Excerpt: ...ank (“FFB”) against BNY Mellon. The parties' unopposed requests for judicial notice are GRANTED. I. Factual Background A. The Lindsay Judgment and This Action This case and the related matters ultimately arise from transactions involving a property known as Stoneridge in the Coachella Valley. Plaintiffs Michael LaMelza and Villa Rossa, LLC sued Sam Lindsay, J. Robert Gilroy, First West-DHS Partners, LP, and First West Capital Corporation for ...

Excerpt: ...l, Inc. is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. This matter arises from several actions taken by the Regional Board regarding the remediation of a property located on Armstrong Avenue in Irvine. Petitioners seek a writ of mandate setting aside those actions. The operative Amended Petition (ROA 23) contains two causes of action: first, administrative mandamus under CCP § 1094.5, and second, traditional mandamus under CCP § 1085. The Regional Board ...

Excerpt: ...ns must be submitted as well. Any revised agreement and/or notice must also be served on the LWDA. 1. The Court continues to have major concerns with the class definition vis-à-vis the Arteaga matter. Counsel explains that the class in the present case —limited to mechanics in Redlands—was designed to fix a problem with respect to persons inadvertently excluded from the Arteaga class. This, per counsel, is why the settlement class is so much...

Excerpt: ...5 th Rock, LLC and EXP U.S. Services, Inc.) is GRANTED. Drum's application for determination of good faith settlement is DENIED. I. Factual Background In the complaint in this construction defect action, the current owner of the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, T-12 Three, LLC, sued both Turner (the general contractor on the hotel project) and 5 th Rock (the prior owner of the hotel, and the party that hired Turner to build the hotel) for defect-rel...

Excerpt: ...for Production, Set One; and Request for Sanctions Against Defendant IEC Corporation and Its Attorneys of Record, Call & Jensen, in the Amount of $3,210.00 4)Defendants IEC Corporation and United Education Institute's Motion to Compel Plaintiff Richard Mateos' Further Responses to Requests for Admissions Before the Court are four motions to compel further responses discovery, each of which requests sanctions. The Court rules on each of the four m...

Excerpt: ...anges, deletions, and additions must be submitted as well. Late papers will not be accepted. 1. The current version of the settlement agreement provides, at ¶ 44, that settlement payments “shall be secured by a lien against all of the Defendant's assets, junior only to the existing line in favor of Bank of the West.” Included as Exhibit B to the current version of the settlement is the security agreement that creates this lien. Section 1 of ...

Excerpt: ...ant DRSS-1 LLC's First Amended Cross- Complaint Against Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and Orange County Water District 4) Cross-Defendant Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board's Notice of Demurrer and Demurrer to Defendant DRSS-1's First Amended Cross-Complaint 5) Defendant/Cross-Complainant DRSS-1, LLC and Defendant GE Aviation Systems, LLC's Motion to Sever and Stay the Orange County Water District's Claims Against DRS...

Excerpt: ... interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record.” Rule 2.550(d)(1). The Court is unaware of any case in which sealing of a damages allegation or a cause of action not involving confidential or private information has been allowed. Defendants fail to point to anything comparable to the types of disclosures that California courts have found to qualify as “overriding interests.” (See, e.g., NBC Subsidiary (KNBC TV), Inc. v. S...

Excerpt: ...ettlement agreement and/or proposed notice is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well, including proof of service of the revised agreement on the LWDA Per the supplemental briefing, Plaintiff's valuation was based on a maximum exposure of $821,444, which was in turn based on alleged Labor Code violations affecting 65 employees over the period from August 15, 2015 to October 2016. The pre...

Excerpt: ...equest for judicial notice of the FAC in this action (ROA 25) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's evidentiary objections to the declaration of Albert Reynaldo (ROA 38) are OVERRULED. The discrepancies Plaintiff identifies between Mr. Reynaldo's declaration filed in support of the present petition (ROA 16) and his subsequent deposition testimony (Hatcher Decl. (ROA 39), Ex. A) go to weight, not admissibility. I. Factual Background A. Plaintiff's Hiring On Feb...

