Excerpt: ...“VSAC”). The Motion is opposed by the plaintiffs (“Plaintiffs”) in this matter. No reply was filed. For the reasons stated below, the Motion is granted. Governing Law Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) section 425.16 governs special motions to strike (“anti‐SLAPP” motions). A defendant's anti‐ SLAPP motion may only target claims arising from any act of the defendant in furtherance of the defendant's right of petition or free spee...

Excerpt: ...loyee Le'James Riggins, lasting no more than one hour. The Court would then take the matter under submission and issue an order after hearing. The parties should also be prepared to set a briefing schedule on the following issues: (1) whether plaintiff Rose Dixon can be compelled to arbitrate, given defendant Tesla's failure to offer evidence that Ms. Dixon is a party to the arbitration agreement, and; (2) if Ms. Dixon cannot be compelled to arbi...

Excerpt: ...See Kesner v. Superior Court (2016) 1 Cal.5th 1132, 1158. CACI Section 1003 sets out the elements of a premises liability claim. A defendant was negligent in the use or maintenance of the property if (1) a condition on the property created an unreasonable risk of harm; (2) the defendant knew or, through the exercise of reasonable care, should have known about it; and (3) the defendant failed to repair the condition, protect against harm from the ...

Excerpt: ...omez and Exenia Guadalupe Garcia Casan, by and through Guardian ad Litem Melisa Casian Gomez (collectively, “Plaintiffs”). The SAC pleads causes of action for (1) vehicle negligence; (2) vicarious governmental liability – employee – Gov. Code § 815.2 & 820; (3) vicarious governmental liability – contractor – Gov. Code § 815.4; (4) negligence; (5) dangerous condition of public property; and (6) wrongful death. Only causes of action (...

Excerpt: ....5 requires a plaintiff to bring her action against a “health care provider based upon such person's alleged professional negligence” within three years after the date of injury or within one year after plaintiff discovers, or through reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever comes first. See also Gutierrez v. Mofid (1985) 39 Cal.3d 892, 897 (emphasis added) The one year statute of limitations begins to run “when th...

Excerpt: ... demurrer is sustained on the ground Petitioner/Plaintiff failed to allege facts sufficient to state a cause of action. (CCP § 430.10(e). Background Facts Petitioner/Plaintiff Peter J. Nowicki was a Fire Chief of the Morag‐Orinda Fire District. Petitioner's employer participated in the Contra Costa County Employees' Retirement Association (“CCCERA”), a public employees' retirement system. In compliance with his employment agreement, Nowick...

Excerpt: ...sanction order, and in turn that plaintiffs be sanctioned $2,950. She states that she does not own the property, because it is owned by the Start Wars Revocable Living Trust, the beneficiaries of which are minor children. She also states that Plaintiffs were aware of this before they placed a lien on the property. Finally, she states that the sanction award of October 24, 2017, should not have been granted. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, C...

Excerpt: ... of action (as permitted), defendants also purport to seek summary adjudication of numerous sub‐issues contained within those causes of action, such as specific paragraphs of the SAC requesting particular items of damages, or “all claims and/or damages” arising from particular alleged defects. None of that is procedurally permissible as a subject for summary adjudication. As Plaintiff points out, items (d)‐(aa) do not dispose of an entire...

Excerpt: ...ons following the school's sexual assault disciplinary process and appeal. The writ is brought on the grounds that the College's administrative procedure violated California and federal law; violated fundamental principles of fairness by prohibiting John from using an attorney as his advisor, in violation of federal law; depriving him of a fair trial; depriving him of his right to confront and cross‐examine his accuser; employing a process that...

Excerpt: ... case against her former employer, asserting claims of sexual harassment. Defendant cross‐complained, alleging that plaintiff hacked defendant's electronic records and deleted a substantial amount of material, including students' report cards. The latter accusation is the subject of a felony case filed against defendant, which (as far as the Court knows) is still pending. The Court has previously entered a partial stay of some proceedings in th...

Excerpt: ...2017. Since then, however, defendants have simply refused to participate in this litigation. They refused to participate in court‐ordered mediation, saying that they were considering filing bankruptcy (and asking plaintiff's counsel to stop “harassing” them). They failed to appear at multiple case management conferences. They did not oppose plaintiff's motion to compel various forms of discovery, but have not complied in any way with the Co...

Excerpt: ...n amount some three times the jurisdictional maximum for limited cases. Although the motion is not so styled, the Court treats this as (in part) a motion for relief from a judgment that was beyond the jurisdiction of the court. So considered, the motion is granted, and the judgment entered on July 6, 2017 is vacated. Because the problem is a jurisdictional one, the vacatur applies to both defendants. Relief from the judgment, however, is not reli...

Excerpt: ...se of Action. The Windeler defendants are not named in the Fifth and Seventh Causes of Action. In the ruling on the companion demurrer by defendant Littman Trust, the Court has granted plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint adding a single cause of action for declaratory relief, as against the Littman Trust and Windeler Development Group. The Windeler defendants shall file an answer that is timely with reference to service of the amended c...

