Excerpt: ... l. Background This achon arises from a dispute over the leadership of a now-dissolved limited liability company, RS Enterprise, LLC ("RS"), formed to process and sell cannabis products in Santa Cruz, California. Plaintiff William Sump ("Sump") alleges that he was improperly deprived of his voting and membership interest in Rs—including three pieces of real property owned by RS in Santa Cruz—by defendants Nathaniel Ready, John Vitale, Trevor ...

Excerpt: ...Moore, and K&K Confidential Investigations (collectively, "Defendants") relating to an inc:ident that occurred at Plaintiffs' place of business in Missouri in 2010. Currently before the court is Travelers' demurrer to the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth causes of acton in the third amended complaint. A. Background Plaintiffs filed their original complaint on October 18, 2018. The complaint attached two exhibits: (1) a copy ofa "Water Tank Lease with...

Excerpt: ...n. On September 15, 2022, this court (Judge Kirwan) granted Gargano's motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding, among other things, that Plaintiffs' causes of action were an "apparent attempt to evade" the mandatory ADR provisions of the operating agreements between the parties. On February 2, 2023, Judge Kirwan denied Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration. Gargano then moved for an award of attornevs fees and costs. On April 25, 2023, this...

Excerpt: ...so been narrowed in scope, as Balfour has produced about 20WJ more documents. Based on the opposition, filed August 18, and the reply, filed August 24, it appears that the remaining items in dispute are: (1) job cost reports, and (2) "key letters" between Balfour and the Santa Clara Valley Water District (aka the "Project Owner"). Job cost reports: Balfour argues that its job cost reports are not responsive to Neal's first set of document request...

Excerpt: ...plaint, 1.) In the fall of 2019, White, Wall, Thompson, Harris, and White's girlfriend, "S.V.," formed a cover band. (ld. at '127.) In the fall of 2020, White, Wall, and Thompson lived as friends and roommates in an apartment near Stanford. (ld. at '1 26.) White had a close but platonic relationship with Wall, Thompson, and Harris. (ld. at 33-34.) From the fall of 2019 to early 2020, White was a residential advisor who lived in the same dorms as ...

Excerpt: ...de provisions, the court GRANTS the motion. 1. Factual Background For some reason, it dæs not appear that anything substantive happened in this case between August 3, 2020 and December 2, 2022, the time period between this court's (Judge Barrett's) order compelling arbitration and the date on which plaintiffs finally submitted a demand for arbitration to JAMS. Nevertheless, once that occurred, JAMS sent an invoice for a $6mo retainer to defendan...

Excerpt: ...g papers and $3,665 for the reply. Apart from a brief answer or two, Omega has admittedly failed to prov-de responses to nearly all of these interrogatories and requests, serving only objections. Omega offered to serve substantive responses to Ahedo by September 15, 2023, in exchange for Ahedo's willingness to take the motion off calendar. Ahedo declined. Notwithstanding the lack of any meaningful responses to date, Omega now seeks $5,649.20 in m...

Excerpt: ...nal and still operative complaint is a form complaint filed on September 24, 2021. It states causes of action for: (1) Premises Liability/Dangerous Condition of Public Property, and (2) General Negligence. Three of the several defendants are the City of San Jose (the "City"), the 1939 Monterey Road Owners Association (the "Association"), and Verity Properties, Inc. ("Verity"). The complaint makes little distinction between the defendants and has ...

Excerpt: ...C&Rs") to maintain the common areas—specifically, the swimming pool and spa—caused him injury in the form of lung disease. Hudspeth filed his original complaint on April 22, 2022. This was a form complaint alleging a single cause of action for "General Negligence" with an "Exemplary Damages Attachment" seeking punitive damages. Also attached was a copy of the Association's CC&Rs. The Association brought a motion to strike the request for puni...

Excerpt: ...tion In this case, plaintiff Jain Family Investments, LLC ("JFI") seeks to ræover an alleged loan to defendant Pawan Agrawal ("Agrawal"). After JFI sent a demand letter to Agrawal seeking repayment, Agrawal conducted an online search for a business litigation attorney and found the Structure Law Group, LLP ("SLG"). He called SLG and to Robin Ratner about a possible response to the demand letter, and he claims that he disclosed confidential infor...

Excerpt: ...that plaintiffs' purchased. This motion is functionally identical to another moton filed by plaintiffs' counsel against GM in another case in this court (Case No. 22CV396285), except that other case involved a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, instead of a GMC Terrain. In that other case, the document requests at issue were identically numbered 37-41, and they likewise called for OBDII, vehicle symptom, vehicle component repair, customer complaint, ...

Excerpt: ...to lead to admissible evidence. The phrase "relating to" is particularly extreme in its unbounded scope. Shojaee argues that he needs these documents in order to determine the total amount of vehicle sales while he was employed by MEI, so that he can properly calculate the commissions to which he believes he is entitled. MEI counters that it has already produced documents from its "Dealer Management Software" (DMS) system, including "gross sales ...

Excerpt: ...ff's Motion to Set Aside the Dismissal This case will be five years old in tweve days. It was originally calendared for a trial setting conference over a year ago, on July 12, 2022, at which plaintiff's counsel failed to ap#ar. The matter was then set for an order to show cause hearing regarding that failure to appear on December 1, 2022. Plaintiff's counsel failed to appear again, and the court (Judge Kirwan) dismissed the case without prejudice...

