California Supreme Court activity for the week of October 11, 2010

The California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference on October 13, 2010.  Notable results include:

• On a Petition for Review, a grant and hold was issued in Faulkinbury v. Boyd & Associates, Inc. (June 24, 2010), covered previously here.

I previously wrote that the opinion in Faulkinbury offered nothing interesting in my opinion.  The Court of Appeal simply repeated the refrain that the trial court has fairly broad discretion when ruling on a motion for class certification.  However, after Wednesday, Faulkinbury just got more interesting.  The Supreme Court issued its grant and hold pending...wait for it...the outcome in Brinker.  One might surmise that the standard applied by the trial court in Faulkinbury may be materially affected by the outcome of Brinker.  That's interesting.  It suggests that the Supreme Court is thinking about how the certification process will be impacted by its ruling in Brinker.  In fact, the Supreme Court may already have some tentative thoughts about the likelihood of that occurring.  After all, since the trial court denied certification of a meal period claim in Faulkinbury, one could suppose that the Supreme Court is leaning towards a decision in Brinker that would change that result.

Curious about Pineda v. Bank of America? See how it went for yourself.

Yesterday the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in Pineda v. Bank of America.  Here is a portion of the Court's official extended summary of the case:

Pineda filed suit against Bank of America, alleging a violation of Labor Code section 203, on October 22, 2007 — more than a year after his injury. The Supreme Court is asked to decide whether his suit was timely filed. Pineda argues that a three-year statute of limitations applies to actions under section 203, relying on the following language: “Suit may be filed for these penalties at any time before the expiration of the statute of limitations on an action for the wages from which the penalties arise.” Defendant Bank of America disagrees, interpreting the same language to apply only when a plaintiff sues for both unpaid wages and section 203 penalties. Because Bank of America paid Pineda his final wages, albeit late, and Pineda now seeks only section 203 penalties, Bank of America reasons that a one-year statute of limitations applies and Pineda’s suit is barred as untimely.

The case was argued as part of an educational outreach session.  The Court heard argument in the Court of Appeal Courthouse in Fresno. Hundreds of students from all 9 counties in the Fifth Appellate District were given the opportunity to see the Supreme Court in operation.

You can view the oral argument at The California Channel.  Jump to about the 7:30 mark in the video to find the start of the matter.

Update on 2010-10-06 20:40 by The Complex Litigator

In my haste to publish, I left out one important detail.  My colleague, Greg Karasik, argued the case for Plaintiff Pineda.

California Supreme Court activity for the week of September 1, 2010

The California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference today.  Notable results include:

• A Petition for Review was granted in Parks v. MBNA (May 12, 2010) (whether state statute establishing a disclosure requirement for preprinted checks constitutes an impairment of the power of the issuing bank sufficient to trigger preemption under the National Bank Act)
• A Request for Depublication was denied in Bomersheim v. Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian Center (May 26, 2010) (reversed denial  of class certification in a negligence class action)

Elena Kagan confirmed as newest Supreme Court Justice

By a vote of 63-37, the Senate today confirmed Elena Kagan as the newest Supreme Court Justice.  Predicting what will come of this is pointless, but several observations suggest that little will change immediately from this confirmation.  Kagan is believed to be liberal, but she replaces John Paul Stevens, the Justice viewed as the leader of the liberal segment of the Court.  Thus, she isn't likely to have an immediate impact on the idealogical balance of the Court unless she proves to be one of the occasional wildcard Supreme Court Justices that come along every so often.  In the long term, her age makes it likely that the seat will remain a liberal seat for many decades.

California Supreme Court activity for the week of June 7, 2010

After two weeks with no conferences, the California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference today.  The only marginally notable result I see is:

• A non-substantive correction to the opinion in Martinez v. Combs (June 9, 2010) (expansive definition of "employee" for certain labor code violations) was issued.  The decision was mentioned on this blog here.

Update on 2010-06-12 01:46 by The Complex Litigator

A reader alerts me to the fact that I missed one key petition grant:

• Coito v. Superior Court will be reviewed by the Supreme Court.  See post for discussion about this interesting work product decision.  At least we may finally get some guidance about the reach of Nacht & Lewis Architects, Inc. v. Superior Court, 47 Cal.App.4th 214 (1996).

