Judge David O. Carter sua sponte remanded a Walgreens wrongful-termination case after refusing to credit speculative emotional-distress, punitive, and attorneys’ fees damages — leaving only $24,327 in past lost wages, well below the $75,000 threshold. He used the opinion to call on Congress to
Judge Christina Snyder allowed negligence and unjust enrichment claims to proceed in a $75,000 stolen-bicycle case against Kitzuma and BikeExchange, holding that Carmack Amendment preemption could not be resolved at the motion-to-dismiss stage because the operative pleading did not clearly character
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.