerning the history of the world's…
In City of Los Angeles v. Herman, published August 28, 2020, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 2 affirmed a trial court order issuing a workplace violence restraining order imposed on the defendant under Code of Civil Procedure section 527.8, restraining the defendant's contact with a deputy city attorney. The defendant, who regularly attended city…
In L.F. v. Lake Washington School District, published January 17, 2020, the 9th Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendant school district in a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 lawsuit based on the plaintiff parent's First Amendment rights. The plaintiff allegedly engaged in a pattern of sending incessant e-mails to school staff accusing them of…
In Ross v. County of Riverside, ordered published June 10, 2019, the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 1 reversed summary judgment in favor of the defendant county on the plaintiff's claims for violation of Labor Code section 1102.5 and the disability discrimination provisions of FEHA. The plaintiff, a deputy district attorney, inherited a case from…
In Griesen v. Hanken, published May 31, 2019, the 9th Circuit affirmed a jury verdict and resulting judgment in favor of a former police chief and against a former city manager. When the plaintiff was the chief, he discussed with city council members and government officials who were not in the chief's chain of command his…
In Nieves v. Bartlett, published May 28, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a split opinion, reversed a 9th Circuit decision which itself reversed summary judgment for the defendant police officers. During a winter sports festival in Alaska, one of the defendant officers was speaking with festival goers when the plaintiff told the goers they should…