After two trials and a remitter, a medical malpractice case appeared to be over when judgment was entered for $1,437,276. But the parties soon became embroiled in an issue over costs. Two months after the complaint was served, plaintiff had served on defendant a document entitled “Acceptance of Plaintiffs’ Offer to Compromise Pursuant to [Section] 998 […]
“All Other Persons” In A Release Means All Other Persons.
Rodriguez was injured in a car accident and settled with the other driver, Oto, and the rental car company, Hertz, who rented a car to the other man. The release released: “Takeshi Oto and The Hertz Corporation, its employees, agents, servants, successors, heirs, executors, administrators and all other persons, firms, corporations, associations or partnerships (hereafter […]
Treble Damages And Attorney Fees Upheld Under A Penal Code Provision.
Defendant induced plaintiff to loan him $202,500 based on a false pretense. Plaintiff brought an action seeking attorney fees and treble damages. Penal Code section 496, subdivision (a), makes receiving, buying, or withholding property “that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft” an act punishable by imprisonment. Subdivision (c) reads: “Any person who has been […]
Black Letter California Law On Parol Evidence Rule Rewritten.
The parol evidence rule protects the integrity of written contracts by making their terms the exclusive evidence of the parties’ agreement, except if there is fraud. In Bank of America v. Pendergrass (1935) 4 Cal.2d 258, 263, [48 P.2d 659, 661], the California Supreme Court adopted a limitation on the fraud exception: evidence offered to prove […]
Plaintiff Can’t Sue For Being Dismissed Due To Disability Because She Was Never Dismissed.
Plaintiff, a County employee, who suffered a back injury during her employment and claimed to be disabled, brought an action against the County under Government Code sections 31725 and 31721. The last sentence of section 31725 states in part: “. . . the employer shall reinstate the member to his employment effective as of the day following […]
Insufficient Evidence To Defeat An Anti-SLAPP Motion.
Plaintiff brought an action for sexual assault against her employer and two co-employees. One of the co-employees cross-complained against plaintiff for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted plaintiffs motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute [Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16] and dismissed the cross-complaint, and the co-employee appealed. After concluding […]
Superior Court Told To Bow Out Of Retaining Jurisdiction.
The parties had a disagreement about a lease. The superior court retaining jurisdiction after trial “to make further orders, including injunctions, if necessary in the future to effectuate and or enforce the Court’s judgment.” The appellate court reversed that portion of the judgment, stating: “We are concerned with the court retaining jurisdiction for the life of […]
Plaintiff’s State Law Failure To Warn Claim About A Medical Device Is Not Preempted.
Plaintiff had a pump and catheter surgically implanted in his abdomen to deliver pain relief medication directly to his spine, and he ended up a paraplegic. The opinion states defendant’s device caused the paralysis. The district court concluded plaintiff’s action was preempted by the Medical Device Amendment [MDA] to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [FDCA] […]
No Bystander Claim For Emotional Distress When There Is No Contemporaneous Perception That Defective Product Caused Injury.
Plaintiff brought an action after she suffered emotional distress upon witnessing the death of her brother while they were scuba diving off the coast of Catalina Island. At the time of the accident, plaintiff thought her brother had a heart attack, but later learned that a plastic flow-restriction insert had become lodged in decedent’s second stage […]
Specific Statutes Take Precedence Over Older And More General Statutes.
Plaintiff filed suit for breach of contract to make a will 91 days after rejection by the estate of his claim but within a year of the decedent’s death. The administrator of the estate is the defendant, and her demurrer was sustained without leave to amend after the trial court found plaintiff’s suit was time barred. […]
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