Excerpt: ...vised Settlement Agreement and/or proposed Class Notice is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions, and additions shall be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. At final approval please submit billing records for fees and costs. The Court will not be inclined to award an amount of fees and costs greater than the amounts stated in the class notice. 2. At final approval Plaintiff is to provide a declaration addressing the ...

Excerpt: ...ions of David B. Cosgrove and Scott A. Lidgard is DENIED, pursuant to Cal. Rules of Ct., Rule 3.1113(l) (requests for judicial notice must be made in a separate document). However, because judicial notice is generally not required for documents that are part of the Court's own files, and inasmuch as Defendants include these documents as an exhibit to their opposition, the Court has separately considered these documents as evidence supporting the ...

Excerpt: ... factual disputes likely to be presented, and decide whether individual or common issues predominate.” Brinker Restaurant Corporation v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1025. “The certification question is essentially a procedural one that does not ask whether an action is legally or factually meritorious. A trial court ruling on a certification motion determines whether ... the issues which may be jointly tried, when compared with tho...

Excerpt: ...Decl., ¶ 6.) The only issue is whether Defendant has waived its right to compel arbitration. The Court concludes that based on the factors stated in Saint Agnes Medical Center v. PacifiCare of California (2003) 31 Cal.4 th1187 and other applicable case law, Defendant has acted inconsistently with its right to compel arbitration resulting in prejudice to Plaintiff. (See Hoover v. American Income Life Ins. Co., (2012) 206 Cal. App. 4th 1193, 1203 ...

Excerpt: ...nt Requests”) Nos. 6 – 11, and produce all documents relating to discovery responses prepared by any party or third-party in the related Gray1 Action (Case No. 2010-00361680) is CONTINUED to June 15, 2018 at 9:00 a.m. Since filing the motion, the issues have been somewhat narrowed to the production of the following documents which were produced in the Gray1 Action but have not yet been produced here:  Blackstar production, Bates BLK 1-4294...

Excerpt: ...n Pay; (2) Age Discrimination: (3) Breach of Contract- Employment Agreement; (4) Breach of Contract-Stock Purchase Agreement; (5) Fraud; (6) Trespass: (7) Conversion; (8) Invasion of Privacy; and (9) Elder Abuse. Hutton Development Co., Inc. and Christopher J. Felix were named as the cross-defendants. Following a DSLE hearing on the vacation pay issue (at which he was awarded $1,000 in waiting time penalties), Bellavia abandoned the vacation pay ...

Excerpt: ...CP § 1021.5, a party may recover attorney fees when an action has resulted in the enforcement of an important public right, a significant benefit has been conferred on the general public or a large class of persons, private enforcement was necessary and the financial burden of private enforcement warrants subsidy of the successful party's counsel. Keep Our Mountains Quiet v. County of Santa Clara (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 714, 736. It is well recog...

Excerpt: ...es that 30% of the settlement amount is appropriate in this case. Among other things, the hourly rates of all the attorneys working on the case is high (out of 13 timekeepers, the lowest rate is $400 per hour notwithstanding the attorney's experience or qualifications), and there appears to be some duplication of work among the many attorneys. As to this latter point, Plaintiff's counsel failure to comply with the Court's May 4, 2018 request that...

Excerpt: ...on 6/30/10 against Defendants Mr. Heater, Inc., Enerco Group, Inc. (collectively “Enerco”), and Lowe's HIW, Inc. alleging unfair competition, false advertising and violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA). Plaintiff claimed that representations by defendants that the heaters that are the subject of this litigation were safe and approved for indoor use were false and misleading under Section 19881 of the Health and Safety Code, whic...

Excerpt: ... Westminster, CA (the "Property"), and that on February 28, 2017, a Grant Deed was recorded bearing recordation number 2017000083866, purporting to transfer fee title in the Subject Property from Brookhurst to Defendant JVS Development LLC ("JVS"). (FAC ¶¶ 1, 32(a), Exh. 10.) In the demurrer, Brookhurst argues that Plaintiff's judicial admissions that Plaintiff was the sole owner of the Property and that it did not transfer its fee interest to ...

