Excerpt: ...d, resulting in a balance of $90) in favor of defendant and against plaintiff and its counsel, jointly and severally, payable within 30 days of service of this order. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1348(a).) Explanation: The instant motions were filed on June 15, 2022. The opposition and reply papers confirm that code‐ compliant responses to the discovery at issue were served on August 15, 2022. Therefore, the court denies the instant motions as ...

Excerpt: ...ch the answer can be filed will run from service by the clerk of the minute order. To grant defendants' motion to strike the prayer for punitive damages and the allegations at paragraph 29 and 36 as to defendant Anderson only, that his conduct was “malicious and oppressive and warrants the imposition of punitive damages.” (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 436, 425.13.) The striking of the punitive damages allegations is without prejudice to plaintiffs f...

Excerpt: ...ure §473(d). Effectuating service on “Brandon – Person apparently in charge” at the purported “business office or usual place of business” was improper. A defunct business organization has no office or usual place of business. The Proof of Service indicates service at a “business address.” However, the unrefuted evidence establishes that 10 Seasons Court is a residential address. No one by the name of “Brandon” lives or works a...

Excerpt: ...settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. (Code Civ. Proc., § 664.6, subd. (a).) Here, the parties entered into a written settlement agreement including a stipulation for entry of judgment in the event defendant failed to pay the amounts it agreed to pay under the settlement agreement, and then failed to cure its default. It does not appear to be disputed that alt...

Excerpt: ...on to Strike Portions of the Second Amended Complaint Tentative Ruling: To sustain all defendants' demurrers to the first cause of action for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, with leave to amend. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e).) To grant the motion to strike, in part, and deny, in part. The allegations pertaining to a physician or surgeon's statutory duty to report a patient diagnosed with a condition cha...

Excerpt: ... Civ. Proc., § 2025.480, subd. (j).) Explanation: Plaintiff in this action asserts various causes of action alleging sex abuse as a minor committed by teacher and defendant Stacey Aprile, employed by defendant Clovis Unified School District. Based on plaintiff's allegations of sexual assault, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (“CCTC”) conducted an investigation into plaintiff's allegations against Aprile. On March 1, 2022 plaint...

Excerpt: ... grant preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. An agreement of the parties is not sufficient to establish a class for settlement purposes. There must be an independent assessment by a neutral court of evidence showing that a class action is proper. (Luckey v. Superior Court (2014) 228 Cal. App. 4th 81 (rev. denied); see also Newberg, Newberg on Class Actions (T.R. Westlaw, 2017) Section 7:3: “The parties' representation of an uncontest...

Excerpt: ...lanation: Defendants have admitted to liability by allowing their default to be entered, so liability is not an issue. (Morehouse v. Wanzo (1968) 266 Cal.App.2d 846, 853 [by defaulting, defendants admit liability for the debt or obligation on all well pleaded causes of action].) However, default does not admit that the amount prayed for is the proper amount. (Brown v. Superior Court (1966) 242 Cal.App.2d 519, 526.) Damages must be proved up with ...

Excerpt: ... the motion to strike the “but not limited to” language. Plaintiffs are to file a Second Amended Complaint consistent with this ruling. Such pleading shall be filed within 10 days from the date of service of the minute order. Caltrans shall file its Answer to the Second Amended Complaint no later than 10 days after service of the Second Amended Complaint on it. Explanation: There are differences in the named plaintiffs from the original Compl...

Excerpt: ...rrer is to test the sufficiency of a plaintiff's pleading by raising questions of law. (Plumlee v Poag (1984) 150 Cal.App.3d 541, 545) The truth of the facts alleged in the complaint are assumed true as well as the reasonable inferences that may be drawn from those facts. (Miklosy v. Regents of University of California (2008) 2 Cal.4th 876, 883; see also Daniels v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (2016) 246 Cal.App.4th 1150, 1168 [actual relianc...

Excerpt: ...ll, whenever an application for relief is made no more than six months after entry of judgment, is in proper form, and is accompanied by an attorney's sworn affidavit attesting to his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect, vacate any … resulting … dismissal entered against his or her client, unless the court finds that the default or dismissal was not in fact caused by the attorney's mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or neglect.�...

Excerpt: ...he entire complaint. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c.) CRMC shall submit a proposed judgment consistent with the court's order within 10 days of the date of service of this order. Explanation: CRMC moves for summary judgment or adjudication of plaintiff's medical malpractice/wrongful death claim on the ground that it did not breach the standard of care. CRMC has presented the declaration of its expert, Dr. Gary W. Steinke, M.D., who opines that CRMC's ...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff 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: ...itrator in this matter; that defendants pay all of the costs of arbitration; and that the California Rules of Civil Procedure be the rules by which the arbitration is conducted. Explanation: Plaintiff refiled a survival action on behalf of decedent Sandra Troupe for negligence, to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34, subdivision (b). Defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration, citing an arbitration agreement (“the Agreement�...

Excerpt: ...360 (6 motions x $60 each). The additional filing fees must be paid on or before December 15, 2022. To order plaintiffs Candice Burciaga, Cady Wade, and Serenah Pickens, by and through her guardian ad litem, to serve separate, verified responses, without objections, to defendants' Form Interrogatories, Set One, Special Interrogatories, Set One, and Demand for Production, Set One (a separate set of which was served on each plaintiff), no later tha...

Excerpt: ...ing, grief, anxiety, humiliation and/or emotional distress. To exclude from the description of the subpoenas issued to each of Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center and Clovis Community Medical Center employment documents pertaining to manager/supervisor files, performance evaluations and reviews, and disciplinary actions related to plaintiff. Explanation: Plaintiff seeks to quash subpoenas seeking certain records from Kaiser Fresno Medical Center,...

