The following is our summary of the Supreme Court’s actions on petitions for review in civil cases from the Court’s conference on August 30, 2017. The summary includes those civil cases in which (1) review has been granted, (2) review has been denied but one or more justices has voted for review, or (3) the Court has ordered depublished an opinion of the Court of Appeal.

Review Granted

City of Oroville v. Superior Court (California Joint Powers Risk Management Authority), S243247 – Review and Stay Granted – August 30, 2017

In an unpublished opinion, City of Orville v. Superior Court (June 13, 2017, C077181) 2017 WL 2554447, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s holding that a municipality was liable for inverse condemnation. The court denied the city’s petition for writ of mandate and vacated the stay of the trial court proceedings on damages.

This case presents the following issue: Is a city liable for inverse condemnation when a blockage in a city sewer main and the absence of a legally required backwater valve on private property caused sewage to back up onto that property?

Review Denied (with dissenting justices)

None.

Depublished

Bartoni v. American Medical Response West, S243277– Depublished Court of Appeal Opinion – August 30, 2017

Plaintiffs, current and former employees of an ambulance service company, sued their employer alleging that its meal and rest period policies violate California law. The case raised two issues: (1) Is an order denying class certification appealable under the “death knell” doctrine, where plaintiffs’ Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) claims remain pending?; and (2) Did the trial court err in denying class certification?  In a published opinion, Bartoni v. American Medical Response West (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1084, the Court of Appeal, First District, Division Two, held the trial court’s denial of class certification rested in part on an incorrect legal assumption about the nature of rest periods, and therefore remanded for further consideration.  The Supreme Court ordered the opinion depublished.