Case Summaries

Injury & Tort Law

[08/27] Ramirez v. Knoulton
In a suit alleging excessive force by defendant-police officer for shooting plaintiff during his arrest, denial of summary judgment to defendant is reversed where defendant acted reasonably in deciding to use deadly force, and no constitutional violation therefore occurred.

[08/27] Khorrami v. Rolince
In a suit alleging violations of due-process rights by government agents who detained plaintiff while investigating the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, an interlocutory appeal of the denial of a grant of qualified immunity to defendants is dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction where the district court's deferral of a ruling on the government's qualified immunity motion was not equivalent to a denial of the motion.

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Consumer Protection

[08/22] In the Matter of: Ferrell
Statutory damages are not available for violations of 15 U.S.C. sections 1632(a) and 1638(b)(1), provisions of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

[08/22] Clemmer v. Key Bank Nat'l Ass'n
In a case raising the issue of whether the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) permits an automated teller machine's (ATM) on-screen notice to read that a fee "may" be charged when a fee "will" be charged, summary judgment for bank is affirmed where the use of the less definite "may", coupled with the more definite requirement that a user press "yes" to accept the fee to continue the transaction, put the user on sufficient notice that a fee would be incurred.

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Health Law

[08/27] County of Santa Clara v. Astra USA, Inc.
In a lawsuit brought by certain federally funded medical clinics claiming that they have been overcharged for certain prescription drugs in violation of pharmaceutical pricing agreements between the Secretary of Health and Human Services and drug manufacturer defendants, dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim is reversed where plaintiffs are intended direct beneficiaries of those agreements and thus had the right to enforce the agreements' discount provisions against the manufacturers and sue them for reimbursement of excess payments.

[08/27] Kozisek v. Couty of Seward
In an employment discrimination and civil rights case, summary judgment for defendants-county and county board chairman is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff failed to establish a prima facie case under the Americans with Disability Act; 2) for purposes of a First Amendment claim, plaintiff's speech was not protected, and regardless, he failed to show a connection between his speech and his termination; and 3) a due process claim failed.

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Consumer Products

[08/25] Cable Connection, Inc. v. DirecTV, Inc.
Under the California Arbitration Act, judicial review of the merits of an arbitration award is permissible where the contracting parties have expressly agreed that the arbitrators shall have no power to commit errors of law and that the award may be vacated or corrected on appeal for legal error.

[08/21] Medrazo v. Honda of N. Hollywood
In a lawsuit alleging violations of Vehicle Code sections 11712.5 and 24014 by defendant motorcycle dealership, denial of class certification is reversed where: 1) because the proposed class definition is sufficient to allow those purchasers of Hondas without hanger tags to identify themselves as members of the class, they will be bound by results of the litigation; and 2) plaintiff's inability to identify the individual class members at this time was irrelevant to class certification.

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Class Actions

[08/27] Sicar v. Chertoff
In a class action claim for declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging the government has systematically misclassified plaintiffs' parole status during the course of status adjustment determinations under the Haitian Refugees Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, dismissal of class action complaint is affirmed where the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction.

[08/26] Mamot Feed Lot & Trucking v. Hobson
In a class action raising federal usury and antitying claims against a bank, its holding company, and various shareholders, officers, and employees of the bank, following the criminal indictment of the bank's president for defrauding the bank of nearly one million dollars, dismissal of the claim is affirmed where: 1) as sections 85 and 86 do not apply to state-chartered banks, the district court properly dismissed those claims brought under the National Bank Act for want of jurisdiction; 2) the district court properly dismissed a claim under 12 U.S.C. section 1831d for failure to state a claim; and 3) the complaint provided absolutely no facts to support an illegal tying claim.

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