Olson v. Hornbrook Community Services District
Annotate this Case
Plaintiff Kimberly Olson appealed a trial court’s denial of her motion for preliminary injunction. Olson sought to enjoin defendant Hornbrook Community Services District (district) from having its employee, defendant Clint Dingman, perform “certain water-related duties (such as adding Chlorine to the [district’s] water, operating the Chlorination equipment, and doing water testing), or being paid to do so.” Olson asserted Dingman was required to be certified by the State Water Resources Control Board (board) under the operator certification program (program) as both a water treatment plant operator and a water distribution system operator to perform such duties and, because he was not certified as such, the district and Dingman (collectively defendants) violated several provisions of the Health and Safety Code. She further claimed “Dingman’s illegal operation of the [district’s] facilities ha[s] resulted in toxic and offensive water, resulting in public and private nuisances, and waste of taxpayer funds.”
The trial court denied the preliminary injunction motion because Olson failed to show a strong likelihood of success on the merits, the injunction would not maintain the status quo, and the balance of hardships tipped in favor of Dingman. Olson appealed, arguing largely that the trial court erred in its decision. The Court of Appeal did not reach the merits of Olson’s arguments because the Court concluded judicial abstention was appropriate under the facts of this case. The preliminary injunction Olson sought would have required the court to assume the functions of the board. The Court thus affirmed the order denying her preliminary injunction motion.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.