News

Case Summaries

Injury & Tort Law

[04/06] A. D. v. State of California Highway Patrol
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 dispute arising out of a fatal shooting following a high-speed chase, denial of qualified immunity upon a Rule 50(a) motion is reversed where court improperly conflated the general standard, purpose to harm unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement objective, with the objective standard by which the conduct of an officer is to be measured.

[04/05] Garbell v. Conejo Hardwoods
In tort action alleging negligent destruction of property belonging to plaintiff, and a subrogation action against defendant, judgment of trial court offsetting an insurance payment against jury award is reversed for modification of judgment and a reconsideration of motion for costs even though sufficient evidence supports liability and trial court correctly calculated the judgment.

[03/31] St. Louis v. Town of North Elba
In an action for damages under Labor Law section 241, denial of motion for summary judgment by defendant is affirmed where use of 12 NYCRR section 23-9.4(e) as a predicate for a section 241(6) claim by trial court was proper.

[03/30] Lefiell Manufacturing v. Superior Court (Watrous)
In a petition for a writ of mandate addressing the scope of the power press exception in Labor Code section 4558, petition is granted in part and denied in part because the statute does not permit a spouse to bring a loss of consortium cause of action and there are no exceptions expanding section 4558 to permit pleading other tort causes of action requiring a lesser standard of proof.

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Transportation

[03/15] NY Atlantic Railway v. Surface Transportation Bd.
Petition for review of the decision of the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that petitioner did not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the STB, and thus failed to qualify for federal preemption from local zoning regulations is denied because administrative decision was neither neither arbitrary nor capricious.

[03/09] OneBeacon Ins. Co. v. Haas Industries, Inc.
In a Carmack Amendment claim to recover for goods lost during shipping, 49 U.S.C. section 14706, entry of judgment by district is reversed in part and affirmed in part because plaintiff had standing to sue but defendant had limited liability.

[02/28] Cabral v. Ralphs Grocery
In a wrongful death action alleging negligence, judgment against plaintiff is vacated because defendant owes a duty to avoid a collision between a negligent driver and the company's stopped truck, where a driver, working for defendant, stopped his tractor-trailer rig alongside an interstate highway in order to have a snack and the husband of plaintiff veered suddenly off the freeway colliding with the rear of the stopped trailer and resulting in his own death.

[02/25] In re F.H.
Defendant passenger who grabs the steering wheel and thereby takes sufficient control of the vehicle to cause a crash is deemed to be driving the car within the meaning of California's Vehicle Code.

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