California Case Summaries

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Div. of Occupational Safety & Health v. Uber Technologies, Inc. — Court of Appeal Upholds Cal/OSHA’s Power to Subpoena Uber Over Gig Worker’s On-the-Job Death

automatic / June 18, 2026

California's Second Appellate District held that Cal/OSHA can compel Uber to produce records about a deceased Uber Eats driver's employment status even without first proving the driver was an employee, but remanded for narrowing of overbroad document requests.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

Union Gospel Mission of Yakima Washington v. Brown — Ninth Circuit to Reconsider En Banc Whether Religious Employers Can Require Staff to Share Their Faith

automatic / June 18, 2026

The full Ninth Circuit has agreed to rehear en banc a case about whether states can force religious nonprofits to hire employees who don't share their faith, vacating a panel opinion that had protected a Christian shelter's faith-based hiring practices.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Sable Offshore Corp. v. California Coastal Commission — Coastal Commission May Issue Cease-and-Desist Order When County Declines Enforcement

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Second District affirmed a preliminary injunction upholding the Coastal Commission's cease-and-desist order against Sable Offshore's Las Flores Pipeline repairs, holding that a county's decision not to require permits qualifies as 'declining to act' under the Coastal Act — triggering the Commission's independent enforcement authority.

4th District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Taduran v. Glidewell Dental — Court Affirms Per-Employee Reduction Method for PAGA Penalties and Negative Lodestar Multiplier on Attorney Fees

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Fourth District affirmed a PAGA judgment in which the trial court reduced penalties on a per-employee (not per-pay-period) basis and applied a 0.70 downward multiplier to the attorney fee lodestar, holding that neither the PAGA statute nor applicable precedent limits the court's discretion on either point.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Yurok Tribe v. Klamath Water Users Association — Ninth Circuit Holds Endangered Species Act Applies to Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project Operations

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the Endangered Species Act's mandatory consultation requirements apply to the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of the Klamath Project, a major federal water management initiative in Northern California and Southern Oregon, rejecting the Klamath irrigation districts' argument that the ESA cannot limit water releases already required by contract.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law

American Federation of Government Employees v. Trump — Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction Against Executive Order Stripping Federal Agency Unions of Collective Bargaining Rights

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Ninth Circuit vacated a district court injunction that had blocked President Trump's Executive Order 14,251 — which stripped roughly 800,000 federal employees across multiple agencies of collective bargaining rights on national security grounds — holding that the unions failed to show a likelihood of success on their First Amendment retaliation claim.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law, Litigation

Detrich v. Thornell — Ninth Circuit En Banc Tightens Standard for Excusing Procedural Default in Federal Habeas Cases Under Martinez v. Ryan

automatic / June 17, 2026

In an en banc opinion, the Ninth Circuit affirmed denial of habeas relief to an Arizona death-row prisoner, clarifying that merely including an underlying petition as an exhibit does not 'fairly present' a claim to a state supreme court, and that Martinez v. Ryan requires a showing of reasonable probability of a different outcome in state postconviction proceedings — not just the potential merit of the underlying IAC claim.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Hayes — SWAT Coercion to Exit Home Is an In-Home Arrest, but a Valid Warrant Saves the Search

automatic / June 12, 2026

When a SWAT team uses gas, drones, and robots to flush a suspect from his apartment, the resulting arrest is treated as an in-home arrest — but California's First District upheld the conviction anyway because the underlying warrant affidavit, even with false statements excised, still established probable cause.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Healthcare Law

People v. Russo — Prior Failure in the Same Treatment Program Justifies Denying Mental Health Diversion

automatic / June 12, 2026

A trial court may deny mental health diversion under Penal Code section 1001.36 when a defendant proposes returning to the same treatment program that previously failed to address his needs — even if the court frames its analysis in terms of treatment adequacy rather than the statutory suitability factors.

