Excerpt: ... amended complaint is therefore dismissed with prejudice. The case was originally filed as a petition to compel underinsured‐motorist arbitration under Vehicle Code § 11580.2. After some initial scheduling agreements, however, the parties agreed to the filing of a first amended complaint seeking a declaration that Rascon is an Insured Person, followed by an uninsured‐motorist arbitration. The Court understands the effect of this amendment as...

Excerpt: ...rove she suffered any damages, and damages are an essential element of each of these causes of action. The motion for summary adjudication as to the Third Cause of Action, for Defamation, is denied. Defendants have not met their initial burden to prove plaintiff did not suffer any reputational damage or persuaded the court on this motion that plaintiff is not entitled to recover presumed damages for reputational damage for defamation per se. (See...

Excerpt: ...ed to file any opposition. The Court (Judge Allen) denied plaintiff's § 473 motion for relief. Earlier this year the court of appeal reversed that denial, holding that plaintiff should have been given a chance to oppose the motion. Chevron now renews its motion on its original papers, and plaintiff has filed her full opposition papers. Plaintiff's Legal Theory. Plaintiff brings two causes of action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act: reta...

Excerpt: ...ch plaintiff paid $650,000 to purchase promissory notes from Dunken, secured by the proceeds received by the Dunken firm from settlement or victory in the underlying class actions. In this suit, plaintiff complains that he has not been paid a penny on this investment. He seeks a preliminary injunction, the precise contours of which are not very well explained or defined in his motion. But apparently the general idea is to prevent payment or dispe...

Excerpt: ...ken into account in denying or granting future leave to amend. The Court concurs in defendant's view that at least the misidentification of the proper defendant should have been resolved by discussion between counsel. Defendant demurs to the entire complaint on the ground that it erroneously names the Sheriff's Department as the defendant in the case, but the Sheriff's Department is not a separate entity capable of being sued. The Court agrees, a...

Excerpt: ...ic order after hearing specifying what is to be stricken from the original complaint, and their time to otherwise respond to the complaint will run from that date. In light of this ruling, the CMC now set for September 24 is continued to December 16. Meet and Confer After a previous continuance so that the parties could meet and confer as required by statute, Counsel for defendants has filed a declaration in support of the motion for punitive dam...

Excerpt: ... apparently on three grounds. First, it says the MSA designates only an “arbitral seat,” which does not require that the arbitration physically take place in Houston, but rather only that Houston is the “jurisdiction where the arbitration takes place legally.” (Opp. 4:17‐18.) Second, Harder contends that the arbitration clause is unenforceable because it forces Harder to waive prompt payment penalties. (Opp. 8:11‐12.) Third, Harder ar...

Excerpt: ...tement of Undisputed Material Facts “SUMF” 1‐3.) Mrs. Pascua's widower brought this suit for wrongful death against the driver of the vehicle, Manuel Carillo (“Mr. Carillo” or “the Driver”), the County of Contra Costa, and the City. Plaintiff has dismissed the case against Contra Costa County and settled with the Driver. The final remaining defendant, the City, now moves for summary judgment. The causes of action against the City ar...

Excerpt: ...nd (5) FEHA failure to hire. Defendants ask for summary judgment or summary adjudication of each of Plaintiff's five causes of action. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies As to all claims, Defendants argue that Plaintiff did not exhaust his administrative remedies as to Defendant Purlyah, Inc. because while Plaintiff received a right to sue letter from DFEH, it named the defendant company as Diablo Valley Bowl instead of Purlyah, Inc. Diablo Va...

Excerpt: ...text each side's interests must be “balanced”); see also, id., at 393 (“trial courts have available options to address plaintiffs' legitimate rights and need for protection from unjustified delay of the unlawful detainer proceeding”). The Asuncion court observed that deciding whether to stay an unlawful detainer action requires a preliminary injunction analysis. See, Asuncion v. Superior Court of San Diego County (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d 141...

Excerpt: ...because of a nearby tree root. Plaintiff's complaint is on a Judicial Council Form. She alleges two causes of action: (1) “general negligence”; and (2) “premises liability.” The general negligence cause of action is directed against the City of Brentwood. It alleges the City failed to properly maintain the lamp in a nearby streetlight. The light was out, making it difficult for her to CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPAR...

Excerpt: ...September of 2017. Plaintiff alleges the blood tests revealed she had massive systemic infections, including sepsis, infective endocarditis, C‐diff, and colitis with bleeding ulcers. Plaintiff alleges she was prematurely discharged because insurance would not pay for a longer stay. In October of 2017, after Mrs. Kalnoki became blind and lost all sensation in her legs, and was near death, she was admitted to John Muir Hospital, with a diagnosis ...

Excerpt: ... plaintiff's ownership interest in their corporation. Plaintiff was granted a 20% ownership interest in Sutter‐Tacoma, a recycling and document destruction business, in recognition for his services as manager of its Tacoma facility. (TAC, ¶ 7, 8.) This ownership interest was complete by the end of 2012 and it vested immediately. (¶ 8.) In December 2013, Sutter‐Tacoma and several other companies merged to form The Sutta Company, Inc. (¶ 9.)...

