A divided panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held Friday that a District Court judge did not err in granting a motion for class certification in an action asserting that Nestlé USA Inc. used deceptive practices, in violation of California law, by labeling its chocolate products as “sustainably” or “responsibly” sourced when they were purportedly produced using child labor and deforestation practices.

The Supreme Court that will hear arguments Tuesday on state laws banning transgender females from girls’ and women’s sports teams includes five of the justices who ruled in 2020 that federal law prohibits employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge did not err in awarding a party attorney fees for succeeding on a motion to appoint an arbitrator under a contract providing that “the prevailing party” may recover such costs incurred “in having the matter ordered” to arbitration, rejecting the opposing side’s assertion that the ruling was premature as the success was only as to an “interim procedural step” in an ongoing dispute.

On May 7, 1884, an engraved cornerstone filled with local records and items from the 19th century was added to the structure of a Sonoma County courthouse being built in downtown Santa Rosa.