Excerpt: ...tive pleading and alleges that Kim and Lee were in a committed relationship from 1991 to 1997. (FAC, 8-9.) In 1997, Kim and Lee separated but reconciled in November 1999. (ld. at '1 11.) Lee moved in with Kim in November 1999, and Lee's minor children from a separate relationship moved in as their primary residence the following year. (ld. at 11-12.) On August 18, 2006, Kim and Lee held a wedding ceremony in Hawaii but did not file a marriage cer...

Excerpt: ...r on August 27, 2021. He filed the operative first amended complaint ("FAC") on October 18, 2022. The FAC states three causes of action: (1) Breach of Contract (in reliance on Corporations Code secton 16801(3)); (2) Dissolution (pursuant to Corporations Code section and (C)); and (3) Accounting (pursuant to Corporations Code section 16403). Defendants filed an answer ("General Denial") to the FAC on November 9, 2022. Currently before the court is...

Excerpt: ...se' working with defendant David Howard Lichtenger ("Lichtenger") in April 2011. (Complaint, 13.) Weisel managed CA Residential Opportunity Fund LP ("CROF l"), a real estate investment fund, and was working to establish CA Residential Opportunity Fund II LP ("CROF II"), another such fund. (Ibid.) In Spring 2011, Weisel became a second "Manager" for Integrity Homes, LLC, a company founded by Lichtenger in (Ibid.) Weisel and Lichtenger subsequently...

Excerpt: ...case back to "limited," and an order vacating the grant of the anti-SLAPP motion. Plaintiff Midland Credit Management, Inc. ("MCM") now brings four motions to compel further discovery responses from defendant/cross- complainant Merciditas Vergonio ("Vergonio"), all filed on the same date. For the most part, these motions and their four supporting memoranda are nearly identical, with the majority of the text in each document simply cut and paste f...

Excerpt: ...ecember 16, 2022 opinion reversing the judgment in this case, including its instructions on remand, this court agrees with plaintiffs. Accordingly, the court DENIES the motion to compel and GRANTS the motion for protective order. GBR's motion and its opposition to plaintiffs' motion are premised on the notion that because the Court of Appeal did not explicitly direct an entry of judgment of liability in fawr of plaintffs after the retrial that it...

Excerpt: ... was dismissed on December 27, 2022, after the parties executed a settlement agreement ("Agreement") on July 29, 2022. Plaintiffs filed the complaint in this action on January 17, 2023. It states three causes of action, all based on the Agreement: (1) Breach of Contract; (2) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; and (3) Restitution (alleging that Defendants have "unfairly benefited" and been "unjustly enriched" as a resul...

Excerpt: ...lic Health Department's public health order, dated December 28, 2021, requiring public employees in "Higher-Risk Settings" to receive COVID-19 vaccines and any available boostersl in order to continue working. Plaintiffs do not dispute that they fall within the category of public workers in "Higher-Risk Settings." A. The Original Complaint Plaintiffs filed their original complaint on May 27, 2022, stating two causes of acton: (1) Violation of the...

Excerpt: ...tiff to introduce evidence that the costs were reasonable and necessary." (Reply at p. 1:4-27.) This argument is based on a clear misreading of the case law. In the context of a memorandum of costs, a moving party makes a "proper" objection only if the items appearing in the memorandum do not appear to be allowable charges under Code of Civil Procedure section 1033.5 on their face. (See Hooked Media Group, Inc. v. Apple Inc. (2020) 55 Cal.App.5th...

Excerpt: ...rrero authorized treatment for the cat, was informed of the cat's medical condition, and ultimately elected not to pursue further treatment. (Ibid.) After her cat passed away, Guerrero began posting negative comments about Arch Vet on social media (Twitter). (ld. at 7.) Guerrero also published a review on Yelp, the online review platform: Rating this place when I wish I could just say what I need to say. It doesn't deserve a single star. The owne...

Excerpt: ...fendant is Hieu Minh Nguyen ("Nguyen"), either by himself or along with one or more of his family members: Quy Ngoc Thi Nguyen (Nguyen's wife) and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Qui (Nguyen's daughter). In addition, these cases include cross-complaints involving several of these same parties, as well as Little Saigon Plaza Sacramento, LLC ("Little Saigon"), a former "partnership" between Luong and Nguyen that Luong apparently now controls. In each of these case...

Excerpt: ...required fts employees to receive vaccinations for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. (Ibid.) Salinas requested but did not receive a religious exemption or accommodations from Defendants, because the County determined that his request "[was] not based on a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance" and was instead being made on a "non-religious basis." (ld. at '1 9.) Salinas was not afforded an opportunity to ...

Excerpt: ... Prevailing Wage Pay; (2) Failure to Pay Applicable Prevailing Wage on Public Works Project; (3) Failure to Pay Wages/Minimum Wages/secret underpayment of Wages; (4) Failure to Indemnify for Expenses; (5) Failure to Provide Meal Periods; (5) Failure to Provide Rest Periods; (7) Failure to Provide and Maintain Itemized Wage Statements; (8) Failure to Pay Wages Due Upon Termination; (9) Unfair Business Practices; (10) Retaliation; (11) Wrongful Ter...

