Masonite Corp. v. Superior Court

By this petition, Masonite Corporation (Masonite) challenges an order of the Mendocino County Superior Court dissolving a temporary restraining order and denying Masonite’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent public release of claimed trade secret information. The information at issue was supplied to the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District (MCAQMD) in conjunction with Masonite’s reporting obligations under the Air Toxics “Hot Spots” Information and Assessment Act of 1987 (Act). (Health & Saf. Code, § 44300 et seq.) The superior court agreed with intervener, Citizens for a Healthy Ukiah (CHU), that Masonite waived its right to claim trade secret protection because it failed to set forth its claims in the exact procedural manner, on a “facility diagram” as required by section 44346 and California Code of Regulations, title 17 (Regulations), sections 93312 and 93321.

Our consideration of the procedural background takes us into a dense statutory thicket spawned by the Act, which is prefaced by an expression of legislative concern that both chemicals manufacturers and facilities and businesses that use hazardous substances might expose human…