Excerpt: ... to CCP 425.16 Defendants Miriam J. Galindo, Jorge F. Galindo and Jorge Galindo Family Therapists & Associates, Inc.'s (collectively, “Moving Defendants”) special motion to strike the FAC of Plaintiff Christienne M. Black pursuant to CCP § 425.16 is GRANTED. Moving Defendants may seek fees and costs as permitted by statute. In light of this ruling, Moving Defendants' concurrently set demurrer and traditional motion to strike are moot. EVIDEN...

Excerpt: ...t to strike portions of the Weir Declaration is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to seeking the same relief prior to trial. I. Background This is a consumer class action involving alleged mislabeling of Bayer's One A Day gummy vitamins. As the Court of Appeal explained Plaintiff's theory, “despite the One A Day brand name, these particular vitamins require a daily dosage of two gummies to get the recommended daily values. Thus buyers end up receiving o...

Excerpt: ...r her motion was filed. The Court finds Defendants Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Inc. and Fisher & Paykel Appliances USA Holdings Inc. will not suffer any prejudice as a result. I. Background This case was originally filed as a PAGA-only matter based on a sole underlying Labor Code violation: Plaintiff alleged Defendants failed to pay her and other employees within the time limits set forth in Labor Code § 204. In the course of discovery, Defendan...

Excerpt: ...Complaint 5) Verified Application of John S. Phillips to Appear as Counsel Pro Hac Vice for Defendants E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., Corteva, Inc., and DuPont De Nemours, Inc. 6) Verified Application of Katharine A Roin to Appear as Counsel Pro Hac Vice for Defendants E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., Corteva, Inc. and DuPont De Nemours, Inc. 7)Verified Application of Katherine L. I Hacker to Appear as Counsel Pro Hac Vice for Defendants E.I. D...

Excerpt: ...sOlivos, Inc. Both demurrers are OVERRULED. I. Failure to State a Cause of Action The Court previously denied Phans55, PhansKGHoang, Ryan Phan and Susie Phan's motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding that the FAC stated facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action (except as to the seventh cause of action, which Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed). The Court later overruled @Phans-LosOlivos's demurrer on the same grounds (except as to the ...

Excerpt: ...r the operative complaint (ROA 2), Plaintiff Thomas E. McKinnon was a firefighter employed by the California Military Department at Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos from 1977 to 2007. (¶ 15.) He was diagnosed with non- Hodgkins lymphoma, kidney cancer and liver cancer in December 2018, all of which he alleges were caused by occupational exposure to Defendants' products. (¶¶ 17, 20.) Among other things, Thomas brings a fraudulent conceal...

Excerpt: ... penalties. The motion is DENIED insofar as Chartwell seeks to strike portions of the complaint. The operative pleading in this matter is the first amended complaint (FAC) (ROA 13), not the original complaint. From the Court's review of the FAC, it does not contain any language identical to what Chartwell seeks to strike from the original complaint. As a result, there is nothing to strike. The motion is GRANTED insofar as Chartwell seeks a determ...

Excerpt: ...s his individual claims against Probstein without prejudice to the claims of the putative class. The Court rejected this stipulation, noting that it needed to see the settlement agreement before it could dismiss the claims against Probstein. (ROA 45.) Plaintiff and Probstein then submitted a stipulation to file the settlement agreement under seal. The Court also rejected this stipulation. In so doing, the Court noted that it was willing to review...

Excerpt: ...o special interrogatories is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. By April 26, 2021, Cross-Defendant Phil Inter Pharma USA, Inc. is ordered to provide further responses to Uni- Caps' Special Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 11-13, 18, 25-34, 42-44, and 54-55 as set forth below. The motion is denied as to Interrogatories 47-49. Uni-Caps' request for sanctions is denied. I. Background This discovery arises from Uni-Caps' cross-claims. In the underlyin...

