Jonathan Bilyk News
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
Lawsuits: CA law banning certain workplace meetings unconstitutional, tramples free speech rights
Two lawsuits - one from the California Chamber of Commerce and other business advocates, the other from the California Policy Center - assert Democrat-supported SB399 would violate the constitutional rights of business owners and others by subjecting them to lawsuits and fines for sharing their views with workers
CA appeals court: State OK to go after Christian baker for refusing to bake 'plain, simple' cake for lesbian wedding
The court said sincere Christian beliefs concerning marriage and lack of "ill will or malice" held by Cathy Miller, owner of Tastries Bakery in Bakersfield, don't shield her from the state's civil rights enforcement action. Miller's attorneys vowed to appeal to the state Supreme Court, saying the state is trying to "crush" her over her beliefs
Family of man who died while 'train surfing' sues, says BART should've stopped him
The family of 19-year-old Daniel Baran claims BART should pay because their trains aren't equipped with tech to stop the trains when someone climbs on the roof of a moving train
San Francisco, Santa Clara, others sue Trump to halt DOJ actions vs 'Sanctuary' cities, counties
The lawsuit comes as a preemptive strike against the Trump administration, which has signaled its intent to use funding cuts, lawsuits and other actions to pressure 'Sanctuary' governments into complying with efforts to remove criminals and other illegal immigrants from the U.S.
CA A/G Bonta threatens hospitals for complying with Trump's order blocking child gender transition procedures
Attorney General Rob Bonta sent a letter to Children's Hospital Los Angeles and issued a public statement threatening state action vs hospitals and other medical providers who comply with President Trump's order forbidding federal funding and directing federal action vs those providing child gender transition procedures
Ex-49er Stubblefield, who used 'anti-racism' law to beat rape conviction, nearer release from prison
A CA appeals court, which declared 'racially discriminatory' statements from prosecutors should reverse Dana Stubblefield's rape conviction, has also declared a judge must immediately decide if he should be released from prison
Appeals court: SF City Hall, fed judge wrongly crushed workers' religious Covid jab objections
A federal appeals panel has ordered an Oakland federal judge to issue an injunction sought by ex-city workers who say they wrongly lost their jobs for refusing the city's Covid shot mandate for its workers. The appeals panel said the city and a federal judge were wrong to gloss over the workers' 'crisis of conscience'
LA school district gets new chance to shut down lawsuit over Covid vax mandate
The full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out their colleagues' earlier holding that had allowed L.A. public school workers to sue L.A. Unified School District over its Covid shot mandate, because the Covid shots don't prevent infection. LAUSD said the effectiveness of the shot shouldn't matter to the court
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