California Case Summaries

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.

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.

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.

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

Baker v. Bay Area Toll Authority — CEQA Challenge to Bay Bridge’s Bay Lights 360 LED Installation Is Time-Barred and Precluded

automatic / June 5, 2026

The First District affirms that a CEQA challenge to the Bay Bridge's Bay Lights 360 LED installation is time-barred, holding that a subsequent Caltrans encroachment permit does not create a new project or restart the limitations period, and issue preclusion bars relitigating questions resolved in an earlier dismissed suit.

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

Ciria v. Gerrans — Ninth Circuit Denies Qualified Immunity to SFPD Inspectors Who Allegedly Fabricated Evidence Leading to 32-Year Wrongful Imprisonment

automatic / June 5, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denies qualified immunity to two former SFPD inspectors accused of fabricating evidence that led to Joaquin Ciria's 32-year wrongful imprisonment, holding that the right not to be charged based on deliberately fabricated evidence was clearly established by 1990.

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

Askins v. CRST Expedited — California Courts Do Not Require Concrete Injury for Standing Under the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal held that California plaintiffs may pursue statutory damages under the Fair Credit Reporting Act without proving concrete injury, departing from the Fifth District's Limon decision and reversing a class decertification order.

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

People of California v. FMCSA — Ninth Circuit Upholds Federal Preemption of California Meal and Rest Break Rules for Bus Drivers

automatic / June 4, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denied California's petition for review of the FMCSA's determination that California's meal and rest break rules are preempted as applied to drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, extending the preemption previously upheld for property-carrying vehicles.

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

C.F. v. Alternative Family Services — Foster Family Agency Owes Duty to Protect Children from Abuse It Knew or Should Have Known About

automatic / June 4, 2026

The First District affirmed a $24.7 million verdict against a foster family agency, holding that FFAs have a duty to protect foster children from abuse they knew or should have known about, but rejecting both an unlimited protective duty and one requiring actual knowledge.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. $1,106,775 in U.S. Currency — Ninth Circuit En Banc Limits Government’s Power to End Civil Forfeiture Cases Through Discovery Sanctions

automatic / June 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, reverses a district court that ended a $1.1 million civil forfeiture case as a discovery sanction, holding that the claimant established standing and gave the government enough information to investigate his ownership claim.

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

Hiller v. Marin Municipal Water District — Ratepayer’s Proposition 218 Challenge Barred by Validation Statutes After Failure to Respond to District’s Validation Action

automatic / June 2, 2026

First District holds that a ratepayer’s Proposition 218 challenge to water rates is permanently barred after she failed to participate in the water district’s validation action within the 120-day window set by Government Code section 53759.

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