In Gregory v. State of Montana, published September 27, 2024, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a judgment against the defendant probation officer and state. There was an altercation between the plaintiff and the officer in the probation office parking lot that ended with the plaintiff’s arrest. The incident was captured on an…
In Pinter-Brown v. Regents of University of California, published April 23, 2020, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 8 reversed a judgment after jury verdict in favor of a professor of medicine in a FEHA action. The plaintiff alleged gender discrimination based on a series of events during her employment. In a pre-voir dire speech,…
In Nejadian v. County of Los Angeles, published October 1, 2019, the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 4, reversed a judgment after jury trial against the defendant county, and ordered judgment entered in the county's favor. The plaintiff, an Environmental Health Specialist, alleged that he was retaliated against for declining to allow home rebuilding plans…
In Guernsey v. City of Salinas, published December 17, 2018, the Sixth District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment based on jury verdict in a pedestrian v. auto case. A crosswalk on city property that runs across a driveway to a shopping center had faded, allegedly due to failure to maintain. Next to the crosswalk was…
In Hoard v. Hartman, published September 13, 2018, the 9th Circuit found a jury instruction in an inmate's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 case alleging a guard used excessive force against him to be plain error, requiring reversal and retrial even though the plaintiff's counsel failed to object to the instruction. The district court instructed the jury…