Excerpt: ...has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one arising from protected activity, that is, by demonstrating that the facts underlying the plaintiff's complaint fit one of the categories spelled out in section 425.16, subdivision (e). If the court finds that such a showing has been made, it must then determine the second step, whether the plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim. [Citation.]' [Cita...

Excerpt: ..., and denies Plaintiff's request for sanctions. Relevant Facts Plaintiff Carey Salinas alleges his vehicle was struck by a vehicle driven by defendant Roger Silvey. He alleges Silvey was driving while intoxicated when the accident occurred. Analysis A. Legal Standards Applicable to Motion to Strike and Pleading Requirements for A Punitive Damages Claim The Court may strike allegations that are “irrelevant, false or improper matter” or any por...

Excerpt: ...xtending from 2010 to 2015. The lease provided for an option to renew if written notice is given no later than 90 before expiration of the lease. The lease also contained a provision of first right of refusal. Plaintiff did not give written notice in accordance with the lease. In September 2018, the Wongs' attorney informed Plaintiff they intended to sell the property to other prospective buyers. Plaintiff filed this action for breach of contract...

Excerpt: ... time or expenses associated with obtaining mandatory drug tests. Pursuant to stipulation, an amended complaint adding a PAGA cause of action was filed on May 3, 2019. A Second Amended Complaint was filed on June 12, 2020. The parties undertook discovery as part of the matter, and eventually reached a resolution with the assistance of an experienced mediator. The matter was removed to federal court, remanded, then removed again. After a settlemen...

Excerpt: ... not given the legally required rest and meal breaks or pay for those periods. Defendant argues that the complaint fails because CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 08/13/20 ‐ 6 ‐ the pre‐lawsuit notice to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) is insufficient and because Plaintiff has not alleged facts showing a claim for violations of the Labor Code. Defendant demurs to the entire compl...

Excerpt: ... parties treat the petition as seeking relief from the requirements of section 945.4. Accordingly, the Court proceeds on that basis. As an initial matter, respondent West Contra Costa Unified School District (“School District”) seeks judicial notice of several documents. The request is unopposed, and judicial notice is appropriate. The requests are granted. Background Facts and Law On May 7, 2019, Gonzalez was involved in a car accident with ...

Excerpt: ...ot file an opposition although he did file an amended answer to the complaint on July 21, 2020. It is unclear whether Defendant intended this document to be responsive to the Motion. For the following reasons, the Motion is granted. Request for Judicial Notice Plaintiff requests judicial notice of its Complaint for Breach of Contract (and exhibits thereto) as well as Defendant's Answer to Complaint for Breach of contract filed on June 13, 2019 (a...

Excerpt: ...on eight after considering Plaintiff's arguments and the Court's concerns. The Oznowiczes are not permitted to make substantive changes to any of their other claims. There is “a policy of great liberality in permitting amendments to the complaint at any stage of the proceedings, up to and including trial [citations]…” (Magpali v. Farmers Group (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 471, 487.) However, leave to amend can be denied where there is “ ‘inexc...

Excerpt: ...NIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 08/12/20 ‐ 11 ‐ On or about May 16, 2019, Plaintiff Central Coast Barns and Buildings, Inc. contracted with Defendant Robert Romeo for construction work. Plaintiff performed grading, leveling and soil compaction for a road on Defendant's 120‐acre ranch at 370 Lindsey Drive in Martinez. Plaintiff submitted an invoice and Defendant has refused to pay. Plaintiff filed this action for breach of contract, fraud, ...

Excerpt: ...0 et seq. ("UCL"). Plaintiff is the owner of land located in Antioch which he appears to allege consists of two adjacent commercial lots (the "Property"). (Compl. Intro. and ¶ III) Plaintiff alleges that Defendants have "taken adverse possession" of real property belonging to Plaintiff and refuse to relinquish it. (Compl. Intro.) In their memorandum in support of the demurrer, Defendants state the parties' disputes concern a fence which Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...o families, the Murphys and the Verlanders, established a winery, DuMOL, in 1997 and ran it through a corporation, DuMOL, Inc., and a limited liability company, DuMOL Wine Company. In March 2012, they retained a broker, Wood‐Warren, to market it for sale. The corporation and the LLC signed an agreement with Wood (the “Engagement Agreement”), obligating themselves to pay a commission of 2.5%. When no sale was completed after several years, t...

Excerpt: ...re for Fujii's mother (plaintiff's grandmother) for her lifetime and be compensated through permanent residence in the home. However, after the mother died, plaintiff was evicted and was paid nothing for her ten years of service. Defendant demurred to the complaint, but failed to meet and confer, as required by CCP § 430.41. Plaintiff opposed the demurrer, but does not appear to have considered the various authorities cited by defendant, which s...

Excerpt: ...ing, and presents specific facts which Plaintiff contends she could truthfully allege, if she were given leave to amend her FAC, to demonstrate her claim is not barred by the statute of limitations and is otherwise legally viable. Facts Alleged Plaintiff Meier alleges she was the owner of real property commonly known as Lot 9, Mallard Dr., Point Richmond, California (the "Property"). (FAC ¶¶ 2, 7.) The Property was encumbered by a deed of trust...

