Jonathan Bilyk News
Gay father can use oral agreement to block parental rights claim from surrogate mom
A state appeals court has ruled an oral agreement between a gay man and his female neighbor is enough to block the woman's attempt to claim to be legally recognized as the mother of the child she birthed with the man via artificial insemination using her own eggs
Appeals court: Apple OK to fire actor from TV series for refusing Covid vax
Actor Brent Sexton had sued Apple Studios over the decision to withdraw their offer to cast him as former President Andrew Johnson in the TV series, "Manhunt," concerning the pursuit of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. The court said Sexton's lawsuit was an illegal attempt to punish Apple for its "speech" about vaccines.
Google to pay $100M to settle AdWords class action; Lawyers could get $33M
Google will pay $100 million to settle a class action dating back to 2011, which accused the company of misleading advertisers about the location targeting of their ads and click discounts. Plaintiffs' lawyers are expected to claim up to a third of the funds
Environmentalists can block San Diego Co. from easing 'vehicle-miles-travelled' rules to boost housing
A state appeals court agreed San Diego County didn't present enough evidence to support its decisions to exempt certain 'infill' or 'small' housing developments from onerous, costly 'climate change' driven transportation studies when building new homes
Parents can't sue pricey Sonoma County private school for failing to disclose past sex abuse of students
A state appeals panel has tossed class action vs Sonoma Academy for allegedly keeping secret sexual abuse and other misconduct committed by three staffers from 2004-2020, as the court found parents and students suffered no harm from the non-disclosure
'Middle finger to SCOTUS': Appeals court says ammo magazines aren't 'arms,' so CA ban stands
The liberal majority on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said California's ban on "large capacity magazines" used in semiautomatic weapons doesn't violate the Second Amendment, because the magazines are just "boxes." Other judges said the decision "butchered" the 2A and defied the Supreme Court
Google to pay $28M to settle claims it favored white and Asians, while 'paying lip service' to DEI
Attorneys for a "Mexican, indigenous" former Google worker announced the settlement in the discrimination case, which was approved by a Santa Clara County judge March 12. Under the deal, more than 6,600 current and former Google workers will get a share of $20M, while lawyers will get $7M.
'Not Election Week:' CA law giving mail ballots a week after Election Day to arrive is illegal, lawsuit says
San Diego U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa has joined with Judicial Watch to challenge California's election law, which requires election officials to count all ballots received by mail up to a week after Election Day. He argues it violates constitutional rights of candidates and voters and violates federal law which establishes an official Election Day
Judge enters another order blocking CA from enforcing law over young user online privacy
A group advocating for tech companies said the ruling represents a victory for free online speech, as the law would essentially force social media and other online companies to serve as "censors," enforcing the state's content standards online
More lawsuits target hair care product makers, now claiming hair dye caused cancer
The lawsuits have been filed vs. L'Oreal, Clairol, Henken and others on behalf of hair stylists, claiming chemicals in hair dyes caused bladder cancer. Hair care product makers have also been targeted by thousands of suits over cancers allegedly caused by hair relaxers
Penn trucking company signs onto petition to challenge California 'Clean Cars' standards
A petition has been filed to challenge a waiver granted by the EPA in the final days of the Biden administration to allow California to proceed with its so-called 'Advanced Clean Cars' emission standards. Those standards automatically control vehicles in many other states
Rocklin schools appeal ruling ordering them to revoke parental trans notification policy
Rocklin Unified School District has asked a CA appeals court to undo a ruling from the public employees labor board that directed them to rescind a policy requiring staff to notify parents if their child asks to be known by a different gender. The board said the district needed to first negotiate with the teachers union
Appeals court: ClassPass can't use arbitration to escape class action; Dissent: Ruling leaves online biz 'guessing'
The Ninth Circuit rejected an attempt by online gym access pass seller ClassPass to beat a class action through arbitration because its user terms and conditions weren't good enough to show users agreed. A dissenting judge said the decision defies earlier rulings and fosters uncertainty
EPA can't make SF pay big fines for overall quality of SF Bay due to wastewater flow
The U.S. Supreme Court said the U.S. EPA exceeded their authority under the Clean Water Act in imposing so-called "end results" standards on San Francisco wastewater discharges, effectively making the city pay many millions or even billions of dollars in penalties for poor water quality in the Bay
Lawsuit: Fresno schools run academic help programs that discriminate vs non-black students
The lawsuit from the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation is the latest challenging alleged racially discriminatory government programs in the state. The lawsuit asserts Fresno Unified School District is spending $12M per year to operate academic programs open only to black students
Judge says CA's, enviros' plastics recycling 'deception' lawsuit belongs in state court
A federal judge said ExxonMobil failed to show why the lawsuits launched by California's Democratic attorney general and his environmentalist activist allies should avoid a date in California's plaintiff-friendly state courts. ExxonMobil has claimed the lawsuits are motivated by nothing more than politics and "ambition"
Lawyers for Chino Valley schools 'declare victory' in fight vs state over parents' rights to know
CA Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta did not appeal by deadline a San Bernardino County judge's ruling letting the Chino Valley Unified School District enforce policies requiring schools to tell parents when students' records are changed, including for gender change or pronouns
Maybe 'not act of defiance,' but Norwalk can't escape Newsom's lawsuit over homeless shelter moratorium
A judge said Gov. Newsom can continue bid to use lawsuit to punish city of Norwalk for attempting to slow down construction of shelters and resettlement of homeless in their community
Federal law shields Grindr from lawsuit over underaged rapes arranged on app, appeals court says
A federal appeals panel says Section 230 - a legal provision protecting social media companies from many lawsuits - protects gay dating and sex hookup app Grindr from a lawsuit from a man who claims he was raped four times by men using the app when he was 15, because Grindr didn't verify his age
'Hey, Siri:' $95M Apple Siri class action settlement gets initial OK from judge; Lawyers could get $28.5M
Under the settlement, eligible claimants could get $20 for each Siri-equipped Apple devices they may have owned since 2014, up to five devices. The lawsuit asserted Apple devices wrongly recorded user conversations and other interactions, even when Siri was not summoned