From Wednesday's California Court of Appeal decision in Firefighters4Freedom v. City of L.A., decided by Justice John Segal, joined by Justice Dennis Perluss (read the opinion itself for much more, and there's also a discussion of a constitutional right to privacy claim that I blogged about separately):
Neil deGrasse Tyson once said in an interview, "The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it." Under California's pleading rules, however, truth, scientific or otherwise, usually cannot be determined on demurrer…. "[T]he plausibility of the [plaintiff's] allegations has no role in deciding a demurrer under governing state law standards, which … require us to deem as true, 'however improbable,' facts alleged in a pleading …."
Firefighters4Freedom, a nonprofit corporation "whose mission is to support the constitutional rights of firefighters in the City of Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic," sued the City of Los Angeles over the City's 2021 COVID-19 vaccine mandate for City employees. Firefighters4Freedom sought declaratory and injunctive relief based on allegations the vaccine mandate exceeded the City's authority under its police powers, violated the firefighters' right to privacy under the California Constitution, and violated the firefighters' due process rights.
The trial court sustained the City's demurrer to all three causes of action without leave to amend, primarily by taking judicial notice of facts contained in various documents submitted by the City, including that "COVID-19 vaccinations are safe and effective in protecting the health and safety of the public" and that "[t]here is consensus in the medical and scientific community that COVID-19 vaccines are a reasonable method to lessen the spread of COVID-19 during the present global pandemic." … [T]he trial court erred in taking judicial notice of the truth of the statements in the documents the City asked the court to judicially notice. Because the facts in the documents submitted by the City were not subject to judicial notice, Firefighters4Freedom's causes of action cannot be resolved on demurrer.
A trial court, of course, may take judicial notice of certain aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease caused by the virus, and the existence of certain government actions and publications concerning COVID-19. But the trial court here took judicial notice of the truth of disputed factual matters. And that was error….
