LYNN GRANDE,
S261247
Supreme Court of California
June 30, 2022
Fourth Appellate District, Division Two E068730, E068751; Riverside County Superior Court RIC1514281
Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye authored the opinion of the Court, in which Justices Corrigan, Liu, Kruger, Groban, Jenkins, and Guerrero concurred.
GRANDE v. EISENHOWER MEDICAL CENTER
S261247
Opinion of the Court by
A staffing agency (FlexCare LLC) arranged for a nurse (Lynn Grande) to work at a hospital (Eisenhower Medical Center). The nurse sued the staffing agency for violating the Labor Code and the Unfair Competition Law. The parties settled and the court entered judgment upon the settlement. The hospital was not a party to that initial lawsuit and the settlement did not name the hospital as a released party.
The nurse then sued the hospital based on the same alleged violations. The hospital argued that, because of the first judgment, claim preclusion foreclosed the nurse‘s second suit. The Court of Appeal disagreed, criticizing the reasoning of a published opinion that found claim preclusion on similar facts. (Grande v. Eisenhower Medical Center (2020) 44 Cal.App.5th 1147, 1162-1163 (Grande), criticizing Castillo v. Glenair, Inc. (2018) 23 Cal.App.5th 252, 278-281 (Castillo).) We granted review to resolve this tension in the case law.
The core of this dispute concerns privity. Judgments bind not only parties, but also “those persons ‘in privity with’ parties.” (Armstrong v. Armstrong (1976) 15 Cal.3d 942, 951.) Questions about privity typically arise when a litigant attempts to use a judgment against someone who was not party to that judgment. (See DKN Holdings LLC v. Faerber (2015) 61 Cal.4th 813, 826, fn. 9 (DKN Holdings).)
This case does not present a typical privity question. Because the nurse was a party to the initial judgment, the judgment can be used against her whether or not she was in privity with some other party. But for claim preclusion, the affirmative defense asserted by the hospital, that is not enough. Instead, we have frequently explained that claim preclusion can be asserted only by a party in the first action or someone in privity with a party in the first action. In this case, a nonparty (the hospital) argues that it is in
That argument is not persuasive. We recently explained that privity “requires the sharing of ‘an identity or community of interest,’ with ‘adequate representation’ of that interest in the first suit, and circumstances such that the nonparty ‘should reasonably have expected to be bound’ by the first suit.” (DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 826.) There is no such privity here because of the hospital and staffing agency‘s different legal interests. Nor can preclusion be based on a claimed indemnification or agency relationship between those litigants. We will thus affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
I. BACKGROUND
Intervener FlexCare LLC is a temporary staffing agency. Plaintiff Lynn Grande is a nurse. FlexCare assigned Grande to work at defendant Eisenhower Medical Center, which she did for about a week in February 2012. Under the terms of an agreement between the staffing agency (FlexCare) and the hospital (Eisenhower), the staffing agency purportedly “retain[ed] exclusive and total legal responsibility as the employer of Staff,” including “the obligation to ensure full compliance with and satisfaction of” wage and hour requirements. The hospital retained discretion to assign shifts. Nurses were to use the hospital‘s time and attendance system. The staffing agency agreed to indemnify the hospital for certain obligations concerning this staffing arrangement. The two lawsuits relevant here, described below, relate to that arrangement.
A. First Suit, Against the Staffing Agency
A person not party to the case now before us filed a putative class action against the staffing agency and others in state court. The nurse who filed the present case (Grande) joined the prior action as a named plaintiff, alleging wage and hour violations during the time she worked at the hospital. Both plaintiffs sought to represent a class that included a broad group of the staffing agency‘s employees, not merely nurses placed at Eisenhower. The hospital was not named as a defendant in this prior action and did not intervene in it.
The parties to the first suit reached a stipulation and settlement agreement, with the staffing agency to pay no more than $750,000. The trial court approved the agreement and entered judgment. For purposes of the judgment, the court certified a class of ” ‘all persons who at any time from or after January 30, 2008 through April 8, 2014 were non-exempt nursing employees
B. Second Suit, Against the Hospital
After the judgment in the first suit became final, the nurse filed this putative class action against the hospital. The suit is based on alleged wage and hour violations while the nurse worked there. The scope of the (putative) class at issue in this second action differs from the class at issue in the first. Unlike the first suit, which concerned nonexempt employees of the staffing agency placed throughout the state (not just at Eisenhower), this second suit concerns nonexempt employees of the hospital placed by any staffing agency (not just by FlexCare).
