CA Unpub Decisions

For over 20 years, plaintiff Orlando Nakai (Orlando ) was employed by Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. (Friendship House), a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program providing treatment services to Native Americans. His employment was terminated by the program’s CEO, who also happened to be his mother-in-law, after his wife informed the CEO that Orlando had a gun and was angry at Friendship House employees and she had obtained a restraining order. Orlando then filed this action for wrongful termination, claiming discrimination on the basis of his marital status and that Friendship House had failed to conduct a reasonable investigation prior to discharging him. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, ruling Orlando had failed to establish a prima facie case of marital status discrimination and failed to demonstrate his employer had a duty to investigate. We affirm.

Derek J. Stafford (Derek) appeals from a May 16, 2016, order denying his motion to modify child support payable to Michele R. Stafford (Michele), “there being no change of circumstances.” He seeks reversal on the ground the evidence before the trial court established two significant changes of circumstances that would support modification of his child support obligations. Because we cannot ascertain from the appellate record the basis for the trial court’s ruling, we reverse the order and remand the matter for further proceedings.

Appellant Calvin Francis appeals from a trial court order denying his motion to set aside the parties’ June 24, 2015 stipulated order. He asks this court to reverse the trial court’s order, set aside the June 24, 2015 stipulated order, and recalculate child and spousal support arrears. Francis makes several arguments in support of his appeal; two are not properly before the court and the other lacks merit. We affirm.

M.C. (Mother) petitions this court for extraordinary writ review of a juvenile court order setting a hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 for her children, K.C. and C.C. She contends there was insufficient evidence to support the juvenile court’s (1) finding that she was provided reasonable services, and (2) termination of reunification services. We disagree and deny the petition.

Beth Ann Lico appeals summary judgment in favor of her former divorce attorneys Philip Silvestri and his law firm Silvestri, Silvestri & Mialocq (Silvestri) and Tanya Prioste and her firm Lakin Spears LLP (Prioste). Lico alleged Silvestri and Prioste failed to advise her to sue her former estate planning attorneys, Jennifer Cunneen and Hopkins & Carley, ALC (Cunneen), for legal malpractice before the statute of limitations expired. As a result, she contends, Cunneen obtained summary judgment on statute of limitations grounds. In the current action against Silvestri and Prioste, Lico seeks the value of her underlying malpractice claim against Cunneen and the attorneys’ fees she incurred in attempting to prosecute it. But, again, Lico waited too long to file suit. Pursuant to Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison (1998) 18 Cal.4th 739 (Jordache), the one-year limitations period for attorney malpractice against Silvestri and Prioste began to run no later than wh

In this juvenile dependency case, defendant and appellant A.P. (Mother) challenges the juvenile court’s jurisdictional findings and dispositional orders. In particular, Mother argues substantial evidence does not support the juvenile court’s findings that she put her then-eight-year-old daughter Vanessa at risk of serious physical harm by abusing alcohol or by engaging in violent domestic disputes. As explained below, we disagree and affirm.

In July 2012, the San Francisco Human Services Agency (the Agency) filed a section 300 petition after Mother left Minor (born 2005) unattended in front of the home of his paternal grandparents, whom he had not seen in five years, without notifying them. Minor told Agency social workers that Mother had pushed him on the ground and down stairs, thrown hot water on him, whipped him with a leather belt, and stabbed his stomach. Minor’s father (Father) told the Agency Mother had a history of being aggressive and violent with him and others, and had denied him access to Minor after their divorce in 2007. Father told the Agency he was a college student and not in a position to currently care for Minor, but after two years, when he had finished school and had the opportunity to get a good job, he could take care of Minor.
The juvenile court sustained a number of allegations, including that Mother has undiagnosed mental health issues; had a domestic violence relationship with Father, i

O.R. appeals from a disposition order that allowed him to remain on probation after stealing a vehicle, attempting to steal another, and violating his probation. He contends the probation conditions prohibiting him from associating with any person he reasonably should know to be a criminal gang member, and from wearing or displaying items or emblems he reasonably knows to be associated with gang membership, are unconstitutionally overbroad. We will affirm the order.

Defendants and appellants L.L. (mother) and R.J. (father) appeal the termination of parental rights to their three children at a Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 hearing. They contend the juvenile court’s order must be reversed, because plaintiff and respondent San Bernardino County Department of Children and Family Services (CFS) and the juvenile court violated relative preferences by approving a permanent plan before a maternal great-aunt’s evaluation was complete. They further claim the court should have found applicable the beneficial parental relationship exception to termination of parental rights. Rejecting their contentions, we affirm.

Appellant K.B., a minor, admitted to committing assault with a deadly weapon. K.B. was declared a ward of the court and placed on formal juvenile probation. Following multiple violations of her probation, the court modified the terms of K.B.’s probation to include, among other terms, an electronic search condition. K.B. now appeals from this postdisposition order, arguing the electronic search condition is not reasonable under People v. Lent (1975) 15 Cal.3d 481 (Lent), and is unconstitutionally overbroad. We conclude the condition is reasonable but overbroad, and we modify it accordingly.

In September 2013, Abel P. (father) and Israel P.’s mother engaged in shoplifting and had a violent altercation with a security guard, with Israel P. present. They were arrested, and Israel P. was detained and declared by the juvenile court to be a ward of the court. Israel P. was returned to father’s custody in October 2014. Later, father separated from Israel P.’s mother and moved out of Israel P.’s home.
On December 24, 2014, father violently assaulted Israel P.’s mother in the child’s presence. Five days later, father attempted to enter Israel P.’s home by shattering a window, causing glass shards to fall onto Israel P. and his sisters. Father was arrested. In January 2015, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) filed a Welfare and Institutions Code section 342 petition on behalf of the children, alleging father failed to supervise or protect them. The juvenile court ordered Israel P. to be detained from father and placed with mother, and orde

In San Francisco, demand for housing far exceeds availability. The conversion of residential units into short-term rentals has contributed to this housing crisis, and more than 5,000 residential properties are unlawfully being rented as short-term rentals. Increased short-term rentals in apartment buildings also “create security problems, increased foot traffic, and far more noise than would otherwise exist”; and the short-term guests are “inconsiderate, destructive, violent, smoke in prohibited areas, [and] have more guests than allowed.”
Airbnb provides “Hosts”—people offering their houses or apartments for rent—with an online platform to list the rental, photography services, advertising, calendaring software, pricing guidelines, payment processing, cleaning services, insurance, tax advice, and legal advice. Airbnb collects a percentage fee from each rental.
Plaintiffs live in a residential building in San Francisco. Short-term rentals in Plaintiffs’ bui

In this medical malpractice lawsuit, plaintiff Sally Chaney (Plaintiff) appeals following a jury verdict in favor of the defendant hospital, NorthBay Healthcare Group (NorthBay), and the defendant doctors (Doctors) (collectively, Defendants). NorthBay filed a protective appeal from the judgment on its indemnification cross-complaint against Doctors. We affirm both judgments.

In this medical malpractice lawsuit, plaintiff Sally Chaney (Plaintiff) appeals following a jury verdict in favor of the defendant hospital, NorthBay Healthcare Group (NorthBay), and the defendant doctors (Doctors) (collectively, Defendants). NorthBay filed a protective appeal from the judgment on its indemnification cross-complaint against Doctors. We affirm both judgments.