Excerpt: ..., 2020. The Moraga Country Club Homeowners' Association brought a cross‐ complaint against EBMUD for (1) breach of contract, (2) nuisance and (3) declaratory relief. The Cross‐ Complaint alleges that there were two landslides in 2016 on EBMUD's property and were caused by EBMUD's actions. (Cross‐Comp. ¶10.) EBMUD has not repaired the landslides and as a result an emergency access road cannot be used by residents of the HOA. (Cross‐Comp. ...

Excerpt: ...e ordered to arbitrate causes of action one through nine in the complaint. The PAGA claim (cause of action ten) shall be stayed pending conclusion of the arbitration. The case management conference set for August 31, 2020, is continued to February 5, 2021, 8:30 a.m. Plaintiff filed a class action complaint against the defendants for a number of wage and hour violations, including failure to pay overtime, failure to provide meal and rest breaks, a...

Excerpt: ...laint, trying to allege facts to show they did not discover their cause of action for the wrongful death of Sarah Dell O'Connell, their wife and mother, respectively, until August 27, 2018, rather than earlier, on March 3, 2018, when Sarah's mother, Michelle Dell, hired attorney Thornton Davidson to investigate the circumstances of Sarah's death. If they discovered their cause of action on the later date, their February 27, 2019 government claim ...

Excerpt: ...lement. The Court will consider the motions together. This motion initially was heard on July 16, 2020, based on a tentative ruling issued on July 15, 2020. After that hearing, the Court requested supplemental submissions and continued the hearing to this date. A. Background of the Case and Terms of Settlement This a PAGA case (not a class action), alleging violations of the Labor Code concerning a number of issues. The primary issue concerns a �...

Excerpt: ... nine causes action against AmSpec involving wage and hour claims, including failure to provide meal periods, failure to authorize and permit rest periods, failure to pay overtime wages, failure to pay minimum wage, and several other causes of action. Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of consisting of all current and former non‐exempt employees of Defendant in the State. She also seeks to represent aggrieved employees as private attorney gen...

Excerpt: ...ling on the adequacy of plaintiff's complaint. If plaintiff elects to amend, she shall state her direct entity liability theory (section 815.6) and vicarious entity liability theory (section 815.2) in separate counts. Any amended complaint shall be filed and served on or before August 20, 2020. The complaint alleges that plaintiff Wu was bullied and harassed while a student at Hercules Middle School. The harassment culminated in an incident on Ma...

Excerpt: ...NT: 21 HEARING DATE: 08/05/20 ‐ 7 ‐ Facts Plaintiff alleges for 15 years she was the Human Resources Director for the City of Richmond, a position from which she was terminated on May 5, 2020. (Compl. ¶¶ 13, 35) In summary, she alleges that she received and reported multiple incidents of racial and gender discrimination from other City employees, that she advocated for those employees for their racial and gender discrimination complaints, a...

Excerpt: ...uary 14, 2020 the Defendant filed with the court its counsel's declaration on Form CIV‐141 in support of an automatic extension for filing Defendant's demurrer. See Code of Civil Procedure (hereafter “CCP”) section 430.41(a)(2). On January 22, 2020, no answer by the Defendant was on file and the clerk entered a default at the request of the plaintiff notwithstanding the automatic extension form previously filed by Defendant. On that same da...

Excerpt: ... with opposing counsel, Noel Obiora, on June 12, 2020. The parties were unable to resolve Defendants' objections. Summary of the Court's Tentative Ruling on the Demurrer Defendants demur to all causes of action in the Second Amended Complaint (SAC) on the ground the claims are time barred. Defendant also demurs to the breach of contract cause of action (#2) on ground it fails to state a cause of action because Plaintiff failed to prove the writte...

Excerpt: ...ry law firm. In June 2019 that firm was joined by the Bauman firm (plaintiff's present counsel) by association of counsel, and the Bauman firm substituted in as sole counsel in August 2019. It was throughout this time period that defendant was seeking fruitlessly to obtain written discovery responses from plaintiff. The record reflects a long series of meet‐and‐confer efforts, in which defense counsel was asking for responses to previously se...

Excerpt: ...ees with the City on certain others. This ruling lays out the Court's views on the points of dispute. Whether an actual writ will be necessary, however, remains to be seen. The Court accordingly sets this motion over to September 4, 2020, at 10:00 a.m., for further review as to the state of compliance, CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 12 HEARING DATE: 07/31/20 ‐ 21 ‐ noncompliance, or continued disagreement as to p...

Excerpt: ...cated at 1751 Diane Court in Concord. Plaintiffs signed a lease on or about May 11, 2013, but allege that they resided at the property since from about July 1, 2011, until their eviction in September 2016. Guo Min Li and Minghao Zhong were the owners of the apartment building during most of Plaintiffs' tenancy. Defendant Seek Investments, LLC purchased the apartment building on about June 10, 2015. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA...