Court of appeal reverses Humboldt court ruling; says County demurrer should not have been granted in former court reporter lawsuit against County and awards Janssen Malloy costs on appeal

 

In April 2024, I was the first one to report on a lawsuit filed by former court reporter. No one covered that lawsuit. I did several posts on that case and my last post was on March 2025.

Kay Marie Gibbs against County of Humboldt. I recognized the name because Kay was one of the best Humboldt Superior Court reporters. She worked for the local courts for almost 40 years.

Del Norte Superior Judge Darren McElfresh was assigned to the case. Mr. Patrik Griego represented Gibbs pro bono. Mr. Griego is senior partner at local law firm Janssen Malloy. 

The County of Humboldt was represented by Liebert Cassidy Whitmore, a Fresno law firm.

Judge McElfresh consistently ruled against Gibbs and Mr. Griego. I like Kay, I knew her and was very disappointed by the ruling. Kay worked for the local courts for 40 years.

Today, Mr. Griego told me, "The court of Appeal just reversed the trial court and held that the trial court should not have granted the County’s demurrer to our complaint.

The Court of Appeal remanded the case back to the trial court and awarded us and awarded us our costs on appeal."

First page and first line of second page:

Plaintiff Kay Marie Gibbs, a former employee of defendant Humboldt County, was a court reporter who worked for the Humboldt County Superior Court for almost 40 years. As she neared retirement, she learned that the county had failed to enroll her in the California Public Employees’

Retirement System (CalPERS) during the early years she was working for the court. Her first and second amended complaints against the county and three individual county employees alleged a Kafkaesque scenario in which bureaucratic impediments, indifference, or malfeasance thwarted her attempts to resolve the problem.

The trial court sustained defendants’ demurrers to the complaints and denied her the opportunity to file another amended complaint. On appeal, Gibbs argues that the court erred in doing so. We largely agree and therefore reverse."

Dispostion:

"The judgment entered following the sustaining of defendants’ demurrers is reversed as to the second and third causes of action in Gibbs’s first amended complaint and the negligence cause of action in her second amended complaint. The case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Gibbs shall recover her appellate costs."

Some extra information. Liebert Cassidy Whitmore is the same firm who tried to threaten me with potential legal information for valid reporting.

Links to all previous coverage I did can be accessed via the search feature on the blog or you can just go to the First District Court of Appeal website and read the entire ruling which provides factual and procedural background which will be easier and it is in one document.