The staffing agency (FlexCare) filed a complaint in intervention, seeking declaratory relief. The staffing agency and the hospital argued both that the hospital was entitled to the benefit of the earlier release, and that the first judgment precludes the nurse from bringing this second suit.
The court held a bench trial on the release and preclusion issues. The court found that “the language in the release clause cannot reasonably be construed to extend to claims Plaintiff may have against [the hospital] in this case.” The court further concluded that because the hospital “is not in privity with [the staffing agency], as that term is understood for claim preclusion (res judicata) purposes, Plaintiff‘s claim against [the hospital] in this case is not barred by the Final Judgment” in the first action. The court reasoned that “if Plaintiff were attempting to hold [the hospital] derivatively liable for [the staffing agency‘s] violation of the Labor Code, one might be able to argue that claim preclusion should apply to bar this suit.” But the court “found no support for the proposition that joint employer liability is a derivative claim“; on the contrary, “case law supports the view that joint employer liability is joint and several, with each employer having a separate and independent duty to comply with the
The staffing agency and the hospital sought review in the Court of Appeal. The trial court entered judgment on the staffing agency‘s complaint in
A divided panel of the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court‘s judgment against the staffing agency and denied the hospital‘s petition for writ of mandate. (Grande, supra, 44 Cal.App.5th at p. 1168.) The court first concluded that preclusion was inappropriate because the hospital was not in privity with the staffing agency. (Id., at pp. 1157-1163.) In doing so, the court criticized the privity analysis in the Castillo opinion. (Grande, at p. 1162.) The court also found no error in the trial court‘s conclusion that the settlement did not release claims against the hospital. (Grande, at pp. 1163-1167.)
Presiding Justice Ramirez dissented. He “would follow Castillo, as a matter of stare decisis,” concluding that it was not “so plainly wrong as to justify creating a split of authority.” (Grande, supra, 44 Cal.App.5th at p. 1168 (dis. opn. of Ramirez, P. J.).)
We granted review. Below, we first briefly confirm that the trial court‘s interpretation of the release was supported by substantial evidence. That interpretation may well be dispositive of the preclusion question; there is a strong argument - not meaningfully addressed in Castillo, the appellate opinion below, or the briefing here - that an agreement giving rise to a judgment should control the preclusive effect of that judgment. Regardless, even under ordinary principles of claim preclusion, the hospital and staffing agency have not demonstrated that the Court of Appeal erred.
II. SCOPE OF RELEASE AND RELATIONSHIP TO PRECLUSION
A. Scope of Release
We begin with the text of the agreement giving rise to the first judgment. In most pertinent part, it released “FlexCare, LLC, [several individuals], and all present and former subsidiaries, affiliates, divisions, related or affiliated companies, parent companies, franchisors, franchisees, shareholders, and attorneys, and their respective successors and predecessors in interest, all of their respective officers, directors, employees, administrators, fiduciaries, trustees and agents, and each of their past, present and future officers,
The trial court resolved this ambiguity following a bench trial, relying at least in part on evidence extrinsic to the agreement. For example, the court emphasized “[t]he facts surrounding” the first action, identifying testimony that “if claims against [the hospital] were intended to be waived or released, Plaintiff would have named [the hospital] and pursued discovery against it, and obtained money from it in a settlement - none of which occurred.” The trial court‘s fact-specific determination - construing this particular release, based on the evidence adduced at this particular trial - is supported by substantial evidence. We affirm on that basis.
Our decision on this issue is thus fact- and case-specific. We note, however, that the broader notion that a client is an “agent” of a staffing agency is not free from doubt. We have described “the right of control” as “the essential characteristic” of an agency relationship. (Edwards v. Freeman (1949) 34 Cal.2d 589, 592.) Accordingly, while some courts have relied on the presence of a joint employment relationship as a means of establishing agency (see, e.g., Garcia v. Pexco, LLC (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 782), it is not self-evident that interdependence between a client and staffing agency reflects that right of control, nor that two entities’ joint employment of and control over the same employee entails control over each other. We do not resolve these issues, but courts confronted with similar questions in the future should consider them closely, bearing in mind the facts of each case. And, of course, future litigants can specify that their releases extend to staffing agency clients - if that result is intended.
