Case Summaries

International Law

[06/08] Republic of Iraq v. Beatty
In an action alleging mistreatment by Iraqi officials during the 1991 Gulf War, the Court of Appeals' holding that the District Court had jurisdiction to hear the case is reversed where the District Court lost jurisdiction when the President exercised his Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act authority to make 28 U.S.C. section 1605(a)(7) inapplicable with respect to Iraq.

[05/28] World Fuel Corp. v. Geithner
In a challenge to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's refusal to grant Plaintiff a license to access the blocked assets of one of Plaintiff's debtors, Defendant's appeal is dismissed, where the District Court's order directing Defendant to develop a legal standard for the release of assets under the Kingpin Act was not reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act.

[05/27] Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. v. Superior Court of Orange County
Petition for writ of mandate to challenge a trial court order denying plaintiff's motion to quash service is denied where a Japanese manufacturer can be served through its American subsidiary as California law allows service on a foreign corporation by serving its domestic subsidiary.

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Labor & Employment Law

[07/02] Hughes v. Pair
Court of Appeals judgment for defendant in a sexual harassment action is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's factual allegations fail to establish the severe or pervasive conduct necessary to pursue a claim of hostile environment sexual harassment under Civil Code sec. 51.9, as the conduct was not so egregious as to alter the conditions of the underlying professional relationship and could not plausibly be construed by a reasonable trier of fact as a threat to commit a sexual assault on plaintiff; and 2) the court properly granted summary judgment on plaintiff's claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress as plaintiff failed to establish either extreme or outrageous conduct by defendant or that plaintiff suffered severe or extreme emotional distress.

[07/02] Milholland v. Sumner Cty. Bd. of Educ.
In an Americans with Disabilities Act action alleging that Plaintiff teacher was transferred between positions based on her arthritis, summary judgment for Defendant is affirmed, where Plaintiff failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Defendant regarded her as disabled.

[06/30] Scott v. Phoenix Schools, Inc.
In an employment termination action, trial court judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) there was substantial evidence that defendant violated public policy in dismissing plaintiff; and 2) there was insufficient evidence of malice, fraud or oppression to support the award of punitive damages.

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Commercial Law

[07/01] Arnold's Wines, Inc. v. Boyle
District court order granting defendants' motions to dismiss plaintiff's request for a declaratory judgment is affirmed where sections of the New York Alcoholic Beverage Control Laws banning direct sales to consumers by out-of-state liquor retailers and instituting a three-tier system for the regulation of alcoholic beverages evenhandedly regulate the importation and distribution of liquor within the state and do not discriminate against out-of-state producers in violation of the Commerce Clause, and thus are a valid exercise of the state's rights under the Twenty-first Amendment.

[06/26] TAG/ICIB Services, Inc. v. Sedeco Servicio de Descuento en Compras
District court judgment against defendant for overdue demurrage owed to plaintiff is reversed where: 1) Puerto Rico Commerce Code Article 947's 180-day limitations period applies to plaintiff's claim for overdue demurrage charges on international shipments to Puerto Rico; and 2) the court did not err in failing to apply the laches presumption, as the parties offered scant facts relevant to such an inquiry and the parties consented to judgment based on the stipulation.

[06/26] Keweenaw Bay Indian Comm. v. Rising
In an Indian tribe's action seeking injunctive relief from Michigan's policy of taxing transactions involving the tribe and from Michigan's reliance on an informal refund process to sort those immunities out on a case-by-case basis, judgment for Defendant is reversed, where the questions presented covered a myriad of hypothetical transactions and were too abstract and unsupported by specific facts.

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Corp. Governance

[07/01] Huber v. Jackson
In a dispute over church property, trial court's grant of summary judgment for the general church and its diocese is affirmed where: 1) under the California Supreme Court's holding in the Episcopal Church Cases, the local parish church holds the property in question in trust for the Episcopal Church and the Los Angeles Diocese, and by disaffiliating from the church defendants and their new parish under another church have no right in the property; 2) the court did not err in rejecting defendant's collateral estoppel argument as the case defendant relies on is distinguishable largely due to the passage of time and there is also now Supreme Court precedent on the matter; and 3) the court did not err in determining that after defendants voted for disaffiliation, their purported amendment of the articles of incorporation and bylaws to make the corporation part of the Anglican Church were a legal nullity, or ultra vires.

[05/26] Vaughn v. LJ Int'l, Inc.
In a derivative action alleging breach of fiduciary duty, trial court order sustaining defendant's demurrer without leave to amend is affirmed where plaintiff's standing to bring the claims against the corporation and its directors in California is governed by British Virgin Islands Business Companies Act sec. 184C requiring approval of the BVI High Court before a shareholder can sue derivatively, and the plaintiff had no such approval.

[05/15] Klamath Strategic Inv. Fund v. US
In an action for tax readjustment of partnership items, the District Court's readjustment order is affirmed in part, where the evidence supported the District Court's determination that the loan transaction at issue lacked substance, but vacated in part, where the District Court failed to consider which partners managed Plaintiff's affairs.

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