Have you been skipping past items about California’s abuse-ridden s. 17200 business practices act (see Jun. 30, Apr. 22, Mar. 12, Feb. 16 and links from there) just because you don’t happen to live or do business in California? Then read on. Under a case currently on appeal to the state’s supreme court, a business located anywhere else in the country, perhaps even the world, can be sued under s. 17200 if it advertises for customers in California — and such advertising may take the form of maintaining a website accessible to California customers. In the case at issue, a Los Angeles appeals court ruled this March that several Nevada casino hotels “could be sued by a man seeking class action status on behalf of all California residents hit with a $3-per-night energy surcharge while staying in Las Vegas, Reno or other gambling towns.” The court held “that hotel advertisements, toll-free numbers and interactive Web sites provided sufficient contact to give Los Angeles-area resident Frank Snowney jurisdiction to sue in California” under the ultra-liberal state law. According to a Fulbright & Jaworski lawyer who is representing the casinos on appeal, the ruling “may affect any hotel, cruise ship, club, theater, museum, sporting venue, rental car company, restaurant, etc., operating exclusively outside of California, but accepting online reservations.” (Mike McKee, “Businesses Quake Over California Case”, The Recorder, Jul. 2). More: There turns out to be a whole blog dedicated to s. 17200, and it takes exception to the Recorder article’s slant, interpreting the pending case as primarily about the scope of state jurisdiction generally and only incidentally about s. 17200 (via Legal Reader).

Filed under: class actions, s. 17200, technology