Excerpt: ...applicable summary judgment framework is well explained in Featherstone v. Southern California Permanente Medical Group (2017) 10 Cal.App.5th 1150: “In an employment discrimination case, an employer may move for summary judgment against a discrimination cause of action with evidence of a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action. [Citation.] A legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason is one that is unrelated to prohibit...

Excerpt: ...rt may make an order approving or denying certification of a provisional settlement class after the preliminary settlement hearing. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.769(d).) Before the court may approve the settlement, however, the settlement class must satisfy the normal prerequisites for a class action. (Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor (1997) 521 US 591, 625‐627; see also Newberg, Newberg and Rubenstein on Class Actions (Westlaw, 2017) Section 7...

Excerpt: ...plaint. The time in which the answer can be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanation: Demurrer Defendant‐attorney demurs to plaintiff's sole cause of action for legal malpractice on the grounds that the Third Amended Complaint (“TAC”) fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and the pleading is uncertain. Objections that a complaint is ambiguous or uncertain, or that essential facts ap...

Excerpt: ... condition, and in any event defendants had no actual or constructive notice of the unsafe condition to create a duty that defendants thereon breached.1 A trial court shall grant summary judgment where there are no triable issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Code Civ. Proc. §437c(c); Schacter v. Citigroup (2009) 47 Cal.4th 610, 618.) The issue to be determined by the trial court in considerat...

Excerpt: ...sponses to Special Interrogatories, Set One, as to Requests Nos. 14, 40‐45, and 53. To order GM to provide further responses to Request for Production of Documents, Set One, as to Requests Nos. 1, 6‐9, 15, 16, 24, 25, and 27. To deny the motion as to Request for Production of Documents, Set One, as to Requests Nos. 3, 17, 31 and 33. GM shall serve verified supplemental responses without objections within 20 days of the date of the service of ...

Excerpt: ... order…that the trial of any issue or any part thereof shall precede the trial of any other issue or any part thereof in the case….” (Code Civ. Proc., § 598.) Similarly, Code of Civil Procedure section 1048 provides that “[t]he court, in furtherance of convenience or to avoid prejudice, or when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy, may order a separate trial of any cause of action…or of any separate issue or of a...

Excerpt: ...�[i]n any action on a contract, where the contract specifically provides that attorney's fees and costs, which are incurred to enforce that contract, shall be awarded either to one of the parties or to the prevailing party, then the party who is determined to be the party prevailing on the contract, whether he or she is the party specified in the contract or not, shall be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees in addition to other costs.” (Civ....

Excerpt: ...tial responses to Form Interrogatories, Set Two from plaintiff Ericka Lollis; and request for sanctions Tentative Ruling: To grant the motion seeking an order deeming the truth of matters specified in the Requests for Admission, Set Two established pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.280, subdivision (b) against plaintiff Reginald Robinson unless responses in substantial conformity with Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.220 are se...

Excerpt: ...ctions involving a common question of law or fact are pending before the court, it may order a joint hearing or trial of any or all the matters in issue in the actions; it may order all the actions consolidated and it may make such orders concerning proceedings therein as may tend to avoid unnecessary costs or delay.” The purpose for consolidation is to promote trial convenience and economy by avoiding duplication of procedure particularly in t...

Excerpt: ...order consistent with the court's summary adjudication ruling. Explanation: Summary Judgment/Adjudication A motion for summary judgment is generally directed toward an entire action or pleading. (Code of Civ. Proc., §437c, subd. (a).) By comparison “[a] party may move for summary adjudication as to one or more causes of action within an action ….” (§ 437c, subd. (f)(1).) In addition, “[a] motion for summary adjudication shall be granted...

Excerpt: ...ion In ruling on a motion for summary judgment or summary adjudication, the court must “consider all of the evidence' and all of the 'inferences' reasonably drawn there from and must view such evidence and such inferences 'in the light most favorable to the opposing party.” (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 843.) In making this determination, courts usually follow a three‐prong analysis: identifying the issues as fra...

Excerpt: ...t al. for Attorneys' Fees and Costs by Plaintiff Westlands to Tax Memorandum of Costs Filed by Defendant North Coast River Alliance Tentative Ruling: To grant the motion of defendants County of San Joaquin and County of Trinity for an award of attorneys' fees against plaintiff Westlands Water District (Westlands) in the amount of $197,163.75. To grant the motion of defendants California Water Impact Network (CWIN) et al. for an award of attorneys...

Excerpt: ...judgment. To deny summary adjudication of issues one, two, three and four. To grant summary adjudication of issue five. (Code of Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (f).) Explanation: A trial court shall grant summary judgment where there are no triable issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Code Civ. Proc., §437c, subd. (c).) Summary adjudication is the proper mechanism for challenging a particular “c...