Excerpt: ...ndi R Schwartz's Motion Compelling Defendant American General Life Insurance Company to Produce Further Documents in Response to Plaintiff's Document Demands 4) Plaintiff Sindi R Schwartz's Motion For Order Compelling Defendant American General Life Insurance Company to Produce Unredacted Emails Produced at Deposition in Response to Plaintiff's Document Demands Plaintiff Sindi R. Schwartz originally had four discovery motions (ROAs 288, 293, 304,...

Excerpt: ...urt assumes the parties' familiarity with the background of this long-running matter. This ruling sets forth only the facts necessary to dispose of the present motion. Through this motion, Cross-Defendants seek to recover an additional $926,000 in attorney's fees, which are broken down into three categories: “(1) attorney's fees incurred by Child and Amberhill, but not previously awarded, defending against claims concerning the SRA and claims f...

Excerpt: ...l notice is GRANTED. Defendant has filed evidentiary objections (ROA 73) to Plaintiff's declaration in support of her opposition (ROA 68). Objections 1 and 3 are SUSTAINED. Objections 2 and 4 are OVERRULED. GROUNDS FOR RULING This is a putative wage-and-hour class/PAGA action in which Plaintiff alleges she and other employees of Defendant were regularly forced to work off the clock and were denied meal and rest breaks. She brings substantive clai...

Excerpt: ... seal. A court may order a record to be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts establishing: 1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; 2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; 3) A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; 4) The proposed sealing is narrowly tailored; and 5) No less restrictive means ex...

Excerpt: ...orney's fees. Each party shall be permitted to file one supplemental brief, not longer than 8 pages, by January 17, 2020. No replies to the supplemental briefs will be permitted. The continued hearing will take place on January 31, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in Department CX104. Grounds for Ruling After a jury entered a verdict in Plaintiff's favor in this trade secret dispute, Defendants prevailed on a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Def...

Excerpt: ...quest to strike Plaintiffs' class allegations is DENIED. Defendants failed to file a properly noticed motion to strike the class allegations under CCP § 435, instead requesting such relief only in the memorandum in support of their demurrer. As to the 4 th, 5 th and 6 th causes of action, Plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged violations under the applicable Labor Code provisions. The fact that Plaintiffs provide no specifics supporting those clai...

Excerpt: ...RANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as follows: 1. The Clerk is ordered to permanently seal the documents filed at ROA 1501, 1502, 1516, and 1517. 2. Cross-Complainant First Foundation Bank (“FFB”) is ordered to file public, redacted versions of the foregoing documents. 3. As to ROAs 1502 and 1517 (each a Declaration of Edward O. Morales), FFB is to file public, redacted versions that omit Exhibits 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, and 22, and redact Exhibits...

Excerpt: ...y adjudicated against him. Similarly, named plaintiffs Rodriguez and Gama settled their PAGA claims on an individual basis and are excluded from the class. The only settling plaintiff who has a potential PAGA claim is Kles. While counsel has provided Kles's letter to the LWDA in a supplemental declaration, this does not change the fact that Kles, unlike the Rodriguez plaintiffs, never filed a complaint that included a PAGA claim against R.J. Nobl...

Excerpt: ...proposed cross-complaint attached to the Lemen Declaration as Exhibit A on or before September 20, 2019. Grounds for Ruling Plaintiffs are three former employees of defendant Uni-Caps, LLC, who were terminated on March 6, 2014, after they complained to Defendant and the DFEH about alleged FEHA violations by defendant. Plaintiffs bring this action alleging defendant violated wage and hour laws and discriminated against plaintiffs who are of Korean...

Excerpt: ... The subpoenas are QUASHED in all other respects. This is a PAGA-only action in which Plaintiff, on behalf of herself and other aggrieved employees of Rubio's, alleges violations of Labor Code provisions relating to minimum wages, meal and rest breaks, wage statements, waiting time and recordkeeping. On July 12, 2019, Rubio's served identical subpoenas on two of Plaintiff's former employers, Forever 21 and K-Mart. The subpoenas each seek: [A]ny a...

