California Case Summaries

Litigation

Primary practice area

Constitutional Law, Litigation

Moving Oxnard Forward v. Lopez — Ninth Circuit en banc upholds Oxnard’s per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits against First Amendment challenge

Sitting en banc, the Ninth Circuit upholds the City of Oxnard’s voter-enacted per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits, holding the City sufficiently demonstrated an anti-corruption interest and that the limits are closely drawn to that interest under Randall v. Sorrell.

Constitutional Law, Litigation

J.R. v. Ventura Unified School District — Ninth Circuit holds IDEA’s two-year clock starts when parents reasonably suspect inadequate special education, not when a later diagnosis confirms it

The Ninth Circuit holds that the IDEA’s two-year statute of limitations starts when parents know or should know that the school district has failed to assess their child and that the child’s education is inadequate, time-barring the family’s claims for special-education services received before 2019.

Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Santana v. Studebaker Health Care Center — Multiple Arbitration Documents With Minor Ambiguities Form Enforceable Agreement

Second District reverses denial of motion to compel arbitration in nursing facility wage and hour class action, holding that three arbitration-related onboarding documents must be construed together and form an enforceable agreement despite minor ambiguities and the typical procedural unconscionability of an adhesion contract.

Criminal Law, Litigation

Bobo v. Appellate Division of Superior Court — Trial Court Cannot Deny Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter Diversion Based Solely on the Inherent Elements of the Charged Offense

Fourth District grants writ of mandate ordering reconsideration of misdemeanor diversion request in vehicular manslaughter case, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by denying diversion based solely on the inherent elements of the charged offense (negligence causing death) without individualized analysis.

Business Transactions, Litigation

McAuliffe v. Robinson Helicopter — Ninth Circuit holds GARA’s rolling 18-year repose period restarts for replacement parts even without substantive alteration, reviving Hawaiian crash family’s wrongful-death suit against Torrance manufacturer

The Ninth Circuit holds that GARA’s rolling provision restarts the 18-year statute of repose for replacement aircraft parts even when the new part is identical to the original, reviving a wrongful-death suit against Torrance-based Robinson Helicopter Company over a fatal Hawaiian sightseeing crash.

Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Gessele v. Jack in the Box — Ninth Circuit reverses key wage-and-hour rulings, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks and shoe-cost deductions under Oregon law

The Ninth Circuit reverses key rulings in a long-running Jack in the Box wage-and-hour class action, restoring class claims for shortened meal breaks under Oregon law and for non-slip shoe deductions, and ordering a trial on whether overdeductions for the Oregon Workers’ Benefit Fund were willful.

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