Excerpt: ...rmanent injunction. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 11/09/2023 5 Defendants demur to all Plaintiffs' causes of action for pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure S 430.10(e) on several grounds. For the follow-ng reasons, the Demurrer is overruled. Defendants are given to December 8 in which to file and serve their answer. Legal Standard "The function of a dem...

Excerpt: ...er is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law." (Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2W4) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420.) A complaint "is sufficient if it alleges ultimate rather than evidentiary facts" (Doe v. City of Los Angeles (2W7) 42 Cal.4th 531, 550), but the plaintiff must set forth the essential facts of his or her case "with reasonable precision and with particularity sufficient to acquaint [thel defendant with the n...

Excerpt: ...s granted. Legal Standard "In an employment or consumer arbitration that requires, either expressly or through application of state or federal law or the rules of the arbitration provider, that the drafting party pay certain fees and costs during the pendency of an arbitration proceeding, if the fees or costs required to continue the arbitration are not paid within 30 days after the due date, the drafting party is in material breach of the arbitr...

Excerpt: ...eement, the agreement by its own terms excludes the present dispute from its scope, because the law in existence at the time of contracting did not allow for arbitration agreements for individual PAGA claims. That law has since changed, but the contract itself excludes "claims that are not subject to arbitration under current law" — meaning the aw of 2019. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFF...

Excerpt: ... to 175 class members. 32 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 15 new addresses, leaving 17 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 11/02/2023 28 A. Background and Settlement Terms Despite its clever name, Rodd & Gunn is not a sporting goods business but a retail s...

Excerpt: ... The moton is granted. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 407 class members. 31 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 27 new addresses, leaving 4 nondeliverable. No objections have been received, and only one request for exclusion. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant is in the business of providing clinical outpatient intervention to autistic teens, and their SUPERIOR...

Excerpt: ... their attorney's fees, litigation costs, administration costs, and representative payments. The motion is granted. A. Background of the Case and Terms of Settlement This a PAGA case (not a class action), alleging a variety of violations of the Labor Code concerning failure to provide rest and meal breaks, failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, and cascading derivative violations. This case was first filed on February 23, 2021 as a class acti...

Excerpt: ...y November 27, 2023. This is a lawsuit between two former cohabitants, previously inwlved romantically and otherwise with each other; the female plaintiff is substantially younger than the male defendant. The male party has filed a cross-complaint against the female. This is her demurrer to his cross- complaint. Legal Standards for Ruling on Demurrer In ruling on the demurrer, the Court must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations of ...

Excerpt: ...TRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 11/02/2023 11 Medical care as to FAC in its entirety and all causes of action — sustained with leave to amend; (b) additionally and/or alternatively, general demurrers to FAC in its entirety and all causes of action by Tele Care and Medical Care based on failure to allege facts as to employer status in light of Exhibits A and B to FAC Exhibit 1— sustai...

Excerpt: ...rth LLC. Defendants move on the grounds that the derivative claims (second through fifth causes of action) are barred because EBO has lost standing to sue on Taylor's after relinquishing its membership interest voluntarily, without wrongdoing by Defendants. Defendants also contend that the sixth cause of action for declaratory relief is barred EBO lost standing to seek declaratory relief under the Taylor operating agreement after relinquishing it...

Excerpt: ...nt. The motions are granted. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notces to 152 class members. 5 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 2 new addresses, leaving 3 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 10/26/2023 2 A. Background and S...

Excerpt: ...e preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 19,854 class members. 1,086 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 605 new addresses, leaving 464 non-deliverable. No objections have been received, and only two class members have requested to opt out. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant operates a number of Taco Bell restaurants throughout the area. Plaintiffs were employed at various t...

Excerpt: ...ses, leaving 4 nondeliverable. No objections out have been received, and only one class member has opted out. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant is the parent of Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa. Plaintiff was employed with defendant as a neuromuscular therapist in the spring of 2021, though only briefly. The original complaint was filed on October 26, 2021. A PAGA claim was added by amendment in January 2022. The settlement will cre...

Excerpt: ...istrator's declaration) that when investigation turned up more class and workweeks than previously believed to exist, thereby potentially triggering an escalator clause in the settlement agreement, the response of the parties was to lop off the back end of the class period for which settlement payments will be made — and lop it off substantially tin, from the preliminary approval date (spring 2023) back to July 25, 2022. While the Court obvousl...

