Excerpt: ...mended Complaint filed August 26, 2022 for 1) Medical Discrimination in Violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”); 2) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; 3) Retaliation in Violation of FEHA; 4) Failure to Prevent Discrimination and Harassment; 5) Failure to Accommodate; 6) Failure to Engage in the Interactive Process of Accommodation; 7) Hostile Work Environment in Violation of FEHA; 8) Sex/Gender Discrimination in V...

Excerpt: ... for summary adjudication in its entirety. To deny the motion to bifurcate, without prejudice. Explanation: At issue in all three motions is a single inquiry by defendants Jose Olivarez and Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission (collectively “defendants”) regarding Civil Code section 3333.4 to plaintiff Maria Benitez Perez's complaint seeking damages arising from a motor vehicle collision. Civil Code section 3333.4 provides, in pert...

Excerpt: ...ed class be conditionally 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 Newbe...

Excerpt: ...5.16. On June 27, 2022, prior to the anti‐SLAPP motion being heard, plaintiff dismissed the suit with prejudice. Defendant now seeks attorney's fees. Where a defendant files a motion pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 and prevails, the defendant shall be entitled to recover attorney's fees and costs. (Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16, subd. (c)(1).) Where a plaintiff voluntarily dismisses a defendant, with or without prejudice, after f...

Excerpt: ...be filed within the time allowed to respond to said pleading. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 435, subd. (b)(1).) Here, defendant's motion is not timely because it was filed after the 30 day period set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 435 and the extension agreed to between the parties. However, this is comparable to a late filed demurrer, and the court has discretion to hear an untimely demurrer. (See Jackson v. Doe (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 742, ...

Excerpt: ...o submit to this court, within 7 days of service of the minute order, a proposed judgment dismissing the action as to the demurring defendant. Explanation: Defendant North Cal Cleaning Company (NCCC) demurs to the Second Amended Complaint of plaintiff Joe Louis Pena Jr. (Pena) on the grounds that the breach of contract cause of action alleged against it in the Second Amended Complaint is barred by the exclusive remedy of workers' compensation. (C...

Excerpt: ...ion is strictly “a matter of consent”'” and ‘ “ ‘a party cannot be required to submit to an arbitration any dispute which he has not agreed so to submit”'” (Sandquist v. Lebo Automotive, Inc. (2016) 1 Cal.5th 233, 252, internal citations omitted.) As a general principle, “ ‘questions about the “making of the agreement to arbitrate” are for the courts to decide unless the parties have clearly and unmistakably referred those...

Excerpt: ...rs to the complaint. The time in which the answer can be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. Explanation: Omega and Mr. Asay demur to the first and sole cause of action for failure to pay monies due, on the ground that the complaint fails to state a claim against them. The moving parties contend that the December 19, 2018 Order adopting the November 29, 2018 Proposed Decision and Order (the “Penalty Order”), attached...

Excerpt: ...days' leave to file a first amended complaint. The time in which the complaint may be amended will run from service of the order by the clerk. All new allegations shall be placed in boldface type. Explanation: The complaint alleges two causes of action against the City of Fresno for premises liability and general negligence based on plaintiff's alleged trip on a raised section of concrete sidewalk at 9th Street and Grand Ave. in the city of Fresn...

Excerpt: ...mez, Stella Villagomez, and All Ag., Inc., for the time period from 2006 to 2022; and transactions involving Villagomez Farms, Inc., for the time period from 2006 to 2022. To deny both parties' requests for monetary sanctions against each other. Explanation: Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.1, If a subpoena requires the attendance of a witness or the production of books, documents, electronically stored information, or other things befo...

Excerpt: ... Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. in Dept. 502. The deadline for plaintiff and defendant to file supplemental briefing is Friday, February 3, 2023. The briefs shall be no longer than ten pages in length. Explanation: “The motion for summary judgment shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” (Code Civ. Pr...

Excerpt: ...on for failure to state facts sufficient to state a cause of action and uncertainty. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e), (f).) To sustain, with leave to amend, De La Pena's demurrer to the second cause of action for failure to state facts sufficient to state a cause of action (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (f).) To overrule De La Pena's demurrer to the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth causes of action. To overrule FAIHP's demurrer t...

Excerpt: ... at 3:30 p.m. in Dept. 502 Explanation: 1. Fair, Adequate, and Reasonable Settlement The court “bears the responsibility to ensure that the recovery represents a reasonable compromise, given the magnitude and apparent merit of the claims being released, discounted by the risks and expenses of attempting to establish and collect on those claims by pursuing litigation. The court has a fiduciary responsibility as guardians of the rights of the abs...

