OPINION CU LLAR , J. — This case implicates both the public's interest in transparency and a public agency's interest in confidential communications with its legal counsel. The specific question we must resolve is whether invoices for work on currently pending litigation sent to the County of Los Angeles by an outside law firm are within the scope of the attorney-client privilege, and therefore exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act (PRA; Gov. Code, 6250 et seq.)....
OPINION CU LLAR , J. — We granted review to address two related issues: whether employers are required to permit their employees to take off-duty rest periods under Labor Code section 226.7 and Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) wage order No. 4-2001 (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, 11040; Wage Order 4), and whether employers may require their employees to remain "on call" during rest periods. What we conclude is that state law prohibits on-duty and on-call rest periods. During required rest...
OPINION LIU , J. — In 2006, real party in interest Milan REI IV LLC (Milan) purchased over 50 acres of land (Property) in the Orange Park Acres area in the City of Orange (City). Milan envisioned a 39-unit residential development (Project or Ridgeline Project) on the Property, which was formerly the home of the Ridgeline Golf Course and Country Club. But the Project was controversial because the private development would replace public open space. Despite the controversy, the City...
OPINION WERDEGAR , J. — (1) Like many other communities in this state and elsewhere, the City of San Diego (San Diego) has adopted an ordinance imposing a tax on visitors for the privilege of occupancy in hotels located within the city. The tax, known as a transient occupancy tax, is calculated as a percentage of the "Rent charged by the Operator" of the hotel. (See San Diego Mun. Code, 35.0103.) In recent years, many visitors have booked and paid for their hotel reservations online at...
OPINION LIU , J. — These two cases ask whether employers or landowners owe a duty of care to prevent secondary exposure to asbestos. Such exposure, sometimes called domestic or take-home exposure, occurs when a worker who is directly exposed to a toxin carries it home on his or her person or clothing, and a household member is in turn exposed through physical proximity or contact with that worker or the worker's clothing. Plaintiffs in these actions for personal injury and wrongful death...
OPINION KRUGER , J. — Under California law, a real estate broker may act as a "dual agent" for both the seller and the buyer in a real property transaction, provided both parties consent to the arrangement after full disclosure. (Civ. Code, 2079.14, 2079.16.) To that end, the law requires brokers to disclose whether they are acting as dual agents and to inform the parties that a broker acting as a dual agent owes fiduciary duties to both buyer and seller. ( Id., 2079.16.) In carrying...
OPINION KRUGER , J. — To ensure that governmental agencies and the public are adequately informed about the environmental impact of public decisions, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, 21000 et seq.) requires a lead agency ( id., 21067) to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) before approving a new project that "may have a significant effect on the environment." ( id., 21151, subd. (a)). When changes are proposed to a project for which an...
OPINION CANTIL-SAKAUYE , C. J. — A jury convicted defendant Daniel Sanchez Covarrubias of the first degree murders of Ramon Morales, Martha Morales, and Fernando Martinez (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a); counts 1 through 3), 1 attempted murder of 11-month-old Alejandra Morales ( 187, 664; count 4), assault with a firearm of Alejandra Morales ( 245, subd. (a)(2); count five), three counts of robbery ( 212.5, subd. (a); counts 6 through 8), residential burglary ( 459; count 9), and...
OPINION CANTIL-SAKAUYE , C. J. — Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS), a pharmaceutical manufacturer, conducts significant business and research activities in California but is neither incorporated nor headquartered here. In March 2012, eight separate amended complaints were filed in San Francisco Superior Court by or on behalf of 678 individuals, consisting of 86 California residents and 592 nonresidents, all of whom allegedly were prescribed and ingested Plavix, a drug created and marketed...
OPINION WERDEGAR , J. — California was shaped by the search for gold. In time, the state's other natural treasures — its waters and wildlife, its forests and coast-lines — proved similar draws. We consider here a conflict arising from the competing desires to exploit and to preserve these various resources. The People assert the state may, in pursuit of protecting fish habitats and the quality of the state's waterways, temporarily ban a particular method of gold mining pending adoption of...