Excerpt: ...al documents relating to the Loan (collectively, the "Loan Documents"): 1. Promissory Note, dated October 5, 2018; 2. Business Loan Agreement, dated October 5, 2018; 3. Deed of Trust, dated October 5, 2018 and recorded in Contra Costa County on October 18, 2018; 4. Assignment of Rents, dated October 5, 2018 and recorded in Contra Costa County on October 18, 2018; and 5. Payment Deferral Agreement, dated April 28, 2020, subsequently amended by Ame...

Excerpt: ...motion. As instructed by the court, the parties had an informal discovery conference with Judge Carol Overton and were able to narrow their disputes, but many disputes remain. The court now GRANTS in part and DENIES in part the motion to compel, as follows: Form Interrogatories (General) Nos. 12.1 & 12.2 and Form Interrogatories (Employment) Nos. 215.1 & 215.2: The court does not understand the relevance of Ms. Viera's investigation and report to...

Excerpt: ...lowing causes of action: 1. VIOLATION OF LABOR CODE SECTION 1102.5 2. WRONGFUL TERMINATION IN VIOLATION OF PUBLIC POLICY The FAC alleges that Google employed Chatterjee as a senior engineering manager from 2018 to May 2022. (FAC, "1 10, 136.) As part of his duties, Chatterjee was responsible for evaluating the potential commercial use of a Google research project that developed design methtxls for the physical layout of computer chips ("Project M...

Excerpt: ...the Contract Documents which in any way involve Subcontractor, shall be resolved by arbitration or litigation at the sole discretion of the Contractor, and any award or judgment entered theron shall be final and binding upon Subcontractor. The venue for any legal proceeding shall be held in the county and state where the project is located. Arbitration will be in accordance with the Constructon Industry Rules of the American Arbitration Associati...

Excerpt: ...EVIDENTIARY OBJECTIONS The court declines to issue a ruling on Galan Ramirez's evidentary objections because they are not material to the outcome of the summary adjudication motion. "In granting or denying a moton for summary judgment or summary adjudication, the court need rule only on those objections to evidence that it deems material to its disposition of the motion. Objections to evidence that are not ruled on for purposes of the motion shal...

Excerpt: ...the original complaint in this action on January 4, 2019. According to the allegations of the operative first amended complaint ("FAC"), Plaintiffs operate pain management clinics. (FAC, 9, 19, 20.) They were in-network providers with Cigna for many years, until 2014. (ld. at '1 2.) After they left the Cigna network, Cigna allegedly required excessive medical records and documentation for each bill prior to payment. (ld. at 3.) According to Plain...

Excerpt: ...1. Relevant Background The parties had an arbitration in 2020 and 2021. The evidentiary hearing took place over the course of several days in June 2021, now more than two years ago. On November 10, 2021, the three-arbitrator panel from JAMS served its final award on the parties, awarding $83 million to Petitioners. On February 17, 2022, respondents Jeffrey Scharf and Sherril Smith-Scharf ("Respondents") filed a #tition in this court to correct th...

Excerpt: ...than recount the long history of litigation, which has already been recounted multiple times in this case, the court simply refers to, and incorporates by reference, the court's prior orders of January 7, 2020 (issued by Judge Pierce), March 6, 2020 (judgment entered by Judge Pierce), September 24, 2020 (signed by Judge Barrett), and November 8, 2022 (signed by Judge Kirwan). Defendant Nordstrom, Inc. ("Nordstrom") requests that the court take ju...

Excerpt: ...e opposes the motion, arguing that Hix and Fahn have shown an insuffic:ient basis for quashing the subpoena; alternatively, if Fahn is excused from testifying at trial, RealPage asks that her declaration and deposition testimony be excluded, as well. This is an unusual situation, because unlike most witnesses who seek to be excused from testifying for medical reasons, Fahn has already testified for 12 hours over the course of three days of deposi...

Excerpt: ...f the FEHA (employment discrimination); (2) Failure to Pay Wages Due and Owing (violation of Labor Code SS et seq.); (3) Breach of Contract; (4) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; and (5) Unfair Competition. The FAC alleges that Stroud began working for Intermedia in December 2014 and that she resigned in January 2019. Previously, Intermedia brought a demurrer to the FAC's second, third, fourth, and fifth causes of act...

Excerpt: ...signed multiple houses in different styles and provided photos of these designs to Li — representations confirmed by Zoran's wife, Elizabeth, in November 2021. (Complaint, '1 6.) Defendants represented that they had years of ex#rience in designing houses and working with the City of Palo Alto's zoning authorities to obtain new constructon and remodeling permits. (Ibid.) Defendants also represented that they carefully, honestly, billed their cli...

Excerpt: ...s ("786") and Irfan Pathan ("Pathan") (collectively, "cross-defendants") on December 22, 2022. In their cross- complaint, Mahameed and Omari allege ownership of the property at 2110 Maykirk Rd., San Jose, CA (the "Subject Property"). (Cross-Compl., 12.) In January 2022, they hired Pathan and 786 Construction Consulting Services to work on the kitchen and bathroom remodel with "a total price of $271,723.00." (ld. at '1 15.) Mahameed and Omari did ...