Excerpt: ...amendment could remedy the defects.” (Dalton v. East Bay Mun. Utility Dist. (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 1566, 1570‐1571.) The burden is on the Plaintiff to establish the reasonable possibility that the defect is curable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) Plaintiff has failed to show how the defects are curable. As an initial matter, the Court notes that Plaintiff Nowicki's “Opposition” does not address the deficiencies raised by the ...

Excerpt: ...��) filed by Cross‐Plaintiff Jordan Bradshaw (“Cross‐Plaintiff” or “Bradshaw”). The CC alleges a single cause of action for unfair business practices in violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200. Safety Environmental demurs to this claim pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e) on the grounds that Bradshaw has not alleged sufficient facts regarding Safety's alleged wrongdoing, has not alleged sufficient facts regarding his standing...

Excerpt: ...018. Any amended complaint shall comply fully with the conditions on leave to amend set forth in Parts B and C of this ruling below. Defendant's motion is granted without leave to amend, as to the Fifth Cause of Action for “Injunction.” However, this aspect of the Court's ruling shall not prohibit plaintiffs from alleging facts supporting a claim for injunctive relief within the body of other causes of action, and seeking injunctive relief in...

Excerpt: ...ought within two years. There is no evidence that any exception applies. At the initially set hearing on this matter, plaintiff had submitted relevant argument, but it was not supported by a proper declaration. The court continued the matter to January 8, 2018, to enable plaintiff to submit a proper declaration and allowed defendant a reply. Plaintiff has provided a declaration. In that declaration, he states that he went to the clerk's office on...

Excerpt: ...ixing, in the settlement agreement, an allocation between economic and non‐ economic damages. Defendant County's objection is moot, because the settlement agreement does not attempt to fix such an allocation. (Supplemental Diestel Dec., ¶ 5.) This is a matter that the Court would decide post‐trial. (Rashidi v. Moser (2014) 60 Cal.4th 718, 722 [“when a pretrial settlement does not differentiate between economic and noneconomic losses, a pos...

Excerpt: ...acts to constitute a cause of action, the court follows the same rules it does on a demurrer. It considers only the material alleged on the face of the challenged pleading and matters of which it can take judicial notice. (Ibid.; Code of Civil Procedure § 438(d); see Evans v. California Trailer Court, Inc. (1994) 28 Cal.App.4th 540, 548.) Here, on its face, the complaint states a cause of action that defendant breached his agreement to sell the ...

Excerpt: ...ior representation of Pearl on related subject matter. 6. TIME: 9:00 CASE#: MSC16‐ 01082 CASE NAME: TROMBADORE GONDEN LAW GROUP VS. SMITH HEARING ON MOTION TO VACATE DEFAULT JUDGMENT FILED BY ROBERT WILLIAM SMITH, MARC PEARL * TENTATIVE RULING: * Marc Pearl's motion to vacate default judgment is granted. The default entered on March 21, 2017 and the default judgment entered on September 1, 2017 are ordered vacated. Pearl shall file and serve th...

Excerpt: ...as served with it. Furthermore, she does not suggest that she has any meritorious defense to the suit, and she does not proffer any proposed answer to the complaint. It is pointless to grant defendant an opportunity to defend against the claim if she has no defense. Defendant does make a brief mention of her statement to plaintiff's attorney that this debt had been resolved by Kemper Group. However, she does not identify who Kemper Group is, or h...

Excerpt: ...er's order, because defendant failed to file the bond required by statute. Section 98.2(c) “establishes a one‐way fee‐shifting scheme, whereby unsuccessful appellants [employers] pay attorney fees while successful appellants may not obtain such fees.” Sonic Calabasas v Moreno (2011) 59 Cal.4th 1109, 1129. The purpose is to discourage unmeritorious appeals from administrative wage claim determinations, and to encourage prompt payment there...

Excerpt: ...ion to collect in excess of $160,000 allegedly owed on an agreement to rent equipment for use at the Camp Park and other construction projects. Defendant Federal Solutions Group, Inc., ordered the equipment and defendant Selina Singh guaranteed payment. Plaintiff filed its lawsuit on May 4, 2017. It served each defendant by substituted service on May 12, 2017. It did the required mailing on May 16, 2017. (See CCP § 415.20 (a), (b).) Service was ...

Excerpt: ...n if the Court were to consider the burden request now, a cost of $1,200 is not particularly burdensome. The electronic records shall be produced. However, it appears that the burden with regard to the paper records may be extreme. The parties shall meet and confer prior to the hearing to determine if a sample of those records would be sufficient. The Balboa location. Defendant shall respond to discovery concerning the Balboa location. The statut...

Excerpt: ... can be denied where there is “‘inexcusable delay and probable prejudice to the opposing party'… [Citation.]” (Ibid; see also, Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1048 (even assuming there is unreasonable delay, “it is an abuse of discretion to deny leave to amend where the opposing party was not misled or prejudiced by the amendment.”).) Leave to amend can be denied where the proposed amendment is insuf...