Excerpt: ...LEMENT The motion for preliminary approval of class action settlement brought jointly by Plaintiffs Daisy Martinez and Douglas Lindgren and Defendant Inter-Con Security Systems is DENIED. Background The present motion for preliminary approval is the second effort by these parties to obtain approval of a settlement. The first effort occurred in October 2017 when a motion for approval of a PAGA settlement (in what was then known as the Ball case) w...

Excerpt: ...iffs' Complaint for Professional Negligence is GRANTED. Except for Defendant's objections based on the parol evidence rule, Defendant's objections are all OVERRULED by virtue of its failure to adhere to Rule of Court 3.1354(b) which requires the objecting party to quote or set forth the objectionable material. The Parol Evidence Rule is rule of a substantive law, not of evidence, and not dependent on objections. (Casa Herrera, Inc. v. Beydoun (20...

Excerpt: ...emporary relief from the stay in place for the Court to grant leave to file a third amended complaint which dismisses, without prejudice, the California Labor Code claims against Defendants Amazon.com, LLC, Amazon Logistics, Inc. and Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc. (“Amazon Defendants”). Plaintiffs included the proposed Third Amended Complaint, as Ex. 1 to the Ehmann Declaration. (ROA 298, Ex. 1) Plaintiffs contend that this amended pleadin...

Excerpt: ...e conditioned on the proposed protective order (see Motion No. 2). The responses at issue before the Court are Defendant's further supplemental responses to Plaintiff's second set of document demands which consist of 65 demands. It appears that there is only one Request – No. 25 – to which Defendant asserted only objections without ever providing a substantive response. This Request states: “Any and all DOCUMENTS RELATING TO YOUR ranking of...

Excerpt: ... counsel regarding Lumanlan's obligation to file a responsive pleading in February and March, and mailed Defense counsel a Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt. (ROA 152, ¶¶ 9-13, Ex. A.) However, there is no evidence that Defense counsel agreed to accept service on Lumanlan's behalf. Indeed, in opposition, Defense counsel confirms that Mohajerian APC had not been engaged to represent Lumanlan and it was not authorized to accept service on beha...

Excerpt: ...ssues, the most significant of which related to findings relating to alter ego and joint employer status. The motion is DENIED. A “successful party” may recover fees under section 1021.5 upon showing “(1) the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest, (2) the conferring of a significant benefit on the general public or a large class of individuals, and (3) the necessity and financial burden of private enforcement rende...

Excerpt: ...y necessary to the conduct of the litigation,” pursuant to CCP § 1033.5(c): (1) service of process costs for witness Jonathan Lundberg ($1,591); and (2) the last entry for service of process of deposition subpoenas of Gabrielle Fields and Donald Fields ($1,169). In addition, the following costs are taxed as not allowable costs pursuant to CCP §§ 1033.5(b)(1), (3), and (5): court-ordered transcripts ($3,931); and the costs claimed in the “o...

Excerpt: ... Exh. A to the 04/03/18 Notice of Errata. (ROA 831.) The Court appoints Capstone Law APC as lead counsel to communicate with Defendant and the Court on behalf of all Plaintiffs. The firms of Finkelstein, Blankinship Frei-Pearson & Garber, LLP and Keller Grover LLP, which are also identified in the Consolidated Complaint as “Proposed Co-Lead Collective and Class Counsel” may assist the Capstone firm, as necessary. The primary point of contact,...

Excerpt: ...ns Code § 17200 et seq. (Unfair Competition Law) Business & Professions Code section 17200 (“UCL”) prohibits “any unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue or misleading advertising.” Under the unlawful prong, a violation of law may be actionable as unfair competition under § 17200. (Lueras v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, Inc. (2013) 221 Cal.App.4 th 49, 81.) “An unfair business practice occurs...

Excerpt: ...issue identified below. Any supplemental briefing shall be filed no later than June 1, 2018. When responding to the issues, please identify the items of concern by number. If a revised Settlement Agreement is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions, and additions shall be submitted as well. Item 3. The Release Language in § 1.31. Despite the instruction in the 3/23/18 Minute Order, the parties left the phrase “or could have...

Excerpt: ..., § 8547.10(c), which was enacted after § 818, specifically states "any person who intentionally engages in acts of reprisal, retaliation, threats, coercion, or similar acts against a university employee, including an officer or faculty member, or applicant for employment for having made a protected disclosure shall be liable in an action for damages brought against him or her by the injured party. Punitive damages may be awarded by the court w...

Excerpt: ...n are SUSTAINED. All other evidentiary objections are OVERRULED. This petition centers on an arbitration provision found in the Terms of Use that Ticketmasters' website users supposedly agree to when they purchase tickets on that site. In this case, the tickets purchased by Plaintiffs were to the ill-fated Route 91 Harvest Festival concert in Las Vegas in October, 2017. The Terms of Use here are of the “browsewrap” variety. A browsewrap agree...

Excerpt: ...tive bargaining agreements (CBAs), the 2016-2020 Master Labor Agreement and the 2016-2019 Memorandum Agreement. Defendants contend that Article IX of the Master Agreement provides for the arbitration of alleged wage and hour violations under Wage Order 16, and that because the Memorandum Agreement incorporates the Master Agreement by reference, the claims in this case are subject to arbitration under the grievance and arbitration provisions of th...

Excerpt: ..., the Court granted Defendants' motion to compel arbitration of the 1 st- 5 th causes of action, and stayed the trial court proceedings on the PAGA claim. In connection with their briefing on the motion to compel arbitration, the parties agreed that the arbitrator would decide whether the asserted class claims are arbitrable. On March 5, 2018, the Arbitrator concluded that “there is a contractual basis upon which to conclude the Parties intende...

Excerpt: ... declaration stating the previous order, by which judge it was made, and the new or different facts, circumstances or law claimed to exist. (CCP § 1008(a).) “[T]he party seeking reconsideration [must] provide both newly discovered evidence and an explanation for the failure to have produced such evidence earlier.” (Berman v. Health Net (2000) 80 Cal.App.4th 1359, 1369.) The requirements of CCP § 1008(a) have not been satisfied here. The mot...

Excerpt: ...ollowing findings: (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 exist to achieve the overriding interest. Inter-Con's primary arguments in support...

Excerpt: ... Custom Woodworking, Inc. Navigators' Motion for Summary Judgment The Court GRANTS Defendant and Cross-Complainant Navigators Insurance Company's (“Navigators”) motion for summary judgment as to its Cross-Complaint for Rescission, etc. against Plaintiffs and Cross-Defendants Michael Favreau (“Favreau”) and Favreau Custom Woodworking, Inc. (“FCW”), and also GRANTS Navigators' summary judgment motion on Plaintiffs' Complaint based on it...

Excerpt: ....” Specifically, he seeks relief pursuant to CCP § 2023.010(d)-(g) which allows sanctions for “misuses of the discovery process,” including “(f) making an evasive response to discovery” and “(g) disobeying a court order to provide discovery.” While Plaintiff argues that Defendant has engaged in a pattern of discovery abuses, for the purposes of this motion the Court focuses on Plaintiff's ongoing efforts to obtain class contact inf...

Excerpt: ...ing all changes, deletions and additions shall be submitted as well. The motion for preliminary approval and the settlement agreement refer to the filing of a motion for leave to file a second amended complaint. No such motion currently is on file. If the parties wish to file a stipulation regarding the filing of a second amended complaint in the form which is attached as Exhibit B to the Declaration of Eric Yaeckel, the Court will approve it. As...

Excerpt: ...approval of class action settlement is GRANTED, as modified below. The Court finds the settlement fair, adequate and reasonable. Administrative costs are approved in the amount of $9,500. The Notice provided that Administrator fees would not exceed $9,500, so any excess fees must come from sources other than the $175,000 maximum settlement amount. The Court finds $49,000 (28% of the maximum settlement amount) to be a reasonable amount for attorne...

Excerpt: ...d C, judicial notice is granted only as to their existence and will not extend to the truth of any statements therein. (Sosinsky v. Grant (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1548, 1564-1566; Bach v. NcNelis (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 852, 865.) Plaintiffs Rimrock High Income PLUS (Master) Fund Ltd. and Rimrock Low Volatility (Master) Fund Ltd. (“Rimrock”) allege the following two causes of action against Defendants Jefferies, LLC and Jefferies International Limi...

Excerpt: ...ons to the Navarro Declaration (ROA 152) are all OVERRULED. In the First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges, among other things, various Labor Code violations, including that Defendant R.J. Noble Company failed to pay Plaintiff for all hours worked, including time spent loading materials, fueling the trucks, preparing tools and equipment, traveling to and from the job sites, waiting time, and driving for over 8 hours straight if such time was s...

Excerpt: ...w evidence), finding that Plaintiff failed to establish the elements of commonality, superiority and ascertainability. Specifically, the Minute Order states: “Whether a putative class member may allege a violation of CC § 1940.1 or CC § 52.1 against Defendant is a threshold question that will require individualized scrutiny – i.e., on the day a putative class member was forced to check out, was the facility the primary residence for at leas...

Excerpt: ... 38, 46-49, 57 and 61, and Request for Production of Documents nos. 5-79) and requested sanctions of $4,785 against Defendant and its counsel in connection with each of the two motions. The hearing has been continued twice as the parties have been meeting and conferring and providing further responses. As a result, as far as the Court can determine, the issues are narrowed to the following requests for production of documents (Nos. 1-3) and speci...

Excerpt: ...serve a proposed order pursuant to Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.1362(e). On or before April 30, 2018, counsel is ordered to file an amended notice of motion and motion, a proposed order, and proof of service showing that all of the documents were served on the client and other parties in this matter. ...

Excerpt: ...w evidence), finding that Plaintiff failed to establish the elements of commonality, superiority and ascertainability. Specifically, the Minute Order states: “Whether a putative class member may allege a violation of CC § 1940.1 or CC § 52.1 against Defendant is a threshold question that will require individualized scrutiny – i.e., on the day a putative class member was forced to check out, was the facility the primary residence for at leas...

Excerpt: ... Unpaid Overtime; (2) Unpaid Minimum Wages; (3) Non-Complaint Wage Statements; (4) Unpaid Business Expenses; (5) Wages not timely paid on termination; (6) Unlawful Wage Deductions; (7) Failure to Provide Seating; (8) PAGA claims; and (9) Violation of B&P Code § 17200. All of these claims stem from Plaintiff's allegations that she was not compensated for off-the-clock (“OTC”) time that she spent working at home and going through the bag-check...

Excerpt: ...rbitration. The Court GRANTS Defendants' motion, noting that Defendants have agreed to waive the Limitations Period in Section 2 of Article VII of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Defendant's request (ROA 117) for judicial notice is GRANTED. Plaintiff's request (ROA 129) for judicial notice is GRANTED. Plaintiff's objection (ROA 143) to the evidence Defendants submitted on reply, consisting of the prior February 1, 2012 to January 31, 2015 CB...

Excerpt: ...17; as of August 2, 2017, 4 putative Class Members had opted out. (The current total number of opt- outs is 5, per Ex. A to the Martinez Decl.) Thereafter, Defendant turned over a class list with names and addresses only, refusing to provide phone numbers. At the 1/10/18 Status Conference, the Court ordered Defendant “to provide the putative class member phone numbers to plaintiff no later than 1/31/18.” (ROA 86) Alternatively, Defendant was ...

Excerpt: ...800 Battery (“1-800”), Richard Keller et al seeking, among other things, quiet title to the property. In this lawsuit, Plaintiffs contend that Defendant Lazo was authorized on behalf of 1-800 to sell the property to Plaintiffs, and that “Plaintiffs purchased the Property in good faith and for value, without actual or constructive notice of any adverse claim to the Property.”(FAC ¶¶ 17, 20) A subsequent action, 16-879920 (the “2016 Act...

Excerpt: ...l not extend to any hearsay statements contained therein. The Court DECLINES to rule on any objections (ROA 1968) because “the court need rule only on those objections to evidence that it deems material to its disposition of the motion.” (CCP § 437c(q).) Insurance Defendants previously filed two motions for summary judgment/summary adjudication against Plaintiffs based on the Fourth Amended Complaint, which had remaining a single cause of ac...