Excerpt: ... Both parties seek judicial notice of various documents. Because these documents are immaterial to the Court's ruling, the Court declines to take notice of them. (See Jordache Enterprises, Inc. v. Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison (1998) 18 Cal.4th 739, 748 fn. 6 [declining to take judicial notice of materials not “necessary, helpful, or relevant”].) I. Background A. Regulation of Slack-Fill “Slack-fill” refers to the difference between the act...

Excerpt: ...hearing, the parties should be proposed to discuss the timing of responsive pleadings and what effect, if any, this amendment may have on the April 12 trial date. For the reasons discussed below, the Court's current view is that allowing the TACC will have no immediate bearing on the trial as currently formulated. I. Factual Background As set forth in the currently operative 2AXC (ROA 7400), the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is al...

Excerpt: ...SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND in its entirety. 2. The motion to strike is GRANTED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND in its entirety. Cardenas shall have until April 19, 2021 to file and serve an amended complaint. GROUNDS FOR DEMURRER RULING The Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the facts underlying this action. Generally speaking, the cross-complaint alleges Mona10 urgently needed financing for its hotel project in Buena Park and approached Cardenas...

Excerpt: ... In addition, Plaintiff must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supporting papers on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Are there actions any actions pending—whether individual, class or PAGA (including in the pre-filing LWDA stage)—that might be affected by this settlement? 2. A copy of Plaintiff's pre-filing letter to the LWDA is supposed to be an exhibit to the complaint, but it is not attached. Please provide...

Excerpt: ...dence intentionally destroyed by a party would be unfavorable to that party. (See Evid. Code § 413; CACI No. 204.) This ruling does not preclude Katten from seeking such an instruction if the evidence introduced at trial justifies it. I. Introduction This motion focuses on Plaintiffs CashCall, Inc., J. Paul Reddam, and Western Sky Funding, LLC's alleged non-compliance with their duty to preserve evidence once litigation is reasonably certain. Ge...

Excerpt: ...iled until March 8. The Court will exercise its discretion to consider Plaintiff's untimely supplemental brief. I. Factual Background After the parties agreed to mediate this case, defense counsel Lonnie Giamela reached out to Defendant for information about the number of aggrieved employees and pay periods at issue. As defined in the pleadings, the aggrieved employees consist of Defendant's non- exempt employees in California. (FAC, ¶ 7.) Mr. G...

Excerpt: ...forth below. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS RadioShack's request for judicial notice of the unpublished opinion in Orange County Water District v. RadioShack Corporation (D075111, Feb. 19, 2019) 2019 WL 668665 (hereafter RadioShack)) is GRANTED. RadioShack has submitted what purport to be objections to the District's evidence. (ROA 8920.) Of these objections, only Objection No. 1 and Objection No. 8 are actually objections to evidence. The remaining objecti...

Excerpt: ...putes OCWD's additional material facts. The Court has reviewed only the latter portion of the separate statement, which addresses the District's additional facts. A “reply separate statement” that responds to the non-moving party's disputes is not permitted. (See Nazir v. United Airlines, Inc. (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 243, 249 [“Defendants' reply included, and properly, their response to plaintiff's additional disputed facts. Defendants' repl...

Excerpt: ...d worked at least one shift greater than 3.5 hours in length at any time from September 30, 2007 through the date of class certification. Waiting Time Class: All individuals who were employed as non-exempt employees by Defendant at any time from September 30, 2008 through the date of class certification and whose employment by Defendant has since ended. Falero is appointed the representative for these classes. Capstone Law, APC; Finkelstein, Blan...

Excerpt: ...le. 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 exist...

Excerpt: ...plemental briefing shall be filed on or before March 30, 2021. If a revised settlement agreement and/or proposed notice is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plaintiffs must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supplemental papers on the LWDA. The Court notes that while Plaintiff's settlement of his individual claims is apparently meant to b...

Excerpt: ...rssen v. Halma International Limited (Court of First Instance No. 2 of Barcelona, Ordinary Proceeding 645/2019 (the “Spanish Action”). For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' motion is GRANTED. I. Factual Background A. Visiometrics Acquisition This matter arises from the acquisition of the Visiometrics Group (“Visiometrics”) by subsidiaries of Halma plc (“Halma”). Visiometrics consisted of two subsidiaries, Visiometrics, S.L. (�...

