LACBA Daily eBriefs, October 25, 2022

The following caselaw summaries are provided as a courtesy to Los Angeles County Bar Association members by the Metropolitan News-Enterprise www.metnews.com. Image removed by sender.NINTH U.S. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS Criminal Law and Procedure 18 U.S.C. §3663(a)(3) grants statutory authority to district courts to award restitution whenever a defendant agrees in a plea agreement to pay restitution. In re Doe v. U.S. - filed Oct. 25, 2022 Cite as 2022 S.O.S. 22-70098 Full text click here > Constitutional Law A district court did not abuse its discretion in reducing the attorney fees and costs payable to a serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiff given the routine nature of the work performed by the plaintiff’s attorneys, the lack of meaningful opposition by the defendants and the repetitive nature of high-frequency ADA litigation. Shayler v. 1310 PCH - filed Oct. 24, 2022 Cite as 2022 S.O.S. 21-56130 Full text click here > Torts The Communications Decency Act shielded a social media platform from liability for user-posted content. 47 U.S.C. §230(c)(1) immunity does not apply to child sex trafficking claims if the conduct underlying the claim also violates 18 U.S.C. § 1591; the availability of this immunity exception is contingent upon a plaintiff proving that a defendant-website’s own conduct—rather than its users’ conduct—resulted in a violation of §1591. Does v. Reddit - filed Oct. 24, 2022 Cite as 2022 S.O.S. 21-56293 Full text click here > Criminal Law and Procedure A district court did not clearly err in finding a defendant qualified as an organizer or leader of the criminal conspiracy under USSG §3B1.1(c) where he had the necessary influence and ability to coordinate the behavior of others so as to achieve a desired criminal result, and his recruitment efforts were indicative of his playing a leadership or central organizational role in a conspiracy. U.S. v. Kabir - filed Oct. 24, 2022 Cite as 2022 S.O.S. 21-50141 Full text click here > Image removed by sender.CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL Contracts The standard for prevailing party status under Code of Civil Procedure §1032 does not govern the prevailing party analysis for purposes of attorney fees pursuant to Civil Code §8800. Vought Construction v. Stock - filed Oct. 24, 2022, Fourth District, Div. Four Cite as 2022 S.O.S. 5390 Full text click here > Employment An employer did not meet its burden to show that there was no triable issue of material fact regarding an employee’s claim for unpaid wages where the employer could and did track the exact time in minutes that an employee worked each shift and those records showed that the employee was not paid for all the time he worked because of the employer’s quarter-hour rounding policy.

NLRB General Counsel Issues Memo on New 10(j) Injunction Casehandling Instructions to Increase Voluntary Settlements and Streamline Processes

Today, NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memorandum to all field offices announcing measures to improve the Agency’s effectiveness in securing relief under Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act. The General Counsel lays out measures that the Agency will take to better focus resources: Regions will now seek to settle the Section 10(j) aspect of cases warranting interim relief when efforts to settle the administrative case are unsuccessful. Charged parties will be given the opportunity to voluntarily agree to an interim agreement that includes remedies, such as reinstating alleged discriminatees or agreeing to bargain, pending final resolution of the administrative case by the Board. If the parties do not reach a settlement on interim relief, if it would be futile to seek such a settlement, or if a party agrees to such a settlement but violates its terms, the Region may take all appropriate actions, including seeking authorization to petition for injunctive relief in federal district court. In those instances, the Regions and the Injunction Litigation Branch will utilize streamlined 10(j) authorization procedures to facilitate more efficient processing and a more effective process for obtaining relief as quickly as possible. “Section 10(j) is one of the most important tools available to effectively enforce the Act. It is my hope that this initiative will result in an increase in voluntary agreements to obtain crucial interim remedies, will reduce the need for district court litigation, and will conserve the resources of the Agency and all parties,” said General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo. Today’s memo builds on previous memos that address the importance of injunctive relief. In February, the General Counsel announced an initiative to seek injunctions in certain cases where workers have been subject to threats or other coercive conduct during an organizing campaign. Last August, the General Counsel released a memorandum underscoring the importance of 10(j) injunction proceedings and affirming the Agency’s priority in continuing efforts to obtain immediate relief in cases that present a significant risk of remedial failure. For more information, visit us at http://beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.blogspot.com/.