4th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Konther — DNA Abandoned at a Crime Scene Carries No Fourth Amendment Privacy Protection, Even for Genetic Genealogy Analysis

automatic / June 12, 2026

In the first California published decision on investigative genetic genealogy, the Fourth District held that a rapist has no reasonable expectation of privacy in semen left at a crime scene — and that law enforcement's use of that DNA for genealogical database searches to identify him did not constitute a Fourth Amendment search.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Real Estate Law

County of Del Norte v. Britt — Homeowners Wrongly Named in Housing Receivership Can Recover Attorney Fees from the County

automatic / June 11, 2026

When a county names the relatives of a deceased property owner in a housing receivership proceeding and then fails to establish their liability, those relatives are entitled to recover attorney fees from the county under Health and Safety Code section 17980.7(c)(11), which overrides the older, more general bar on cost awards against municipalities.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Bustillos — Defendant Who Fled Justice Still Gets SB 567’s Upper-Term Sentencing Protections

automatic / June 11, 2026

Applying the California Supreme Court's recent People v. Mitchell decision, the Second District held that Senate Bill 567's restrictions on imposing upper-term sentences apply retroactively to defendants resentenced after probation revocation — even defendants who absconded for years and whose cases remained non-final only because of their own misconduct.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Quinteros v. Harbor Distributing — Court Upholds $6,000 Sanctions for AI-Generated Brief With Eight Fabricated Case Quotations

automatic / June 11, 2026

A California appeals court upheld $6,000 in sanctions against a law firm whose outsourced contract attorney filed a brief containing two nonexistent case citations and eight fabricated quotations — likely generated by AI — confirming that attorneys of record bear ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of every filing regardless of who drafted it.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Doss v. Tesla — Factory Yard Hostlers Who Move Interstate Trailers Are Exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act

automatic / June 11, 2026

Tesla's yard hostlers — who move 53-foot interstate trailers within factory grounds to facilitate unloading — are 'transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce' exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, the First District held, because their work is a necessary step in completing an interstate delivery.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Scott — Three Strikes Prisoner Gets Full Resentencing After Prop 47 Win, But Must Still Clear Prop 36’s Public Safety Bar

automatic / June 11, 2026

A Three Strikes prisoner who successfully petitioned under Proposition 47 to redesignate a grand theft conviction as a misdemeanor is entitled to a full resentencing on all counts — but must still satisfy Proposition 36's public safety standard before the court can reduce his indeterminate Three Strikes sentence.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Citizens of Humanity v. Donboli — Family Tie to Class Counsel Does Not Defeat Probable Cause in Malicious Prosecution Action

automatic / June 10, 2026

California's Fourth District Court of Appeal holds that a class representative's family tie to class counsel does not automatically defeat probable cause in a subsequent malicious prosecution action — the key question is whether the underlying claims had legal merit, not whether any particular plaintiff was the right vehicle for them.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Healthcare Law, Personal Injury & Tort

Sgaraglino v. County of Ventura — LPS Act Immunizes Hospital From Wrongful Death Suit After Psychiatric Patient’s Post-Discharge Suicide

automatic / June 9, 2026

California's Second District confirms that Welfare and Institutions Code section 5113 grants absolute immunity to psychiatric hospitals for any action taken by a patient after a 5150 hold is released — including the patient's own suicide — with no exception for gross negligence.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Orr v. United States District Court (C.D. Cal.) — Ninth Circuit Holds Courts Must Decide FAA vs. State Law Before Compelling Arbitration

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit grants a UPS delivery driver a writ of mandamus requiring the district court to first determine whether the FAA or California Arbitration Act governs her employment agreement before compelling arbitration — a threshold question courts cannot punt to arbitrators.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental Law, Litigation

Forward, Inc. v. MacOmber — General Supervisory Authority Over State Agencies Is Not Enough to Sue State Officials Under Federal Environmental Law

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that a landfill owner suing California's CDCR Secretary and DGS Director for RCRA hazardous waste violations ran into Eleventh Amendment immunity because general supervisory authority over agencies is not a "fairly direct" connection to the specific violations required to sustain a citizen suit against state officials.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration, Litigation

Rojas-Espinoza v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit En Banc Reverses Course, Grants Stay of Removal and Will Reconsider Asylum Nexus Standard

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit's en banc court vacates its own earlier denial of a stay of removal and re-grants the stay in an immigration case, while soliciting briefing on whether to overrule its 2023 precedent on the nexus element for asylum — drawing sharp dissents about the court's inconsistency.

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