New UCL "unlawful" prong opinion: Audio Visual Services Group, Inc. v. Superior Court

In Audio Visual Services Group, Inc. v. Superior Court, ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Jan. 21, 2015), the Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District, Division Three) held that the trial court should have sustained the defendant's demurrer to the plaintiff's UCL "unlawful" prong claim, without leave to amend, because the "borrowed" municipal ordinance did not apply to the plaintiff.  See slip op. at 8-14.

The Court did not consider whether the defendant's conduct might be "unfair," even if not "unlawful," as Cel-Tech allows, presumably because the plaintiff did not plead an "unfair" prong violation.  See id. at 14-15.  The Court had no problem with the idea that a municipal ordinance can form the predicate of a UCL "unlawful" prong claim.