Torres v. United States District Court for the Central District of California, Riverside

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: November 21, 2024
• Docket: 24-3164
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS NOV 21 2024 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

In re: LUIS TORRES; DOROTHY No. 24-3164 TORRES, AKA Dotty Torres, D.C. No. ____________________________ 5:24-cv-00065-KK-SHK LUIS TORRES; DOROTHY MEMORANDUM* TORRES, AKA Dotty Torres,

Petitioners,

v.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE,

Respondent,

JAYCO, INC.,

Real Party in Interest.

Petition for Writ of Mandamus

Argued and Submitted November 5, 2024 Pasadena, California

Before: WARDLAW, HURWITZ, and DESAI, Circuit Judges.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3. Luis and Dorothy Torres (“Petitioners”) seek a writ of mandamus directing

the district court to vacate its March 6, 2024, order granting a motion to transfer

venue. The motion was based on an Indiana forum-selection clause in a warranty

agreement between Jayco, Inc. (“Jayco”) and Petitioners covering a motorhome.

We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1651, and we deny the petition.

Petitioners fail to show that they are entitled to the “drastic and

extraordinary remedy” of mandamus. In re Van Dusen, 654 F.3d 838, 840 (9th

Cir. 2011) (internal citation and quotations omitted). Although we consider five

factors in determining whether to issue the writ, the dispositive factor is “whether

the district court’s order is clearly erroneous as a matter of law.” In re Boon Glob.

Ltd., 923 F.3d 643, 649 (9th Cir. 2019) (quoting Bauman v. U.S. Dist. Court, 557

F.2d 650, 654–55 (9th Cir. 1977) (listing factors)). Absent clear error, we may not

disturb a district court’s order. In re Swift Transp. Co. Inc., 830 F.3d 913, 916 (9th

Cir. 2016).

The district court’s grant of Jayco’s motion was not clearly erroneous as a

matter of law. In re Boon Glob. Ltd., 923 F.3d at 649. When the district court

issued its order, the law was unclear as to whether the anti-waiver provision1 of the

1 California Civil Code Section 1790.1 provides that “[a]ny waiver by the buyer of consumer goods of the provisions of this chapter, except as expressly provided in this chapter, shall be deemed contrary to public policy and shall be unenforceable and void.”

2 24-3164 Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 1790.1, established that

enforcement of the warranty’s forum-selection clause violated California public

policy when accompanied by a stipulation to apply California law in Indiana.

Compare Frisby v. Thor Motor Coach, Inc., No. CV-22-2047-MWF (SHKx), 2023

WL 1420434, at *4 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2023) (concluding that the same forum-

selection clause at issue here did not violate Song-Beverly’s anti-waiver provision

and noting that defendant’s stipulation to apply California law in Indiana

“diminishes the argument that a state’s public policy interest in enforcement of its

laws is sufficient to overcome a valid forum-selection clause”), with Gorga v. Thor

Motor Coach, Inc., No. 23-cv-03603-RFL, 2024 WL 1090650, at *1–2 (N.D. Cal.

Feb. 6, 2024) (finding the same forum-selection clause unenforceable as in

contravention of California public policy); see also Verdugo v. Alliantgroup, L.P.,

187 Cal. Rptr. 3d 613, 627 (2015), as modified on denial of reh’g (June 25, 2015)

(acknowledging, without deciding, that a stipulation like Jayco’s could have

altered the court’s analysis of whether the forum-selection clause at issue was

enforceable).

It was not until October 7, 2024, seven months after the district court’s

order, that the California Court of Appeal issued a decision holding that the same

forum-selection clause violated California public policy as established by Song-

Beverly, and that Jayco’s proffered stipulation does not cure this violation.

3 24-3164 Lathrop v. Thor Motor Coach, Inc., 326 Cal. Rptr. 3d 159, 168–69 (2024). Before

Lathrop, “[n]o California case [had] directly addressed whether a stipulation to

apply California law renders an otherwise unenforceable forum selection clause

enforceable,” id. at 169, and multiple district courts applying California law had

previously reached the same conclusion as the district court here in cases involving

the very same warranty and stipulation, see, e.g., Frisby, 2023 WL 1420434, at *4;

Zastawnik v. Thor Motor Coach, Inc., No. CV 22-08663-PSG-AS, 2023 WL

5167363, at *2 (C.D. Cal. June 16, 2023); Derosa v. Thor Motor Coach, Inc., No.

2:20-cv-04895-SVW-PLA, 2020 WL 6647734, at *4 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 30, 2020).

Thus, we are not left with the “definite and firm conviction” that the district court

erred in light of then-existing California and federal precedent.2 In re Van Dusen,

654 F.3d at 841 (quoting DeGeorge v. U.S. Dist. Court for Cent. Dist. of Cal., 219

F.3d 930, 936 (9th Cir. 2020)). Therefore, Petitioners fail to show that they are

entitled to mandamus relief. In re Boon Glob. Ltd., 923 F.3d at 649.

PETITION DENIED.

2 This decision does not foreclose Petitioners from seeking relief from the district court’s order from the transferee court.

4 24-3164