B. Relationship Between Release and Preclusion
There is a substantial argument that our conclusion regarding the scope of the release should also resolve the preclusion question. “The basically contractual nature of consent judgments has led to general agreement that preclusive effects should be measured by the intent of the parties.” (18A Wright et al., Fed. Practice and Procedure (3d. ed. 2017) Jurisdiction and Related Matters, § 4443, pp. 254-255 (hereafter FPP).) One might reasonably ask why, if the hospital is not entitled to the benefit of the release, the hospital should nevertheless be entitled to assert claim preclusion because of
We can decide this case without resolving whether the scope of the release controls the preclusive effect of the judgment. If the release is controlling, then based on our conclusion above, the judgment does not preclude the nurse‘s claim against the hospital. If the release is not controlling, the judgment still does not preclude the nurse‘s claim against the hospital, based on the ordinary principles of preclusion to which we now turn.
III. OVERVIEW OF PRECLUSION
Preclusion comes in two main forms: claim preclusion and issue preclusion. (See Samara v. Matar (2018) 5 Cal.5th 322, 326 & fn. 1 (Samara).) As the names suggest, claim preclusion prevents relitigation of entire claims (or “causes of action“) (id., at p. 326), while issue preclusion prevents relitigation of specific issues (id., at p. 327). Like many courts, we previously used the terms “res judicata” and “collateral estoppel” when discussing claim and issue preclusion, respectively. (Samara, supra, 5 Cal.5th at p. 326; see also id., at p. 326, fn. 1. [also noting our prior use of ” ’ “res judicata” as an umbrella term’ capable of referring to claim preclusion, issue preclusion, or both“].)
Claim and issue preclusion have different requirements. We have described claim preclusion as applying “only when ‘a second suit involves (1) the same cause of action (2) between the same parties [or their privies] (3) after a final judgment on the merits in the first suit.’ ” (Samara, supra, 5 Cal.5th at p. 327, italics added.) Issue preclusion, by contrast, “applies only ‘(1) after final adjudication (2) of an identical issue (3) actually litigated and necessarily decided in the first suit and (4) asserted against one who was a party in the first suit or one in privity with that party.’ ” (Ibid., italics added.)
Privity is thus relevant under both doctrines, but with one significant difference. “The loose term ‘privity’ refers to some relationship or connection with the party that makes it proper to hold ‘privies’ bound with the actual parties.” (7 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (5th ed. 2008) Judgments, § 456, p. 1113; see also pt. IV.A., post.) For both claim and issue preclusion, a judgment can
This between-the-same-parties-or-privies formulation reflects claim preclusion‘s longstanding mutuality requirement. (See DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 827, fn. 10.) “For many years, most courts followed the general rule that the favorable preclusion effects of a judgment were available only to a person who would have been bound by any unfavorable preclusion effects. This rule, known as the rule of mutuality, established a pleasing symmetry - a judgment was binding only on parties and persons in privity with them, and a judgment could be invoked only by parties and their privies.” (FPP, supra, § 4463, pp. 666-667; cf. Bernhard v. Bank of America (1942) 19 Cal.2d 807, 811 (Bernhard) [“The estoppel is mutual if the one taking advantage of the earlier adjudication would have been bound by it, had it gone against him“].) In short, litigants “could only take advantage of an earlier judgment if that judgment would have bound them, had it been decided differently.” (DKN Holdings, at p. 827, fn. 10.) In Bernhard, “we repudiated the mutuality rule for issue preclusion” (ibid.) - but not for claim preclusion. Claim preclusion can prevent reassertion of a claim without regard to whether a plaintiff won or lost in an initial action. (See Busick v. Workmen‘s Comp. Appeals Bd. (1972) 7 Cal.3d 967, 973 [describing merger and bar]; see also Mycogen Corp. v. Monsanto Co. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 888, 896-897; Rest.2d Judgments (1982) § 17, p. 148.) Allowing nonmutual claim preclusion would thus exert pressure akin to a mandatory joinder rule. If claims against nonparties would be extinguished by a judgment in an initial action - regardless of who wins that initial action - then a plaintiff would be required to either join the nonparties in the initial action or lose its claims against them.
IV. THE HOSPITAL WAS NOT IN PRIVITY WITH THE STAFFING AGENCY
With this context regarding the same-parties-or-privies requirement in mind, the hospital stands in privity with the staffing agency only if circumstances would permit binding the hospital to an unfavorable judgment against the staffing agency in the first action. (See DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 827, fn. 10; see also id., at p. 826.) In other words, “privity” is not merely
The term privity is sometimes used more broadly, to convey that nonparties may take advantage even of judgments that could not bind them. There is a fair argument that such preclusion should be instead described as nonmutual claim preclusion. (See pt. IV.C., post.) But as we will discuss, no matter the label, such preclusion is inappropriate in this case.
