California causes of action

The claims filed most often in California superior courts. Each page covers what the claim is, where the right comes from, what a plaintiff has to prove, how long they have to file, what has to happen before filing, who can be sued, what the defenses are and what the claim actually pays.

• Breach of contract in California — and the common counts filed alongside itCal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 337, 339; CACI No. 303Four years for a written contract, two for an oral one. California makes a one-sided attorney fee clause mutual — and if you are suing a public entity, a separate one-year claim deadline runs first.
• Negligence in CaliforniaCal. Civ. Code § 1714; CACI Nos. 400, 401California gives you two years to sue for personal injury. But if a public entity is involved you must present a claim within six months — and you can miss that while still inside the two years.
• Car accident claims in CaliforniaCal. Civ. Code § 1714; Cal. Veh. Code; CACI 700 seriesA California car accident claim is negligence with the Vehicle Code supplying the standard of care. Two years to sue — six months if a government vehicle was involved.
• Premises liability in CaliforniaCal. Civ. Code § 1714; CACI No. 1000California abolished the invitee, licensee, and trespasser categories in 1968. Duty now turns on a multi-factor analysis — and against a public entity you have six months to present a claim.
• Unlawful detainerCal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 1161, 1161aAn unlawful detainer is a summary proceeding — trial within 20 days. The notice is the whole case: demand a dollar more than owed and the action fails, with no cure but starting over.
• Fraud in California — and negligent misrepresentation, its lower-scienter twinCal. Civ. Code §§ 1572, 1709–1710; CACI Nos. 1900, 1903California requires fraud to be pleaded with particularity, and against a corporation the standard is stricter than the federal rule. Three years to sue, with the discovery rule written into the statute.
• Breach of the implied covenant — and insurance bad faith, the only place it becomes a tortCACI Nos. 325, 2330; Cal. Civ. Proc. Code §§ 337, 335.1Every California contract carries an implied covenant of good faith. Breaching it is ordinary contract breach — except against an insurer, where it becomes a tort with punitive damages.
• California's Unfair Competition LawCal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200Section 17200 borrows a violation of any other law and gives it a flat four-year deadline. But a private plaintiff gets restitution and an injunction only — no damages, and no jury.
• Song-BeverlyCal. Civ. Code § 1790 et seq.California's lemon law pays your attorney's fees and up to double damages for a willful refusal. But in 2024 the Supreme Court held used cars with a leftover factory warranty are not covered.
• FEHA discriminationCal. Gov. Code § 12940(a); CACI No. 2500FEHA covers employers with five employees, not fifteen. You get three years to file with the state agency but only one year to sue after the right-to-sue letter — and the clocks are independent.
• FEHA retaliationCal. Gov. Code § 12940(h); CACI No. 2505You can win a FEHA retaliation claim even if the discrimination you complained about never happened — a good-faith belief is enough. Three years to file with the agency, one year to sue.
• Wrongful termination in violation of public policy — the Tameny claimTameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (1980) 27 Cal.3d 167; CACI No. 2430A Tameny claim goes straight to court with no agency filing and carries two years instead of FEHA's one. But it cannot be brought against a public employer at all.
• Unpaid wages and overtimeCal. Lab. Code §§ 200-204, 510, 1194California overtime starts after eight hours in a day, not forty in a week. You can sue directly without going to the Labor Commissioner first, and a winning employee recovers attorney's fees.
• The Consumers Legal Remedies ActCal. Civ. Code § 1750 et seq.; CACI No. 4700The CLRA pays a winning consumer's attorney's fees. But you must send a 30-day demand letter before you can ask for damages — and that requirement has cost plaintiffs their money claims.
• Strict products liabilityGreenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57; CACI Nos. 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205California created strict products liability in 1963. You do not have to prove the manufacturer was careless — but which design-defect test you get decides who carries the burden of proof.
• Breach of fiduciary duty — and the deadline nobody agrees onCommon law; Cal. Civ. Code § 1573; CACI Nos. 4100, 4101A fiduciary can be made to hand back profits you never paid them — a remedy the Unfair Competition Law cannot reach. But whether you have three years or four depends on how the claim is characterised.