Excerpt: ...rs, LLC ("SJHD") opposes, arguing that Butler does not have a substantial interest in the case because she is merely the successor in interest of the decedent, Hanan Butler (her son). SJHD also points out that Butler does not have any personal knowledge of the motorcycle incident that is the focus of this lawsuit. Finally, SJHD contends that Butler's motion lacks a sufficient evidentiary foundation to establish her age and her health condition, a...

Excerpt: ...and the meet-andconfer correspondence. As a general matter, the court agrees with ChargePoint that most of Larrenaga's document requests are exceedingly overbroad, encompassing large quantifies of information that are neither relevant nor reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, but that also undoubtedly impose a significant burden upon ChargePoint to collect and produce. At the same time, the court also agrees with ...

Excerpt: ...tiff and (2) a showing by the plaintiff of a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits. (Hunt v. Superior Court (1999) 21 Cal.4th 984, 999-1000.) The plaintiff has the burden of showing plaintiff would be harmed if the preliminary injunction were not granted. (Casmalia Resources, Ltd. v. County of Santa Barbara (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 827, 838.) Plaintiff has made a sufficient showing that the balancing of hardships weigh in favor of plain...

Excerpt: ...tiff and (2) a showing by the plaintiff of a reasonable probability of prevailing on the merits. (Hunt v. Superior Court (1999) 21 Cal.4th 984, 999-1000.) The plaintiff has the burden of showing plaintiff would be harmed if the preliminary injunction were not granted. (Casmalia Resources, Ltd. v. County of Santa Barbara (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 827, 838.) Plaintiff has made a sufficient showing that the balancing of hardships weigh in favor of plain...

Excerpt: ...acts of violence at the Gilroy Garlic Festival prior to 2019; (3) specific acts of violence that led to a policy banning gang colors, weapons, and other items from the Gilroy Garlic Festival prior to 2019; (4) erection, maintenance, and monitoring of the perimeter fence at the festival, including discovery of breaches of the fence; and (5) coordination and communication between the defendants regarding security measures at the festival. The court...

Excerpt: ... 18T contends that a dispute has arisen between it and the successor landlord defendants over the interpretation of several portions of the lease relating to expenses and maintenance of the premises ("Lease"). 18T filed the original complaint on September 22, 2020, stating claims against Fortune Companies Management Corp., Fortune Realty, LLC, and Mosaic Equities, LLC ("Defendants"). Following a demurrer and motion to strike, IBT filed the operat...

Excerpt: ... same issues. The court also GRANTS the motion for trial preference. l. SITE INSPECTION MOTIONS The site in question is the patent loading and unloading area of the Stanford Neuroscience Health Center, where defendant Bang Ngo ran over plaintiff Sharif Razzaqui's leg with a truck, as well as the nearby parking lot and building lobby. The court has reviewed the short videos submitted by plaintiffs showing the scene of the accident as well as the a...

Excerpt: ...e to amend. Plaintiffs now bring a motion to lift the stay, as well as a renewed motion for leave to amend. For the reasons that follow, including the fact that the proposed amendment is highly likely to interfere directly with the pending arbitration, the court DENIES each motion. Plaintiffs propose to add 11 named defendants: Juventas, Inc. (a company apparently owned by defendant Tien Trinh); Synergy Infoconnect, LLC (a company apparently owne...

Excerpt: ...ties' Arguments The basis for Lee's motion is that he filed a request for dismissal on September 19, 2022 as to Defendant City of San Jose (the "City") only, and not as to DOES 1-20, and so he argues that it was improper for the clerk of the court to dismiss the entre case. Alternatively, he argues that it was standard procedure for the clerk's offce to dismiss all DOE defendants when all of the named defendants are dismissed, then it was his "mi...

Excerpt: ...Lee to redesignate documents under the protective order. The court addresses these matters in order. The court dispenses with a lengthy recitaton of the background and procedural history of this case, focusing solely on the facts and law that are directly relevant to the issues at hand. I. DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISQUALIFY PLAINTIFF'S COUNSEL The moton to disqualify is denied. This motion is based on the premise that Lee's counsel improperly used ...

Excerpt: ...2020, alleging medical negligence and loss of consortium. Plaintiffs filed a Doe amendment to the complaint on May 12, 2021, adding defendants Cheung Leung, M.D. ("Leung") and Mohammed Siddiqi, M.D. ("Siddiqi") as Does 26 and 27, respectively. On February 14, 2023, Leung filed a motion for summary judgment of all claims on the ground that he neither breached the standard of care nor negligently caused injury to Plaintiffs.2 II. EVIDENTIARY ISSUES...

Excerpt: ...e of achon for breach of contract on January 12, 2023. As noted in the court's prior order on demurrerl : Plaintiff is self- represented, which is sometmes referred to as appearing in propria persona. "[Wlhen a litigant is appearing in propria persona, he is entitled to the same, but no greater, consideration than other litigants and attorneys. Further, the in propria persona litigant is held to the same restrictive rules of procedure as an attor...

Excerpt: ...d an Answer to the FAC on September 23, 2022, followed by the operative Amended Answer to the FAC on January 10, 2023. Currently before the court are two motions: Zhou's demurrer to the Amended Answer, filed on February 9, 2023, contending that assertons therein fail to provide sufficient facts to constitute a defense or that the defense is uncertain, and Zhou's motion to disqualify the attorney representing We Party, Shanshan Zou. Regarding the ...