A. General Principles
As mentioned, “[t]he loose term ‘privity’ refers to some relationship or connection with the party that makes it proper to hold ‘privies’ bound with the actual parties.” (7 Witkin, Cal. Procedure, supra, § 456, p. 1113; cf. Taylor v. Sturgell (2008) 553 U.S. 880, 894, fn. 8.)
The circumstances recognized as creating privity have evolved over time. Our older decisions often define privity in terms of a nonparty‘s acquisition of an interest in the subject matter of litigation. Bernhard, for example, described “[a] privy” as “one who, after rendition of the judgment, has acquired an interest in the subject matter affected by the judgment through or under one of the parties, as by inheritance, succession, or purchase.” (Bernhard, supra, 19 Cal.2d at p. 811.) Other decisions and a statutory provision are to similar effect. (See
Our
B. The Hospital Would Not Have Been Bound by an Adverse Judgment in the Initial Action
As the litigants asserting preclusion, the hospital and staffing agency bear the burden of establishing that they were in privity in the first action. (Vella v. Hudgins (1977) 20 Cal.3d 251, 257; cf. Lucido v. Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal.3d 335, 341.) As mentioned, to do so here, they must establish that they shared ” ‘an identity or community of interest,’ with ‘adequate representation’ of that interest in the first suit, and circumstances such that the nonparty ‘should reasonably have expected to be bound’ by the first suit.” (DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 826.) Our recent decision in DKN Holdings illustrates this inquiry.
In DKN Holdings, a litigant purported to be in privity with a party to an earlier judgment to assert claim preclusion based on that judgment. (DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at pp. 825-826 & fn. 19.) A landlord had prevailed on a claim against one of three jointly and severally liable lessees. (Id., at pp. 818-819.) The landlord sued the other two lessees in a separate action. (Id., at p. 819.) A defendant in the second action argued that the landlord‘s “rights under the lease had been adjudicated” in the first action, precluding the second suit. (Ibid.)
We disagreed. After setting out the privity inquiry quoted above, we explained, ” ’ “A nonparty alleged to be in privity must have an interest so similar to the party‘s interest that the party acted as the nonparty‘s ‘virtual representative’ ” ’ in the first action. [Citation.] Joint and several liability alone does not create such a closely aligned interest between co-obligors. The liability of each joint and several obligor is separate and independent, not vicarious or derivative.” (DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 826.) We distinguished Court of Appeal decisions addressing situations in which “a defendant‘s liability [was] entirely deriv[ative] [of] that of a party in an earlier action.” (Id., at pp. 827-828, italics added.) “The concepts of joint and several liability and derivative liability,” we explained, “are not coextensive.” (Id., at p. 828.) Instead, “[e]ach joint and several obligor is separately
DKN Holdings makes clear that privity does not exist merely because two entities are allegedly liable for the same wrong to the same plaintiff. Likewise, then, privity does not exist merely because two entities share an interest in establishing that no wrong occurred. Accordingly, whether the staffing agency had an interest in showing that neither it nor the hospital was liable to the nurse cannot end the inquiry.
Here, even if, as a factual matter, the hospital and staffing agency worked together to satisfy their payment obligations, that does not mean their legal interests were not distinct. Although the staffing agency describes this second case as concerning “the exact same wage and hour violations” that were at issue in the first action, at oral argument the staffing agency declined to concede that it would need to indemnify the hospital for all liability arising from the conduct at issue in this second action. The implication is that at least some of the alleged violations could, in the staffing agency‘s view, result in liability for the hospital but not for the staffing agency. This suggests a conflict of incentives rather than adequate representation. Likewise, the hospital may have had an interest in shifting fault to the staffing agency had it been party to that action - and the staffing agency, quite obviously, would not have represented that interest. (Cf. Clemmer, supra, 22 Cal.3d at p. 874 [“plaintiffs’ interests in litigating the issue of willfulness differed from those of Dr. Lovelace and were therefore not adequately represented by him in his prior criminal trial“].)
