Yates v. Kuhl

In Yates v. Kuhl (1955) 130 Cal.App.2d 536, the plaintiffs obtained the right to a water supply for their land through a deed from the defendants, who owned adjoining land. (Id. at pp. 537-538.) In the plaintiffs' first action, they alleged that the defendants had wrongfully cut off the water supply by failing to maintain a dam and weir that diverted water onto the plaintiffs' land. (Id. at p. 538.) Before judgment was entered in the action, the defendants modified the weir so that it denied water to the plaintiffs' land. (Id. at pp. 538-539.) The plaintiffs made no attempt to assert a new claim in their first action, in which the trial court issued a judgment in their favor; they filed a new action, and again prevailed. (Ibid.) The appellate court rejected the defendants' contention that the doctrine of res judicata barred the second action, reasoning that the actions involved separate episodes of misconduct resulting in "successive causes of action arising out of the same general subject matter--the right to the water." (Id. at p. 540.)