The families of four Marines who were killed in a 2004 helicopter crash at Camp Pendleton sued San Diego Gas & Electric Company on negligence wrongful death theories. The helicopter struck a utility tower while flying in Talega Canyon, near San Clemente, at night. The families sued SDG&E, alleging the tower should have had lights or markers.

SDG&E denied fault.... More...   $49600000 (09-06-2008 - CA)

Frank Mills, individually and on behalf of the Estate of Dianne Smith, age 53, sued Hans Gutierrez Hermosillo and California Pizza LLC, d/b/a Pizza Hut on auto negligence, wrongful death and respondeat superior theories claiming that Hermosillo failed to exercise due care in the operation of his automobile in 2006 and, as a direct result, cause an automobile accident that killed Ms. Smith. At the ... More...   $7900000 (09-06-2008 - CA)

Sherry Knowles sued Macon County Greyhound Park d/b/a VictoryLand on fraud and breach of contract theories claiming that defendant wrongfully refused to pay off on May 2, 2006 when the bingo machine she was playing displayed a jackpot of about 41 million credits.

VictoryLand claimed the jackpot display was a malfunction and never paid Knowles for the credits. VictoryLand machines have sign... More...   $10000000 (09-06-2008 - AL)

Xnergy sued Hess Morgan on breached its duty to act in good faith and intentionally interfering with a contract relating to Xnergy agreements in 2003 and 2004 to serve as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for energy cogeneration projects at office towers in Orange County and Walnut Creek. Xnergy claimed that Hess Microgen “engaged in blatant corporate bullying and corporat... More...   $8200000 (09-06-2008 - ca)

This case requires us to determine whether an arbitration clause in an employment agreement is enforceable where one party is ignorant of the language in which the agreement is written. Juan Morales (Morales) was employed by Sun Constructors, Inc. (Sun). The employment relationship between Morales and Sun was governed by a signed employment agreement (the Agreement) that contained an arbitration c... More...   $0 (09-06-2008 - VI)

APA Transport Corporation (“APA Transport”) closed its facilities and terminated all of its employees on February 20, 2002. It had informed its employees of the impending shutdown and layoffs only a week earlier. Following the shutdown, a number of non-union and union employees, along with certain Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) funds, filed suit against APA Transport and... More...   $0 (09-06-2008 - )

Don Letterman sued the Miller County Sheriff's Department and a deputy on an excessive force theory claiming that excessive force was used by a deputy when he was arrested.

The defenses asserted by defendants are not available.... More...   $15000 (09-06-2008 - AR)

Retha Carroll individually and on behalf of the Family and Estate of Norman Gene Carroll sued Dr. Atul Barry, Dr. Dante J. Morassutti, Estate of Carolyn Lowe and Medical Center Anesthesiologist on a medical negligence (medical malpractice) claiming that as a direct result of substandard care Mr. Carroll died February 4, 2003, a week after surgery at the hospital. The surgery was elective and shoul... More...   $5100000 (09-06-2008 - KY)

Kyle Jim, age 23, sued Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus on a medical negligence theory (medical malpractice) claiming that he did not receive appropriate care from the hospital's doctors and, as a direct result, appropriate tests were not performed in June 1996 and he was not diagnosed and treated for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Kyle Jim was 11 when he was taken to Via Chri... More...   $4000000 (09-06-2008 - KS)

Yanira Montanez sued Temple University Health System Hospitals on a medical negligence (medical malpractice) claiming that she did not receive appropriate care and treatment when she went to the emergency room at the hospital complaining of nausea, vomiting, headaches, and numbness in her face, arms and legs. The differential diagnosis process resulted in a probable diagnosis that Montanez was suf... More...   $11200000 (09-06-2008 - PA)

Former San Luis Obispo County Chief Deputy Sheriff Gary Hoving sued San Luis Obispo County and Sheriff Pat Hedges on an invasion of privacy theory claiming that Sheriff Hoving wrongfully eavesdropped on his conversations. Hoving claimed that Hedges violated his civil rights by taping a conversation between Hoving and Sergeant Jay Donovan in 2006.

The defenses asserted by the Defendants ar... More...   $660000 (09-06-2008 - CA)

John O. Koonce sued John Crane, Inc. on a product liability theory claiming that he exposed to asbestos at the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp. in Norfolk, Virginia where he worked and, as a direct result, he developed mesothelioma, a fatal form of lung cancer. Koonce, 59, of Norfolk, diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2006, worked with John Crane gaskets, packing material and other asbestos par... More...   $4390000 (09-06-2008 - VA)

Appellant Agneta Dobos (“Dobos”) appeals from the trial court’s judgment denying her petition for writ of administrative mandate brought against Respondents Voluntary Plan Administrators, Inc., Long Term Disability and Survivor Benefit Plan, and Chief Administrative Office, County of Los Angeles (collectively, “Respondents”).

