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
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
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 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).