• The implied warranty of merchantability — two statutes, and a split over hidden defectsCal. Civ. Code §§ 1791.1, 1792; Cal. Com. Code § 2314California has two implied warranty statutes with different rules on privity, notice, and deadlines. And the courts disagree about whether a hidden defect has to show itself within the warranty period.
• PAGACal. Lab. Code § 2698 et seq.PAGA lets one employee sue for penalties on behalf of everyone, with the state taking most of the money. The 2024 reform changed nearly all of it — and which version applies turns on a single date.
• Meal and rest breaksCal. Lab. Code §§ 226.7, 512; IWC wage ordersA missed break costs the employer one hour of pay — and since 2021 that hour must include bonuses, not just your base rate. But the employer only has to make the break available, not force you to take it.
• Medical malpractice in CaliforniaCal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 340.5, 364, 425.13; Cal. Civ. Code § 3333.2MICRA caps non-economic damages, but the cap is no longer $250,000 — it rises every January. You also cannot plead punitive damages against a doctor without a court order first.
• Legal malpracticeCal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340.6; CACI No. 600California gives you one year from discovery and four from the mistake — but the statute carries its own tolling rules, and the clock does not start until you have suffered actual injury.
• The Rosenthal ActCal. Civ. Code § 1788 et seq.The federal debt collection statute exempts the company you originally owed. California's does not — and it folds the entire federal statute in by reference, so a violation of one is a violation of both.
• Interference with contractQuelimane Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. (1998) 19 Cal.4th 26; CACI No. 2201Persuading someone to break a contract is a tort in California even if every step was otherwise lawful. Unless the contract was terminable at will — then the rule flips.
• Interference with prospective economic advantageDella Penna v. Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (1995) 11 Cal.4th 376; CACI No. 2202Taking a competitor's customers is lawful in California. To sue over it you must prove the defendant did something independently wrongful — a requirement the Supreme Court added in 1995 to protect competition.
• Quiet titleCal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 760.010–764.080A quiet title judgment settles ownership against everyone named, including defendants who never appeared. That power is why the statute demands a verified complaint and will not let you win by default.
• Defamation in CaliforniaCal. Civ. Code §§ 44–48a; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340(c); CACI 1700 seriesCalifornia gives you one year to sue for libel or slander — the shortest tort deadline in the state. And if you sue over speech on a public issue, the defendant can make you pay their legal fees.
• ConversionCommon law; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c); CACI No. 2100Conversion does not require bad intent — a defendant with an honest belief that the property was theirs is still liable. But you generally cannot convert money unless it was a specific, identifiable sum.
• FEHA harassmentCal. Gov. Code §§ 12940(j), 12923; CACI Nos. 2521A, 2522ACalifornia is the rare state where a harasser is personally liable — and the employer threshold is one employee, not five. A 2018 statute also lowered the bar for what counts as severe or pervasive.
• Intentional infliction of emotional distress — and why workplace claims usually failHughes v. Pair (2009) 46 Cal.4th 1035; CACI No. 1600Outrageous conduct means beyond all possible bounds of decency, not merely cruel or unfair. And if it happened at work, workers' compensation exclusivity probably bars the claim entirely.
• NuisanceCal. Civ. Code §§ 3479–3481; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 731; CACI Nos. 2020, 2021A permanent nuisance is barred three years after it was created. A continuing one is never wholly barred — it gives you a new claim every day. California lets the plaintiff choose when it is unclear.
• Trespass to landCommon law; Cal. Civ. Code § 3346; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 733; CACI No. 2000Trespass is complete on entry, with no proof of harm needed. But California doubles or trebles damages for wrongfully cutting someone else's trees, and the multiplier is mandatory.
• Trespass to chattelsCommon law; Intel Corp. v. Hamidi (2003) 30 Cal.4th 1342; CACI No. 2101Unlike trespass to land, this tort requires real injury. California's Supreme Court used that requirement to hold that unwanted emails are not a trespass unless they harm the system.
