California Case Summaries

4th District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment Law

Guild Mortgage v. CrossCountry Mortgage — Court Revives Claims Against Rival That Orchestrated Branch Defection, Rejects CUTSA Displacement

automatic / May 27, 2026

The Fourth District revives claims against a rival mortgage company that allegedly orchestrated a branch defection scheme, holding that all employees owe a duty of loyalty and that CUTSA does not displace interference or computer fraud claims.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Thakur v. Trump — Ninth Circuit Rules Terminating Research Grants Over DEI Viewpoints Likely Violates the First Amendment

automatic / May 26, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that federal agencies likely violated the First Amendment by terminating University of California research grants based on recipients' perceived viewpoints on DEI and environmental justice, while ruling that a separate class of grant termination challenges falls outside district court jurisdiction under the Tucker Act.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Chemical Toxin Working Group v. Best Naturals — Court of Appeal Rules Substantial Compliance Applies to Proposition 65 Pre-Suit Notices

automatic / May 22, 2026

California's First District Court of Appeal holds that the doctrine of substantial compliance applies to Proposition 65 pre-suit notice requirements, reversing a trial court that dismissed a toxic-substances lawsuit for failing to identify a responsible individual by name in the notice.

Civil Procedure, Personal Injury & Tort

McGarry v. Uber Technologies — Fourth District Affirms Summary Judgment for Rideshare in Intoxicated Passenger’s Off-Route Freeway Death

automatic / May 21, 2026

The Fourth Appellate District (Division One) affirmed summary judgment for Uber in a wrongful-death suit, holding that an intoxicated college passenger’s death after she was struck on a freeway interchange roughly four miles from where two Uber drivers had left her was not within the scope of risk created by the drivers’ conduct.

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

Husband v. Target Corporation — Employer Not Charged with Knowledge of Undisclosed Bipolar Disorder Based on Erratic Behavior Alone

automatic / May 21, 2026

Second District holds that an employee's erratic and irrational behavior at work — including statements about killing his stepmother and inanimate objects laughing at him — did not charge employer with knowledge of a mental disability under FEHA, because disability was not the 'only reasonable interpretation' of the behavior.

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