Case Summaries

Civil Procedure

[07/23] Magallanes v. Ill. Bell Tel. Co.
Dismissal of an employment-discrimination suit because the parties had settled is reversed where defendant-employer did not meet its burden to prove that plaintiff's attorney had in fact been authorized to enter into a settlement agreement.

[07/23] Huang v. Mukasey
Petitions for review of BIA's denials of several petitions to reopen removal proceedings are dismissed in part and denied in part where no reviewable questions of law were presented regarding: 1) whether petitioners would face persecution in China for violating its one-child policy; 2) denial of a petition based on petitioner's propensity to lie in prior removal proceedings; or 3) dismissal as untimely of a petition to reopen based on the ineffective assistance of counsel at prior proceedings.

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Injury & Tort Law

[07/22] Williams v. Town of Greenburgh
In an action under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, judgment dismissing plaintiff's claims against defendant-town and two municipal officers is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's desire to use town's community center was not protected by his right to freedom of movement; 2) plaintiff's speech was not silenced or chilled by defendant's allegedly punitive conduct; and 3) probable cause supported the arrest and prosecution of plaintiff's criminal trespass.

[07/21] Hoag v. Amex Ins. Co.
Dismissal of plaintiff's uninsured-motorist claim as a sanction for his failure to provide discovery as ordered by the trial court was neither too extreme nor an abuse of discretion where the failures were willful and repeated.

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Professional Malpractice

[07/23] Gil v. Reed
In an inmate's negligence, malpractice, and civil rights suit against prison medical staff, summary judgment for defendants is reversed where the record contained sufficient evidence to show genuine issues of material fact on: 1) inmate's Eighth Amendment claim that prison staff were deliberately indifferent to his medical needs; and 2) whether defendants had met the standard of care, using the state-law standard as required by the Federal Tort Claims Act.

[07/21] Simmons v. Ghaderi
In a breach of contract action arising from a medical malpractice suit, wherein plaintiffs sought to enforce an oral settlement agreement allegedly formed during mediation, a ruling upholding a decision to admit evidence relating to the mediation proceedings is reversed where: 1) the court of appeal improperly relied on the doctrine of estoppel to create a judicial exception to the comprehensive statutory scheme of mediation confidentiality; and 2) the evidence relating to the mediation proceedings should not have been admitted at trial.

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Workers' Comp

[07/22] Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers' Assoc. v. County of Los Angeles
In a case brought by certain retired deputy sheriffs challenging Los Angeles county's policies concerning payment for excess accumulated vacation hours, judgment for plaintiffs is affirmed where the policy discriminated against deputies suffering work-related injuries in violation of Labor Code section 4850.

[05/20] Ramirez v. Murdick
In a claim for liquidated damages, attorneys' fees and costs for the late payment of Workers' Compensation benefits, summary judgment for the defendants is affirmed where: 1) the remedies under section 2357 do not apply since payment was mailed by the defendant within the thirty day period; and 2) the court did not err in converting plaintiff's motion to dismiss into a motion for summary judgment since the plaintiff could not recover under the facts.

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