Excerpt: ...the reason set forth, the motion for summary judgment and motion for summary adjudication of the sixth cause of action are denied. Background Plaintiff and cross- defendant De Petra is the owner of a commercial building located at 911 Moraga Road in Lafayette. Defendant and cross-complainant Persons Plastic Surgery, Inc. ("Persons") is a tenant who leased one of the offices for its plastic surgery center, unit 205 (the "Premises"), under a writte...

Excerpt: ...driver from April to December 2022, and according to PacPizza, he is still a PacPizza employee. (Higgins Decl. '1 2; Hough Suppl. Decl. 3.) Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging a single cause of achon under the California Private Attorneys General Act, Labor Code S 2699 et seq. ("PAGA") for multiple Labor Code violations he contends he and other aggrieved employees of PacPizza have sustained. PacPizza moves to compel arbitration of Plaintiff's cl...

Excerpt: ...motions are granted. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 7,126 class members. 625 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 367 new addresses, leaving 270 non-deliverable. No objections have been received, and only one class member requested exclusion. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant and its affiliates, also sued as defendants here, are in the business of operating McD...

Excerpt: ... JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 10/05/2023 32 Plaintiffs are Jason Kristal, JKristallnvestmentsLLC, and 219KingsburyGrade, LC (the "Kristal Plaintiffs"). Defendants are Omer Eugene Beaird Ill ("Eugene"), Alesia Thomas ("Alesia") (collectively, "Defendants") and their former attorney, M. Todd Jenks. Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Settlement of their claims against Mr. Jenks on September 18, 2023. This action is preceded by three rel...

Excerpt: ...ndant operates an oil refinery in Martinez. Plaintiffs are employed there as Operators. The original complaint was filed on July 2, 2020 as a class and PAGA action. It was amended twice, including deletion of one named plaintiff and modification of the claims asserted. The second amended complaint successfully withstood demurrer. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $1,224,210. The class representative payments to the plaintiffs...

Excerpt: ...or approval of their attorney's fees, litigation costs, administrative fees, and representative payments. Both motions are granted. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 52 class members. 2 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 10/05/2023 24 packets were returned by the post office. Follow-up was unable to find better a...

Excerpt: ...mount and the average paput. There are a number of identifiable reasons for this, most of which are understandable and acceptable. However, it appears that there may have been a substantial miscommunication with respect to one particular (and unusual) feature of this settlement namely that the employee class members, not the employer, end up bearing the cost of paying the employer's share of payroll taxes on the settlement proceeds. SUPERIOR COUR...

Excerpt: ...aintiff was employed as a non-exempt employee during the relevant time period, though the pleadings and moving papers do not identify her job capacity or employment dates. The motion is granted. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 10/05/2023 28 C. Background of the Case and Terms of Settlement This a PAGA case (not a class action), alleging a variety of viola...

Excerpt: ...yed by SWAT as a journeyman pipefitter, working at the Tesoro site in February and March of 2019. The motion is granted. B. Background of the Case and Terms of Settlement This a PAGA case (not a class action), asserting that SWAT violated the Labor Code by not paying employees for the time spent donning and doffing safety gear at the beginning and end of shifts. Notably, SWAT changed its policy and commenced paying for donning and doffing time in...

Excerpt: ...d a class action complaint alleging nine causes of action for Labor Code violations by defendant Bay Air Systems, Inc. and a representative claim on behalf of himself and "aggrieved" employees in the tenth cause of action under the Private Attorney General Act, Labor Code section 2699 et seq. ("PAGA"). Plaintiff subsequently filed an amendment to the complaint naming defendants John Morgan, Roberta Morgan, Ben Morgan, and Bert Morgan as "Doe" def...

Excerpt: ...d a class action complaint alleging nine causes of action for Labor Code violations by defendant Bay Air Systems, Inc. and a representative claim on behalf of himself and "aggrieved" employees in the tenth cause of action under the Private Attorney General Act, Labor Code section 2699 et seq. ("PAGA"). Plaintiff subsequently filed an amendment to the complaint naming defendants John Morgan, Roberta Morgan, Ben Morgan, and Bert Morgan as "Doe" def...

