California Case Summaries

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.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

Olson v. FCA US, LLC — Car Manufacturer Cannot Force Consumer to Arbitrate Using Dealership’s Arbitration Clause

automatic / May 21, 2026

Ninth Circuit holds that an automobile manufacturer that was not a party to a consumer's lease agreement with a dealership cannot enforce the lease's arbitration or delegation clause, reaffirming Kramer v. Toyota and applying the California Supreme Court's Ford Motor Warranty Cases decision.

California Supreme Court, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Mitchell — California Supreme Court Holds Defendants Who Agreed to Upper Term Sentences via Plea Bargain May Seek Retroactive Benefit of SB 567

automatic / May 18, 2026

The California Supreme Court unanimously held that defendants who accepted upper term sentences as part of a plea bargain may seek retroactive benefit of SB 567’s amendments to Penal Code section 1170(b), but the remedy is a remand for the defendant to waive, renegotiate, or withdraw the plea—not an automatic sentence reduction.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Litigation

Nuanmanee v. Superior Court — Court of Appeal Holds Defendant Was Not ‘Brought to Trial’ When Court Policy Prevented Jury Empanelment on Last Statutory Day

automatic / May 18, 2026

The Third District Court of Appeal granted a writ of mandate ordering dismissal of a misdemeanor DUI case after the trial court’s policy of not empaneling juries on Mondays prevented the defendant from being brought to trial on the last statutory day under Penal Code section 1382.

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