Excerpt: ...(Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.4.) A court must order arbitration if it determines that a valid agreement to arbitrate exists. Here, such an agreement exists. This case comes before the Court on remand following a previous denial of the petition. In a published decision, Gordon v. Atria Management Co., LLC (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 1020, 1030, the First District Court of Appeal stated: The trial court erred in concluding that Randall lacked authority to b...

Excerpt: ...eeking leave to amend to (1) name Tyler Rad Holstein (“Holstein”) as a Defendant; (2) add claims for violations of the Unruh, Ralph and Bane Act; (3) remove claims and prayers for relief that are not recoverable in a survival action; (4) include allegations of Defendant Holstein's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) and Defendant Securitas' knowledge thereof; and (5) add allegations regarding Plaintiffs' status as successors in intere...

Excerpt: ...the matter was continued to April 13, 2022 to be heard in Dept. 21 by the Honorable Jill Fannin. Defendants bring this motion to remove the seal, pursuant Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 2.551. Plaintiff's ex parte application to seal the proceedings was granted by the Court on July 27, 2020. At that time, Defendants had not been served with the summons and complaint; they had no notice and no opportunity to oppose. (Defendants were served almost a yea...

Excerpt: ...F”) No. 20 as ineffectively disputed by plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Barnett; Gomez Decl, ¶ 16; Barnett Decl., ¶ 14, 15, 19.) Background This is a case for medical malpractice and loss of consortium. The plaintiffs are Dean Habegger and his wife, Debbie Habegger. The TAC alleges that Mr. Habegger (who was then 66 years SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 21 HEARING DATE: 04/20/2022 2 of age and had previously ...

Excerpt: ...1‐2.) The Fifth Cause of Action of the SAC alleges that defendant EagleLift committed intentional misrepresentation by stating it had installed 12 interior posts (SAC, ¶ 46, 47), and that defendants Alpine and Saleem committed intentional misrepresentation by stating in a letter dated July 14, 2017 that all pertinent work done by EagleLift, was performed “as designed.” (¶ 50.) These representations were false because not all posts and pie...

Excerpt: ... to admit or deny the remaining one. (Def. Mot. Exhibit B). Defense counsel sent a meet and confer letter to plaintiff's counsel on January 6, 2022, “advising that if verified responses were not received by January 20, 2022, Plaintiff would proceed with discovery motions.” (Def. Motion Exhibit C). No verification has since been served. Defendants' motion for deeming matters admitted is misplaced. Plaintiff's service of responses before the fi...

Excerpt: ...s not adequately supported by the evidence. Background On or around March 1, 2017, plaintiff and two other entities, as “Landlord,” and defendant Umesh Kumar Sharma, DBA Pizza Amigo, as “Tenant,” entered into a lease agreement for certain retail premises in a mall. The property has been occupied or otherwise in Tenant's possession since that same month. After the property was conveyed entirely to plaintiff in December 2018, the lease was ...

Excerpt: ...essential facts of his or her case “with reasonable precision and with particularity sufficient to acquaint [the] defendant with the nature, source and extent” of the plaintiff's claim. (Doheny Park Terrace Homeowners Assn., Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exchange (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 1076, 1099). Legal conclusions are insufficient. (Id. at 1098–1099; Doe at 551, fn. 5.) The Court “assume[s] the truth of the allegations in the complaint, but do[es]...

Excerpt: ...f Robert Dandrea worked as a Manager at the Pep Boys located at 520 Contra Costa Blvd. in Pleasant Hill. Plaintiff suffered a workplace injury on September 9, 2019. Plaintiff alleges Defendants failed to engage in the interactive process or provide reasonable accommodations. Instead, Plaintiff was suspended and then terminated on September 19, 2019. Plaintiff alleges that throughout his employment he performed his duties competently and in satisf...

Excerpt: ... against defendants are barred by judicial estoppel. Plaintiffs filed Chapter 13 bankruptcies on three separate occasions, taking advantage of the automatic stay to delay foreclosure. But plaintiffs failed to list any claim against defendants on their bankruptcy schedules, or to correct those schedules during the pendency of the bankruptcies. The authorities cited by defendants confirm that this conscious omission is fatal to all of plaintiffs' c...

Excerpt: ... speak English. Plaintiff alleges her manager would become angry when she spoke with the tenants in Spanish. Additionally, her manager forbade her to speak Spanish or Tagalog or keep conversations with tenants. Plaintiff's manager refused to train Plaintiff on the duties of a property manager despite being directed to do so. Plaintiff was told by her manager she was sent there just to look pretty. Plaintiff was informed the manager would make ina...

Excerpt: ... law and motion procedure in future filings. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 1005, subds. (b) and (c).) Defendants' demurrer is sustained in part and overruled in part, as set forth below. Leave to amend is granted. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 07 HEARING DATE: 04/15/2022 4 Plaintiffs shall file any further amended complaint on or before May 16, 2022. If plaintiffs choose not to amend, they shall give defendants written n...

