Mary Ann Magnell News
California court: Plaintiffs' arguments lack merit in wage dispute suit against Certified Tire and Service
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – The California 4th Appellate District Court of Appeal, Division One affirmed a trial court’s judgment in a certified wage and hour class action suit, concluding that the plaintiffs’ arguments lack merit.
Law firm to get bigger slice of $18M wrongful death settlement, thanks to Calif. ruling
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court agreed that a trial court abused its discretion when it awarded defendants and appellants Herzog, Yuhas, Erlich & Ardell, APC 10 percent of a more than $18 million wrongful death settlement instead of the 40 percent called for in a contingency fee agreement, or the 31 percent requested by the firm itself.
National Lawyers Guild will have to pay $3K for edited body cam footage from Calif. protest
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A California appellate court reversed a trial court’s interpretation of the California Public Records Act (CPRA) and found that the language of the statute included defendant and appellant city of Hayward, et al.’s “actual expenditures to produce a copy of the body camera video recordings, including the cost of extracting exempt material from these video recordings with the aid of special computer programming.”
California court upholds judgment in wrongful death suit against YMCA over AED usage
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court affirmed that a superior court’s judgment “correctly declined to impose an additional common law duty of care,” which would require the defendant and the respondent YMCA of San Diego County to provide hands-on usage instruction of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) to its employees.
Uber ordered to release due diligence materials in Google's case against former employees who started self-driving car business
SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – A California appeals court reversed a superior court’s decision that granted plaintiff and respondent Uber Technologies Inc.’s petition to vacate the arbitration panel’s discovery in its discovery order.
Back to state court goes Tennessee's Gallatin Plant lawsuit against TVA, despite emergency motion
An “emergency motion” filed by defendant Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with a federal court in the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division that requested to stay execution of a remand order was denied on June 22.
It's possible that 'professional plaintiff' suing over sugar in ONE protein bars never actually ate one
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – ONE Brands, sued over the amount of sugar in its line of nutrition bars, says it has been targeted by a professional plaintiff who has never actually eaten one of its products and a law firm that failed in its first try to pursue these allegations.
Nestle: Class action against Poland Spring would 'endanger' bottled water regulatory process
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (Legal Newsline) – Defendant Nestle Waters North America Inc. filed a motion to dismiss an amended complaint on July 30 regarding a lawsuit over its Poland Springs brand of spring water over allegations the water does not meet the “spring water” determinations as defined by the Federal Drug Administration.
Lamps Plus settlement: Vouchers for class, $750K for lawyers
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – A motion was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on Aug. 24 by plaintiff Harley Seegert requesting that the court grant the instant unopposed motion for preliminary approval of a class action settlement against Lamps Plus Inc.
Johnson & Johnson seeks dismissal of class action over 'hypoallergenic' baby wash
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) – The plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over the use of the word "hypoallergenic" on baby wash are asking a federal court to deny the company's motion to dismiss their complaint.
Motion filed to certify class action against Nordstrom, HauteLook over alleged misrepresentation of Rolex watches
LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A motion to certify a case as a class action suit was filed in a federal court on Aug. 31 against Nordstrom Inc. and HauteLook Inc. for allegedly misrepresenting the condition and the worth of vintage Rolex watches they sold between 2013 and 2017.
Georgia Supreme Court rules in favor of newlyweds who alleged rehearsal dinner food caused illness
ATLANTA (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed “sharply divided” trial and appeals courts’ orders on Aug. 20 regarding summary judgment arguments made by the defendant caterer in a food poisoning case.
Delaware SC allows med-mal plaintiff's expert to testify, overturning trial court decision
WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of Delaware reversed and remanded a decision from the Superior Court on Aug. 21 in a medical negligence case in which a patient’s bladder was ruptured during a 2013 diagnostic laparoscopy procedure.
In Washington, armored car employees earn double damages for having to remain vigilant on breaks
OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) – The Supreme Court of the state of Washington found on Aug. 23 that a defendant armored car company is liable to its former employees for double exemplary damages plus pre-judgment interest for allegedly depriving their employees a meaningful meal period and for violating the Washington Minimum Wage Act (MWA).
Calif. court denies GameStop's motion to change venue in district attorneys' Secondhand Dealers Law case
SAN DIEGO (Legal Newsline) – A California court denied defendant GameStop Inc.’s petition for a change of trial venue on Aug. 22 in a case brought against it by two California district attorneys over allegations that the video game store violated the Secondhand Dealers Law (SDL).
Pa. court determines trial court erred in allowing a witness' testimony, but error was 'harmless'
HARRISBURG, Pa. (Legal Newsline) – On Aug. 13, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania decided that although a trial court erred in permitting a testimony, the error was “harmless” because the testimony did not prejudice the appellant.
Attorney: U-Haul 'knowingly put profits ahead of safety' by removing brakes from tow dolly fleet
PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) – A lawsuit that states U-Haul put profits before its customers’ well-being went to trial in an Arizona courtroom last week.
AbbVie files appeal contesting landmark $448 million antitrust win for Federal Trade Commission
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) — Defendants AbbVie Inc., Abbott Laboratories and Unimed Pharmaceuticals LLC filed an appeal on Aug. 6 in a U.S. District Court in response to the final judgment in an antitrust case that found in favor of the Federal Trade Commission.
Minn. court prevents student newspaper from access to video said to be of student pulling hijab off another's head
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Legal Newsline) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals found that a district court “did not err” in its conclusion that a video captured of a November 2016 high school altercation was inaccessible to its student newspaper.
Woman fell down steps holding a plant, unable to grab handrail; Minn. SC allows Workers' Comp claim anyway
MINNEAPOLIS (Legal Newsline) – A Minnesota Supreme Court majority ruled Aug. 8 that a woman’s workplace injury satisfied the “requisite causal connection between the workplace and her injury.”