Excerpt: ...on the court to compel plaintiff Anthony Alvarado, a former employee, to submit the claims made in his complaint for multiple violations of the California Labor Code to binding arbitration pursuant to the terms of two separate binding arbitration agreements entered into as a condition of his employment. Plaintiff was employed at different times by two auto dealerships owned by the defendant corporations, which are owned in common by the same fami...

Excerpt: ...s worked, and other violations arising from those failures. 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 claims was provided to the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. Notice of the settlement motion has been provided to the LWDA. Plaintiff estimates that there are 166 members of the class. The agreement contains a release, w...

Excerpt: ...indemnity, equitable indemnity, and contribution. For the following reasons, the MJOP is granted, with leave to amend. Standard The standard for granting a motion for judgment on the pleadings is essentially the same as that applicable to a general demurrer. (Burnett v. Chimney Sweep (2004) 123 Cal.App.4th 1057, 1064.) As a consequence, it may be granted if, from the pleadings, together with matters that may be judicially noticed, it appears that...

Excerpt: ...ERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 33 HEARING DATE: 10/17/19 ‐ 16 ‐ Misjoinder of Parties Jarvis argues that he is an improper defendant in this case. Plaintiffs are suing related to disputes over a lease at 3880 Blackhawk Road, Danville. Plaintiffs entered into a lease with J/C Investments, Inc. Later, J/C Investments sold the property to Dentite Enterprises, LLC. Plaintiffs argue that Jarvis is a proper party because J/C Investmen...

Excerpt: ...for Summary Adjudication is denied. A motion for summary adjudication shall be granted only if it completely disposes of a cause of action, an affirmative defense, a claim for damages, or an issue of duty. Defendants' motion failed to completely dispose of the issue of duty. Background On July 20, 2016 Plaintiffs, Andrew Vasquez and Tiffany Copland‐Vasquez, rented an apartment at 1195 Saranap Avenue, #17 in Walnut Creek, from August 16, 2016 to...

Excerpt: ...aton (“Plaintiff”). The Complaint pleads a single cause of action for violation of the Federal Employers' Liability Act (“FELA”) arising out of Mr. Eaton's death from cancer. Defendant moves for summary judgment on the grounds that (1) Plaintiff's claim is barred by the three‐year statute of limitations; (2) Plaintiff cannot show that BNSF's negligence, if any, caused CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARI...

Excerpt: ...to allege fraud with the required specificity. In the SAC, Plaintiff alleges that Davis made representations to Plaintiff (by making statements to Boguess and Ryan). Davis is alleged to be a “shareholder, owner, office, director, manager, employee, agent or representative of Terra Steward, Foshay Electric and Kodiak Moon.” (SAC ¶3.) Davis's business card stated that he worked for all three companies. (SAC ¶¶6, 14.) Davis represented to Pla...

Excerpt: ...presented by the same real estate agent and brokerage, defendants Mayra Davalos and SPRE, respectively (collectively, “Moving Defendants”). (Complaint, ¶17.) Plaintiffs allege that Cervantes informed Davalos that he was planning on hiring a surveyor to double check the boundaries of the Subject Property, having noticed that the fence shared with a neighboring property was in an unusual position. In response, Davalos stated that Cervantes nee...

Excerpt: ...Defendant in the amount of $345,303.40, but does not identify any specific bank accounts or real property. This motion was previously on for hearing on October 9, 2019. The Court agreed to accept letter briefs on the issue of whether the Court has the authority to attach assets outside of California. For the following reasons, the application is denied. Factual Background Defendant executed a Note Payable in Plaintiff's favor in the amount of $30...

Excerpt: ...unsel understood that the nearly $1.5 million judgment needed to be renewed before the ten year period expired on April 3, 2019. Plaintiff's counsel emailed an Application for Renewal of Judgment to Galaxy Process Servers on March 4, 2019. This is supported by counsel's declaration and the declaration from Galaxy. See Goodman Decl., para. 11; Keshinshirian Decl., 6. Interestingly, the documents allegedly submitted in support this point to not act...

Excerpt: ...int (“SAC”). Defendant moves on the grounds that the FAC does not allege facts sufficient to support an award of punitive damages based on malice, oppression, or fraud as required by Civil Code § 3294. The Court granted Defendant's previous motion to strike punitive damages allegations from Plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint but gave Plaintiffs leave to amend. For the following reasons, the Court grants the instant motion, without leave to ...

Excerpt: ...plicated several law enforcement officers from five east bay police agencies. For the reasons that follow, the petition is denied. Standard of Review When a public employee challenges an employer's disciplinary action in a mandamus proceeding, the trial court is required to exercise its independent judgment on the evidence. Wences v. City of Los Angeles, 177 Cal.App. 4th 305, 314 (2009). An abuse of discretion is established if the trial court de...

Excerpt: ...f the complaint. Yet Defendant was in default when the normal deadline to file this motion expired. The Court is not convinced that imposing such a deadline was intended by the statute, but in any event, the Court has discretion to hear a motion filed more than 60 days after service. (Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16(f).) Given that Defendant's motion was filed within 60 days of the order setting aside her default, the Court exercises its discre...

