The California Supreme Court revived a racial bias lawsuit filed by Twanda Bailey, a former employee of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. The court overturned a prior decision by the California Court of Appeal, ruling that a single instance of racial harassment by a coworker, specifically the use of a racial slur (the n-word), …
The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a California event operator’s lawsuit against its insurer over COVID-19 coverage. The dismissal followed a May ruling by the California Supreme Court, which found that COVID-19 does not cause the type of property damage required for insurance coverage to be triggered. As a result, the Ninth Circuit agreed …
The California Supreme Court has made it easier for plaintiffs to seek emotional distress damages by ruling that close relatives do not need to be aware of potential negligence at the time they witness an injury-causing incident. In a unanimous decision, the court reinstated claims by Jayde Downey, who witnessed her daughter Malyah Vance’s serious …
The California Supreme Court has unanimously upheld Proposition 22, a voter-approved law that allows gig companies such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and Instacart to classify their drivers and delivery workers as independent contractors instead of employees. Passed by California voters in 2020, Proposition 22 excludes certain gig workers from full employee benefits, including workers’ compensation, …
Good news for renters and bad news for landlords in California. Assembly Bill 12 goes into law on July 1, 2024, prohibiting landlords from collecting a deposit from renters that is more than one month’s worth of rent as a security deposit. Landlords may still collect the first month’s rent, a security deposit equal to …
Stone | Dean is thrilled to announce their newest partner, Joseph Lara. Joe zealously represents clients in a wide variety of disputes. A skilled litigator, Joseph has guided myriad clients through cases in both State and Federal Courts. His practice focuses on complex litigation, including trade secrets misappropriation, trademark infringement, shareholder derivative actions, business disputes, …
McKesson Corp. recently faced a setback in its legal battle related to the opioid crisis as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a district court’s ruling that insurers AIG’s Nation Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh and Chubb’s ACE Property and Casualty Insurance Co. were not obligated to cover defense costs. …
This year, we gathered at Maggiano’s to celebrate the holiday season. Plenty of good food, laughs, and adult beverages were had, as well as some really interesting White Elephant gifts (and accompanying ukelele solos). What a great way to end another successful year at Stone|Dean!
On November 8, 2023, the state’s high court heard oral argument regarding a current split of authority regarding a trial court’s inherent power to dismiss PAGA claims that are too unwieldy to try. The spilt arises from two separate holdings in Estrada v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc. (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 685 and Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, …
Stone | Dean Partner, Gregg S. Garfinkel, recently presented a seminar on behalf of Champion Risk & Insurance Services on the lien rights created by Uniform Commercial Code Section 7210. The program, which was attended by some of the nation’s finest moving and storage companies, focused on the rights granted and procedural requirements of the …