The hospital and staffing agency nevertheless contend that their position is supported by the Court of Appeal‘s decision in Castillo. Castillo concerned a temporary staffing agency (GCA), the agency‘s employees, and its client (Glenair). (See Castillo, supra, 23 Cal.App.5th at p. 266.) A lawsuit was filed against the staffing agency on behalf of a class that included employees Andrew and David Castillo. (Id., at pp. 266-267.) The action resulted in a court-approved settlement, which included a release. (Id., at pp. 267-268.) The Castillos separately sued the staffing agency‘s client Glenair, at which they had been placed to work. (Id., at p. 266.) The Court of Appeal concluded, in portions of its opinion not essential to our discussion here, that Glenair was entitled to summary judgment on the theory that the release in the class action extinguished the Castillos’ claims against Glenair. (See id., at pp. 281-282.)
The court also remarked on our decision in DKN Holdings. “This case is distinguishable” from DKN Holdings, the Castillo court reasoned, “because, assuming Glenair and GCA are jointly and severally liable, our finding of privity does not rely on any such relationship. Rather, as explained above, Glenair and GCA are in privity for present purposes based both on their interdependent relationship with respect to payment of the Castillos’ wages as well as on the fact that this litigation revolves around alleged errors in the payment of the Castillos’ wages. DKN Holdings does not preclude our conclusion here.” (Castillo, supra, 23 Cal.App.5th at p. 280; see also id., at p. 287.) In doing so, Castillo appears to have focused on the factual circumstances surrounding defendants’ compliance with wage and hour obligations, rather than the nature of defendants’ legal obligations to the plaintiffs. (But see DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at pp. 822-823.)
Building on Castillo, the hospital and the staffing agency here contend that they are in privity because of their similar relationship to the “subject matter” of the initial action. None of their briefing on this point explores the fact that the initial suit concerned a different class of plaintiffs than this second suit - and thus, at least arguably, concerned a rather different “subject matter.” Recall, too, that the first suit concerned nonexempt employees of the staffing agency placed throughout California. The hospital and staffing agency‘s
To be sure, Castillo is correct that the privity inquiry focuses on the relationship between supposed privies in the context of the litigation - not a static analysis of the relationship between them. Two litigants may be privies in some circumstances yet strangers in others. But even viewed in the context of the initial litigation, the staffing agency and hospital‘s divergent interests prevent a finding of privity.4
C. The Hospital Is Not Otherwise Entitled to Benefit from Claim Preclusion
The briefing reflects two other theories of privity suggesting that, in the hospital‘s view, the hospital is entitled to benefit from the claim preclusive effect of the first judgment even if it could not have been bound by that judgment. Although we recognize that the term privity is sometimes used in this manner, such preclusion might more appropriately be termed nonmutual claim preclusion. A doctrine of privity that allows a nonparty to benefit from a judgment, but not to be bound by a judgment, is in effect an exception to the mutuality requirement. (FPP, supra, § 4463, p. 667.) “[F]indings of privity” made under such a doctrine “may cloud reasoning as later courts confront real privity questions[] and may prevent the present court from considering and articulating the factors that make it appropriate to allow nonmutual claim preclusion.” (Id., § 4464.1, p. 705; cf. DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 824 [imprecise terminology can impede careful preclusion analysis].) For purposes of this case, however, the terminology is not critical; the theories, however named, lack merit.5
1. Contractual Indemnification Provision
The hospital contends that claim preclusion is appropriate because the staffing agency agreed to indemnify it. We can assume for purposes of this
We acknowledge the position that an indemnitee should, in at least some circumstances, be able to assert claim preclusion based on a judgment in favor of an indemnitor. (FPP, supra, § 4463, p. 671; cf. Bradley v. Rosenthal (1908) 154 Cal. 420, 425.) If a plaintiff were to lose to an indemnitor and then prevail against an indemnitee, a question would arise regarding the right to indemnification. “To allow the right of indemnification would be to destroy the victory won by the indemnitor in the first action. To deny the right of indemnification would be to destroy the indemnitee‘s right by the result of an action in which he took no part.” (FPP, supra, § 4463, p. 673.) One might afford the benefit of claim preclusion to the nonparty indemnitee based on a view that it is “better to preclude the [plaintiff], who has already had one opportunity to litigate, and who often could have joined both adversaries in the first action.” (Ibid.; cf. Lamb v. Wahlenmaier (1904) 144 Cal. 91, 93-97 [surety entitled to benefit of judgment in favor of principal, lest surety be held liable to plaintiff but unable to recover from principal].)
