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(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration can't legally withhold grants to police in California cities that don't cooperate with federal agencies in the enforcement of immigration laws, a federal appeals court ruled. But the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco also said on Monday that its order blocking the Justice Department from withholding assistance to local police in so-called sanctuary cities does not extend nationally. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The National Riffle Association failed to convince a federal judge that the temporary closures of California gun shops prompted by the spread of the coronavirus was unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte in Los Angeles on Monday denied the NRA's request for a temporary restraining order to prevent L.A. County from treating gun stores as non-essential businesses during the pandemic. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government said it won't go through with a proposal to move a group of California residents who have tested positive for the coronavirus but who don't have symptoms or require hospitalization to a facility in Costa Mesa. Lawyers for the government said in a court filing Friday in Santa Ana that the decision moots a lawsuit the Southern California city brought a week ago to block the possible relocation of the patients. [Extracted from the article]

U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton in Santa Ana on Monday extended a temporary restraining order blocking the planned move, after issuing an earlier order on Friday at the request of the City of Costa Mesa. Staton also ordered the federal government to share information with local officials ahead of a hearing on March 2. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The City of Costa Mesa sued to stop the U.S. government from relocating as many as 50 people diagnosed with the Coronavirus to a "dilapidated" complex surrounded by residential neighborhoods about 40 miles south of Los Angeles. The city asked a federal judge Friday to temporarily block the planned move of the patients from Travis Air Force Base in Northern California to the Fairview Development Center until all necessary steps have been taken to protect public safety. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A Southern California man collected about $147 million from more than 70,000 investors around the world by promising them profits from amber and gemstones mines that didn't actually exist and selling them worthless digital coins purportedly backed by the gems. "Mr. Chen's promises to investors were as worthless as his non-existent mines and phony digital currency", U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said in the statement. Investors who recruited new people were offered bonuses, including cash, luxury cars, homes in the Los Angeles area, and EB-5 visas for immigrant investors. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Uber Technologies Inc. and Postmates Inc. are unlikely to put a quick stop to a landmark California law they call a monstrous threat to their business models.A judge signaled Friday that she's inclined to reject a request to temporarily shield the companies from Assembly Bill 5, which is aimed at converting gig-economy workers from independent contractors to employees with benefits. Uber and Postmates didn't ask Gee to block enforcement of the law against other companies. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- A judge signaled that she'll probably deny a request by Uber Technologies Inc. and Postmates Inc. to block California from enforcing its gig-worker protection law to their drivers. Uber and Postmates didn't ask the judge to block enforcement of the law against other companies.U.S. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Riot Games Inc.'s proposed $10 million settlement of a discrimination and harassment class action lawsuit by female employees has hit a hurdle in the form of California state agencies that say the deal lets the maker of the League of Legends computer games off easy. The agency said there were "hot button indicators" that the plaintiffs' lawyers were motivated to settle the lawsuit more for their own self-interest than those of the women at the company. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- California hit back at Uber Technologies Inc.'s and Postmates Inc.'s challenge to a newly enacted labor rights law meant to ensure gig workers receive employment protections. Uber and Postmates claim it's arbitrary that direct salespeople, travel agents, grant writers, construction truck drivers, commercial fishermen and others are exempted from the law. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- The owners of a large parcel of California coastal property sued to block a recent state law allowing public access to 8.5 miles of pristine beaches. The complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles is the latest twist in a decades-long battle between the state and the owners of the 14,400-acre Hollister Ranch, located west of Santa Barbara. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Juul Labs Inc. was sued by California for allegedly targeting teenagers with ads for its e-cigarettes, after a series of lawsuits filed by schools, parents and others against the market leader as deaths and illnesses linked to vaping add up across the U.S. School districts across the U.S., among others, have filed federal suits claiming an economic burden from teen vaping, and there are more than 40 suits in state courts as well. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- California asked a court to force Facebook Inc. to cooperate with an investigation into whether the company violated its users' privacy and state law. The disclosures revealed that Facebook had suspended more than 10,000 third-party applications for potential data misuse. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- Edison International once again will try to sway a California state court judge to rule that it can't be held liable for all the damage to private property caused by a wildfire, if it isn't allowed to pass on some costs to ratepayers. Inverse-condemnation liability is based on the idea that losses will be spread throughout society, Edison argued in the court filing. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- California accused the U.S. Justice Department of breaking the law by making as much as $327.7 million in grants to law enforcement and to help victims of crime contingent on assurances that recipients don't employ undocumented workers. Among the federal grant programs that could be cut under the new requirements are Victims of Crime Act assistance and compensation grants and Violence Against Women Act grants, according to California. [Extracted from the article]

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump is poised to win a ruling blocking a California law that would require him to disclose his federal tax returns to qualify for the 2020 Republican primary ballot in the most populous state. U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento tentatively decided at a hearing Thursday to grant Trump's request to put the law on hold until there's final decision on whether it's constitutional. [Extracted from the article]

State exempts coffee from Proposition 65 cancer warnings A Los Angeles judge's ruling last year requiring the warnings could have resulted in millions of dollars in fines for the companies for failing to alert consumers sooner. [Extracted from the article]

Airbnb Inc. and Expedia Group Inc.'s HomeAway failed to persuade a U.S. court of appeals to strike down a Santa Monica law that makes the companies liable for illicit rentals in the Southern California beach city. Airbnb and HomeAway argued that the Santa Monica ordinance makes it impossible for them to operate, particularly if other municipalities adopt similar laws, because it would require them to monitor and remove listings for unregistered residences. [Extracted from the article]

