Excerpt: ... Court finds, upon the application of the factors listed in Tech-Bilt Inc. v Woodward-Clyde Associates, that Settling Defendants application demonstrates the good faith nature of the settlement between Plaintiffs and Settling Defendants. (Tech-Bilt Inc. v Woodward-Clyde Associates (1985) 38 Cal.3d 488, code of Civil Procedure SS 877, 877.6). The Court also finds that said settlement amount of settlement is within reasonable range of Settling Defe...

Excerpt: ...siness and Professions Code. Specifically, plaintiff has pled sufficient facts demonstrating a loss or deprivation of money or property sufficient to qualify as an injury in fact, i.e., economic injury, and that said economic injury was result of, i.e., caused by, the unfair business practice. (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code S 17204, Prager Univ. v. Google LLC, (2022), 85 Cal. App. 5th 1022, review filed Jan. 17, 2023). Additionally, Plaintiff has allege...

Excerpt: ...nably entitled to $24,756 in attorney's fees, $3258.33 in costs and $760 in unpaid sanctions awarded by the Court on 3/8/23. (Nightingale v. Hyundai Motor America (1994) 31 cal.App.4th 99, 104) b) As a general rule, the Court may amend its judgment at any time so that the judgment will properly designate the real defendants. (Danko v. O'Reilly (2014) 232 Cal. App. 4th 732, Cade Civ. Proc. S 187.) Furthermore, Code of Civil Procedure S 187 which g...

Excerpt: ...sk Manager to "accept, negotiate, settle and pay general liability and worker's compensation claims up to" and respectively, whereas Plaintiffs claim notice was for The Court therefore finds that said Human Resources Director and Risk Manager were not authorized to reject Plaintiff's claim. The Court accordingly finds the rejection emanating from the City of Modesto dated 5/12/22 to be invalid and ineffective. Accordingly, Defendant's demurrer to...

Excerpt: ..., no such statement had been filed as ordered and the Court again re-issued the order to file the joint status statement and again continued the hearing to this date in order to determine compliance. (Minute Order of 10/3/23.) As of this posting, the Court's docket does not reflect that any such joint status statement has been filed and Plaintiffs moton has not been withdrawn nor has a notice of settlement been filed with the Court. Accordingly, ...

Excerpt: ...mages The Court grants the MS] on the following -ssues: Issue 5: Discrimination. Issue 6: Retaliation. PROCEDURAL ISSUES: The language and numbering of the issues is not exactly parallel in the notice of moton and the separate statement. As such, the Court has the discretion to deny the moton on that basis. The Court declines to do so. EVIDENTIARY ISSUES: Plaintiff's objections to Defendant's evidence: 1-3: Overruled. These objections go toward w...

Excerpt: ...Viejo Emergency Medical Associates v. Beta Healthcare Group (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 1146, 1153-1154.) The Court finds that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that the agreement should not be enforced herein. Specifically, Plaintiff has demonstrated only a slight degree of procedural unconscionability in connection with the adhesive nature of the agreement, and that alone is insufficient to render the agreement unenforceable. Plaintiffs arguments ...

Excerpt: ...bode" means the place defendant holds out as his or her principal residence and where he or she is most likely to receive actual notice. Zirbes u Stratton (1986) 187 cal.App.3d 1407, 1415-1417. In Zirbes v. Stratton the plaintiff left copies of the summons and complaint against Wife (i) at the restaurant she owned with estranged Husband (but she did not work there); and (ii) at her mother's home (listed as her residence on her drivers license). T...

Excerpt: ... or usual place of abode" means the place defendant holds out as his or her principal residence and where he or she is most likely to receive actual notice. Zirbes u Stratton (1986) 187 cal.App.3d 1407, 1415-1417. In Zirbes v. Stratton the plaintiff left copies of the summons and complaint against Wife (i) at the restaurant she owned with estranged Husband (but she did not work there); and (ii) at her mother's home (listed as her residence on her...

Excerpt: ...ategories and documents specified in Plaintiff's deposition notice. To the extent that the latter issues are raised bythe instant motion, the Court finds that the motion is premature. In addition, the papers demonstrate insufficient meet-and-confer efforts on those issues. With regard to the scheduling of the deposition itself, the Court notes that the defense has indicated a willingness to produce a qualified witness at a "mutually agreeable dat...

Excerpt: ...cial Interrogatories, Plaintiff's instant application is now moot. The Court declines to impose monetary sanctions on grounds that Defendant's Counsel's calendaring error constitutes substantial justification for failingto respond to said Special Interrogatories. (Code of Civ. Proc. section 2023.030 (a)). b) GRANTED. The Court finds that Defendant has substantially complied with Plaintiff's propounded discovery. Further, that Defendant's failure ...

Excerpt: ...ly. The Court finds that there is no excusable neglect, which is the only grounds cited in the Notice of Moton or Motion itself. Further, there was no Answer attached to the motion, which renders the Court without authority to proceed. The Court cannot rule on the motion effectively made in the reply brief without giving Plaintiff an opportunity to respond, which is one option. If Plaintiff elects to have the motion for mandatory relief heard wai...