Excerpt: ...motion is based solely on the argument that “Plaintiffs' second, third, fourth, seventh, eighth, and ninth causes of action are all duplicative of Plaintiffs' first cause of action for legal malpractice and therefore have no merit.” (Mot. at p. 2.) Accordingly, the following facts are drawn from the allegations of the 3AC, which it appears no party contests for purposes of this motion. Reddam is the founder of CashCall, a consumer lending com...

Excerpt: ...mpliance even though those witnesses did not submit reports about that topic. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED. By way of background, Case Management Order (CMO) No. 4, section IX, addressed the need for expert reports without distinguishing between retained experts and percipient witnesses who might offer expert opinions. That ambiguity was rectified on February 18, 2020 when the Court entered a stipulated order modifying CM...

Excerpt: ...tion's (PBPA) motion to compel depositions as follows: 1. Plaintiffs and Cross-Defendants Floyd Chodosh, Sue Eicherly, Ole Haugen, Rodger Kane, Jr., Myrle Moore and Todd Peterson are ORDERED to sit for their depositions remotely by no later than February 19, 2021. PBPA is not required to re-notice their depositions to compel their attendance. 2. As to the document requests included in the January 7, 2021 notice of deposition, the Court rules as f...

Excerpt: ...g a cause of action asserted in a cross-complaint, or of any separate issue or of any number of causes of action or issues, preserving the right of trial by jury required by the Constitution or a statute of this state or of the United States.” (CCP § 1048(b).) Between the City's complaint, the defendant Developers' cross-complaint, and real party Cardenas's cross-complaint, there are over 25 causes of action at issue in this matter, with some ...

Excerpt: ... well. In addition, Plaintiff must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supporting papers on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide a copy of Plaintiffs' pre-filing letters to the LWDA so the Court may evaluate compliance with administrative exhaustion requirements and understand the scope of the class release (which is based in part on the pre-filing letters). 2. What effect, if any, will this settlement ha...

Excerpt: ...3. FedEx is ordered to provide a further response no later than 15 days after the completion of a Belaire-West notice process. If the parties are unable to agree on the content of a Belaire-West notice by February 16, 2021, they are to contact the Court to schedule a conference to discuss the same. 3. The motion is granted in part and denied in part as to special interrogatory 4. By February 26, 2021, FedEx is to provide the full name and job tit...

Excerpt: ...TERS Wells Fargo' unopposed request for judicial notice of publicly recorded documents pertaining to Plaintiff Olga Krasyuk's property is GRANTED. (See Evans v. California Trailer Court, Inc. (1994) 28 Cal.App.4th 540, 549 [“[t]he court may take judicial notice of recorded deeds”].) Plaintiff's responsive separate statement (ROA 272) contains objections to pieces of evidence that support Wells Fargo's undisputed facts. Ordinarily, the Court w...

Excerpt: ...he second cause of action and DENIED with respect to the first and third causes of action. 2. As to issue two, the motion is DENIED as to the first cause of action and, in light of the ruling on issue one, DENIED AS MOOT as to the second cause of action. 3. As to issue three, the motion is DENIED as to the first and third causes of action and, in light of the ruling on issue one, DENIED AS MOOT as to the second cause of action. As a result of thi...

Excerpt: ...ontract). 2. The demurrer is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND as to the second and fourth causes of action (unjust enrichment and UCL). 3. The demurrer is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND as to the third cause of action (conversion). Plaintiffs shall have until February 19, 2021 to file a second amended complaint. The Court notes that neither the Declaration of Glenn M. Pfeiffer (with roughly 1,250 pages of exhibits) nor Plaintiffs' supplement of tr...