Excerpt: ...al dissolution. There are three other cases to which Robert and Madeline are or were parties: (1) Serafin v. Serafin, Contra Costa Superior Court Case No. 021-02739, (2) Burden v. Serafin, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case No. 4:22-cv-25 03479 DMR, and (3) Serafin v. Serafin, Contra Costa Superior Court Case No. C23-00131. Robert filed his complaint in this action on March 30, 2023. The complaint asserted the follow...

Excerpt: ...pparently in the business of læating buried utility lines for construction. The complaint alleges that plaintiff was employed at defendant during the relevant period, though it does not give his employment dates or identify what job he held. The original complaint was filed on July 6, 2022. It was amended on November 28, 2022 to add PAGA claims. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of The class representative payment to the plaint...

Excerpt: ...tices to class members. 23 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 19 new addresses, leaving 4 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motion is granted. E. Background and Settlement Terms Defendants, related entities, are in the business of operating several "escape room" entertainment facilities. Plaintiff was employed at one of them in various hourly capacities between 2019 and 2021....

Excerpt: ...complaint as a freestanding pleading. Formal service of process on defendants Simple Cash Loans and Shafir should be accomplished promptly. Plaintiff has sued two defendants—Simple Cash Loans, for various asserted forms of illegality in connection with a car loan; and Location, the repossession agent. Plaintiff served Location, but has yet to serve Simple Cash Loans. He faces a hard deadline of October 17 by which to do so, or the case will be ...

Excerpt: ...case.) The motion is granted. This arbitration motion is unprecedented, in this Court's experience, in one respect: Not only is there an arbitration already in existence and going forward, covering the same set of claims— but indeed, that arbitration proceeding was initiated by plaintiff himself. The Court confesses itself mystified as to why plaintiff, having filed and prosecuted that arbitration, then filed this lawsuit— and even more mysti...

Excerpt: ...a PAGA claim, but it appears that the complaint may be amended to add a PAGA claim in the future. (Comp. "34-36.) Whether the arbitration agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. S 1, et seq. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 09/21/2023 12 (FAA) or by the California Arbitration Act, Code of Civil Procedure S 1280 et seq. (CAA), the thr...

Excerpt: ...eir first amended complaint against defendant Evangelista. Background and Summary of the Case Defendant Evangelista operates a dentistry business. Plaintiffs Rozenberg and Puen formerly worked as dentists in one of defendant's offices. In the first cause of action in the FAC they contend that they were employees, not independent contractors, and Evangelista failed to reimburse them for certain employment-related expenses. Their second cause of ac...

Excerpt: ...l complaint was filed on March 19, 2021. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $950,000. The class representative payment SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 09/21/2023 38 to the plaintiff would be $10,000. Attorney's fees would be $316,667 (one-third of the settlement). Litigation costs would not exceed $20,000. The settlement administrator'...

Excerpt: ...cted with Synctruck to provide delivery services in California and Utah. The Plaintiffs are drivers employed by Synctruck, and allegedly by Amazon as a joint employer. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 09/21/2023 23 Plaintiffs also move separately for approval of their attorney's fees, litigation costs, administration costs, and representative payments. The...

Excerpt: ...oval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 816 class members. 50 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 35 new addresses, leaving 15 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motion is granted. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 09/21/2023 2 A. Background and settlement Terms The sett...

Excerpt: ... resulted in 23 new addresses, leaving 30 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motion is granted. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant Rubicon is in the business of manufacturing and wholesaling baked goods. Plaintiff Lucas was previously employed at Rubicon as a maintenance worker. Plaintiff Miles was formerly employed at Rubicon as a sanitation worker. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA CO...

Excerpt: ... also moves for approval of plaintiff's attorney's fees, litigation costs, administration costs, and representative payment. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 317 class members. 6 packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 3 new addresses, leaving 3 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motions are granted. E. Background and Settlement Terms ...

Excerpt: ...irfield Belmont. Defendant is given 30 days in which to answer. Demurrer Standards A demurrer for sufficiency tests whether the complaint states a cause of action. (Hahn v. Mirda (2007) 147 Cal.App.4th 740, 747.) In a demurrer proceeding, the defects must be apparent on the face of the pleading or via proper judicial notice. (lonabedian v. Mercury Ins. Co. (2004) 116 Cal.App.4th 968, 994.) "A demurrer tests the pleading alone, and not on the evid...