Excerpt: ...2019. If a revised settlement agreement and/or class notice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. Counsel declares that the motion and supporting papers will be served on the LWDA (Quintilone Decl., ¶ 11), but there is no proof of service. 2. Please provide copies of each named Plaintiff's prefiling letter to the LWDA so the court can evaluate compliance with the ...

Excerpt: ...ng Center, Nabhan Simaan and Yola Simaan have agreed to indemnify Respondents for any fees that may be awarded to Petitioner. Grounds for Ruling I. Evidentiary Matters Real Parties' unopposed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. Items 2-4 of Petitioner's request for judicial notice are GRANTED. The request is DENIED as to Item 1, the terms of service of OneLegal, a legal services provider, obtained from the OneLegal website. This document does...

Excerpt: ...2019. If a revised settlement agreement and/or class notice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions, and additions must be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. The Court previously denied certification in this matter on the grounds that a class was not ascertainable and that commonality was lacking. From the Court's review of the papers, the only apparent change from the November 2017 denial of certification to today is that...

Excerpt: ...A.'s Motion for Further Direction Under the Court's October 26 and November 18,2018 Orders Motions #1 and #3 Only are Continued to 9/13/19 at 9:00am in CX104 by Stipulation. Motion #2 is Going Forward. Defendant San Miguel Equities, LLC's motion to seal Exhibit B to the Declaration of Greg Gilroy, conditionally lodged under seal on July 29, 2019 (ROA 1512), is DENIED. The clerk is ordered to file this document in the public record. On July 29, 20...

Excerpt: ...y Ford cases for which she was designated as an expert witness. In addition, as the Court stated on the record at the August 23, 2019 hearing on Plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees, Plaintiffs are entitled to recover the fees incurred in successfully opposing Ford's motion to tax costs. Plaintiffs are therefore awarded $5,015 in attorney's fees. Plaintiffs have filed objections to the Declaration of Daniell K. Newman. Objections 1, 2 and 4 are...

Excerpt: ...) He brings a putative wage- and-hour class action on behalf of all non-exempt employees who worked for Defendant at any time in the four years before the case was filed. (Id., ¶ 4.) The complaint alleges six causes of action: principal claims for overtime violations, meal period violations, and rest period violations, as well as derivative claims for wage statement violations, UCL violations, and PAGA. Defendant demurs on two grounds: that the ...

Excerpt: ...scription information from another source. However, insofar as Defendants seek to prevent Plaintiffs from seeking information about Ms. Callaway's alleged use of pain- killing narcotics through other means (i.e., at her upcoming deposition), the Court declines to rule at this time. GROUNDS FOR RULING I. Factual Background This legal malpractice action centers on legal advice Ms. Callaway provided concerning the structuring of Plaintiffs' direct c...

Excerpt: ...scription information from another source. However, insofar as Defendants seek to prevent Plaintiffs from seeking information about Ms. Callaway's alleged use of pain- killing narcotics through other means (i.e., at her upcoming deposition), the Court declines to rule at this time. GROUNDS FOR RULING I. Factual Background This legal malpractice action centers on legal advice Ms. Callaway provided concerning the structuring of Plaintiffs' direct c...

Excerpt: ...) He brings a putative wage- and-hour class action on behalf of all non-exempt employees who worked for Defendant at any time in the four years before the case was filed. (Id., ¶ 4.) The complaint alleges six causes of action: principal claims for overtime violations, meal period violations, and rest period violations, as well as derivative claims for wage statement violations, UCL violations, and PAGA. Defendant demurs on two grounds: that the ...

Excerpt: ...luded 538 employees, but Defendant's discovery responses indicated that 34% of the class was “severed,” leaving 355 employees. Counsel's damages analysis is based on workweeks, and the number of workweeks is determined in reference to these 355 employees. However, per the amended Joint Stipulation of Settlement (Supp. Campbell Decl., Exhs. 1, 3), the class still numbers 538. (Id., § 3.04(e).) Does the class actually number 355 rather than 53...

