Toshiba Am. Elec. Components, Inc. v. Superior Court, 124 Cal. App. 4th 762 (2004)

Lexar Media, Inc. sued Toshiba for misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair competition. In response to Lexar’s demand for production of documents, including email messages, Toshiba produced more than 20,000 pages. Although additional responsive material was stored on Toshiba’s computer backup tapes, Toshiba’s electronic discovery specialist…

Rietveld v. Rosebud Storage Partners, L.P., 121 Cal. App. 4th 250 (2004)

Jon and Carole Rietveld sued their former employer, Rosebud Storage Partners, for breach of contract and fraud. Following entry of summary judgment in favor of Rosebud, the Rietvelds and their attorney, Lyle Havens, appealed. In the published portion of the opinion, the Court of Appeal considered Havens’s appeal of a $2,380 sanctions…

Stevens v. Brink’s Home Security, 378 F.3d 944 (2004)

David Stevens and Donald Goines filed a class action in Washington state court against Brink’s Home Security for unpaid wages and overtime pay under state law. Brink’s removed the action to federal court on the basis of diversity of citizenship. Twenty days after the removal, Stevens and Goines filed a motion to amend the complaint…

Huffman v. Interstate Brands Companies, 121 Cal. App. 4th 679 (2004)

After Interstate Brands demoted Daniel Huffman from a district sales manager to a division sales manager, he filed a lawsuit alleging age discrimination and wrongful demotion in violation of public policy. At trial, the judge allowed Huffman to testify about the injury to his knees that occurred when he had to load and…

Diaz v. Gates, 380 F.3d 480 (9th Cir. 2004)

David Diaz sued Daryl Gates, Willie Williams, Bernard Parks and many others, alleging violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO") as a result of damages he allegedly suffered from police misconduct associated with the LAPD Rampart scandal. One of the elements of a RICO claim is that the plaintiff must prove that…

Reeves v. Hanlon, 33 Cal. 4th 1140 (2004)

Attorney Robert L. Reeves filed a lawsuit against attorneys Daniel P. Hanlon and Colin T. Greene and their law firm, Hanlon & Greene (H&G), after Hanlon and Greene abruptly resigned from their positions with Reeves & Hanlon (R&H) and allegedly persuaded certain R&H employees to join H&G, solicited R&H’s clients, misappropriated trade secrets, destroyed computer files…

Haney v. Aramark Uniform Services, Inc., 121 Cal. App. 4th 623 (2004)

Michael Haney, a route sales representative for Aramark and a member of Teamsters Local 431, alleged that his employment was terminated in violation of public policy after he complained to Aramark about its allegedly fraudulent billing practices. Aramark filed a motion for summary adjudication in response to Haney’s wrongful termination claim on…