• PartitionCal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 872.010 et seq., 874.311 et seq.A co-owner has an absolute right to force the division or sale of jointly held property. Since 2023, the other owners get an appraisal and a right to buy you out before any sale.
• The implied warranty of habitabilityGreen v. Superior Court (1974) 10 Cal.3d 616; Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1941, 1941.1, 1942; CACI No. 4350Every California residential lease carries a promise the place is fit to live in, and no lease term can waive it. A tenant can repair and deduct, withhold rent, or sue — and paying rent all along does not forfeit the claim.
• The Unruh Civil Rights ActCal. Civ. Code §§ 51, 52; CACI No. 3060Unruh pays at least $4,000 per violation with no proof of actual loss. And because an ADA violation is automatically an Unruh violation, an accessibility plaintiff never has to prove anyone meant to discriminate.
• The Bane ActCal. Civ. Code §§ 52.1, 51.7, 52; CACI Nos. 3066, 3063The Bane Act pays treble damages with a $4,000 floor plus attorney's fees for interference with a constitutional right. But it is a state claim, so you have six months to file a government claim — while the federal claim alongside it has two years.
• Assault and batteryCommon law; CACI Nos. 1300, 1301Battery is an offensive touching — no injury needed. Assault is the threat of one, with no contact at all. And California now gives sexual assault victims ten years instead of two.
• False imprisonmentCommon law; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 340(c); CACI No. 1400False imprisonment carries a one-year deadline — the shortest in California tort law, shared with defamation. And a store that detains you with probable cause has a complete privilege even if you took nothing.
• Malicious prosecutionCommon law; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 340(c), 425.18Civil Code § 47(b) makes almost everything said in a lawsuit untouchable. Malicious prosecution is the single exception — and it is still one of the hardest claims in California to win.
• Financial elder abuseCal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.30, 15657.5, 15657.7; CACI No. 3100California gives four years to sue for financial elder abuse — twice the ordinary fraud-adjacent period — and you do not have to prove intent to defraud. Taking property by undue influence is enough on its own.
• Elder abuse and neglectCal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 15610.57, 15657; CACI Nos. 3103, 3104Since January 2026 a survival action cannot recover what the decedent suffered before dying. The Elder Abuse Act is one of the few remaining exceptions — but only on clear and convincing proof of recklessness.
• Wrongful death and survival actionsCal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 377.30, 377.34, 377.60, 377.61A death produces two separate claims with different plaintiffs and different damages. And since January 1, 2026, the estate can no longer recover what the person suffered before dying.
• Construction defectCal. Civ. Code § 895 et seq.; McMillin Albany LLC v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 241California's Right to Repair Act is the near-exclusive remedy for new home defects, and it requires written notice and an opportunity to repair before you can sue — even if you plead only common law claims.
• Invasion of privacyCal. Const. art. I, § 1; common law; Cal. Civ. Code § 3344California is one of the few states with privacy written into its constitution — and the constitutional right runs against private companies, not just the government.
• CIPACal. Penal Code § 630 et seq.California's wiretapping law pays $5,000 per violation with no proof of harm, which is why it now drives thousands of website tracking lawsuits. Legislation to cut back the pen register theory is pending as of August 2026.
• Trade secret misappropriationCal. Civ. Code § 3426 et seq.; Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2019.210California's trade secret statute displaces every common law claim resting on the same facts — so pleading conversion or unfair competition alongside it usually loses those counts. And you must identify the secret before taking discovery.
• Dog biteCal. Civ. Code § 3342; CACI No. 463California makes a dog owner liable for a bite whether or not the dog ever showed any sign of danger. But the statute covers bites only — every other injury a dog causes goes back to ordinary negligence.
• Claim and deliveryCal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 511.010, 512.010 et seq.Claim and delivery is not a cause of action — it is the procedure for recovering personal property while the lawsuit is still pending. You post a bond, get a writ, and the sheriff takes the property.