Excerpt: ...IED IN PART as follows: 1. Per her request in reply, Plaintiff's request for further responses to SIs 10-13 is WITHDRAWN. 2. Plaintiff's request for further responses to SIs 26 and 28 is GRANTED. By February 5, 2021, each Defendant is to serve a response stating the exact dates all policies at issue in these interrogatories were in effect. 3. The parties' cross-requests for monetary sanctions are DENIED. In support of their opposition, Defendants...

Excerpt: ... § 877.6 and finds that the offset credit pursuant to CCP § 877(a) is $1,686,612. As noted in the Court's December 11, 2020 minute order, there is no dispute that the $1.45 million paid in settlement is adequate for purposes of satisfying the criteria set forth in Tech-Bilt, Inc. v. Woodward-Clyde & Assoc. (1985) 38 Cal. 3d 488. As to the offset credit valuation, however, there are two primary issues in dispute. First, the District asserts that...

Excerpt: ...agreement and/or proposed notice is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plaintiffs must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supplemental papers on the LWDA. 1. Please provide copies of Plaintiffs' pre-filing LWDA letters so the Court may evaluate compliance with administrative exhaustion requirements. 2. Please provide proof of service of th...

Excerpt: ...opposed, is GRANTED for the reasons set forth below. The Court determines that the Orange County Superior Court is the appropriate site of coordination proceedings. The Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division Three shall be the reviewing court. I. Factual Background The Included Actions arise from the alleged wage-and-hour policies of defendant Clubcorp USA, Inc. (“Clubcorp”), an owner and operator of private clubs. From the papers, it app...

Excerpt: ...de complete responses to every discovery request at issue. The requests were propounded in August 2019; Defendants have had more than enough time to compile all necessary information and documents. 2. The following facts shall be taken as established against Defendants: a. That each Business Manager and Shift Supervisor/Shift Lead was unable to leave the restaurant for at least the first six hours of his or her shift. b. That Defendants failed to...

Excerpt: ...As noted below, the Court believes that only the alleged risk of ovarian cysts allows for a non-preempted theory of recovery. 2. Insofar as the demurrer is based on insufficient allegations of causation with respect to claims sounding in failure to warn (i.e., all causes of action at issue here), the demurrer is sustained with leave to amend. 3. Insofar as the demurrer is based on insufficient allegations of an implied warranty, the demurrer is o...

Excerpt: ...urphy and Group 1 are unwilling to agree to the revisions, the Court will deny approval. In addition, as set forth below, the Court requires an explanation of why the list of dealerships affected by the agreement is a moving target. Any supplemental briefing in response to the below items shall be filed no later than January 11, 2021. If a revised settlement agreement and/or notice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions and additi...

Excerpt: ... amount of the settlement—a total payment of $3,000,000—is not contested. However, Emerson Electric Co. and Morse TEC LLC (referred to herein as the Non-Settling Defendants) have filed an objection for the purpose of ensuring what they contend is a proper offset (i.e., settlement credits) pursuant to CCP § 877(a). As to the settlement itself, the Court finds that based on the evidence presented it satisfies the criteria set forth in Tech-Bil...

Excerpt: ...alter ego. (SAC (ROA 154), ¶¶ 10-13.) It appears to the Court that there are no separate substantive allegations of wrongdoing against Kirk. His liability, if any, would be derivative of AFL's. AFL filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on October 30, 2020. (ROA 137.) The case is currently stayed as to AFL. (ROA 138.) Kirk now asks that the case be stayed as to him pending the resolution of AFL's bankruptcy. He does not argue the automatic bankruptcy s...

Excerpt: ...relief. Plaintiffs shall have until January 11, 2021 to file a second amended complaint that addresses the concerns identified below. The Court has exercised its discretion to consider Gem Gravure's “supplemental brief” of November 12, 2020 (which was filed without permission) and Plaintiffs' opposition of December 3, 2020 (which was due on November 25). The Court finds no prejudice will result from consideration of these filings. I. Backgrou...