Excerpt: ...fendants"). The operative Complaint filed on January 17, 2023 alleges that Defendants recorded a judgment lien on April 3, 2019, which operates as a cloud on the title of Plaintiffs' residence. (Complaint, 26.) The judgment lien was the last in a series of abstracts of judgments entered in a case between Defendant Cintora and Plaintiff Clifford Stanley and his former company, Bad Boys Bail Bonds, Inc. (Complaint at '1 14.) The court first entered...

Excerpt: ...FEHA; (2) Failure to Prevent Discriminaton and Harassment in violation of the FEHA (based solely on alleged failure to prevent discrimination, see 38), and; (3) Retaliation in violation of the FEHA. After Plaintiff brought a motion for leave to amend which was granted on February 28, 20224 the operative First Amended Complaint ("FAC") was filed on March 2, 2022 and states seven causes of action: (1) Race Discrimination in violation of the FEHA; (...

Excerpt: ...g lnc, Whispering LLC and Naren Chaganti. Regarding the demand for further production of documents, Travelers seeks further production relating to demands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11. Plaintiff responds that both motions are "too late." Regarding the motion to compel further Interrogatories, Plaintiff claims Defendant is attempting to "decide the entire case via a discovery motion," and asserts that Defendant is seeking "legal argument instead o...

Excerpt: ...d. He filed the operative Second Amended Complaint ("SAC") on March 1, 2021, after retaining counsel. The SAC states claims for: (1) Breach of Contract (the insurance policy, a copy of which is submitted as Exhibit A to the SAC); (2) Fraud and Deceit (based on a denial of coverage letter which is not attached to the SAC as an exhibit); (3) "Intentional/Negligent Misrepresentation" (two separate causes of action pled as one, also based on the deni...

Excerpt: ...ot allege the specific location where Hsieh was injured. It asserts the general negligence claim against defendants 852-850 Villa Street LLC, Frederick Chen, Mark Chen, Don Baker, Douglas Watson (collectively, the "Villa Street Defendants") and various Does. The narratve on the "General Negligence" attachment states, somewhat generically, that "Defendants ... so negligently owned, occupied, managed, maintained or controlled certain real property,...

Excerpt: ... RealPage as a "System Administrator" from September 2017 until his termination on September 30, 2019. The complaint alleges that Hix was misclassified by his employers as an exempt employee and paid a fixed salary even though Hix was primarily engaged in performing nonexempt duties. (Complaint, "1 15-15.) Hix allegedly worked a substantial amount of overtime but was never paid overtime wages and did not qualify for exemption from overtme law. (l...

Excerpt: ... and that Roth Financial would see a 50% return within the first year. (ld. at '1 11.) Liddle subsequently disappeared with Roth Financial's money, in breach of their alleged fiduciary relationship, leaving Roth Financial unable to locate Liddle until a year ago. (Complaint, '1 8.) Roth Financial alleges that the induced investment was a security and that Liddle's actions constitute securities fraud, entitling Roth Financial to treble damages and...

Excerpt: ...n violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA); (2) Age Discrimination in violation of the FEHA; (3) Disabil-ty Discriminaton in violation of the FEHA; (4) Failure to Accommodate Disability in violation of the FEHA; (5) Harassment in violation of the FEHA; (6) Failure to Prevent Harassment in violation of the FEHA; and (7) Retaliation in violation of the FEHA. The fifth cause of action for harassment is alleged against all defendants. ...

Excerpt: ...uld exercise its discretion to transfer this case to Stanislaus County for the convenience of witnesses and the ends of justice, under Code of Civil Procedure section 397, subdivision (c). The court concludes that Santa Clara County is a proper venue under Code of Civil Procedure section 395.5, and that any motion under secton 397 is premature, given that no defendant has answered the complaint. Accordingly, the motion is denied. II. BACKGROUND O...

Excerpt: ... the court finds that at least some of the requested deposition testimony is relevant to the summary judgment motion and that there would be no material prejudice to continuing the moton hearing date by 30 days. The court therefore GRANTS IN PART the motion to compel and GRANTS the motion for a 30-day continuance of the summary judgment hearing. II. BACKGROUND Newman became a resident of Manor Care, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility, ...

Excerpt: ...ading northbound on Interstate 280 in Cupertino, California. (Complaint, '1 12.) The car in which Cao was riding was struck twice by a car operated by defendant Dante Martinez Escamilla, who was reported to be driving under the influence. (Ibid.) upon the second collision, the car containing Cao ran off the road and hit a tree. (ld., at "1 12, 39.) Among other things, the complaint alleges that if adequate safety measures had been placed on the f...

Excerpt: ...first set of requests for production of documents" as to the same defendant. The court finds that the earlier "first set" that is the subject of the current motion was superseded by the subsequent "first set" that the court addressed on April 4. Accordingly, this motion is denied as moot. Plaintiffs Whispering Oaks Residential Care Facility LLC, Whispering Oaks RCF Management Co. Inc., and Naren Chaganti ("Plaintiffs") originally served a "First ...