Excerpt: ...Complaint, FFIC has “no ability to respond to the complaint and has no obligation to meet any judgment in the action.” Memorandum of Points and Authorities (“MPA”) 5:1‐15. There is no requirement that a Complaint brought under Probate Code § 550 et seq name the insurer as a party. Probate Code § 552(a) expressly requires that the estate of a decedent insured is to be named as a party and sued on behalf of the insurer. It states, in re...

Excerpt: ...ly challenges the settlement with Lourdes Mahay (“Lourdes”). In this three car accident, Lourdes claims medical specials of $39,591, lost wages of $19,500, and $1 million in general damages related to her right hand injury. Popp contends she has zero liability for the accident and therefore cross‐defendant's $250,000 settlement is “out of the ball park” in relation to Lourdes' claimed damages of $1,059,091.04. At the very least, Popp re...

Excerpt: ... Hathaway Homeservices Drysdale Properties and its agents or employees not related to this instant lawsuit or otherwise required by law.” The Court modifies the injunction as follows: Defendant shall not communicate with the individual Plaintiffs or agents or employees of Pearson Properties except as required for this lawsuit or as follows: (1) Defendant may communicate with the Plaintiffs (or their agents) related to buyers obtaining loans for...

Excerpt: ...R COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 09/13/19 ‐ 2 ‐ The Arbitration Agreement This case was filed as a derivative shareholder's action and an action involuntary dissolution of a corporation. Plaintiffs, the minority shareholders in Defendant Wings For 2 Singhs, Inc., allege that defendants, the majority shareholders, violated their fiduciary duties and abused their majority power in order to control the corporate activiti...

Excerpt: ... the Parties' Basic Cases Brachium is a start‐up medical tech company, with three main founders – Shebab, Akeel, and Wong. For some time the company, acting mainly through Wong and an outside consultant (Niro), were negotiating with TronVest and the Chen family for outside funding. Brachium's complaint in this action (filed on direction of Shebab and Akeel) accuses Wong and Niro of mismanaging the negotiations with TronVest, giving away too m...

Excerpt: ...on before this motion was filed. The motion is thus uncontested and is granted to that extent. Defendant further asks that this action be dismissed because the dispute will be fully resolved in arbitration. So it should be, and so the Court hopes. Nevertheless, it is standard practice to retain jurisdiction over arbitrable cases, whether they are filed as substantive lawsuits or as petitions to compel arbitration. Not only is there the possibilit...

Excerpt: ...mes, but only on a narrow and specific ground: Plaintiffs had pending, or were about to file, a modification application or an appeal from denial of same. Civil Code § 2923.6 therefore called for putting off the sale until those could be acted on, either approved or denied. Defendant's papers show without contradiction that by now, plaintiffs' appeal has been rejected. That eliminates the statutory basis for the previously granted relief. (It al...

Excerpt: ...approached by management personnel who wanted to conduct an exit interview before giving him his final paycheck. He was given the documents that included the arbitration agreement, but he did not read them and did not understand their possible consequences. He believed that he was required to sign the documents in order to receive his final check. He did not consult his attorney. Hasa objects to the admissibility of parts of the Guerrero declarat...

Excerpt: ...d Fifth Causes of Action. Background This case concerns the shooting death of Mitchell Hardy, Jr. on July 14, 2015 at an apartment complex in Richmond known as the Monterey Pines Apartments and the obligations of indemnity and defense as between the property owner and manager, on the one hand, and the security company they hired, on the other. The property owner is Eastshore Manor I (“EMI”). The property manager is Evans Property Management, ...

Excerpt: ...gence and breach of contract. This case arises out of an October 2015 fire that occurred in the stove at an apartment owned by Defendants and leased by Plaintiffs. Legal Standard CCP sections 437c(o) and 437c(p)(2) supply the standard for deciding the MSJ. Section 437c(o) says: A cause of action has no merit if either of the following exists: (1) One or more elements of the cause of action cannot be separately established, even if that element is...

Excerpt: ... to BNYM and the recording of the trustee's deed upon sale on August 1, 2018. The trustee's sale of the subject property took place more than a year after the filing of the First Amended Complaint on June 23, 2017. Plaintiff also seeks to add a cause of action for Cancellation of Instruments. Plaintiff seeks a judgment cancelling the August 1, 2018 trustee's deed upon sale that conveyed the property to BNYM and the deed of trust upon which the tr...

Excerpt: ...ot revisit the preliminary approval as to that issue. The Court specifically reserved approval of the attorneys' fees based CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 09/12/19 ‐ 2 ‐ on a lodestar cross‐check, the amount of the incentive payment to the named plaintiffs, and the recipient of any cy pres payment. As to the cy pres payment, it is expected to be quite small, and is capped at $20,000. California...