In her petition, Dobos challenged an administrative dec... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

In appellant Christopher Jones’s action for negligence and products liability, summary judgment was granted in favor of respondents Lloyd Electric Company, Inc. (Lloyd), and P.S. Development Company, Inc., d.b.a. Comet Electric (Comet). We affirm.

RELEVANT PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On November 23, 2004, Jones filed a complaint against Invision Technologies, Inc. (Invision), containing ... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

Appellant Christopher McMillian, through his guardian ad litem, Marguerite McMillian, challenges the probate court’s order directing him to pay a lien issued by respondent State Department of Health Care Services (Department or respondent) under the Medi-Cal California Medical Assistance Program (Medi- Cal) (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 14000 et seq.)1 We affirm.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

The Monsanto Company (“Monsanto”) is a large-scale manufacturer of chemical products, including herbicides and pesticides. In the 1990s it began developing a variety of alfalfa that would be resistant to one of its leading herbicides. The United States Department of Agriculture, through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”), approved the genetically modified alfalfa in 2... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

In this opinion, we address whether the Supreme Court’s decision in Quality King Distributors, Inc. v. L’anza Research International, Inc., 523 U.S. 135 (1998), requires us to overrule our precedents that allow a defendant in a copyright infringement action to claim the “first sale doctrine” of 17 U.S.C. § 109(a) as a defense only where the disputed copies of a copyrighted work were eithe... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

We must decide whether guests at the Gilroy Garlic Festival can hold the City of Gilroy in California and the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association liable in a civil rights action when they are escorted from the event by a City police officer for violating the Festival’s dress code.

I George Villegas and remaining plaintiffs (hereinafter “Top Hatters”), all of whom are members of the Top... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

John Oscar filed a lawsuit under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (“DEED”). The lawsuit alleged that DEED violated his rights under the IDEA when it refused to accept his administrative complaint. DEED filed a successful Rule 12(b)(6) motion and the lawsuit was dismissed without p... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - AK)

This case comes before us for the second time. See Am. Bankers Ass’n v. Gould, 412 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2005). In 2003, the California State Legislature enacted the California Financial Information Privacy Act (“SB1”), Cal. Fin. Code §§ 4050-4060, “for financial institutions to provide their consumers notice and meaningful choice about how consumers’ nonpublic personal information is sh... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

In this opinion, we resolve whether the district court erred in precluding the admission of evidence regarding damages as a sanction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (Rule) 37 for failure to disclose damage calculations under Rule 26(a). We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion and affirm on this issue. The remaining issues in this case are resolved in a contemporaneou... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - CA)

Appellants, minor C.B. and his parents (collectively “Appellants”), allege that Hellgate Elementary School District (“Hellgate”) violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”), 20 U.S.C.§ 1400, by failing to provide minor C.B. with a free appropriate public education (“FAPE”). Appellants appeal from the district court’s order, affirming the hearing officer’s... More...   $0 (09-05-2008 - MT)

APPEAL from a judgment and an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Ronald L. Styn, Judge. Affirmed and remanded for the determination of attorney fees on appeal. Defendant Creative Capital Leasing Group, LLC (CCLG) appeals a judgment in favor of plaintiffs Brett Schaffter and Austin McBride Corporation, doing business as Re/Max Real Estate Consultants (Re/Max), entered after a bench tr... More...   $0 (09-04-2008 - CA)

Bonnie Chaloult sued her former employer, Interstate Brands Corporation ("IBC"), alleging she had suffered sexual harassment by her supervisor, Kevin Francoeur, in the six months before she quit her job. The district court entered summary judgment for the employer.

The issue on appeal turns on the affirmative defense available to employers when the harassment is by the plaintiff's ... More...   $0 (09-04-2008 - ME)

Per Curiam. Pro se appellant Leslie J. McGill seeks review of the dismissal of her employment discrimination complaint against her previous employer, appellee U.S. Express Truck Co. of Ohio. The district court dismissed McGill's amended complaint as time-barred and denied her motion to amend as futile. As the following discussion will show, McGill's timely-filed in forma pauperis ("IFP") motion an... More...   $0 (09-04-2008 - MA)