Excerpt: ...p. (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 995, 999; see also Templo v. State of Calif. (2018) 24 Cal.App.5th 730, 735 [“‘motion for judgment on the pleadings is equivalent to a demurrer'”].) Accordingly, a defendant is entitled to a judgment on the pleadings where the plaintiff's complaint shows, on its face, that its causes of action are barred by an applicable statute of limitations. (Hunt v. County of Shasta (1990) 225 Cal.App.3d 432, 440; see also Commi...

Excerpt: ...certified for settlement purposes. The court may make an order approving or denying certification of a provisional settlement class after the preliminary settlement hearing. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.769(d).) Before the court may approve the settlement, however, the settlement class must satisfy the normal prerequisites for a class action. (Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor (1997) 521 US 591, 625‐627; see also Newberg, Newberg and Rubenstein ...

Excerpt: ...stayed until plaintiff proffers proof that he has posted the security as ordered. (Code Civ. Proc. § 391.6.) If plaintiff fails to post security within 30 days as ordered, the court will dismiss the action upon an ex parte application by defendants. (Code Civ. Proc. § 391.4.) Explanation: “The vexatious litigant statutes were created to curb misuse of the court system by those acting in propria persona who repeatedly file groundless lawsuits ...

Excerpt: ...en (7) days of the date of service by the clerk of this order, a proposed judgment dismissing this action as to them. The court denies defendants' additional request for monetary sanctions. Explanation: Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010, subdivision (g) construes “[d]isobeying a court order to provide discovery” to be a “misuse of the discovery process,” but sanctions are only authorized to the extent permitted by each discovery pr...

Excerpt: ... dismiss the representative portion of the PAGA claim. Explanation: Notice of Joinder Defendant Aerotek, Inc. (“Aerotek”) seeks an order compelling plaintiff to private arbitration of his wage and hour claims and his PAGA claim as an individual, and to dismiss the representative portion of the PAGA claim brought on behalf of all aggrieved employees. A notice of joinder to join in Aerotek's motion was filed by DMM Packaging, Inc. (“DMM”) o...

Excerpt: ...nd 20 of plaintiff's Request for Production of Documents, set one within twenty (20) days from the date of this order. To grant the request for monetary sanctions in the amount of $2,560, payable no later than twenty (20) court days from the date of this order, with the time to run from the service of this minute order by the clerk. Explanation: Discovery requests are generally afforded liberal construction. (See Code of Civ. Proc., § 2017.010; ...

Excerpt: ...laintiff brings a single cause of action under PAGA on behalf of himself and all aggrieved employees under Labor Code section 2698 et seq. Defendant now seeks an order compelling plaintiff to private arbitration of his PAGA claim as an individual, and to dismiss the representative portion of the PAGA claim brought on behalf of all aggrieved employees. Motion to Compel Arbitration A trial court is required to grant a motion to compel arbitration �...

Excerpt: ...y department at defendant Madera Community Hospital (MCH) on April 15, 2020 in great pain and was diagnosed with a torn artery which required surgery. Decedent was subsequently transferred to a couple other medical facilities, but passed away on April 24, 2020. Plaintiff alleges that MCH negligently failed to exercise the proper degree of knowledge and skill in examining, diagnosing, treating, and caring for decedent. As the moving party, a defen...

Excerpt: ...t, or in the alternative summary adjudication. (Ibid.) Defendant shall submit a proposed judgment consistent with this court's order within 10 days of the date of service of the order. Explanation: First, to the extent that plaintiffs have moved for summary adjudication of their first cause of action under an unjust enrichment theory, the motion has been improperly brought because the court has already ruled that plaintiffs cannot state a claim a...

Excerpt: ...f the accident, or on any other date. Therefore, she contends that plaintiff Felix Guevara, who was a passenger in the car and who was injured when Ibrahim allegedly drove the car in a negligent manner and caused it to roll over, cannot recover against her under a negligent entrustment theory or under the vehicle owner liability statute, Vehicle Code section 17150. Under Vehicle Code section 17150, “[e]very owner of a motor vehicle is liable an...

Excerpt: ...g: To overrule defendant Clovis Unified School District's (“CUSD”) demurrer to the fourth cause of action of the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subds. (b), (d).) CUSD shall file its answer to the FAC within 10 days of service of the order by the clerk. To quash the subpoena served on Saint Mary's Medical Center (“St. Mary's”), without prejudice to CUSD serving a more narrowly tailored subpoena. (Code Civ...

Excerpt: ...ossComplaint. The time to file such pleading will run from service by the clerk of this minute order. All new allegations in the Second Amended Cross‐Complaint are to be set in boldface type. Explanation: First American demurs to Cross‐Complainant's first and only cause of action for professional negligence, contending that she fails to allege facts sufficient to state a valid claim. In particular, First American contends that the First Amend...