Court of Appeal Raps Employee Appellant

This one is mainly for the practitioners.


Richard Foust lost at court trial, in which he sued his former employer, San Jose Construction Company, for breach of contract.  He appealed from the judgment. The court of appeal not only affirmed, but also held the appeal was frivolous and imposed sanctions. Foust apparently failed to provide an adequate record, made arguments for the first time in his reply, and generally made it impossible for the appellate court to adequately consider his appeal.

The court sanctioned Foust $6000, payable to the court, for the frivolous appeal, and awarded sanctions to San Jose in the amount of $8743. 

The obvious takeaway - If you're going to appeal, it's best to designate an adequate record or the appellate court may make losing more expensive.

The opinion is Foust v. San Jose Construction Company, Inc. and the opinion is here.