Excerpt: ..., 2023 at 3:30 p.m. in Dept. 502 Explanation: 1. Fair, Adequate, and Reasonable Settlement The court “bears the responsibility to ensure that the recovery represents a reasonable compromise, given the magnitude and apparent merit of the claims being released, discounted by the risks and expenses of attempting to establish and collect on those claims by pursuing litigation. The court has a fiduciary responsibility as guardians of the rights of t...

Excerpt: ...admitted and compelling defendant's responses to plaintiff's Form Interrogatories, Set One, and Request for Production of Documents, Set One. The requests for monetary sanctions made by both parties are denied. Explanation: Notice Defects: Proof of service by mail may be made by either an affidavit or certificate “setting forth the exact title of the document served and filed in the cause…” (Code Civ. Proc., §1013a, subds. (1)‐(4), empha...

Excerpt: ...t”) is a Little Caesars Pizza franchisee. Tenant assumed a lease entered into on August 18, 2003 for 1,265 square feet in Landlord's retail shopping center. The Lease includes the following provision at Section 26.09: … at any time during the term of this Lease, upon at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to Tenant (“Notice of Relocation”), Landlord may require Tenant to relocate to another leased space within the Shopping Center ...

Excerpt: ...The new amendments shall be in bold print. Should plaintiff elect not to amend, defendants shall file responsive pleadings within twenty (20) days from the date of this order. The demurrer is overruled in all other respects. Explanation: In deciding a demurrer, the test is whether the plaintiff has succeeded in stating a cause of action ‐ the court does not concern itself with the issue of plaintiff's possible difficulty or inability in proving...

Excerpt: ...bid.) Defendant shall pay sanctions to plaintiff's counsel within 30 days of the date of service of this order. Explanation: Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.97, subdivision (a), “In an employment or consumer arbitration that requires, either expressly or through application of state or federal law or the rules of the arbitration provider, the drafting party to pay certain fees and costs before the arbitration can proceed, if the fees...

Excerpt: ...tion to vacate the judgment and/or the clerk's entry of default that preceded it. However, that discretion can be exercised only if the moving party establishes a proper ground for relief, by the proper procedure, and within the statutory time limits. (Cruz v. Fagor America, Inc. (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 488, 495.) Here, defendant moves to set aside its default, entered on July 21, 2022, pursuant to the discretionary relief afforded under Code of C...

Excerpt: ..., U.S.A. is directed to submit to the court a proposed judgment consistent with the summary adjudication ruling within ten (10) days from the date of this order. To grant plaintiffs motion for leave to file a first amended complaint. The amended complaint “shall not include a cause of action under the Song–Beverly Consumer Warranty Act.” (Dagher v. Ford Motor Co. (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 905, 929; Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (a)(1) [“The...

Excerpt: ...tative Ruling: To grant the motion to compel responses. Within 20 days of service of the order by the clerk, plaintiff Kimberly Ramirez shall serve verified responses, without objections, to defendant's Form Interrogatories – General [Set One], Form Interrogatories – Employment [Set One], Special Interrogatories [Set One], and Requests for Production of Documents. As for the motion to establish admissions, this is denied in part, as moot, sin...

Excerpt: ...er judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. If requested by the parties, the court may retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 664.6.) “Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provides a summary procedure to enforce a settlement agreement by entering judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement… The court retains jurisdiction to...

Excerpt: ...ehicle ensued which form the basis of the Complaint for damages. Plaintiff brought two causes of action against each of defendant Lithia NF, Inc. (“Lithia”), and the moving defendant Nissan North America, Inc. (“Nissan”), for express and implied violations of the Song‐Beverly Act regarding warranties. Compel Arbitration Nissan moves to compel arbitration on an arbitration clause in a retail installment sales contract (“RISC”) made b...

Excerpt: ...ination in Violation of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”); 2) Failure to Accommodate in Violation of FEHA; 3) Failure to Engage in a Good Faith Interactive Process in Violation of FEHA; 4) Retaliation in Violation of FEHA; 5) Associational DisabilityBased Discrimination in Violation of FEHA; 6) Discrimination and Retaliation in Violation of the California Family Rights Act; 7) Failure to Prevent Discrimination in Violation...

Excerpt: ...n: Notice of Hearing Following the progression of the asserted instruments, it appears that plaintiff has a basis for bringing this action. Assuming such evidence is admitted at the hearing, there appears a presumptive basis to grant the proposed judgment. Nevertheless, reflecting the general uniqueness conferred to real property, quiet title proceedings do not follow the typical path toward obtaining judgment. (Harbour Vista, LLC v. HSBC Mortgag...