Excerpt: ...ENIED. At the outset, it is important to note that Ren does not claim a current or former attorney-client relationship with Zou. Normally, a party must have had an attorney-client relationship with an opposing attorney in order to have standing to bring a moton to disqualify. (See Jarvis v. Jarvis (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 113, 131-133.) A non-client may still move for disqualification of opposing counsel in certain limited circumstances. In this cas...

Excerpt: ...nal and still-operative form complaint on December 3, 2019, and it states two causes of action: (1) General Negligence, and (2) Premises Liability. There are no exhibits attached to the complaint. The complaint refers collectively to the "Defendants" and does not make any distinction between DL Bar and La Senda. The only narrative portions of the complaint are attachments for General Negligence and Premises Liability. The first of these (the Gene...

Excerpt: ...n the complaint is barred because the purpose ofthe lease was "deemed illegal by the City of San Jose." • In '1 10, changing Anatomage's admission that it "terminated its Lease due [tol the Landlord's improper and unlawful conduct" to an admission that it "vacated Suite 100 of the subject Premises after being served with Plaintiff's Notice to Cure or Quit dated September 19, 2019, and thereafter vacated Suites 650 and 700 .. . due [tol the Land...

Excerpt: ...y is where Mummah resided at the time of commencement of the acton. On April 22, 2022, Li filed the operative first amended complaint for declaratory relief ("FAC"). On September 2, 2022 Mummah filed: 1. Answer to the FAC; and 2. Cross-complaint for Violation of Federal and California Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts ("FDCPA") ("cross-complaint"). The cross-complaint names Li's attorney, Scott A. Flaxman, as cross-defendant. On March 5, 2023, ...

Excerpt: ...pired on January 31, 2023. (Comp'. at '16.) It further alleges that the expired tenancy was exempt from the Tenant Protecton Act of 2019 under two provisions: (1) Civil Code section 1946.2, subdivision (a) (stating in pertinent part that the Act only applies "after a tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a residential real property for 12 months"), and (2) Civil Code section 1946.2, subdivision (e)(4) (stating that the Act does not apply ...

Excerpt: ...ourt GRANTS Cisco motion. The court also finds that Cisco has demonstrated "no reasonable likelihood" of Ali's prevailing in this action and that it is therefore entitled to an order that Ali post a security before continuing this litigation. Nevertheless, the court finds no evidentiary basis for the $250,000 requested by Cisco and therefore orders the parties to appear to address the question of the appropriate amount. Code of Civil Procedure se...

Excerpt: ...e of Civil Procedure section 340.1, subdivision (b)(l), does not apply to the conduct alleged here. Accordingly, the court denies the motion. As an initial matter, the court notes that the complaint names three defendants (in addition to Doe defendants): the Church, the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints (the "Corporation of the President"), and Phil Stewart, a former bishop. The motion is unclear, ho...

Excerpt: ...hat certain limited discovery is needed in order to oppose the motons. Having reviewed the submissions of the parties, the court grants in part and denies in part the motion to lift the stay of discovery: • Subpoena for documents from Stanford: GRANTED. The court finds that White has shown good cause to obtain documents from Stanford relating to: (1) any complaints of sexual assault against White by the defendants, and (2) complaints of any nat...

Excerpt: ...el; (4) Fraud; (5) Unfair Business Practice[s]; (5) Unjust Enrichment; (7) Money Paid; (8) Accounting; and (9) Conspiracy. She alleged that defendants Wu, Hu and Li were all the alter egos of We Party. We Party brought a demurrer to the original complaint, as well as a motion to strike the complaint's request for punitive damages. Ren, now self-represented, filed oppositions to the demurrer and motion to strike. Ren also filed a motion for leave ...

Excerpt: ...all defendants: (1) Wrongful Death; (2) Survival Action — General Negligence; (3) Breach of Implied Contract; (4) Breach of Contract; (5) Violation of California Education Code secton 65270; (6) Loss of Consortium; (7) Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress; and (8) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. There are no exhibits attached to the complaint.3 Currently before the court is a demurrer by defendant The Board of Trustees of th...

Excerpt: ...h the original complaint and the first amended complaint, which were sustained or granted in part. Latessa filed her operative second amended complaint ("SAC") on December 30, 2022. Defendants filed the present demurrer and motion to strike on January 31, 2023. II. FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS IN THE SAC After successfully applying to Stanford's Botha-Chan Entrepreneurship Innovation Program in 2021, the parties allegedly formed a joint venture partnershi...

Excerpt: ... Contract; (3) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; and (4) Slander/Defamation (violation of Civil Code SS 43 and 46). The FAC alleged that Majors worked for Thing5 from December 2, 2019 until his termination on September 29, 2021. (See FAC at 21 and 4.) Included in Exhibit B to the FAC was a copy of Majors's employment offer letter and a copy of Thing5's Employee Handbook from August 2019. The offer letter expressly sta...

Excerpt: ...ated seven causes of achon against the City and various Does who allegedly "completely dominate[] and control[]" the City. (Complaint at 12a.) The causes of action alleged were: (1) Discrimination in Violation of the FEHA (based on alleged discrimination against Amir for his "specific religious beliefs"); (2) Retaliation in Violation of the FEHA (based on alleged protected activ-ty consisting of requesting accommodation for his religious beliefs)...

