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 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
Judge Stephen V. Wilson remanded a Ford lemon-law case back to state court, joining the consensus of California district courts that the economic loss rule and the California Supreme Court’s Rattagan v. Uber decision do not categorically bar negligent-repair claims against dealerships.
Judge Michelle Williams Court denied remand of a personal-injury case against Costco that was removed more than one year after filing, finding plaintiff’s eight-month service delay and five-month discovery delay constituted bad faith under 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c)(1).
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett accepted a magistrate’s recommendation denying a § 2254 habeas petition, denying additional discovery under Bracy v. Gramley because the petitioner already possessed the only evidence he sought, and denying an evidentiary hearing because the alleged facts would not
Magistrate Judge Daniel S. Roberts ordered a pro se prisoner plaintiff to show cause why his § 1983 suit over a Kern Valley State Prison incident should not be transferred to the Eastern District of California, where the prison and all defendants are located.
Judge Sunshine Sykes remanded a FedEx age- and disability-discrimination suit, holding the in-state supervisor was not fraudulently joined: California law excepts discrimination and retaliation from Workers’ Comp Act preemption, and the supervisor’s alleged conduct could plausibly suppor
Magistrate Judge Autumn Spaeth reversed a Social Security disability denial because the ALJ summarized medical evidence without identifying which testimony she found not credible or explaining what evidence contradicted that testimony, failing the clear-and-convincing standard required by Brown-Hunt
Judge Stephen V. Wilson remanded a Chevrolet Colorado lemon-law case, holding GM could not show even the $50,000 Magnuson-Moss amount-in-controversy threshold because actual damages were measured by payments actually made ($37,410.95), the conclusory willfulness allegation did not support adding civ
Judge Stephen V. Wilson remanded a Chevrolet Volt lemon-law case after applying the Song-Beverly mileage offset (86,841 miles before first repair) to reduce damages from $42,682 to $11,794, leaving the case below both the $50,000 MMWA and $75,000 diversity thresholds.