Brinker Watch 2010 - Version 2

In March of this year, I observed that Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) was fully briefed back in October 2009.  At that time, I moved the over-under on an Opinion release date from August 2010 to October 2010.  I regret to inform anyone with office pools that I must now make a second, larger move of the line and set the over-under at February 2011.

The problem arises because the Supreme Court is done hearing cases for Summer 2010.  As you can see here, July and August will have no case arguments.  September is the earliest that Brinker could be placed on an oral argument calendar.  For purposes of wagering only (which I fully support but will not participate in), I'm guessing that the argument occurs in November, resulting in a February 2011 opinion release target date.

California Supreme Court activity for the week of May 10, 2010

The California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference today.  Notable results include:

• A Petition for Review and depublication was denied in Jaimez v. DAIOHS USA, Inc., et al., 181 Cal. App. 4th 1286 (February 8, 2010), (detailed analysis of certification standard as applied to various wage & hour claims) discussed on this blog here.  This opinion has already influenced trial courts considering certification motions in the wage & hour context.

I don't see anything else in this week's conference summary that would be of interest here.  If I missed anything after my very quick scan, I will update this post.

California Supreme Court activity for the week of April 26, 2010

The California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference today.  Notable results include:

• A Petition for Review was granted in Pellegrino v. Robert Half International, Inc. (February 25, 2010) (G039985), (reversed trial court order decertifying class after applying Tobacco II) - discussed on this blog here.  The matter will be HELD pending resolution of the lead case, Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual), Case No. S156555.  The issue for review is the applicability of the administrative overtime exemption to claims adjusters.  The second opinion in Pellegrino does not appear to be under review, based upon the Supreme Court docket.
• A Petition for Review and depublication was denied in Pipefitters Local No. 636 Defined Benefit Plan v. Oakley, Inc., 180 Cal. App. 4th 1542 (Jan. 13, 2010) (held: if plaintiffs claim that their lawsuit was the catalyst to action by the defendant, the pre-lawsuit notification requirement applies not only when fees are sought under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5, pursuant to Graham v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 34 Cal. 4th 553 (2004), but also to fee requests under the common-law substantial benefit doctrine).  The decision is consistent with Abouab v. City and County of San Francisco, 141 Cal. App. 4th 643 (2006).
• A Petition for Review was denied in Arce v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., 181 Cal. App. 4th 471 (January 27, 2010) (held: community of interest adequately alleged in putative class action such that defendant's demurrer should have been denied) - discussed on this blog here.

California Supreme Court activity for the week of April 12, 2010

The California Supreme Court held its (usually) weekly conference today.  Notable results include:

• A Petition for Review and Request for Depublication were both denied in Weinstat v. Dentsply International, Inc. (January 7, 2010), (reversed trial court order decertifying class after applying Tobacco II) - discussed on this blog here.  It appears from this denial that the California Supreme Court is in no rush to take up Tobacco II issues again.
• A Petition for Review was denied in Cellphone Termination Fee Cases, ___ Cal. App. 4th ___ (Dec. 31, 2009) (affirming final approval of class action settlement and attorneys' fees award)
• A Petition for Review was denied in Steroid Hormone Product Cases (January 21, 2010, as mod. Feb. 8, 2010) - discussed on this blog here and here.  This denial is more significant than the denial in Weinstat because of the very strong criticism of Cohen v. DIRECTV, Inc., 178 Cal. App. 4th 966 (2009).

Brinker Watch 2010

If you were in a coma for a while, Brinker Restaurant v. Superior Court (Hohnbaum) was fully briefed back in October 2009.  And...that's it.  Other than a striking new logo for 2010, there is no news.  I post this only because this blog receives traffic from Brinker searches on an almost daily basis.  I should have added some sort of extra bit to the logo, like "Now with EXTRA uncertainty...."  Back in September 2009 I moved my estimate for an Opinion release date out from June 2010 to August 2010.  The notice of argument would need to issue in April to make that August Opinion release date a near certainty.  Thus, I need to adjust the over-under to October 2010 to equalize the wagering.  Place your bets, folks.