Legal Memos

Nirschel v. Schiller (2023) 91 Cal.App 5th 386. This is a SLAPP case. In this case an employer made allegedly defamatory remarks about an employee to the owner of an employment agency regarding the employee’s unsatisfactory performance. The Court held that this did not merit anti-SLAPP protection as a prelitigation communication, because the statements were in fact made in connection with negotiation over a proposed severance payment and a release, before litigation was ripe or even threatened by the employee, and the employee’s subjective belief that litigation could possibly follow that negotiation was not enough to trigger SLAPP protection.

Castelo v. Xceed Financial Credit Union (2023) 91 Cal.App.5th 777. This is an interesting case from the standpoint of an attempt to vacate an arbitration award and the Court’s discussion about an arbitrator’s alleged failure to correctly apply public policy as being a basis for setting aside an award when the arbitrator’s decision is made in connection with the interpretation of an underlying settlement agreement. In this case the Court ended up upholding the arbitrator’s award after consideration of the arbitrator’s decision, but the reasoning in the opinion could be useful in other contexts when the public policy is in fact misinterpreted by an arbitrator.

Shetty v. HSBC Bank USA (2023) 91 Cal.App.5th 796. In this case a party had purchased a home which had been foreclosed upon but there was a senior encumbrance which was in default and that senior encumbrance proceeded with a notice of default and scheduled a foreclosure sale. The Plaintiff sought to cure the default and resume the regular payments on the loan but the Defendants refused insisting that because Plaintiff was a stranger to the loan Plaintiff was not entitled to reinstate it.

The Court found that Plaintiff in fact had standing to sue under Civil Code § 2924(c) and was a successor in interest under the plain language of the statute and thus had a right of reinstatement under that statutory provision.

/ilc

Related Attorney(s):
Gregory L. McCoy