Excerpt: ...r which he was billed $630.80. (Ibid.) As alleged in the complaint—and undisputed for purposes of this motion— Plaintiff was a Medicare patient, and although his visit was overnight, he was treated on an outpatient basis. (Compl., ¶ 10.) Because Medicare does not cover SADs for outpatient visits, Plaintiff was left to cover the bill himself. (Ibid.) Plaintiff's son David Sacks, who took over responsibility for Plaintiff's financial dealings ...

Excerpt: ...fendants Burger Lounge III, LLC and Burger Lounge of America; (2) certifying a settlement class; and (3) granting preliminary approval to the parties' purported class action settlement. (Plaintiff Israel Lomeli was also a moving party, but he has since dismissed his claims. See ROA 100.) For the reasons set forth below, Belonia's motion is DENIED. I. Factual Background This is a putative class action based on routine wage-and-hour claims. The pre...

Excerpt: ...s dispute whether Dynamic fulfilled its pre-filing meet and confer obligations. Plaintiff argues Dynamic sent a single letter with an unreasonable response time (a letter sent on September 14 demanding further responses by September 18), then filed a motion without further attempt at informal resolution. Relying on Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 424, Plaintiff argues that sending a single letter and then filing a motion is insuff...

Excerpt: ... will refer to this as the “Policyholder Class.”) Subclass: All California policyholders insured under a dwelling policy issued by Defendants containing a Wildfire Sublimit, who made a claim for smoke, soot, ash, or char damage from wildfires 45 or more days after the wildfire, and Defendants paid the claim in an amount at or below $2,500, and had an estimate exceeding $2,500, at any time from November 9, 2014, until notice is mailed to the c...

Excerpt: ...ed settlement agreement must be served on the LWDA, and proof of service must be provided to the Court. The Court has two sets of comments requiring a response. I. Amendments to Agreement The Court previously indicated its preference for (1) a 60-day response period and (2) a provision that unclaimed funds go to the State Controller's Unclaimed Property Fund in the name of the class member. The amended notice (De Castro Decl., Ex. B) includes thi...

Excerpt: ...he event that motion is denied, the parties will need to meet and confer on the below issues before the Court considers the rescheduled discovery motions. 1. Standing The discovery sought by these motions is far-ranging and potentially burdensome depending on how the interrogatories and requests are interpreted. The Court provides some guidance on these issues (see below), but because of the potential time and expense of providing the discovery, ...

Excerpt: ...issue 1 in the notice of motion. 3. The motion is DENIED as to issues 3-6 in the notice of motion. As a result of this ruling, Plaintiff Joseph Delia's claims against TIC are dismissed with prejudice. The case remains live as to TICAC and non-moving Defendant Irvine Management Company (“IMC”). PROCEDURAL AND EVIDENTIARY MATTERS Defendants filed a “Reply to Plaintiff's Separate Statement.” (ROA 139.) It both replies to Plaintiff's purporte...

Excerpt: ... 148-149, 152, 156-158, and 163-166 of the cross-complaint and as to the 4 th, 5 th and 7th causes of action in the cross- complaint. It is denied in all other respects. In this ruling, the Court refers to the “Development Agreement,” the “Forbearance Agreement,” the “Extension Agreement,” and the “Rear Property.” These terms carry the same meanings as in the Court's prior rulings in this matter. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS The City seeks...

Excerpt: ...d as well. In addition, Plaintiff must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supporting papers on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Are there any other actions pending against Defendant (whether individual, class, or PAGA, including PAGA actions in the pre-filing LWDA stage) that could be affected by this settlement? 2. Please provide a copy of any pre-filing letters to the LWDA. There are no copies in the record, thou...

Excerpt: ...t does not allow recovery for the following claimed expenses: a. A $35 charge for “file setup” without further explanation on October 2, 2017. b. A $125 charge for “service fee” without further explanation on March 6, 2018. c. $98.25 in charges for printing and scanning, which are properly considered firm overhead. d. $30 in charges for using Docusign, which is unnecessary when the parties' settlement agreement provides that facsimile sig...