News #2

Case Summaries

Family Law

[05/21] Astrue v. Capato
In a case in which a widow gave birth to twins conceived through in vitro fertilization using her husband’s frozen sperm and then applied for Social Security survivors benefits for the twins, the Social Security Administration (SSA) denial of her application is upheld, where: 1) under 42 USC section 416(h)(2)(A), the children could would qualify for benefits only if they could inherit from the deceased wage earner under state intestacy law, and Florida law did not allow them to; 2) the SSA's interpretation of the statutory scheme was reasonable and entitled to Chevron deference.

[05/16] Marriage of Green
In a dispute between ex-spouses over the husband's CalPERS pension, which included four years of credit for past military service purchased with community funds, the trial court's characterization of the credit as the husband's separate property is reversed, where prior to the marriage, the husband's right to the credit amounted to no more than an expectancy, which is not a property right divisible upon dissolution of marriage, since he held no unconditional, contractual right to the payment of benefits, or even a nonvested right to such credit, before he actually purchased the credit during the marriage, using community funds.

[05/15] In re A.S.
In juvenile court proceedings involving a brother and sister whose permanent plan called for them to be placed in foster care: 1) an order permitting the siblings to be placed separately is affirmed, and 2) an order approving an application to administer psychotropic medication to the boy is affirmed, as California Rules of Court, rule 5.640(c)(8) comports with due process.

[05/14] In re B.C.
In a case in which a man filed a JV-505 statement, requested genetic testing to determine whether he was a biological father, and filed a declaration stating that he wished to meet his paternal obligations, the Court of Appeal holds that under California Rules of Court 5.635 it was error for the juvenile court to have authorized testing but to have required the man to pay for it, and to have failed to make a determination of biological paternity.

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Contracts

[05/21] Alday v. Raytheon Co.
In a class action by retired employees under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act and section 502 of ERISA: 1) summary judgment to the plaintiffs is affirmed, where a) the employer expressly agreed to provide 100% company-paid healthcare coverage for eligible retirees in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), b) the employer's obligation survived the expiration of the CBAs, and c) the employer's agreed-upon obligation could not be unilaterally abrogated by the employer, regardless of the rights it reserved for itself in plan documents; and 2) the district court's rejection of the retirees' claim for punitive and extra-contractual damages is affirmed.

[05/21] Bickel v. Sunrise Assisted Living
In a suit against an assisted living facility that was ordered to arbitration with severance of one provision of the arbitration clause that specified that each party would bear its own attorney fees and costs in the arbitration, the trial court's decision to sever that clause is affirmed, where the plaintiff had a statutory right to recover attorney fees and costs under section 15657 of the Elder Abuse Act, and attempted waiver of that right through an arbitration clause was contrary to public policy.

[05/18] Yankee Atomic Electric Co. v. US
In an action seeking damages to compensate for the cost of storing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste beyond the time that the government promised by contract to begin storing that waste in a permanent and secure repository, the Federal Circuit: 1) affirms a) the trial court's factual determination and award of damages based on an exchanges model, b) the trial court's determination regarding the deferred costs for loading waste to DOE, and c) the trial court's finding that the government could not assert that Greater Than Class C radioactive waste must be included in the SNF acceptance queue calculations; and 2) reverses the trial court's denial of wet storage pool costs and NRC fees.

[05/18] Oxford Aviation, Inc. v. Global Aerospace, Inc.
In an action brought by an insured seeking a declaratory judgment that its insurer was required to defend it in a suit for alleged faulty repair work performed for a client, the decision of the district court is vacated so far as it rejected a duty to defend, where: 1) some damage allegedly caused by the insured was within the coverage provision of the policy; and 2) none of the five exclusions in the policy negated the duty to defend.

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