Law Office of Roderick P. Bushnell
Cases
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Mr. Bushnell’s partnership and/or practice has
tried in excess of 100 cases, mostly in the Bay Area. In addition, the firm has
in excess of 75 published appellate opinions. A number of their cases resulted
in landmark opinions.
Some examples:
Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 7 Cal.4th 1057 (1994)
In Mangini v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Bushnell, Caplan & Fielding, LLP, along with co-counsel, sued R.J. Reynolds
over their use of the Joe Camel advertising campaign. They asserted that this
campaign enticed minors to smoke in California, and therefore caused a
violation of California Penal Code §308 which prohibits the sale of cigarettes
to minors. The California Supreme Court agreed that counsel’s theory was viable
and allowed them to proceed with the case against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. The
California Supreme Court stated, "Congress left the states free to
exercise their police power to protect minors from advertising that encourages
them to violate the law. Plaintiff may proceed under that aegis." The
litigation ultimately resolved and R. J. Reynolds agreed to phase out its Joe
Camel advertising campaign.
Kasky v. Nike, 27 Cal.4th 939 (2002) cert. granted (2003) 537 U.S. 1099, cert. dism. as improvidently granted (2003) 123 S.Ct. 2554
In Kasky v. Nike the firm
represented the plaintiff who sued, acting on behalf of the General Public,
alleging that Nike responded to public criticism of its labor practices
overseas and induced consumers to continue to buy its products by making false
statements about its label practices and about working conditions in factories
that made its products. The California Supreme Court held that Nike's comments
were commercial speech, and allowed the case to go forward. The case was
settled with Nike agreeing to investments designed to strengthen workplace
monitoring and factory worker programs. Nike agreed to make additional
workplace-related program investments totaling $1.5 million. Nike agreed that
the funds would address increased training and local capacity building to
improve the quality of independent monitoring in manufacturing countries, for
worker development programs focused on education and economic opportunity, and
a multi-sector collaboration to advance a common global standard to measure and
report on corporate responsibility performance among companies. Nike also
agreed to maintain its existing funding commitment to its after-hours worker
education programs in its footwear facilities and micro-loan programs at a minimum
of $500,000 for two (2) years.
Hudgins v. Nieman Marcus Group, Inc., 34 Cal.App.4th 1109 (1995)
In Hudgins v. Nieman Marcus, the Court agreed with the firm’s
theory that a department that paid sales persons by commission could not deduct
from their paid commissions any amounts for customer returns of merchandise for
which the particular sales person could not be identified. The policy of the
department store violated California Labor Code §221, which prohibits an
employer from collecting or receiving from an employee any part of wages
previously paid to the employee. This code section is declaratory of strong
public policy against fraud and deceit in the employment relationship. This was
an important decision for employees working on a commission basis.
Welsh v. City and County of San Francisco, 887 F. Supp 1293 (N.D. 1995)
In Welsh v. City and County of San Francisco, the firm represented
a San Francisco police officer against the Chief of Police of San Francisco and
the City and County of San Francisco in a sexual harassment case. The five‑week
jury trial resulted in a verdict for the firm’s client against the City and
County of San Francisco based on a theory of retaliation for her complaints of
sexual harassment.
People v. Arcega, 32 Cal.3d 504 (1982) (death penalty reversed),
People v. Ramos (I), 30 Cal.3d 553 (1982); People v. Ramos (II),
37 Cal.3d 136 (1984) (death penalty reversed)
People v. Arcega and People v. Ramos were capital cases
where the trial court imposed the death penalty. In People v. Arcega the California Supreme Court appointed Roderick
P. Bushnell to represent the appellant; in People v. Ramos the
California Supreme Court appointed Alan M. Caplan to represent the appellant.
The firm was successful in reversing the imposition of the death penalty in
both cases.
The
firm has also handled other high‑profile sexual harassment cases,
including a case against the movie actor Don Johnson. The firm has obtained six
and seven figure verdicts and settlements in employment cases on behalf of
terminated and harassed employees.
Other Noteworthy Cases:
People ex rel. Lungren v.
Superior Court, 14 Cal.4th 294 (1996)
Day v. AT&T Corp., 63 Cal.App.4th 325 (1998)
Walker v. Blue Cross of Calif., 4
Cal.App.4th 985 (1992)
Mahroom v. Defense Language Institute,
732 F.2d 767 (9th Cir. 1984) Gallagher v. Frye, 631 F.2d 127 (9th Cir.
1990)
U.S.A. v. Flewitt, 874
F.2d 1320 (9th Cir. 1989)
In re Harris, 49 Cal.3d 131 (1989)
U.S.A. v. Whitworth, 856 F.2d 1268 (9th Cir. 1988)
In re Winn, 13 Cal.3d 694 (1975)
People v. Brown, 11 Cal.3d 784 (1974)
Beentjes v. Placer County Air Pollution Control
District, 397 F.3d 775 (9th Cir. 2005)
DuCharme v. Int. Brotherhood of Elec Workers,
110 Cal.App.4th 107 (2003)
Koponen v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company,
165 Cal. App. 4th 345 (2008)