Jonathan Bilyk News
Judge: Profs can't challenge CA community college DEI rules, because rules haven't been enforced yet
A federal judge has rejected, for now, a lawsuit brought by Fresno-area community college instructors challenging California's community college DEI regulations. The instructors said the rules are an unconstitutional threat vs professors who could be found to be insufficiently 'anti-racist'
LDS Church defeats bid to force refunds of 'tithes' over mall development
A majority of an 11-member panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said there was no proof Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leaders lied to members about how it was funding a mall development project. Other judges on the panel said the lawsuit had serious First Amendment problems
CA 'teen social media addiction' law remains on hold, for now, court says
A federal appeals panel has blocked California from enforcing its new law restricting teen social media use while it weighs an appeal from social media and tech companies arguing the law is unconstitutional. The state says the law is needed to tame teen social media addiction
California 'Clean Cars' waiver up in the air, as Trump asks SCOTUS to put challenge on hold
The Justice Department asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause the challenge launched by oil companies to the EPA's grant of a waiver that would allow California to move ahead with its 'Clean Cars' zero emissions rules. Energy companies say the waiver would allow California to unilaterally put them out of business nationwide
CA Dems seek new law to let oil companies get sued for 'climate driven' fires, disasters
Oil and gas industry and other critics say the legislation represents an attempt to use the Palisades and Eaton fire disasters to fuel a money grab and bankrupting of oil and gas companies in California and to distract from state and local government policy failures that likely made the fires worse
Lawsuit continues accusing Newsom, top CA Guard general of 'railroading' Jewish general, wildfire specialist out of Guard
The lawsuit from retired Brigadier General Magram claims Gov. Newsom signed off on Magram's removal, even though Newsom had been notified repeatedly that the state's current top Guardsman was retaliating against Magram for reporting his commander's alleged antisemitism. Lawsuit gained notoriety as state struggles to fight historic wildfires
Waymo curbs try by SF city officials to reverse state green light for driverless taxis
A CA appeals panel rejected an attempt by San Francisco to rescind a state permit allowing Waymo to begin expanding its so-called 'robotaxi' service in San Francisco. The appeals judges said there is no evidence the driverless autonomous vehicles are any worse than those with human drivers
SF City Hall ends transgender 'guaranteed income' program, settles discrimination lawsuit
The city of San Francisco has ended its funding and operation of the so-called Guaranteed Income for Transgender People program, ending a lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch and city taxpayers, accusing the city of running an illegal and discriminatory welfare program
PAGA lawsuits vs employers keep rising in CA, helping to fuel big class action payouts nationwide
A new report from defense law firm Duane Morris said class action settlements again totaled more than $40B in 2024, with attorneys raking in many of those billions for themselves in fees. In California, much of the action was driven by thousands of "representative" lawsuits vs employers under the PAGA law
Palisades, Eaton wildfires spawning lawsuits vs LADWP, SoCal Edison; Many more expected
Investigations could take months or years, but trial lawyers have rushed into court on behalf of the Pacific Palisades and Eaton wildfire victims. The suits accused LA Dept of Water & Power of failing to provide enough water and accused Southern California Edison of causing the blazes. Many more lawsuits are expected to be filed
Federal appeals court won't revisit decision upholding CA 'sensitive place' gun carry ban
Dissenting judges warned the decision rested on strained legal reasoning, likely in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court's holdings on Second Amendment rights and could tee up review and the risk of a loss before the Supreme Court
Huntington Beach asks courts to end California 'Sanctuary State' law, let cops deal with criminal illegal immigrants
The lawsuit asserts California's so-called "Sanctuary State" law has not only harmed California residents and their communities, but has placed the city in the position of having to choose between obeying state or federal laws. The lawsuit asserts the state law violates the U.S. Constitution's federal supremacy clause
49ers can't be sued for death of man punched twice in Levi's Stadium lot
A state appeals panel said the family of a man who died, allegedly from brain injuries suffered when he was suddenly punched twice in the face by another man reacting to a beer bottle kicked against his car, can't sue the 49ers and their event staffing vendor for not doing enough to prevent the 2018 attack
Google can't shut down users' privacy class action over WAA settings, info tracking
The lawsuit accused Google of continuing to collect user information and track their interactions with apps and other features on mobile devices, even after the users allegedly believed they had turned off the ability for Google to do so. A judge said the evidence isn't clear that Google abided by the law and its user agreement
Judge says BART can't escape $7.8M jury verdict for workers fired over Covid jab mandate
A San Francisco federal judge said BART can't show the jury was unreasonable in awarding at least $1.1 million each to six workers who were fired when BART refused their requests for religious exemption from the agency's Covid vaccine mandate
Exxon: CA A/G Bonta, enviro activists conspired with foreign 'green energy' interests in plastic recycling suits
ExxonMobil has sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta and environmental activist organizations, accusing them of working with an anti-oil Australian billionaire to launch a coordinated "lawfare" campaign against ExxonMobil, including recent lawsuits over Exxon's 'advanced recycling' programs
Judge blocks CA teen 'social media addiction' law for 30 days
A federal judge mostly declined to issue an injunction preventing California and Attorney General Rob Bonta from enforcing SB976, a law that the social media companies say is designed to establish a state-led censorship program to restrict online speech in the name of protecting children. But the judge followed that with a ruling blocking the state from enforcing the law until Feb. 1 to let an appeals court weigh in
Appeals court: 'Lemon law' doesn't block carmakers from making customers keep mum on warranty buyback money terms
A divided California appeals court said VW could require a customer who demanded the company buy back a defective car to also agree to keep the financial terms of the repurchase deal confidential. VW said the customer's refusal to sign the deal should block him from suing them under the California vehicle warranty law.
'Ladies night' promotion lawsuit drives Concord Peruvian restaurant out of business
The lawsuit was filed in 2023 against the Lima restaurant under California state anti-discrimination laws. Plaintiffs said the restaurant's "Ladies' Night" promotion unfairly offered discount drinks to women customers, but not to men or transgender patrons. The restaurant said the strain from the added legal bills proved too great to overcome
Judge nixes $5.1M deal to end visual impairment website discrimination class action vs Fashion Nova
A San Francisco federal judge said he could not approve the deal to end the action vs women's clothing seller Fashion Nova because the retailer might get too much of its money back at the end of the deal. Attorneys would have gotten $1.24 million under the deal