Excerpt: ...February 21, 2023, but of an unfortunate delay in the clerk's office in setting the hearing on Defendants' motions for summary judgment, this court (Judge Kirwan) continued the trial date to July 3, 2023, at Defendants' request. No party requested that the original discovery deadlines be continued, and so Judge Kirwan did not continue the original fact discovery deadline of January 23, 2023. The motions for summary judgment are now scheduled to b...

Excerpt: ...ed partnership agreement that established KCLP ("Limited Partnership Agreement"). That Limited Partnership Agreement for KCLP contains an arbitration clause to which the parties are all signatories. The JAMS arbitration is currently scheduled for a hearing on the merits on October 16-20, 2023, with the same attorneys as in this case. Huang now argues that the present case falls outside the sco# of the Limited Partnership Agreement—and, therefor...

Excerpt: ...ng this motion. Tuan's counsel sent one substantive, sharply worded letter to Applied's counsel on December 8, 2022, in which he addressed Applied's objections and answers, and in which he concluded with a threat of monetary sanctions. After Applied responded to this letter, Tuan's counsel never responded substantively again, and he refused to engage in multiple efforts by Applied's attorneys to have a dialogue to resolve their disputes. In an em...

Excerpt: ... judgment debtors Qury Technologies, Inc. ("Qury Tech"), Wei Zheng ("Zheng"), Zhe Liu ("Liu"), and Huican Zhu ("Zhu") appeared, claiming that notice was insufficient and requesting additional time to file an opposition. The court granted the request, continuing the hearing to April 25, 2023 and setting a briefing schedule. The court also granted proposed judgment debtors' request to file a surreply brief. Having now considered all of the submissi...

Excerpt: ...d. 1. Procedural History On September 15, 2022, this court (Judge Kirwan) granted Gargano's motion for judgment on the pleadings, concluding that Plaintiffs' first cause of action and Permanent Injunction") and second cause of action ("Accounting") failed to state sufficient facts to constitute proper causes of action. In particular, the court concluded: (1) that the causes of action were in the nature of derivative claims rather than direct clai...

Excerpt: ...PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Li originally filed this case on July 7, 2020, alleging that Yu and Dæ Defendants 1-10 made false statements about her on a social media application (WeChat). Li subsequently added defendants Zheng, Wu, Peng, and Wang. On June 7, 2021, Li filed the operative Second Amended Complaint (the "SAC") against Defendants, asserting the following causes of action: 1. DEFAMATION PER SE (AGAINST ALL DEFENDANTS); AND 2. DEFAMATION PER ...

Excerpt: ...ition"); (2) Request for Production No. 36 (which requests documents reflecting measures taken by the Church from 1990-2005 to protect children from sexual abuse); and (3) the corresponding person-most-knowledgeable deposition topics for these document requests (Topic Nos. 1 and 2). C.N. has filed a motion to compel further responses to this same discovery. In addition, C.N. requests monetary sanctions in connection with both motions. In its oppo...

Excerpt: ...January 5, 2023, Chase filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings ("JOP motion"). On February 27, 2023, Porras filed a declaration in opposition to the JOP Motion. He also filed an amended declaration on April 12, 2023. II. LEGAL STANDARD A plaintiff's JOP motion is proper when: (1) the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute causes of action against the defendant, and (2) the defendant's answer does not state facts sufficient to consti...

Excerpt: ...nicated productively about it. 80th sides sent needlessly contentious correspondence to the other. They should have been working cooperatively toward achieving a common goal: a prompt dismissal of this case with prejudice. The court finds that both sides are to blame for this situation. In addition, both sides shared the common goal of dismissal, so there is no "winner" or "loser," in the traditional sense, in connection with the ex parte applica...

Excerpt: ...e judicial reference provision is part of a void and invalid contract. The court finds Plaintiffs' arguments to be unpersuasive and concludes that the agreement may be enforced in this case. Nevertheless, the court also believes that ATI's motion may be incomplete, as it does not include any of the information required by rules 3.901 and 3.902 of the California Rules of Court. As a result, the court grants ATI's motion, as far as it goes, but the...

Excerpt: ...in Violation of Public Policy), and on September 29, 2022, the court (Judge Kirwan) sustained the demurrer with leave to amend. Dornidon filed her first amended complaint ("FAC") on October 11, 2022, alleging the same causes of action as in the original complaint: (1) Breach of Contract and (2) Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy. SHC now brings this demurrer to the second cause of action, arguing that it still fails to allege suff...

Excerpt: ... shelving and sorting books and miscellaneous closing duties. Laurent contends that he was fired from the Library because of his disabilities, which include autism and compartment syndrome, which Laurent describes as increased pressure in an anatomic compartment (of the leg), causing chronic knee pain. On May 2, 2018, Laurent approached his supervisor, Gena Cortez, and asked her to provide him with a different task from the shelving duties to whi...

Excerpt: ...ition brief is not yet due on that last motion. All three of these motions are interrelated, however, as evidenced by frequent references to the propriety of Google's confidentiality designations in the briefing on the first two motions, particularly by plaintiff Satrajit Chatterjee ("Chatterjee"). Nevertheless, because the third motion appears to raise the most substantive issues of the three, and because the court does not yet know the full ext...