Excerpt: ...convenient Forum — a, b and c- DENIED. California favors contractual forum selection clauses so long as they are entered into freely and voluntarily, and their enforcement would not be unreasonable. (Smith, Valentino & Smith, Inc. v. Superior Court (1976) 17 Cal.3d 491, 496.) However, a forum selection clause will not be enforced if doing so would bring about a result contrary to the public policy of this state. (Smith, supra, at pp. 496-497; C...

Excerpt: ... neurological examination." It then lists some issues the doctor will check and concludes that he will do other medically necessary tests. This is facially deficient. The Court considers the assertions raised first in the reply brief only to note that this still isn't sufficient. code Civ. Proc. SS 2032.220(c), 2032.320(d), and carpenter v. superior court (2006) 141 cal.App.4± 249, 260 outline the requirement to specify the procedures in detail,...

Excerpt: ...Court is unpersuaded that conversations prior to the filing of the complaint about the dispute are sufficient to give actual notice of the lawsuit. As Plaintiff concedes, the request for relief under S 473.5 is timely. Defendant asserts that he was not given actual notice despite multiple mailings and efforts to contact him. The assertion of lack of knowledge is unconditional. Sanctions are only available under S 473, and not S 473.5. In this cas...

Excerpt: ... are waived. (Code Civ. Proc. S 2031.3W(a).) Moreover, the Court finds that Plaintiff has not complied with the requirements for relief set forth in Code Civ. Prtw S 2031.3W(a). Therefore, Defendant is entitled to an order compelling Plaintiff to provide verified responses, without objection, within 14 days. (CINIe Civ. Proc. S 2031.3w(b).) In addition, the Court finds that Defendant is entitled to an award of monetary sanctions in connection wit...

Excerpt: ...ourt also finds the unanimous rate of participation by class members to be a strong factor in approving this settlement. The Court also finds the awards to the Class Representatives and to the Class Members to be appropriate given all relevant factors of the Settlement. The Court also finds the attorney's fees to be comparable to the award of fees generally issued by California Courts. Therefore, the Class Class Representatives, and Class Counsel...

Excerpt: ... Mann v. Pacific Greyhound Lines (1949) 92 Cal.App.2d 439, 446. Continuances should be granted sparingly and only on a proper showing of good cause. County of San Bernardino v. Doria Mining & Engineering Corp. (1977) 72 Cal.App.3d 776, 781. "To ensure the prompt dispositon of civil cases, the dates assigned for a trial are firm. All parties and their counsel must regard the date set for trial as certain." [CRC 3.1332(a); see also CRC 3.1332(c)—...

Excerpt: ...y in the notice of motion and be repeated, verbatim, in the separate statement of undisputed material facts." The issues as stated in the notce of motion and moton do not duplicate the issues set forth in the separate statement. Because they are different, Defendants did not have fair notice of which issues to address, and the Court is unclear on what issues it should be deciding. Assuming the issues as set forth in the separate statement are the...

Excerpt: ..., Defendant may reasonably be held to have exhibited a conscious disregard for the safety of others and thereby establishing the required malice element for Plaintiffs' claim for punitive damages herein. (Cal. Civ. Cade S 3294(c)(1), Kingv. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, (2020), 53 Cal. App. 5th 675, as modified on denial of reh'g (Aug. 24, 2020), Taylor v. Superior Ct., (1979) 24 Cal. 3d 890). Accordingly, Defendant's motion to strike is hereby denied...

Excerpt: ...inds that per said arbitration agreement, Plaintiff, as the party electing arbitration is entitled to choose between the American Arbitration Association (AAA), JAMS or any other reputable arbitration organization as the arbitration forum. The Court further finds that Plaintiff has elected the American Arbitration Association (AAA) as the arbitration forum for this dispute. Accordingly, Plaintiff's claims are ordered to arbitration with the Ameri...

Excerpt: ...ars to identify factual issues with regard to whether the defect at issue triggered the potential for liability under the notce provisions of Modesto Municipal Code S 7-1.304. (See, e.g. UMF 12, 13, 18, 23-25.) In addition, Defendants' evidence does not support the conclusion that the subject defect was trivial as a matter of law. (See, e.g. UMF 24.) Assuming arguendo that Defendants had met the initial burden of establishing prima facie entitlem...

Excerpt: ...nd Blanca Padilla's Motion to Deem Admitted the Truth of the Matters Asserted in Requests for Admissions; Request for Monetary Sanctions — GRANTED, and unopposed. (a) The Court finds that Plaintiff, Viorica Jerrick, entirely failed to respond to the subject discovery and all objections are waived. (Code Civ. Proc. S 2030.290(a).) Therefore, Defendants are entitled to an order compelling Plaintiff to provide verified responses, without objection...

Excerpt: ...l — and some fail for clear reasons. The Court is also required to limit sanctions, if any, to those that will deter the behavior. In this case, the request for attorney fees was by statute or case law, and by a reasonable extension of case law. Nonetheless, the Court does not view it as the sort of abusive conduct it finds sanctionable (and I have, indeed, found conduct sanctionable, and have issued sanctions designed to deter the adverse cond...

Excerpt: ...and the California Judicial Canons all require the Court to treat trial dates as firm. With regret, the Court believes it has an affrmative obligation to grant the motion under these circumstances. The Court is not at all persuaded by Plaintiff's claim that this amendment could not have been effectuated earlier. But Higgins v. Del Faro (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 558, 565 instructs that trial courts should be very liberal indeed as to allow-ng amendmen...