California Case Summaries

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

United States v. Bolandian — Ninth Circuit vacates insider-trading conviction, holding the trial court abdicated its duty to investigate a juror who said he might not be impartial

The Ninth Circuit vacates an insider-trading conviction because the trial court failed to investigate a juror who said he was unsure of being impartial, instead asking the juror to monitor his own bias, in violation of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Environmental Law

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. U.S. Department of the Interior — Ninth Circuit denies en banc rehearing in dispute over BLM land exchange involving 1900 ceded reservation lands, leaving panel ruling for the tribes intact

The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes' challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel's ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

Panelli v. Target Corporation — Ninth Circuit revives California consumer class action over allegedly impossible 800-thread-count cotton sheets, holding a literally false claim can deceive even when its falsity is verifiable

The Ninth Circuit reverses dismissal of a California consumer class action against Target over allegedly impossible 800-thread-count cotton sheets, holding that the literally false advertising framework applies when a label is unambiguous and that a physically impossible claim can still deceive a reasonable consumer.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

Brown v. The Brita Products Company — Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of California consumer suit, holding no reasonable consumer expects a $15 water filter to remove every contaminant

The Ninth Circuit affirms dismissal of a California consumer class action against Brita, holding that no reasonable consumer would expect a low-cost water filter to remove every common contaminant when the packaging only claims to 'reduce' specific listed contaminants and directs buyers to a Performance Data Sheet.

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

Gonzales v. Battelle Energy Alliance — Ninth Circuit holds that revoking a Security Police Officer’s fitness-for-duty certification is reviewable under the ADA, distinguishing it from a national-security clearance

The Ninth Circuit holds that a federal contractor's revocation of a Security Police Officer's Part 1046 fitness-for-duty certification is reviewable under the ADA and is not the kind of national-security clearance decision insulated from review under Department of Navy v. Egan.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

United States v. Gonzalez-Reyes — Ninth Circuit holds California rape conviction is a categorical match for federal aggravated felony, blocking collateral attack on illegal-reentry charge

The Ninth Circuit holds that a California rape conviction under Penal Code section 261(a)(2) is a categorical match for the federal generic definition of rape, qualifying as an aggravated felony and defeating an illegal-reentry defendant's collateral attack on his prior removal order.

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