Excerpt: ...amages is vested in the plaintiff on a particular day. (Civil Code § 3287(a).) The test for determining “certainty” is whether Defendants actually know the amount owed or could have computed the amount from reasonably available information. (Wisper Corp. v. California Commerce Bank (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 948, 960.) The “certainty” requirement concerns whether there is a factual dispute about the amount of damages, regardless of whether th...

Excerpt: ...ss- Complaint is DENIED in its entirety. With respect to the request of Plaintiffs/Cross- Defendants Linda M. Rodger and Nancy Ann Maggio as Co-Trustees of The Virginia Richards Revocable Intervivos Trust Dated May 1, 1986 and North County BRS Project, LLC (collectively, “BRS”) for judicial notice (ROA 123), the Court GRANTS judicial notice of Exhs. B-C and J, except that judicial notice will not extend to any hearsay statements contained the...

Excerpt: ...bers” 3. Para. 18, p. 4, l. 26: “and the Class Members” 4. Para. 18, p. 4, l. 27: “and the Class Members” 5. Para. 18, p. 5, l. 2: “and the Class Members” 6. Para. 19, p. 5, l. 5: “and the Class Members” 7. Para. 20, p. 5, l. 9: “and the Class Members” 8. Para. 21, p. 5, l. 11: “and the Class Members” [nos. 1-8 have already been deleted and are not found in the Corrected 6AC] 9. Para. 25, p. 5, ll. 25-26: “and is in a ...

Excerpt: ... class claims set forth in first through seventh causes of action, to allow him to proceed in court with his eighth cause of action for PAGA violations, and to deny the motion to arbitrate as moot. (ROA 271.) Although it is not expressly stated, the Court construes Petersson's request to dismiss the first through seventh causes of action as a request to dismiss the claims in their entirety—both class and individual claims. Petersson is to confi...

Excerpt: ...ill be effective on the filing of the proof of service of the Order upon the client. Motion for Entry of Judgment The Court's current thinking is to GRANT the motion for entry of judgment and ACCEPT Gray1's proposed judgment because it better protects Gray1's right to be paid on its judgment lien before Gulfstream can obtain title and possession to the foreclosed properties. That being said, the Court is considering delaying entry of judgment in ...

Excerpt: ...intiff and his counsel, jointly and severally. The requests in dispute essentially ask Plaintiff to produce all documents in support of the allegations in the operative complaint. There is good cause to seek documents related to Plaintiff's contentions. Once the moving party shows good cause to justify discovery of the requested materials, the burden shifts to the responding party to justify the objection. (Kirkland v. Superior Court (2002) 95 Ca...

Excerpt: ...ANTED as to Exh. 1 and DENIED as to Exhs. 2-3. (ROA 32.) Defendant's request for judicial notice is DENIED (ROA 36), and Plaintiff's objection is SUSTAINED (ROA 40). Furthermore, as to the exhibits denied, “[o]nly relevant evidence is admissible by judicial notice.” (Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 353, 366.) As an initial matter, Defendant correctly contends that the FAA applies to the ...

Excerpt: ...larity in the proceedings of the court, jury or adverse party, or any order of the court or abuse of discretion by which either party was prevented from having a fair trial. [¶¶] 6. Insufficiency of the evidence to justify the verdict or other decision, or the verdict or other decision is against law. [¶] When a new trial is granted, on all or part of the issues, the court shall specify the ground or grounds upon which it is granted and the co...

Excerpt: ...econd and third causes of action in the Complaint pursuant to CCP § 425.16. Preliminary Issues Defendants' request for judicial notice is GRANTED. (ROA 10.) Plaintiff WRW Properties, LLC's request for judicial notice (ROA 54-58) is DENIED as to Exhs. 2-4, 6, 16, and 33-36, and GRANTED as to Exhs. 1, 5, 7-15, and 17-32. Defendants' objections (ROA 68) were considered in ruling on Plaintiff's request for judicial notice. With respect to the Meyer ...