Excerpt: ...4 to be considered at the same time as Defendant Ford's motion to tax costs. Evidentiary Objections I. Plaintiffs' Objections Plaintiffs have filed six objections to the Declaration of Daniell K. Newman. Objection No. 1 is SUSTAINED on relevance, foundation and hearsay grounds and OVERRULED on all other grounds. The Court has not considered Exhibit 1 to the Newman Declaration in ruling upon this motion. Objections No. 2-6 are OVERRULED. II. Ford'...

Excerpt: ... failed to exhaust administrative remedies as to Supercuts. Evidentiary Issues I. Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice Defendants seek judicial notice of Plaintiffs' LWDA letters. (RJN, Exs. A-B.) The basis for this request is CCP § 452(c), which permits judicial notice of “official acts” of a government agency. While Plaintiffs' letters to the LWDA may no doubt found in the LWDA's files, they are not “acts” of the LWDA. However, as P...

Excerpt: ...ntiff's claims against Defendants, reached at a mandatory settlement conference on April 13, 2018. In consideration for Plaintiff dismissing his case and providing a general release of his claims, Defendants, jointly and severally, agreed to pay Plaintiff a total of $36,600 according to the following schedule: 1. $5,000 on or before May 14, 2018; 2. $5,000 on or before November 14, 2019; 3. $5,000 on or before May 14, 2021; and 4. Beginning June ...

Excerpt: ...nt initial case management statement filed on August 2, 2019. While AAG objects to this request, CCP § 453 requires the Court to take judicial notice upon a request that complies with the statute, as Plaintiffs' request does here. AAG's objection is OVERRULED and the request for judicial notice is GRANTED, as the case management statement is properly noticeable under CCP § 452(d). AAG correctly notes, however, that the Court may not take judici...

Excerpt: ... The demurrer is OVERRULED as to Plaintiff's seventh cause of action for violation of Labor Code § 226(a). 3. The demurrer is OVERRULED AS MOOT as to Plaintiff's eleventh cause of action for PAGA, and this claim is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE at Plaintiff's request. Defendant's motion to strike portions of Plaintiff's complaint is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART as set forth below: 1. As to item 1 in the notice of motion, the motion to strike...

Excerpt: ...onnie Ortloff). (ROA 65.) Defendant's motion was based on an arbitration agreement contained in storage unit leases. While the Non- Signatory Plaintiffs were not party to these leases, the other named plaintiffs (“Signatory Plaintiffs”) were parties to the leases, and both the Signatory Plaintiffs and the Non- Signatory Plaintiffs alike sued for breach of the leases. The Court ordered the Signatory Plaintiffs to arbitration based on the arbit...

Excerpt: ...te Aerospace, Inc. is DENIED as set forth below. Adams Rite's Opposition Plaintiff argues that the Court should disregard the opposition because of late service. Because Plaintiff had the opportunity to brief a full reply on the merits and declined Adams Rite's offer to continue the hearing, the Court will exercise its discretion to consider Adams Rite's opposition. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1300(d).) Grounds for Ruling I. Factual Backgrou...

Excerpt: ... below: 1. Cross-Complainant Sean Bose's class allegations are dismissed without prejudice. 2. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth causes of action in Bose's FAXC are ordered to arbitration on an individual basis. 3. The seventh cause of action (UCL violations) is ordered to arbitration on an individual basis insofar as Bose claims unjust enrichment, disgorgement or restitution. The seventh ...

Excerpt: ... on T&J's property is DENIED. EVIDENTIARY AND PROCEDURAL ISSUES I. T&J's Request for Judicial Notice T&J requests judicial notice of four documents, attached to T&J's evidence as Exhibits 1-4: 1. The Court's tentative ruling of December 21, 2018 2. Plaintiff's FAC, filed January 8, 2019 3. Notice of Errata to Plaintiff's FAC, filed January 9, 2019 4. ACI 318 Table 4.3.1, contained on the second page of Bondy, Code Requirements for Sulfate Durabil...

Excerpt: ...ings as they currently stand. At the hearing on this motion, however, Plaintiff shall state on the record whether he waives his claims for underpaid wages and any other individualized relief. If Plaintiff agrees to such a waiver, then the motion will be denied. I. Factual Background Plaintiff was employed by TIC-AC as a Service Technician and Assistant Service Manager at two TIC-affiliated apartment properties in Mission Valley, California. (Comp...

