1st District Court of Appeal

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

Sorokunov v. NetApp, Inc. — Arbitrator’s findings on individual wage claims preclude PAGA standing in court

automatic / March 3, 2026

First District holds that an arbitrator's merits-based finding that an employee did not suffer Labor Code violations preclusively destroys the same employee's PAGA standing in the companion court action.

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

Ehrenkranz v. San Francisco Zen Center — Ministerial exception requires actual ecclesiastical concern; Labor Code bond requirement applies only to employer entities

automatic / March 2, 2026

First District holds the First Amendment ministerial exception does not categorically bar a Zen Center worker's wage-and-hour claims, but Labor Code section 98.2's appeal bond is required only of the employing entity, not individuals also liable under section 558.1.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Alston — Conviction Reversed Where Trial Court Failed to Explain Reasons for Overruling Section 231.7 Objection to Peremptory Strike

automatic / February 13, 2026

First District reverses an attempted-lewd-act conviction, holding the trial court violated Code of Civil Procedure section 231.7(d)(1) by failing to explain its reasons for overruling defense counsel's objection to the prosecutor's peremptory strike of a prospective juror.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Flores — Electronics-Search Probation Condition Upheld for Defendant Who Used VOIP and Text to Sell Fentanyl Pills

automatic / February 11, 2026

First District affirms a probation condition allowing warrantless electronics searches as imposed on a defendant who used VOIP and text-message accounts to coordinate the sale of 1,000 fentanyl pills.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

In re J.C. — Brandishing an Imitation Firearm Does Not Trigger Penal Code’s Firearm Prohibition for Juvenile Offenders

automatic / February 9, 2026

First District holds that brandishing an imitation firearm under Penal Code section 417.4 is not among the offenses that trigger the juvenile-firearm ban under Penal Code section 29820, and vacates that probation condition.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Bartholomew v. Parking Concepts, Inc. — Collecting License Plate Data Without Required ALPR Policy Is Itself a Cognizable Harm

automatic / February 5, 2026

First District holds a parking-garage operator's collection of customers' license-plate information without the publicly available ALPR policy California law requires is itself the kind of harm that supports a private suit under the ALPR Law.

1st District Court of Appeal, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Litigation, Probate

Conservatorship of A.B. — Substantial Evidence Supported Renewal of LPS Conservatorship and Involuntary Medication Order for Person With Schizophrenia

automatic / February 4, 2026

First District affirms LPS conservatorship renewal and involuntary medication order for a 42-year-old man with undifferentiated schizophrenia, finding substantial evidence supports continued grave disability and incompetence to refuse antipsychotic medication.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation, Real Estate Law

The Committee for Tiburon LLC v. Town of Tiburon — Program-Level CEQA EIR for General Plan Need Not Analyze Site-Specific Impacts of Listed Housing Sites

automatic / February 2, 2026

First District holds a program-level Environmental Impact Report for a local government's general plan update need not include site-specific environmental analysis of housing-element inventory sites where no actual housing project has been proposed.

1st District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation

Navellier v. Putnam — Bankruptcy Stay Did Not Block Appeal Brought by Debtor; Defendants’ Trial Verdict and Fee Award Affirmed

automatic / February 2, 2026

First District holds the automatic bankruptcy stay does not bar appellate proceedings the debtor itself brought, and affirms a defense verdict and attorney-fee award in a $1.5 million loan-related contract and fraud dispute.

1st District Court of Appeal, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Litigation, Probate

Halperin v. Halperin — Civil Tort of Intentional Interference With Expected Inheritance Unavailable Where Plaintiff Had Adequate Probate Remedy

automatic / January 29, 2026

First District affirms dismissal of an intentional-interference-with-expected-inheritance claim against the plaintiff's brothers, holding the IIEI tort is not available where the plaintiff had an adequate remedy in probate (which she had earlier voluntarily dismissed).

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Vallejo City Unified School District v. Superior Court — School District Statutorily Immune for Off-Campus Student Suicide, but Not for On-Campus Pre-Death Harm

automatic / January 27, 2026

First District grants writ relief in part, holding the school district is immune under Education Code section 44808 for the death damages tied to a student's off-campus suicide during winter break, but allowing the parents' survival claim for on-campus harm to proceed.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Family Law

Marriage of Starr — Date-of-Separation Allegation in Amended Petition Was Not a Binding Judicial Admission

automatic / January 22, 2026

First District reverses a trial-court order that bound a wife to the date of separation alleged in her amended dissolution petition, holding that allegation was not a judicial admission where the parties had treated a different date as in dispute throughout the litigation.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Litigation

Berkeley People’s Alliance v. City of Berkeley — Brown Act Violation Adequately Alleged Where Council Moved Disrupted Meetings to Smaller Room Instead of Clearing the Original

automatic / January 15, 2026

First District reverses dismissal of a Brown Act suit, holding that plaintiffs adequately alleged the Berkeley City Council violated Government Code section 54957.9 by recessing disrupted meetings and reconvening them in a smaller room instead of clearing the original room and continuing in session there.

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

Carroll v. City and County of San Francisco — Disability-Pension ‘Formula 2’ Does Not Discriminate Against Late-Hire Employees Under FEHA

automatic / January 14, 2026

First District affirms judgment for the City and County of San Francisco in a FEHA age-discrimination challenge to the City's two-formula disability-retirement scheme, finding the City's pension structure did not violate FEHA.

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

People v. McCowan — Inventory Search of Towed Vehicle Upheld; Bruen Does Not Invalidate California’s Assault-Weapon and Magazine Bans

automatic / January 13, 2026

First District affirms convictions for possessing an assault weapon and a large-capacity magazine, holding the inventory search of the defendant's vehicle was lawful and that California's assault-weapon and magazine bans survive Bruen.

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

In re Thai — Indeterminate-Life Inmates Not Constitutionally Entitled to Same Conduct Credits Toward Youth-Parole Eligibility as Toward Standard Parole

automatic / January 13, 2026

First District denies habeas relief, holding that CDCR may constitutionally permit only educational merit credits — and not other prison conduct credits — to advance an inmate's youth-parole eligibility date under Penal Code section 3051.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Cagle — Court Affirms Mentally Disordered Offender Recommitment Despite No Actuarial Risk Tool

automatic / January 8, 2026

First District affirms a one-year extension of a mentally disordered offender's commitment at Coalinga State Hospital, holding the patient forfeited his due-process and equal-protection challenges to the lack of an actuarial risk-assessment tool, and that any instructional error was harmless.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Real Estate Law

Mendocino Railway v. Meyer — Skunk Train Operator Qualifies as a Public Utility With Eminent-Domain Authority

automatic / January 7, 2026

First District reverses a trial-court ruling that the Mendocino Railway (operator of the Skunk Train) was not a public utility, holding that the railroad's federal common-carrier status and demonstrated freight and passenger service make it a public utility entitled to exercise eminent domain.

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

Spilman v. The Salvation Army — Trial Court Used Wrong Test to Decide Whether Rehab Program Participants Were Volunteers or Employees

automatic / January 6, 2026

First District reverses summary judgment for the Salvation Army in a wage suit by adult-rehabilitation 'work therapy' participants, holding that the trial court applied the wrong legal standard for distinguishing a volunteer from an employee under California wage law.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

In re Fuel Industry Climate Cases — California Has Specific Personal Jurisdiction Over Out-of-State Oil Company in Climate-Damages Suit

automatic / January 5, 2026

First District holds California courts may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum in coordinated climate-damages litigation brought by California cities and counties, based on Citgo's longstanding gasoline supply contracts with California retailers.