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Stories by Jonathan Bilyk on Northern California Record

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Monday, December 23, 2024

Jonathan Bilyk News


Judge again rejects consumer lawsuit trying to shut down Kroger-Albertsons merger

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal judge said the consumers still haven't demonstrated how exactly they will be harmed by the $24B merger of the country's No. 1 and No. 2 supermarket chains. Action by the FTC could come in mid-January, per court filings

Enviros can't undo California rule intended to lessen electric bill pain for most customers

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel says it won't second-guess a state commission's decision to reduce the amount paid to homeowners with solar power systems to hold down bills for all other customers who had been paying more to pay for others' home solar arrays

Google to pay $700M to end Google Play store class actions; Lawyers to get up to $128M, states get $70M

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuits accused Google of monopolizing control of the Android smartphone operating system and environment. About 71 million consumers could see $2-$7 each in refunds from the deal

Appeals court to revisit decision that would have allowed Uber, drivers challenge anti-gig economy law AB5

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order indicating the full court would review the earlier decision of a three-judge panel that called out California Democratic lawmakers for appearing to craft AB5 to punish Uber and other app-based ridesharing and food delivery companies at the bidding of union allies

Appeals court strips approval of pesticide EPA, growers say is needed to fight 'devastating' citrus crop diseases

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Environmentalists and judges agreed that the EPA needs to conduct more studies to determine if widely-used streptomycin is actually 'practically non-toxic' to bees and other pollinators, as EPA claims, before it can be used to save lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit crops in US from two ravaging bacterial diseases

Activists file suit vs EPA, claiming children have a 'fundamental right' to a 'stable climate'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The lawsuit asserts children in California and the U.S. face a future of nothing but despair if the EPA isn't forced by the courts to take action against emissions from oil, natural gas and coal, without regard for economic harm

Rampant PAGA, Prop 65 lawsuits land California courts high on list of worst U.S. 'Judicial Hellholes'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The report issued by the American Tort Reform Association says California ranks third on the annual list, thanks to its continued status as lawyers' 'laboratory' for innovative ways to increase businesses' lawsuit risk

SF residents OK to resume class action vs waste hauler Recology over bribes to secure inflated rates in 2017

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A California appeals panel ruled that the class action lawsuit doesn't amount to an illegal attempt to challenge rates set by the SF Rate Board, nor is it an attempt to make Recology pay twice, after the company paid $94M to settle prosecutors' earlier enforcement action over the alleged bribes

Jury orders Bayer Monsanto to pay $332M in latest Roundup trial verdict

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Bayer has pledged to appeal, and believes it can at least reduce what it called an 'unconstitutionally excessive verdict.'

California, 32 other states accuse Meta of 'exploiting, addicting,' kids, causing societal harms

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The multistate lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court asserts the parent of Facebook and Instagram has misled parents and society at large about the alleged addictive and harmful properties of its social media products

Judge strikes down CA ban on 'assault weapons,' says state trampling 2nd Amendment, SCOTUS decisions

By Jonathan Bilyk |
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez said California cannot constitutionally use threat of possible mass shootings to justify criminalizing the ownership of certain firearms the state believes are "unusually dangerous"

CA 'Clean Fleet' rules challenged; Truckers say rules flout federal law, will 'wreak havoc' on economy

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The California Truckers Association filed suit, seeking to block enforcement of the Advanced Clean Fleets rules they say conflict with federal law, violate the Constitution, and will hurt the economy

Appeals court says California 'large magazine' firearms ban OK to remain in effect

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Dissenting judges said the decision defies last year's landmark Second Amendment decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as tramples court rules

Appeals panel: California prison officials can be sued for Covid outbreak at San Quentin

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal appeals panel says California correctional officials can't use immunity doctrines to escape a lawsuit from the widow of an inmate who died at San Quentin Prison after a group of inmates were transferred there from another prison with an active Covid outbreak in May 2020

California quietly repeals Covid 'misinfo' law that targeted doctors' speech rights

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The state of California has repealed AB2098, which would have forced doctors to provide patients only with state-approved information about Covid-19, or risk losing their medical license. The law had already lost in court, and the state faced "humiliation" before a federal appeals panel

Ninth Circuit: California minor gun ad ban unconstitutional 'muzzling of speech' rights

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal appeals panel said AB2571, which outlaws ads designed to make guns 'attractive to minors,' is a 'straitjacket' of the First Amendment, and an unlawful attack by California Democrats on a group they wish to silence

Appeals court: More work to do before In-N-Out can top off settlement of mass actions over worker pants

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel says a Sonoma County judge wrongly blocked lawyers for other plaintiffs from getting a seat at the table in court proceedings over a possible settlement to end PAGA actions over claims the fast food chain broke California labor law by not repaying workers for their required white work uniform pants.

Judge: 'Baffling' comparisons, lack of evidence doom suit vs Google over alleged YouTube discrimination

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Black and Latino YouTubers claimed YouTube had discriminated vs non-white content creators by more harshly moderating their videos

Appeals court ends lawsuit over workplace Covid infections which threatened dangerous 'deluge' of future lawsuits

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A federal appeals panel followed guidance provided by the California Supreme Court, which had ruled they couldn't allow a couple to sue a man's employer over his wife's Covid infection because the lawsuits that would follow would swamp the courts and endanger society

IBM, other employers must reimburse employees' Covid-related work-from-home expenses

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals court has ruled a California state law requiring employers to pay their employees' work-related expenses wasn't negated by Gov. Newsom's 2020 Covid lockdown orders