Excerpt: ...und of the Case and Terms of Settlement This a PAGA case (not a class action), alleging a variety of violations of the Labor Code concerning failure to provide rest and meal breaks, failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, and cascading derivative violations. In particular, plaintiff asserts alleged violations for unpaid off-the-clock time and untaken or shortened rest and meal breaks. This case was first filed by Iraheta on April 19, 2021 as a...

Excerpt: ...violations during the period of the initial COVID emergency'. After a demurrer was sustained to part of plaintiff's claim, her first amended complaint focused specifically on allegations that defendant unlawfully required employees to exhaust personal leave time before taking COVID-related sick time as authorized by emergency' statutory provisions. The total settlement payment is Out of this is to come attorney's fees of $41,667 (onethird of the ...

Excerpt: ...ts were returned by the post offce. Follow up resulted in 27 new addresses, leaving 7 nondeliverable. No objections have been received; there have been 4 valid opt-out requests. The motion is granted. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant is in the business of developing and selling life science research and clinical diagnostic products. Plaintiff worked in its manufacturing operations. The original complaint was filed on January 27, 2021 ...

Excerpt: ...eliverable. No objections out have been received, and only one class member has opted out. The motion is granted. B. Background and Settlement Terms The original complaint was filed on October 5, 2021. A PAGA claim was added by later amendment. The settlement will create a gross settlement fund of The class representative payment to the plaintiff will be $7,5W. Attorney's fees will be $130,WO (one-third of the settlement). Litigation SUPERIOR COU...

Excerpt: ...For the following reasons, the motion is granted. Request for Judicial Notice Defendants unopposed request for judicial notice is granted. (Evid. Code SS 452, 453.) Relevant Law Civil Code S 910 provides: Prior to filing an acton against any party alleged to have contributed to a violation of the standards set forth in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 896), the claimant shall initiate the following prelitigation procedures. Section 910 and the ...

Excerpt: ...face and is denied. Section 664.6(a) states: If parties to a pending litigation stipulate, in a writing signed by the parties outside of the presence of the court or orally before the court, for settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. If requested by the parties, the court may retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in ful...

Excerpt: ...n Esquivel, a minor, by and through her guardian ad litem, Jennifer Barnes, filed this action against Defendant Contra Costa County on March 21, 2019. Plaintiffs allege that County, through its Contra Costa Regional Medical Center staff, negligently managed Tammy Esquivel's labor and delivery resulting in a severe hypoxic brain injury to Evelyn. Plaintiffs filed a notice of conditional settlement On August 17, 2020 and Judge We] approved the sett...

Excerpt: ...t a class action), alleging a variety of violations of the Labor Code concerning failure to provide rest and meal breaks, failure to pay minimum wages and overtime, and cascading derivative violations. In particular, plaintiff asserts alleged violations for violations concerning missed meal breaks, rest breaks, and second meal breaks for long shifts. This case was first filed on June 17, 2021, as a PAGA action (not a class action). The total sett...

Excerpt: ...hat all parties have captioned their papers as if Midstate were the only cross-defendant on this cross-complaint (which was true on Fryer's original crosscomplaint). In fact, there are two other cross-defendants here, both of which have answered. Demurrer Standards A demurrer for sufficiency tests whether the complaint states a cause of action. (Hahn v. Mirda (2007) 147 Cal.App.4th 740, 747.) In a demurrer proceeding, the defects must be apparent...

Excerpt: ... defendant served formal responses to the discovery, objecting to all requests and interrogatories principally on the ground that defendant's arbitration motion was pending (although, for preservation, defendant also stated a number of other boilerplate objections). Thereafter, plaintiff's opposition to the arbitration motion convinced defendant that the motion would be denied, and defendant withdrew it. Defendant then assured plaintff that it wa...

Excerpt: ... costs, administrative costs, and a class representative payment. Since preliminary approval was granted, the administrator has mailed notices to 27 class members. After follow- up, only one notice was non-deliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motion is granted. A. Prior Rulings and Judicial Comment When plaintiff's preliminary approval moton first came up for hearing, the Court indicated generally that the set...

Excerpt: ...s. Plaintiff was employed there during the class period, though his job duties and dates are not provided. The original complaint was filed on December 22, 2021 as a class action. Plaintiff filed a separate PAGA acton on September 21, 2022. That action was dismissed and the PAGA claims amended into the class case to facilitate settlement. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $200,000. The class representative payment SUPERIOR CO...