Judge Hernán D. Vera remanded a janitor’s FEHA discrimination and wage-and-hour suit to state court, rejecting the employer’s argument that the plaintiff’s possible undocumented status and the IRCA/Hoffman back-pay defense created federal-question jurisdiction under Grable. The cou
Chief Judge Seeborg dismisses without leave to amend a former BART electrician’s common-law wrongful-termination/constructive-discharge claim, holding that under Lopez v. Southern Cal. Rapid Transit District a California public entity cannot be sued in tort without an authorizing statute.
Magistrate Judge Hixson grants in part Mixedbread AI’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, dismissing AI startup co-founder Julius Lipp’s conversion and California Penal Code § 496 claims under the economic loss rule, while leaving the breach-of-contract counts intact.
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2021 GMC Yukon lemon-law case, holding GM had no duty to investigate beyond the complaint and the documented $78,776 in actual damages plus civil penalties (twice actual damages, supported by at least five repair attempts) brought the amount in c
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2019 Chevy Silverado lemon-law case, holding documented actual damages of $54,232 plus civil penalties (twice actual damages, supported by at least ten repair attempts) brought the amount in controversy to roughly $162,698 — well over the $75,000
Judge Breyer adopts a magistrate’s report and recommendation dismissing pro se plaintiff Chikodi Chima’s second federal lawsuit against 26 defendants — lawyers, social workers, police, financial institutions, and the City and County of San Francisco — arising from a state-court child custody dispute
Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo denied remand of a 2022 Chevy Silverado lemon-law suit where actual damages were modest ($34,932) after the mileage offset, but specific willfulness allegations and six repair attempts justified including civil penalties (twice actual damages), bringing the amount
Magistrate Judge Tse declines to tax costs against Vincent Bryant — an unhoused plaintiff now in a vegetative state after being shot in the face by Berkeley police — applying all five Ninth Circuit factors that justify departing from the Rule 54(d)(1) presumption favoring the prevailing party.
Magistrate Judge Maria Audero reversed an SSI denial for a claimant with schizoaffective disorder and depression, holding the ALJ failed to provide specific, clear, and convincing reasons to discount his subjective symptom testimony — and warned that ALJs cannot rely on isolated periods of improveme
Judge Orrick grants summary judgment for Comerica Bank on its acceleration of a $5.9 million commercial real estate loan to Alexander Group, LLC, holding that the loan documents are unambiguous and that Alexander Group triggered acceleration by missing payments and failing to provide required corpor
Judge Illston transfers a Social Security ALJ’s disability-accommodation suit against the SSA Commissioner to the Central District of California, where the plaintiff’s assigned hearing office is located, applying the federal-employee venue provisions of Title VII and the Rehabilitation Act and the c
First District holds California courts may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum in coordinated climate-damages litigation brought by California cities and counties, based on Citgo’s longstanding gasoline supply contracts with California retailers.
Fourth District reverses a preliminary injunction that had blocked San Bernardino County from awarding its exclusive EMS contract to a fire-services bidder over incumbent AMR, holding the County retained discretion to weigh proposals and was not required to advance only the highest-scoring bid.
After a bench trial in a consumer class action against an online skincare seller, the magistrate judge concluded that the seller’s customer-management software vendor was not liable on aiding-and-abetting or conspiracy theories under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act because the p
Eastern District of California dismisses Sierra Railroad’s contract and declaratory relief claims against Comcast as time-barred under California’s four-year statute of limitations, holding that promises to ‘try’ to resolve a dispute and a continuing failure to pay do not tol
After holding an evidentiary hearing, the court denied a federal prisoner’s motion to vacate his sentence for ineffective assistance of counsel, ruling that even though his lawyer miscalculated the sentencing guidelines before trial, the petitioner could not show prejudice because he had alrea
Eastern District of California grants summary judgment for ConAgra in a long-running employment discrimination case, holding that a Civil Rights Department complaint with only conclusory check-box allegations does not exhaust administrative remedies under California’s Fair Employment and Housi
Magistrate Judge Beeler resolves four discovery disputes in Oracle’s trade-secret suit against Procore over construction-payment software, holding that Oracle’s 174-file disclosure is sufficiently particular, financial discovery extends beyond Procore Pay, and Procore must search text messages on em
Eastern District of California vacates a Supplemental Security Income denial and remands for further administrative proceedings, holding that the Social Security Administration’s administrative law judge failed to adequately evaluate the supportability of a treating physician’s opinions
Judge Chen awards Food & Water Watch and its co-plaintiffs $5,263,705 in attorneys’ fees and $496,745 in costs after their landmark Toxic Substances Control Act trial verdict on water-fluoridation risks against EPA, applying San Francisco complex-litigation lodestar rates and a 1.3x multiplier
Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha dismissed with prejudice a § 1983 suit against a Los Angeles court reporter who allegedly delayed producing family-law transcripts, holding that plaintiff could not show actual prejudice because his underlying state-court cases were barred by the California litigation pri