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, …
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, …
In the 2020 election, California Proposition 22, the App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative, went to voters and passed with just over 56% of the vote. This voter Initiative provided app-based gig companies a reprieve from Assembly Bill 5, permitting companies to continue classifying their workers as independent contractors. On August 20, 2021, …
Stone | Dean Partner, Gregg S. Garfinkel, recently presented a two hour seminar to the California Moving & Storage Association on the enforcement of warehouseman’s liens under California Commercial Code Section 7210. The program, which was attended by 65 of California’s finest movers and warehousemen, focused on the proper use, and potential pitfalls, of California’s …
With viral videos appearing on TikTok of store shelves that are picked clean and bare, truckers lined up at the Port of Long Beach waiting for loads, and ships anchored off the coast of California lined up waiting to be off loaded, something needed to change. Earlier this morning, President Biden tweeted this morning that …
Natural disasters have been shaping California homeowner’s insurance for decades. After the 1906 quake in San Francisco the city installed a gravity fed city wide fire suppression system as a way to coax carriers back into the city after a majority of the city had burned to the ground and firefighters stood helpless as the …
The Aliso Canyon blowout, which was allegedly discovered in October 2015, led to the largest-known release of methane in U.S. history and was blamed for sickening thousands of residents who were forced to move out of their San Fernando Valley homes to escape the smell and harmful effects caused by the blowout – which took …