Excerpt: ...fornia Rule of Court 2.550, the underlying gravamen of the motion is that the discussions are “protected” under Evidence Code section 1152 and this constitutes the required “overriding interest” needed to overcome the presumption of the right of public access. While some documents in this case involve individual privacy interests and very personal information, no such claim is made with respect to this particular information. Nor is there...

Excerpt: ...8. The automatic stay of discovery was lifted on March 26, 2019. Plaintiff served extensive discovery requests on defendants the next day. Some responses were provided, and some meeting and conferring occurred. A mediation was scheduled. On July 19, 2019, with a motion to compel cutoff looming, counsel for plaintiffs sent an e‐mail to all counsel proposing an extension to either 30 days after the mediation scheduled for late September, or, if t...

Excerpt: ...assigned their rights against the Defendants and Cross‐Defendants to Hassan. Hassan moves pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 473(a) to name himself as the cross‐complainant and strike the Planks from the cross‐complaint filed on October 13, 2017. He also moves pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 474 to amend the cross‐complaint to name six additional cross‐defendants: H. Max Peyvan, Renee Peyvan, Massoud Fanaieyan, Richard Kraber...

Excerpt: ...amounts owed Plaintiff ICC under the Indemnity that preclude summary judgment. Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is therefore DENIED. Factual Summary ICC asserts two causes of action in its complaint: a first cause of action for breach of contract based on breach of a General Indemnity Agreement against Defendant Amana Engineering & Construction, Inc. (“Amana”), its president Defendant A. Nasser Jandali (“Jandali”), and Defendant Na...

Excerpt: ...ement. No monetary payment will be made to the class. For three years, when Fry's sells a gift card in California, it will either include written notice that it can be redeemed for cash value “to the extent required by law,” or cover any inconsistent language on the card with a sticker. In addition, Fry's will train employees on how and when to redeem gift cards. The settlement does not define “to the extent required by law” either with r...

Excerpt: ...2,750,000. Class counsel requests a fee of 25% of that amount. Costs of $25,000, a plaintiff's enhancement fee of $15,000, settlement administration costs of $20,000, and a PAGA payment of $50,000 (75% of which goes to the LWDA) would be deducted from that amount, leaving a payment to the class of $1,965,000. The settlement was negotiated with the assistance of an experienced mediator. The Second Amended Complaint attaches a copy of the initial P...

Excerpt: ...park" as to be inconsistent with the objectives of the good faith requirement. The Settlement Agreement includes the key terms: 1. Goldtab's insurance company would pay Plaintiff $1.6 million in exchange for a release of Plaintiff's claims against Mr. Levy, Goldtab, and associated entities, specifically including Goldtab's franchisor, “2946033 Canada, Inc. dba The Mad Science Group” (“MSG”). CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNI...

Excerpt: ...UPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 01/15/20 ‐ 11 ‐ Plaintiffs Philip Ferreira and Crystal Ferreira, their agents, servants, employees, and all persons acting under, in concert with, or for them, including any contractors or subcontractors, are to stay off of 2386 Heritage Oaks Drive, Alamo, California, and refrain from any construction activities within ten (10) feet of the property line bordering 2378 Heritage Oa...

Excerpt: ...ication served by mail must be served 80 days before the date of the hearing. (CCP § 437c (a)(2).) October 25, 2019 is 81 days before the hearing date of January 15, 2020. Therefore, the court rejects defendants' argument that plaintiff gave insufficient notice of the motion. The Opposition was due 14 days before the date for the hearing, but was served only 13 days before, on January 2, 2020, rather than on December 31, 2019, the day before the...

Excerpt: ...200. Foshay alleges that Cross‐Defendants Davis and Kodiak Moon entered into an agreement with Plaintiff for over $400,000 in solar modules. Cross‐Defendants represented that Foshay was involved in this transaction when Foshay was not aware of the transaction and did not condone or ratify it. (XComp. ¶10.) For this claim, Foshay seeks “injunctive relief, restitution and any other principal, incidental and consequential damages including bu...

Excerpt: ...trike. That is not correct. In its September 6, 2019 tentative ruling concerning those matters, the Court said: Today's rulings are not intended to foreclose plaintiffs from including additional or different causes of action against any defendant, such as breach of contract, in their second amended complaint; and on its own motion the Court grants leave to amend in that respect. (September 6, 2019 Tentative Ruling, Line 18.) The reply says that A...

Excerpt: ...ts of the motion, the moving party's evidence must be strictly construed, while the opposing party's evidence must be liberally construed. Any doubt CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 01/10/20 ‐ 7 ‐ as to the granting of the motion must be resolved in favor of the opposing party. (Renna v. County of Fresno (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 1, 5.) Factual Background Plaintiff Yaron was injured while playing golf ...

Excerpt: ...acts of the case are well known to the parties and have been discussed at length in the Court's prior rulings. In brief, plaintiffs own a property that has been seriously damaged by a landslide, and are suing a number of their neighbors and other parties for the damage. Defendant Padilla is plaintiffs' across‐the‐street neighbor, located just uphill from plaintiffs. The CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING D...