Excerpt: ... BACKGROUND A. Factual Allegations in the Complaint Plaintiff Applied Materials, Inc. ("Applied") supplies equipment, services, and software for fabrication of semiconductor products. (Complaint ("Compl.") '16.) It brings this action against defendants Huu Vu ("Huu") and Tuan Vu ("Tuan") (brothers and former employees of Applied) 3 , defendant James Nguyen dba Mechatronics Engineering Group ("Nguyen"), and defendant Capital Asset Exchange & Tradi...

Excerpt: ...sona, [slhe is entitled to the same, but no greater, consideration than other litigants and attorneys. Further, the in propria persona litigant is held to the same restrictive rules of procedure as an attorney." (Burnete v. La Casa Dana Apartments (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 1262, 1267, internal citatons omitted; see also Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4th 975, 985.) The original complaint in this action, filed on June 20, 2019, stated claims for:...

Excerpt: ...-represented here, is a full-time physician for the County at the South County Clinic, run by Substance Use Treatment Services ("SUTS"). (SAC at 1.) He has been employed as a category "P28" Senior Staff Physician II since July 2013. (SAC at '1 1, 30.) Per County records, he is paid every two weeks with the terms and conditions of his employment set forth in the Memorandum of understanding ("MOU") between the County and the Union of American Physi...

Excerpt: ...ity. Johnson visited the California Pizza Kitchen located at 136 El Camino Real in Palo Alto California in May and June 2021 and alleges that he was "deterred from physically attempting to sit" at the restaurant as a result of noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The complaint states two causes of action: (1) Violation of the Unruh Act; and (2) Violation of the California Disabled Persons Act. The complaint primarily re...

Excerpt: ..., subdivision (e), of the Code of Civil Procedure i.e., on the ground that the complaint fails to state sufficient facts to allege a cause of action. A. Factual Allegations in the Complaint Catchlight filed the complaint on June 24, 2022. It alleges that Zhu misappropriated and absconded with investments that were originally made by Zhen Partners, a venture capital firm, in 2017. (Complaint, 2-3.) In that year, Zhen Partners and Leadvisor entered...

Excerpt: ...s, the requests at issue are: Nos. 2, 4, 5, 5, 7, 9, 11, 18, and 20. For the reasons set forth below, the court DENIES the motion. As an initial matter, Travelers points out that Plaintiffs' motion is untimely. Travelers served its amended responses to the requests for production on November 22, 2022, and so Plaintiffs' deadline to file their motion was January 10, 2023 (45 days + 2 court days). Plaintiffs did not file the Notice of Motion until ...

Excerpt: ...fessor at Stanford, asserted that he was entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in bringing a lawsuit to defend both his academic integrity and that of others. The underlying Labor Code proceeding (sometimes referred to as a "Berman hearing") "is designed to provide a speedy, informal, and affordable method of resolving wage claims." (Post v. Palo/Haklar & Assocs. (20W) 23 Cal.4th 942, 947; see also Arias v. Kardoulias (2012) 207 Cal.App...

Excerpt: ...020. She filed a First Amended Complaint ("FAC") on September 15, 2020. She filed a Second Amended Complaint ("SAC") on April 28, 2022. The SAC stated 11 causes of action: (1) Gender Discrimination in Violation of the FEHA; (2) Retaliation; (3) Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy; (4) Failure to Pay Overtime Wages; (5) unpaid Meal Period Wages; (6) Unpaid Rest Period Wages; (7) Failure to Pay All Wages Due; (8) Failure to Provide A...

Excerpt: ... for negligent misrepresentation. A. Facts On November 30, 2017, third-party Kurt Orban Partners, LLC entered into an $85,000,000 credit facility with several lenders, including Plaintiffs. (FAC, '13.) Initial and subsequent funding underthe credit facility was conditioned on Kurt Orban Partners, LLC's delivery of an unqualified audit opinion on its consolidated financial statements. (Ibid.) Accordingly, Kurt Orban Partners, LLC retained Squar to...

Excerpt: ...this case. De La Rosa's Retail Installment Sales Contract ("sales contract") with Premier included an agreement to arbitrate all claims arising out of or relating to the "purchase or condition of this vehicle, this contract or any resulting transaction or relationship (including any such relationship with third parties who do not sign this contract).. " Although Nissan was not a signatory to this sales contract, De La Rosa alleges that "[allong w...

Excerpt: ...nits and 18 office units. Plaintiff filed the original complaint in this action on May 28, 2021. It filed the operative First Amended Complaint ("FAC") on August 12, 2021. The FAC states five causes of action against Defendant and various Does: (1) "Breach of CCRs and Civil Code 4775"; (2) "Breach of the SAR Contract"; (3) Negligence; (4) Common Counts and Quantum Meruit; and (5) Declaratory Relief. Both the original complaint and the FAC allege ...

Excerpt: ...llectively, "Defendants") breached a settlement agreement that arose from a loan ownership dispute between the Trust and Neal. (SAC, '1 12.) Neal filed that underlying loan ownership dispute against the Trust, which Neal alleges was represented by Robinson and WFZ. (ld. at '1 14) Neal also alleges that on December 30, 2021, he made an initial offer of $750,000 "in exchange for conveyance of complete title of the subject property to Plaintiff by D...