People on trial for civil wrongs like negligence are entitled to present a vigorous defense. This often includes attempting to shift some or all of the blame for to the injured person. However, the law, while allowing the accused to present a defense, prohibits using evidence that is more likely to…
In a ruling that appears to represent a setback for workers, the California Supreme Court recently decided that the sexual harassment a restaurant server suffered on the job only allowed her to sue the franchisee that owned the location where she worked, not the restaurant chain as a whole. Since the…
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a trial court’s decision to throw out a lawsuit launched by several sheriff’s deputies in San Francisco, who claimed that a policy prohibiting male deputies from overseeing female prisoners was discriminatory and violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The appeals court…
A trucker and his passenger received good news and bad news from their appeal of a trial court ruling in their personal injury lawsuit. According to the California Court of Appeal, the pair, who were injured when rear-ended by another trucker, could use the testimony of their doctors to establish…
The California Supreme Court issued a recent ruling that brightens the spotlight on the rights of undocumented workers to seek recovery for their employers’ violations of the state’s employment laws, including the Fair Employment and Housing Act. The court’s decision stated that federal immigration law did not prevent the enforcement…
A shopper’s sudden death from cardiac arrest inside a ‘big box” store in southern California triggered an important lawsuit analyzing the extent of businesses’ obligations to take precautionary steps to ensure the safety of their customers. Even though paramedics might require extra time to reach a shopper suffering a cardiac…
A university affirmative action director’s discrimination and retaliation lawsuit failed and, recently, so did her appeal due to her own written and oral statements. The California Court of Appeal ruled that the university’s stated reason for termination was a legitimate one and not just a pretext for discrimination. The employee’s…
Two teens injured in a vehicle accident with a truck along a southern California highway received a renewed opportunity to recover for the injuries they suffered when the California Court of Appeal decided that the trial court wrongfully placed the fault for the accident on the teen driver’s inattentiveness. The…
A retail store employee has the mixed blessing and curse of excitedly anticipating the birth of her second child, while simultaneously fearing the loss of her job due her employer’s policies. Rather than allow the employee to continue working with a “light duty” restriction, the employer forced her onto maternity…
A driver found liable to the tune of $366,000 managed to escape the bulk of that financial hit thanks to an arbitration agreement that both drivers approved prior to beginning binding arbitration. Both drivers had agreed, in the event of an arbitration award exceeding $100,000, that the injured driver would…