OPINION KRUGER , J. — Under Labor Code sections 202 and 203, an employer must make prompt payment of the final wages owed to an employee who "quits" his or her employment, or else pay statutory penalties. In this case, plaintiff Janis S. McLean, a retired deputy attorney general, filed suit against the State of California on behalf of herself and a class of former state employees who, having resigned or retired, did not receive their final wages within the time periods set out in the...
OPINION CORRIGAN , J. — California's anti-SLAPP statute provides that "[a] cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech ... shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines ... there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim." (Code Civ. Proc., 425.16, subd. (b)(1).) 1 This case raises a question that has perplexed the Courts of Appeal: How does the...
OPINION WERDEGAR , J. — Plaintiff Timothy Sandquist and the various defendants here are parties to an arbitration agreement. A salient question is whether that agreement permits or prohibits arbitration on a classwide basis. Here we must answer a question one step removed — who decides whether the agreement permits or prohibits classwide arbitration, a court or the arbitrator The question has divided the many state and federal courts to consider it. We conclude no universal rule...
OPINION CANTIL-SAKAUYE , C. J. — In an effort to improve the reliability of the water supply system in California as well as to address environmental and ecological concerns, the Department of Water Resources (hereafter, the Department) undertook to investigate the feasibility of constructing a new tunnel or canal in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a means of delivering fresh water from Northern California to Central and Southern California. As part of the preliminary steps in...
OPINION CANTIL-SAKAUYE , C. J. — In this case, a metal foundry worker who developed interstitial pulmonary fibrosis brought this action (along with his wife) against a variety of companies that supplied products for use in the foundry's manufacturing process, asserting that the suppliers' products, when used in their intended fashion, produced harmful fumes and dust that were a substantial cause of his pulmonary illness. Defendant suppliers demurred, relying upon the then-recent Court...
OPINION KRUGER , J. — The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits states from imposing "`grossly excessive'" punitive damages awards on tortfeasors. ( BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore (1996) 517 U.S. 559 , 568 [134 L.Ed.2d 809, 116 S.Ct. 1589] ( Gore ).) To determine whether a jury's award of punitive damages is grossly excessive, reviewing courts must consider, among other factors, whether the "measure of punishment is both reasonable...
OPINION CORRIGAN , J. — Here we consider the scope of Elections Code provisions enacted in 2014, which created a new process by which a proposed initiative measure is submitted for public comment. (Elec. Code, 9002.) 1 After the comment period, the Attorney General prepares an official circulating title and summary, including an estimate of the measure's fiscal impact. ( 9004.) The proponents may then solicit signatures to qualify their measure for the ballot. The Legislature...
OPINION KRUGER , J. — A police officer found a Swiss Army knife in a pocket of defendant Emmanuel Castillolopez's jacket. One of the blades was fully extended. Defendant was convicted of carrying a concealed dirk or dagger in violation of Penal Code section 21310. Penal Code section 16470 defines a "`dirk' or `dagger'" as "a knife ... that is capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon that may inflict great bodily injury or death." Under this definition, "a pocketknife is capable of ready...
OPINION CORRIGAN , J. — Plaintiff William B. Webb was injured by exposure to asbestos products and sued a raw asbestos supplier for failing to warn him about the danger. His case raises a question about the extent of a supplier's duty to warn. Specifically, when a company supplies a hazardous raw material for use in making a finished product, what is the scope of the supplier's duty to warn ultimate users of the finished product about risks related to the raw material The answer...
OPINION CU LLAR , J. — The Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (Welf. & Inst. Code, 15600 et seq.) affords certain protections to elders and dependent adults. Section 15657 of the Welfare and Institutions Code provides heightened remedies to a plaintiff who can prove "by clear and convincing evidence that a defendant is liable for physical abuse as defined in Section 15610.63, or neglect as defined in Section 15610.57," and who can demonstrate that the defendant acted...