Excerpt: ...plaintiff Denise Walker; $7,500 to Cleve Walker; and $500 to Lindsey Walker. (For clarity, and meaning no disrespect, the Court will use first names.) Each side has filed a memorandum of costs – plaintiffs on the basis that they prevailed at trial, and defendants on the basis that they had made a § 998 offer for less than plaintiffs ended up winning at trial. Plaintiffs move to strike defendants' memorandum of costs on the ground that defendan...

Excerpt: ...t be better for all concerned, though, to put this over a short period so that both sides can address the questions in writing. If the attorneys prefer, they can save themselves an appearance tomorrow by e‐mailing their agreement to a further hearing date and briefing schedule. The Court's questions are numbered and indented. The Scope of the Claims in the FAC. 1. As the Court understands it, all claims made in the FAC against PacFin and/or Boo...

Excerpt: ...f Civil Code § 2923.6 by failing to make a determination on Britton's completed package for loan modification; and (2) for violation of Civil Code § 2923.7 in that no single point of contact was provided to Britton after CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 10/11/19 ‐ 3 ‐ she commenced communicating with Wells Fargo regarding a loan modification. (Co‐plaintiff Sherry DeLaura has dropped out of the ...

Excerpt: ...activity over this last summer as trial approached. This Line 8 is a motion directed at certain causes of action in plaintiffs' First Amended Complaint (FAC). Shortly after this motion was filed, plaintiff was given leave to file a Second Amended Complaint (SAC) asserting certain additional causes of action. Showing better cooperation and common sense than has marked some other aspects of this litigation, the parties agreed (1) that the summary a...

Excerpt: ...o the two contractual interference, claims, but sustained it with leave to amend as to the cause of action for promissory fraud. The basis for the ruling was that the FAC failed to allege that plaintiffs acted in reliance on defendant Daniel Sheehy's alleged promise to take a break and lay low from the facility for several months. Further, plaintiffs were damaged by Sheehy's tortious interference rather than by his promise not to interfere. The p...

Excerpt: ...onceded Counts Plaintiff responds to the present demurrer by offering to dismiss without prejudice half of her twelve asserted causes of action, namely the 4th (retaliation), 7th (intentional infliction of emotional distress), 9th (whistleblower), 10th (defamation), 11th (Civil Code § 51.7), and 12th (Civil Code § 52.4). No such dismissal document has been filed, however, so the Court treats the offer as a concession of the demurrer as to these...

Excerpt: ...is a component society of and chartered by the California Dental Association (“CDA”). Clark has been a member in good standing with CCDS for approximately 14 years and CDA for approximately 20 years. Petitioner has dual membership in component societies‐‐Contra Costa County and Marin County. Petitioner alleges she was nominated, ran unopposed, and was duly elected at the CCDS General Membership on or about October 17, 2017 to serve a seco...

Excerpt: ...all Cell Wireless Facilities Policy (the “Policy”) was validly adopted pursuant to that Ordinance. The Policy now governs the permitting and installation of small cell wireless facilities in the City of San Ramon. The Policy exempts such facilities from the Zoning Ordinance, so there is no longer any possible conflict between the Master Licensing Agreement and the Zoning Ordinance. The only question then is whether any small cell wireless fac...

Excerpt: ...e November 14, 2019. The basis for this ruling is as follows. A. Defendant's Status As A Bona Fide Purchaser. Plaintiffs allege in conclusory terms that defendant is not a bona fide purchaser for value. But they fail to allege any ultimate facts supporting that conclusion. The mere fact that a trustee's sale is continued one or more times does not indicate some problem with the nonjudicial foreclosure process: continuances are statutorily allowed...

Excerpt: ... granted herein. See Order Shortening Time on Order to Show Cause Why a Preliminary Injunction Should Not Issue, and an Expedited Discovery Order. It now determines whether the preliminary injunction should issue. BACKGROUND 1. Stearns' business Plaintiff Stearns asserts that it is a nationwide market leader in the mortgage industry. It does not do business with homeowners seeking mortgage loans; rather, it courts mortgage brokers who then deal d...

Excerpt: ...reasonable time, in no case exceeding six months, after the judgment, dismissal, order, or proceeding was taken.” (Code of Civil Procedure §473(b).) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 01/09/19 ‐ 13 ‐ Courts are clear that the deadline to seek to set aside a default is six months from the entry of the default. “The six‐month time limit for granting statutory relief is jurisdictional and the cou...

Excerpt: ...nst Defendant was due to extrinsic fraud, attorney mistake, and excusable neglect. For the following reasons, the motion is granted. Request for Judicial Notice Plaintiff requests judicial notice of several facts. This Request is unopposed. However, whether Defendants Siamak Shemirani or Hasan Redzic had valid contractors' licenses or whether Caspian Enterprise, Inc. has ever been licensed in California is not susceptible to judicial notice. The ...