Excerpt: ...the cross‐complaint is a SLAPP because it was filed in retaliation for a discovery dispute in this case. Colbert's motion misunderstands the relevant inquiry in the first prong of an anti‐SLAPP motion and has this Court questioning whether Cross‐Complainants are entitled to their attorney fees for having to oppose this motion. It has been long established that in order for a complaint to be within the anti‐ SLAPP statute, the “critical ...

Excerpt: ...nged because Plaintiff cannot show the lis pendens is based on real property claims (Code of Civil Procedure § 405.31) and because Plaintiff cannot produce evidence showing a probable validity of the real property claim CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 01/09/20 ‐ 2 ‐ (Code of Civil Procedure § 405.32). Plaintiff has the burden on both these issues. (Code of Civil Procedure §405.30; see also, Kir...

Excerpt: ...violations arising from those failures. The matter was initially set for hearing October 17, 2019, and the day before the hearing, the Court issued a tentative ruling setting forth specified concerns, and requesting supplemental briefing. The matter was continued to January 9, 2020. A. Terms of the Settlement. The gross settlement amount is $305,000. The settlement was negotiated with the assistance of an experienced mediator. Notice of the PAGA ...

Excerpt: ... case using the “lodestar” method, which simply involves multiplying the number of hours spent by the hourly compensation of each attorney to arrive at a base value. Komarova v. National Credit Acceptance, Inc. (2009, 1st Dist) 175 Cal App 4th 324). The hours spent and the rates charged must be reasonable, as determined by the standard rates and hours charged to fee‐paying clients. The court finds that the hourly rate of $400 is too high gi...

Excerpt: ...et and conferred only by letter, and not “in person or by telephone” as the governing statute requires. (See, Code Civ. Proc, § 430.41, subd. (a).) The parties shall comply with the meet‐and‐confer statute in the context of any renewed demurrer. The Public Entity Defendants. Plaintiff alleges that that defendants County Connection and County Connection Link are public entities. (Complaint, ¶ 2.) However, plaintiff has improperly ignored...

Excerpt: ...out “any irrelevant… matter asserted in any pleading.” CCP § 436. “Irrelevant matter” means immaterial allegation. (CCP § 431.10(c).) “An immaterial allegation in a pleading is… A demand for judgment requesting relief not supported by the allegations of the complaint or cross‐complaint.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 431.10(b)(3).) The motion to strike may lie where the facts alleged do not rise to the level of “malice, fraud or oppr...

Excerpt: ... Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on the grounds that “it is undisputed that Defendant entered into a written agreement whereby Defendant borrowed money and agreed to pay the same back with interest” and that Defendant “materially breached his obligation to repay amounts due and owing.” The Court notes at the outset that while Plaintiff has filed a request for judicial notice of Plaintiff's Complaint and Defendant's Answer to the Comp...

Excerpt: ...hat defendant has not persuasively distinguished the governing case law. (See, Chacker v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 351, 356‐359; Hart v. Clear Recon Corp. (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 322, 327‐329.) Defendant first attempts to distinguish the Chacker decision (ignoring entirely the Hart decision) by arguing that “unlike here, the mortgage loan in Chacker had not yet been foreclosed and so a loan existed to which attorney fe...

Excerpt: ...tional Distress. Any amended complaint shall be filed and served on or before January 29, 2020. Background In November of 2017, Plaintiff came under the professional care of Defendant Dr. Khashayar Montezari at John Muir Medical Center. Plaintiff alleges Dr. Montezari, while knowing the critical medical condition of Mrs. Kalnoki, intentionally or negligently discharged Mrs. Kalnoki on November 5, 2017. Plaintiff alleges her discharge came about a...

Excerpt: ... on September 12, 2019. He alleges one cause of action for “Violation of Standards for Residential Construction.” In this cause of action, plaintiff complains of many defective conditions including defective waterproofing of windows and patio doors, defective hardscape and drainage systems, defective plumbing and utility lines, structural concerns, and electrical fixtures. (Complaint, 8:1‐ 11:26.) Defendants, having first satisfied the stat...

Excerpt: ...Antioch. They retired from the City at different times in different years. Defendant City of Antioch provides retiree health benefits through CalPERS. Plaintiffs are eligible participants in Defendant City of Antioch's retiree Medical‐After‐Retirement benefit. The insurance premium for CalPERS health insurance plans is deducted from the retiree's monthly annuity payment from CalPERS. The City then reimburses the retiree for a portion of the r...

Excerpt: ...ng or “merely offensive” comments in the workplace,' and it cannot be ‘occasional, isolated, sporadic, or trivial; rather, the employee must show a concerted pattern of harassment of a repeated, routine, or a generalized nature.' [Citation] Whether the harassment is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile work environment ‘must be assessed from the “perspective of a reasonable person belonging to [the same protected class a...