Excerpt: ... 986. PAGA settl ements are subject to trial court review “to determine whether [they are] fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA's purposes to remediate present labor 8 law violations, deter future ones, and to maximize enforcement of state labor laws.” Moniz v. Adecco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 77. The court has reviewed and considered the papers filed in support of plaintiff's motion for approval of a PAGA settlement....

Excerpt: ...t to which t hey are a party. There are no allegations supporting a breach of any obligation by MPs that they failed to perform. MPs contend the 2nd cause of action necessarily fails as plaintiff has not established a valid claim for breach of contract. Plaintiff did fi le an opposition to these demurrers, but he does not directly address the alleged deficiencies of the pleading. The relevant allegations are as follows: Plaintiff is informed an...

Excerpt: ...ns of fact contained in the complaint. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318. A demurrer challenges only the legal sufficiency of the affected pleading, not the truth of the factual allegations in the pleading or the pleader's ability to prove those allegati ons. Cundiff v. GTE Cal., Inc. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1395, 1404- 05. Questions of fact cannot be decided on demurrer. Berryman v. Merit Prop. Mgmt., Inc. (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1544, 155...

Excerpt: ...) 208 Cal.App.4t h 1125, 1135.) Any “ambiguities can be clarified under modern discovery procedures.” (Ibid.) Accordingly, the demurrer on the ground of uncertainty is OVERRULED. General Demurrer Defendant's general demurrer for failure to allege facts constituting a cause of action (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §430.10, subd. (e)) is sustained as to each cause of action identified in the demurrer with leave to amend. Common Law Retaliation: To ad...

Excerpt: ...rty must mee t and confer in person, by telephone, or by videoconference. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.41.) Here, Plaintiffs met and conferred by email only. (Declaration of Parham Nikfarjam ¶¶ 2 -3.) The Court will exercise its discretion to consider the merits of the D emurrer but admonishes the parties and counsel that the future failure to comply with Page 11 of 25 all applicable statutes and rules may result in a motion being denied or taken o...

Excerpt: .... Since then, no additional papers have been filed. Counsel should be prepared to advise the court whether further court intervention is necessary. Motion for Summary Judgment Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment; there is no request for summary adjudi cation of issues. As the court understands it, the relevant facts are relatively simple and, for the most part, undisputed. This may be a case where the issue to be resolved may not whet...

Excerpt: ...ication is GRANTED as to the second cause of action only. A “party moving for summary judgment bears an initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing of the nonexistence of any triable issue of material fact . . . .” (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850.) “A prima facie showing is one that is sufficient to support the position of the party in question.” (Id. at 851.) The parties must set forth admiss...

Excerpt: ...d plead ing, not the truth of the factual allegations in the pleading or the pleader's ability to prove those allegations. (Cundiff v. GTE Cal., Inc. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1395, 1404 -05.) Questions of fact cannot be decided on demurrer. (Berryman v. Merit Prop. Mgmt., Inc. (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1544, 1556.) Because a demurrer tests only the sufficiency of the complaint, a court will not consider facts that have not been alleged in the complain...

Excerpt: ...warded reasonable attorney's fees and costs” in an action to enforce the CC&Rs. Although the Davis -Stirling Common Interest Development Act does not define “prevailing party,” it “is well established that ‘[t]he analysis of who is a prevailing party under the fee -shifting provisions of the Act focuses on who prevailed ‘on a practical level' by achieving its main litigation objectives.'” (Champir, LLC v. Fairbanks Ranch Assn. (202...

Excerpt: ...� in an action to e nforce the CC&Rs. Although the Davis -Stirling Common Interest Development Act does not define “prevailing party,” it “is well established that ‘[t]he analysis of who is a prevailing party under the fee -shifting provisions of the Act focuses on who prevail ed ‘on a practical level' by achieving its main litigation objectives.'” (Champir, LLC v. Fairbanks Ranch Assn. (2021) 66 Cal.App.5th 583, 590; see also Villa ...

Excerpt: ..., is d isobeying a court order to provide discovery. (Id., subd. (g); Van Sickle v. Gilbert (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1495, 1516.) Imposition of sanctions for misuse of discovery lies within the trial court's discretion. (Doppes v. Bentley Motors, Inc. (2009) 174 Cal.App.4th 967, 991.) Once a party is ordered by the court to provide responses to discovery, continued failure to respond may result in the imposition of more severe sanctions. (See Code ...

Excerpt: ... billi ng address) for the cell phone number, all “call originations, call terminations, call attempts, voice and text message transactions, data communications, SMS and MMS communications, voice communications, LTE and/or IP sessions and destinations with cell s ite information,” all stored SMS and MMS content and browser cache, and multiple other categories of documents from AT&T. Because the subpoena seeks the private cell phone records of...