California said a state judge who earlier this year ruled that coffee requires a cancer warning is too biased to oversee a new lawsuit that challenges the state's proposal to exempt the beverage from the requirement. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment on Monday filed a request to disqualify Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle. [Extracted from the article]

Duncan Hunter, an early Trump backer, stripped of assignments In March 2015, Hunter told his wife that he was planning "to buy my Hawaii shorts" but had run out of money, according to the indictment filed in federal court in San Diego. [Extracted from the article]

Starbucks Corp. and other coffee retailers are looking to get a reprieve in a legal battle over whether they need to post warnings in California that a cup of java contains chemicals known to cause cancer. "OEHHA has determined that exposures to Proposition 65-listed chemicals in coffee that are produced as part of and inherent in the processes of roasting coffee beans and brewing coffee pose no significant risk of cancer", the agency said. [Extracted from the article]

Wells Fargo & Co. must pay $97 million to home mortgage consultants and private mortgage bankers in California who didn't get the breaks they were entitled to under the state's stringent labor laws. "Wells Fargo's compensation structure for its home mortgage consultants complies with California's wage and hour laws, including pay for all break periods, and allows our HMCs to earn competitive, performance-based compensation", spokesman Tom Goyda said. [Extracted from the article]

Starbucks Turns to Top California Court to Axe "Trifling" Claims The federal court of appeals in San Francisco, which considered the case two years ago, asked the California Supreme Court to weigh in, given that the state's courts have been reluctant to apply federal limitations on California's more employee-friendly labor provisions. Starbucks has had mixed luck in California courts. [Extracted from the article]

As the Trump administration went to court to void a California law obstructing the sale of federal land, the state was threatening to sue the U.S. if it waters down automobile fuel-efficiency standards. Meanwhile, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a Democrat, took aim at plans announced by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut fuel-efficiency regulations for cars and light trucks. [Extracted from the article]

Coffee brewers and retailers can't escape a California law that requires them to tell consumers that coffee contains a chemical known to cause cancer. The coffee producers and retailers have until April 10 to file objections to the judge's proposed ruling. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports that Afghan immigrants working at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California are asking overtime pay and compensation for rest breaks and meal from the defense contractor Tatitlek Support Services. California Department of Industrial Relations spokesman Peter Melton states that the workers must received such payment as they are subjected to the state's labor laws. The class-action lawsuit faced by Tatitlek in 2011 was also mentioned.

The Council for Education and Research on Toxics doesn't have its own website, but it shares the same phone number (1-877-TOX-TORT) as Raphael Metzger, the attorney spearheading the coffee litigation. If he prevails in the case, Metzger doesn't expect the judge to award maximum damages against the coffee sellers. Two years ago, when the case went to a non-jury trial, California Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle rejected the coffee companies' argument that the drink's health benefits aren't undermined by the presence of acrylamide. [Extracted from the article]

J&J, which faces 5,500 claims in U.S. courts, has lost four previous jury verdicts in St. Louis for a total of $300 million. J&J is appealing the verdicts and in June succeeded in halting a trial in St. Louis after the U.S. Supreme Court made it more difficult for out-of-state plaintiffs to join lawsuits in state courts that are deemed favorable to their claims. [Extracted from the article]

L.A. jurors to decide whether J&J failed to warn about risks In June, a Missouri judge halted a trial in St. Louis at J&J's request following a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting out-of-state plaintiffs joining lawsuits in state court. [Extracted from the article]

In 2015, a federal appeals court reversed Real's pre-trial ruling that the California requirement for donor information would "chill" free speech. The Koch-backed group sued in 2014 for a court order that it doesn't have to disclose donor information to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, a Democrat now running for U.S. Senate. [Extracted from the article]

Sempra unit faces four misdemeanor charges as leak continues The criminal complaint filed Tuesday accuses the unit of San Diego-based Sempra Energy of four misdemeanors related to discharging air contaminants and failing to report the release of hazardous materials, Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses a series of lawsuits against several firms including Bank of America, CVS Health, and JPMorgan Chase alleging that California law requires them to provide seats for tellers and cashiers. The lawsuits were initiated under the California Private Attorney's General Act (PAGA) of 2004, which gives employees the right to sue companies over alleged labor violations. Details on previous PAGA lawsuits and on a 1913 California state statute regarding employee seating are presented.

A federal appeals court on Monday overturned a lower-court judge, allowing California Attorney General Kamala Harris to seek the information from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation while the group's lawsuit is being decided. The case is Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Harris, 15-55446, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (San Francisco). [Extracted from the article]

Attorney General Kamala Harris wants same data the IRS gets At Wednesday's hearing, the three judges didn't tip their hand whether they would let Harris have access to Americans for Prosperity's donor information. [Extracted from the article]

The investigation was spurred by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's announcement Sept. 18 that Volkswagen installed deceptive software to allow vehicles to pass emissions tests while exceeding pollution limits when driven. Attribution Edvard Pettersson: by reporter Dana Hull: by reporter Margaret Cronin Fisk: assist Michael Hytha: editor responsible Peter Blumberg: editor Jamie Butters: editor responsible. [Extracted from the article]

A California ban on foie gras can't be enforced because it violates U.S. poultry regulations, a federal judge said in a victory for producers of the delicacy made from fattened duck and goose livers. Among them was Ken Frank, owner chef of La Toque in Napa, and David Bazirgan, chef at Dirty Habit in San Francisco, who said in a Twitter post that he would serve a $60 four-course foie-gras dinner tonight to celebrate. [Extracted from the article]