Regardless, this argument fails at least because the hospital has not established that the staffing agency was sued in its capacity as indemnitor. (Cf. Grande, supra, 44 Cal.App.5th at p. 1161 [“[the nurse] sued [the staffing agency] based on labor law violations [the staffing agency] committed on its own. She didn‘t allege it was derivatively or vicariously liable as [the hospital‘s] indemnitor.“].) When a contractual indemnitor is sued based on its own conduct, it is possible to simultaneously allow (i) the plaintiff to then sue the indemnitee for the indemnitee‘s conduct, (ii) the indemnitee to obtain indemnification, and (iii) the indemnitor to retain any initial (own-conduct-related) victory. That possibility renders this argument for preclusion unpersuasive. (See F.T.C. v. Garvey (9th Cir. 2004) 383 F.3d 891, 898 [“If the indemnitor is sued for its own actions and is not sued as an indemnitor for the acts of another, the rationale favoring preclusion no longer holds“].)6
2. Derivative Liability
In DKN Holdings, we identified Court of Appeal decisions indicating that “[w]hen a defendant‘s liability is entirely derived from that of a party in an earlier action, claim preclusion bars the second action because the
Here, too, DKN Holdings provides important context. Our decision in that case makes clear that liability cannot be “entirely deriv[ative]” (DKN Holdings, supra, 61 Cal.4th at p. 827) merely because, as a matter of factual causation, the alleged liability of two defendants is related. Joint and several obligors on a contract can extinguish each other‘s liability by paying a shared debt, for example, but it would be odd to treat their relationship as creating privity merely because one obligor could discharge the debt of the other. (Id. at p. 825.) The nature of the duty at issue matters. Put somewhat differently, a joint and several obligor may no longer be liable if a co-obligor has already satisfied the obligation at issue, but that does not mean the obligor‘s liability is or was “derivative” of its co-obligor‘s.
With this context in mind, the hospital and staffing agency‘s arguments fail to persuade. The staffing agency contends that the hospital‘s liability “is necessarily entirely derivative because [the staffing agency] was responsible for paying [the nurse]” based on a private agreement between the agency and the hospital. But at issue here is the hospital‘s independent duty to comply with the
For these reasons, the hospital and staffing agency have not demonstrated that the Court of Appeal erred in rejecting their claim preclusion argument. We do not decide whether preclusion would have been appropriate on any other ground.
We affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal and disapprove Castillo v. Glenair, Inc., supra, 23 Cal.App.5th 252 to the extent it is inconsistent with this opinion.
CANTIL-SAKAUYE, C. J.
We Concur:
CORRIGAN, J.
LIU, J.
KRUGER, J.
GROBAN, J.
JENKINS, J.
GUERRERO, J.
See next page for addresses and telephone numbers for counsel who argued in Supreme Court.
Name of Opinion Grande v. Eisenhower Medical Center
Procedural Posture (see XX below)
Original Appeal
Original Proceeding
Review Granted (published) XX 44 Cal.App.5th 1147
Review Granted (unpublished)
Rehearing Granted
Opinion No. S261247
Date Filed: June 30, 2022
Court: Superior
County: Riverside
Judge: Sharon J. Waters
Counsel:
Downey Brand, Cassandra M. Ferrannini, Bradley C. Carroll and Alexandra K. LaFountain for Intervener and Appellant.
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, Kendra J. Hall and Robert G. Marasco for Sharp Memorial Hospital as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Intervener and Appellant and Defendant and Petitioner.
The Dion-Kindem Law Firm, Peter R. Dion-Kindem; The Blanchard Law Group and Lonnie C. Blanchard III for Plaintiff and Respondent and for Real Party in Interest.
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, Richard J. Simmons, Ruben D. Escalante, Karin Dougan Vogel and John D. Ellis for Defendant and for Petitioner.
Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, Susan M. Steward; and Brittany Sakata for American Staffing Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Petitioner.
Seyfarth Shaw, Jeffrey A. Berman and Kiran Aftab Seldon for California Hospital Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Petitioner.
No appearance for Respondent.
Counsel who argued in Supreme Court (not intended for publication with opinion):
Cassandra M. Ferrannini
Downey Brand LLP
621 Capitol Mall, 18th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 444-1000
Richard J. Simmons
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
333 South Hope Street, 43d Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 620-1780
Peter R. Dion-Kindem
The Dion-Kindem Law Firm
2945 Townsgate Road, Suite 200
Westlake Village, CA 91361
(818) 883-4900