Excerpt: ...the adjudication of legal controversies upon their merits.” (Zamora v. Clayborn Contracting Group, Inc. (2002) 28 Cal.4th 249, 255 [citation omitted].) “Thus, the provisions of section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure are to be liberally construed and sound policy fa vors the determination of actions on their merits.” (Id. [citation and internal quotation marks omitted].) Code of Civil Procedure Section 473(b) (“Section 473(b)”) permi...

Excerpt: ...in 30 days of service of the notice of ruling. Statement of Law A party has 30 days from the date of service to respond to written discovery, plus an additional five days if the discovery requests were served by mail. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 2016.050, 2030.260, subd. (a), 2031.260, subd. (a).) If a party fails to serve timely responses to interrogatories or requests for production of documents, the propounding party may move for an order compelli...

Excerpt: ...ition or free speech un der the United States Constitution or the California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim.” (CCP § 425.16(b)(1).) An “act in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Const...

Excerpt: ...on whether the attorney must be the sole cause of the default in order to rely on the mandatory relief provision. (Dollase v. Wanu Water, Inc. (2023) 93 Cal.App.5th 1315, 1327.) “Some cases say mandatory relief is available only if the party against whom the judgmen t is taken is ‘totally innocent of any wrongdoing and the attorney was the sole cause of the default or dismissal.' [Citation.]” (Ibid.) “Other cases say that mandatory relief...

Excerpt: ...ent, dismiss al, order, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Application for this relief shall be accompanied by a copy of the answer or other pleading proposed to be filed therein, other wise the application shall not be granted, and shall be made within a reasonable time, in no case exceeding six months, after the judgment, dismissal, order, or proceeding was tak...

Excerpt: ...equested i n Plaintiff's notices of deposition. Because they refuse to engage in the discovery process and to follow the order of this Court, monetary, issue, and terminating sanctions should be issued. Based on the long history of discovery misconduct by these four defendants, the fact that they have not participated in the litigation in any way, and the fact that all mail sent to their addresses of record with the Court is returned undeliverabl...

Excerpt: ...um equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action.” (Civ. Code, § 1794, subd. (d).) Courts use the lodestar adjustment method to determine the amount of attorney's fees to award in Song -Beverly actions. (Reynolds v. Ford Motor Co. (2020) 47 C...

Excerpt: ...nd order Plaintiffs to meet and confer. Plaintiffs attempted to file an amended complaint rather than oppose the motions, which leads this court to believe that a proper meet and confer effort would likely narrow the issues or obviate the motions altogether. MP Conten tions: Defendants demur to causes of action 10 -13 and 15 for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The disputed causes of action are for negligence, i...

Excerpt: ...s to form i nterrogatories, set one, (4) motion of Hilton to compel further responses to requests for admissions, set one, (5) motion of Hilton to compel further responses to special interrogatories, set one, (6) motion of defendant Hung Nguyen, D.O. (Nguyen), to comp el further responses to request for admissions, set one, (7) motion of Nguyen to compel further responses to special interrogatories, set one, and (8) motion of Nguyen to compel fur...

Excerpt: ... is entitled to an award of punitive damages in a sum to be shown according to proof pursuant to California Government Code §§ 12965 & 12970.” (SAC, ¶¶ 125, 142.) 2. “As a consequence of the aforesaid oppressive, malicious, and despicable conduct, Plaintiff is entitl ed to an award of punitive damages in a sum to be shown according to proof at trial.” (SAC, ¶¶ 156.) 3. The 7th Cause of Action for Aiding and Abetting Failure to Reasona...

Excerpt: ...university emails used by a cademic professionals employed by public institutions. On September 9, 2020, CSI made a public records request to Respondent Regents of the University of California (“UC”), seeking correspondence relating to four articles authored by Petitioner. Petitioner , an assistant professor at UCI, argues such correspondence should not be subject to a CPRA request because the correspondence does not relate to conduct of the ...

Excerpt: ...e following p ortions of the administrative record shall be filed or lodged under seal: 1. Defense Confidential Exh. No. 1: AR075319- AR075362; 2. Defense Confidential Exh. No. 2: AR075363- AR075403; 3. Defense Confidential Exh. No. 3: AR075404- AR075415; 4. Defense Confi dential Exh. No. 4: AR075416- AR075424; 5. Defense Confidential Exh. No. 5: AR075425- AR075465; 6. Defense Confidential Exh. No. 6: AR075466- AR075472; 7. Defense Confid...

Excerpt: ...ectively, Defendants). Withdrawal of Motion After the filing of this motion, the law firm Kutak Rock LLP was removed as Defendants' Counsel. Defendants contends that the Motion to Disqualify is now moot and, in its reply, Plaintiff withdraws the motion. Therefore, the court will take the Motion to Disqualify off calendar as moot. Sanctions In its reply, Plaintiff also requests monetary sanctions based on alleged misrepresentations or omissions ...