Excerpt: ...ancing while dancing and drinking in violation of Newsom's orders”) and the allegations in the first sentence in paragraph 23, on page 6, lines 7‐9 (“El Bukanas was operating in violation of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, in that the business was allowing indoor and outdoor seating, failing to enforce social distancing and allowing patrons to order alcohol without ordering food”) are stricken. The motion to strike the remaining allega...

Excerpt: ...g or proceeding by adding or striking out the name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party, or a mistake in any other respect; and may, upon like terms, enlarge the time for answer or demurrer. The court may likewise, in its discretion, after notice to the adverse party, allow, upon any terms as may be just, an amendment to any pleading or proceeding in other particulars...” “‘Code of Civil Procedure section 473, whi...

Excerpt: ... Code of Civil Procedure section 384, subdivision (b), so that the judgment can be amended and the distribution of any cy pres funds can be ordered. The parties are ordered to file a declaration from the administrator as to the payout and amount of uncashed checks no later than October 17, 2023. As required by California Rules of Court, rule 3.771(b), notice of the judgment is to be given to the class. Notice may be given by an insert with the se...

Excerpt: ...order. Explanation: Defendants Zisha Lipschutz and Esti Lipschutz demur generally and specially to the tenth through fifteenth causes of action1 , contending that there are no facts alleged to show these individual defendants are the alter egos of entity defendants Eminence Healthcare Services, LLC (EHS) and Centuri Health Ventures, LLC (Centuri) and that these causes of action are uncertain because they are pled against “all defendants” but ...

Excerpt: ...ss nonmeritorious litigation meant to chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights to petition or engage in free speech. (Code Civ. Proc., §425.16, subd. (a); see Martinez v. Metabolife Intern., Inc. (2003) 113 Cal.App.4th 181, 186.) The court engages in a two‐step process in determining whether an action is subject to the anti‐SLAPP statute: first, the court decides whether defendant has made a threshold showing that the challenged...

Excerpt: ...expressly provided by statute, a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover costs in any action or proceeding.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 1032, subd. (b).) “‘Prevailing party' includes the party with a net monetary recovery, a defendant in whose favor a dismissal is entered, a defendant where neither plaintiff nor defendant obtains any relief, and a defendant as against those plaintiffs who do not recover any relief against tha...

Excerpt: ...ntractors Indemnity Company (“ACIC”). The entirety of ACIC's $47,000 settlement is credited to defendant Bank of Stockton (“Bank”). (2) To grant plaintiff's motion for prejudgment interest in the sum of $16,013.28. (3) To grant plaintiff's motion for attorney fees in the sum of $157,382.50. (4) To grant the Bank's motion to tax costs claimed by plaintiff in the sum of $5,125.71, reducing the recoverable costs to $4,571.67. Explanation: Th...

Excerpt: ...nc. (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 224, 240; see Dunk v. Ford Motor Co. (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1794, 1803, fn. 9.) The trial court has a “fiduciary responsibility” as the guardian of the absentee class members' rights to decide whether to approve a settlement of a class action. (Luckey v. Superior Court (2014) 228 Cal.App.4th 81, 95.) A precertification settlement may stipulate that a defined class be conditionally certified for settlement purposes. Th...

Excerpt: ...erk's service of this order. New or different allegations in the first amended complaint are to be set in boldface type. Explanation: General Demurrer As a threshold matter, “to state a cause of action against a public entity, every fact material to the existence of its statutory liability must be pleaded with particularity.” (Peter W. v. San Francisco Unified Sch. Dist. (1976) 60 Cal.App.3d 814, 819.) In addition, a party may file a general ...

Excerpt: ...nts are directed to submit to this court, within five days of service of the minute order, a proposed judgment consistent with the court's summary judgment order. Explanation: In this action, plaintiff Los Arboles Family Apartments, LP (“Los Arboles”) seeks to invalidate and enjoin defendants from utilizing an easement created in 2007 burdening Los Arboles and benefitting the neighboring property. The easement, referred to as the Access Agree...

Excerpt: ...9. Code of Civil Procedure section 529, subdivision (a) provides, in relevant part: On granting an injunction, the court or judge must require an undertaking on the part of the applicant to the effect that the applicant will pay to the party enjoined any damages, not exceeding an amount to be specified, the party may sustain by reason of the injunction, if the court finally decides that the applicant was not entitled to the injunction. Damages wh...

Excerpt: ...action, with leave to amend. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e), (f).) To overrule the demurrer to the fifth cause of action. To sustain the demurrer of defendant City of Fresno (“City”) to plaintiff's third, fourth, and sixth causes of action for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, with leave to amend. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e).) Plaintiff shall serve and file its first amended complaint within...

Excerpt: ...der (1990) 217 Cal.App.3d 1509, 1512; see also Rev. & Tax. Code, § 23305.5, subd. (a)(2).) In addition, “a plea of lack of capacity of a corporation to maintain an action by reason of a suspension of corporate powers for nonpayment of its taxes ‘is a plea in abatement which is not favored in law, is to be strictly construed, and must be supported by facts warranting the abatement' at the time of the plea.” (Traub Co. v. Coffee Break Servic...

Excerpt: ...ubdivision (b).1 On application, the court may, on any terms as may be just, relieve a party from a default taken against it due to mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. (Code Civ. Proc., § 473, subd. (b).) In order to obtain relief under Code of Civil Procedure section 473, the party's application for relief, among other things, “shall be accompanied by a copy of the answer or other pleading proposed to be filed therein, othe...

Excerpt: ... than 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: Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.010(g) makes “[d]isobeying a court order to provide discovery” a “misuse of the discovery process,” but sanctions are only authorized to the extent permitted by each discovery procedure. Once a motion to compel answers is granted, continued failure to respond or inadequ...

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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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...