California

Take a seat, California workers: Top state court says employers should provide chairs

Life may soon be easier for a number of California workers who find it difficult to be on their feet all day. At the request of a federal appeals court, California’s top court has interpreted a state wage order requiring that “all working employees shall be provided with suitable seats…

Apr 4, 2016 4:45 PM CDT

Plaintiffs in California asbestos cases feel they’re being questioned to death

Grainy video shot last August shows 75-year-old Nader Kordestani lying in a padded recliner at his home in Calabasas, California, near Los Angeles. Off camera, a defense lawyer asks him whether it's true his health is failing.

Apr 1, 2016 3:20 AM CDT

Law limiting possessions by homeless in Los Angeles is OK’d in first of two votes

The Los Angeles City Council has tentatively approved a law that limits homeless people’s possessions on city sidewalks to whatever can be placed in a 60-gallon container. The 13-1 vote comes as Los Angeles deals with a 20 percent increase in homeless population in the last two years, the Los…

Mar 31, 2016 11:53 AM CDT

DOJ says it unlocked iPhone of San Bernardino shooter, seeks to vacate order requiring Apple’s help

Saying that it has managed to unlock an encrypted Apple iPhone used by the San Bernardino shooter without the company’s help, the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday filed a motion seeking to vacate an earlier federal court order requiring Apple’s assistance with the project. The brief filing averts a…

Mar 28, 2016 5:40 PM CDT

Retailer must make website accessible to visually impaired and pay plaintiff legal fees, judge rules

In what a lawyer for the plaintiff is calling a landmark decision, a California judge has ordered a luggage retailer to make its website accessible to those who are visually impaired. Bag’n Baggage must also pay $4,000 plus attorney’s fees for plaintiff Edward Davis, which are expected to top $100,000,…

Mar 25, 2016 4:20 PM CDT

Lawsuit seeks R-rating or higher for movies depicting tobacco use

A class action lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco contends that movies using tobacco imagery should get at least an R rating. The would-be class action suit (PDF) says Hollywood studios have known since at least 2003 that tobacco imagery in films rated G. PG and PG-13 contribute…

Mar 25, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

Jury rejects law grad’s case over claim that Thomas Jefferson job stats were inflated

A California jury on Thursday rejected a claim by a 2008 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law that she was entitled to damages because the San Diego institution inflated job-placement data concerning its alumni. Plaintiff Anna Alaburda said she has been unable to find full-time work as a lawyer…

Mar 24, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Couple whose kidnapping claims were initially publicly called a hoax by police file defamation suit

A graduate of Harvard Law School was eventually charged in the kidnapping of Denise Huskins from her boyfriend’s Vallejo, California, home last year. But before Matthew Muller was identified as a suspect by way of a dropped cellphone found after a similar alleged kidnapping attempt occurred in another home, police…

Mar 23, 2016 11:35 AM CDT

Foster family vows appeal after losing custody of girl, 6, in fight over Indian child welfare law

A foster family is appealing to the California Supreme Court after losing custody of a 6-year-old girl in a battle over placement preferences required by the Indian Child Welfare Act. The girl known as Lexi was removed from the home of Rusty and Summer Page on Monday after a Friday…

Mar 23, 2016 10:04 AM CDT

Justice Department says it may be able to hack San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without Apple’s help

The Justice Department said in court papers on Monday that it may be able to hack the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without assistance from Apple. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of Riverside, California, agreed to the government’s request to cancel a hearing scheduled for Tuesday on the FBI request to…

Mar 22, 2016 7:27 AM CDT

Suit says Starbucks underfilled lattes; company says customers told of ‘likelihood of variations’

Citing standard Starbucks cups that allegedly are too small to hold the advertised number of ounces, two California customers have filed suit against the company on behalf of themselves and fellow consumers. The complaint was filed last week in the Northern District of California. It alleges that “Starbucks lattes are…

Mar 21, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Second-highest bidder is OK’d to buy corporate owner of OC Register after DOJ files antitrust suit

Updated: A federal bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of the corporate owner of two California newspapers to the second-highest bidder in a bankruptcy auction after the U.S. Justice Department objected to Tribune Publishing’s plans to buy the company. U.S. District Judge Mark Wallace approved the sale of Freedom Communications…

Mar 21, 2016 1:45 PM CDT

Judge nixes rare murder case against a California corporation

Finding that the probable cause standard was not met, a California judge on Friday dismissed what defense lawyers say is the first murder case ever pursued against a state corporation. However, rehab company A Better Tomorrow and four employees still face dependent adult abuse charges in the 2010 death of…

Mar 18, 2016 1:25 PM CDT

Releasing legal documents under public records law didn’t waive privilege, top California court says

Legal documents mistakenly provided by the city of Los Angeles in response to a public records request by a plaintiff in a tax class action are still privileged and should have been returned unread by the lawyer who received them, California’s top court ruled Thursday. Drawing a distinction between inadvertent…

Mar 18, 2016 10:55 AM CDT

9th Circuit OKs dismissal of Jaycee Dugard suit over kidnapping by parolee who held her for 18 years

The government’s failure to supervise closely a paroled sex offender who held a kidnapping victim captive for 18 years behind his California home didn’t establish a cause of action, a federal appeals court has ruled. Plaintiff Jaycee Dugard, who is now 35, had contended in the suit against the federal…

Mar 16, 2016 4:00 PM CDT