Excerpt: ... for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, or in the Alternative, to Dismiss or Stay in Light of the Primary Jurisdiction of the State Water Board Sabic Innovative Plastics US, LLC's and General Electric Company's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction, or in the Alternative, to Dismiss or Stay in Light of the Primary Jurisdiction of the State Water Board, and the joinder in that motion by ICI Americas, Inc. and Beatrice Compani...

Excerpt: ...s of concern. Any supplemental briefing shall be filed on or before September 3, 2019. If a revised settlement agreement and/or class notice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions, and additions must be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. The class period for Laborers begins on December 20, 2012 because, per the Rodriguez FAC, the parties entered into a tolling agreement on December 20, 2016. Per the Kles complaint, an ide...

Excerpt: ...ck's desire to take discovery from non-party Sound Point relating to an offering of securities by Gruppo Waste Italia S.p.A. (“Waste Italia”). Rimrock purchased certain of those securities from Defendants and alleges that Jeffries' representations made in connection with the marketing of the securities violated California's Blue Sky laws. In its moving papers, Rimrock states that in the course of Waste Italia's concordato proceedings (the Ita...

Excerpt: ...fenses to be bifurcated, not the propriety of bifurcation itself. Insofar as the motion concerns Defendants Gary Kanter and Denise Stiles-Kanter's (referred to as “Gary” and “Denise” for clarity) fourth affirmative defense (entitled “Indemnity and Contribution”) that Armony's claims are barred by operation of Paragraph 9 of a January 2011 agreement between Armony and Gary (the “Mediation Agreement”), the Court is inclined to treat...

Excerpt: ...ntly stand. At the hearing on this motion, however, Plaintiff shall state on the record whether he waives his claims for underpaid wages and any other individualized relief. If Plaintiff agrees to such a waiver, then the motion will be denied. I. Factual Background Plaintiff was employed by TIC-AC as a Service Technician and Assistant Service Manager at two TIC-affiliated apartment properties in Mission Valley, California. (Compl. (ROA 2), ¶ 6; ...

Excerpt: ...to the consideration of such motions in the Individual Actions. Coyote Grill's request to disqualify Jose Garay, APLC (the “Garay firm”) in this action, made for the first time on reply, is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to refiling a properly noticed motion to disqualify. Grounds for Ruling I. Requests for Judicial Notice Coyote Grill requests judicial notice of various documents filed in support of both its opening papers and its reply. (See ROA ...

Excerpt: ...timony of nine Ford employees taken in other matters. The Court has not yet ruled on this motion, although in other related cases pending in Orange County Superior Court, substantially identical motions in limine have resulted in some, but not all, of this testimony being held inadmissible. The present dispute focuses on the writ petition pending before the Court of Appeal, Second District, Division One in Berroteran v. Superior Court (B296639) (...

Excerpt: ...laint (“SAC”) of Plaintiff T-12 Three, LLC is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART for the reasons set forth below. The Court also DENIES Turner's request for attorney's fees. The Court recognizes that the amendments to the SAC go beyond the scope permitted in the April 26, 2019 minute order granting T-12 leave to amend. As the Court has previously stated, however, motions relating to the pleadings in this matter that elevate form over substanc...

Excerpt: ... well. 1. In its May 3, 2019 minute order, the Court noted that the aggrieved employees' release “may not extend to future claims by aggrieved employees for wages and other ‘victim-specific' remedies, even those that can be characterized as part of a ‘civil penalty' recoverable under Labor Code § 558 and that are recovered as part of the settlement of this action.” (ROA 22.) Section 4 of the revised settlement agreement nonetheless relea...

Excerpt: ...shall be filed on or before August 14, 2019. If a revised settlement agreement and/or notice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions, and additions must be submitted as well. 1. The Settlement and Release (“SAR”) recites, and all parties agree, that there are 30 aggrieved employees. Plaintiffs' moving papers and Defendants' joinder papers say that Defendants determined this to be the number, yet there is no explanation of how i...