Excerpt: ...rference with contract (FHL against Cyrus Jack), (4) intentional interference with prospective economic advantage (FHL against Cyrus Jack), (5) unfair competition (by FHL against Cyrus Jack), (6) civil conspiracy (FHL against all Defendants), (7) slander per se (Plaintiffs Robert and Joan Marx against Cyrus Jack), (8) intentional CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 07 HEARING DATE: 04/15/2022 7 infliction of emotional dis...

Excerpt: ... during the meet and confer process. Plaintiffs shall file and serve their first amended complaint by May 6, 2022. The Court sets a case management conference for April 25, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. for the parties to discuss whether this case should be consolidated or coordinated with case MSC22‐00001 (Lynch v. Smietana). Plaintiffs' counsel shall give notice of this CMC to the attorneys in MSC22‐00001 (Lynch v. Smietana) and/or be authorized to spe...

Excerpt: ...) As used in this section, “act in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue” includes: … (2) any written or oral statement or writing made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a legislative, executive, or judicial body, or any other official proceeding authorized by law … The first question before the Court is whe...

Excerpt: ...§ 3273.10, and (4) violation of Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq, the body of the Complaint alleges only two causes of action: one for violation of Civil Code § 2923.6 (labeled first cause of action) and one for violation of Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. (labeled third cause of action). For the following reasons, Plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction is denied. The Temporary Restraining Order issued on February 14, 2022 is dissolv...

Excerpt: ...Amended Complaint is lifted. The motion for sanctions is granted as requested, and Plaintiff is awarded $13,024.82 pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.99(a), including $12,435.00 in attorneys' fees and $589.82 in costs. Background Plaintiff Mario Ramirez Lopez filed a class action complaint on behalf of himself and other similarly situated employees of E‐Tech alleging seven causes of action, including multiple violations of the Lab...

Excerpt: ...ame issues as the earlier productions, e.g., not including complete email threads. He argues that more meet and confer sessions will be needed. Defendant is ordered to provide complete responses within 30 days of this order. There also remains the issue of discovery of the current insurance policy. Defendant produced a policy that “was in effect for the relevant time period when Plaintiff filed his lawsuit.” Defendant asserts that this is the...

Excerpt: ...ound Plaintiff, Julian Hoffman, worked as a registered nurse for defendant hospital San Ramon Regional Medical Center and SRRMC Management, Inc., (collectively “defendants”) from June 2018 through May 2020. Both defendants are subsidiaries or affiliated entities with Tenet Healthcare Corporation, a network of hospitals. In his wage and hour class action complaint, filed in August 2021, plaintiff contends defendants violated various provisions...

Excerpt: ...amended cross‐complaint filed by Lucas Du and Mary Wong and the cross‐complaint filed by Hui Yong. Plaintiffs filed an opposition to this motion, but Du, Wong and Yong have not filed an opposition. Plaintiffs sued the District for nuisance (in various forms), inverse condemnation, dangerous condition of public property, trespass, diversion of water and declaratory relief (based upon the alleged nuisance and trespass). The District moved for s...

Excerpt: ...kground and Settlement Terms The original complaint was filed October 23, 2020, raising claims under PAGA and a class action on behalf of non‐exempt employees alleging that defendant violated the Labor Code in various ways. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $750,000. The class representative payment to each plaintiff would be $7,500. Counsel's attorney's fees would be $250,000 (33 1/3% of the settlement). Litigation costs w...

Excerpt: ...se of action and is fatally uncertain; and, (2) the third cause of action, for injunctive relief under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), both fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and is fatally uncertain. Introduction & Preliminary Considerations Before specifically addressing the merits of Renew's contentions, the Court first deals with some preliminary matters as a backdrop to that endeavor. First, the Cou...

Excerpt: ...den of proof that the Hofmann's breached their duty to disclose. The Hofmanns filed this petition to confirm the arbitration award. The Johnsons oppose the petition, arguing that the arbitration award should be vacated. If a petition is filed and served, the Court must confirm an arbitration award unless it corrects the award, vacates the award or dismisses the proceeding. (Code Civ. Proc. § 1286.) “Judicial review of an arbitrator's award is ...

Excerpt: ...to April 13, 2022 to be heard in Dept. 21 by the Honorable Jill Fannin. Defendants bring this motion to remove the seal, pursuant Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 2.551. Plaintiff's ex parte application to seal the proceedings was granted by the Court on July 27, 2020. At that time, Defendants had not been served with the summons and complaint; they had no notice and no opportunity to oppose. (Defendants were served almost a year later in April 2021.) I...

Excerpt: ... of forum non conveniens, Defendant's motion is untimely. “A motion to stay or dismiss on the ground of inconvenient forum must be made within the time permitted to plead, i.e., 30 days after service of the complaint, unless extended by stipulation or court order. (§ 418.10, subd. (a).)” (Olinick v. BMG Entertainment (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 1286, 1295.) This ruling does not preclude Defendant from raising the objection after a general appeara...