Excerpt: ...tz. He first argues, with no citation to authority or other rationale, that discovery must be strictly limited to the issue of class certification. Who says so? First, the complaint includes non-class claims. Second, even if class certification were denied or abandoned, there would remain individual and representative claims to litigate. And in any event, this case has now been pending for over three years. If the parties have not gotten started ...

Excerpt: ...ion. Plaintiff's motion is denied. As the Court will explain, Plaintiff's argument skips a step and cannot establish as a matter of law that defendants have no right to discharge storm water into the Park because they have no easement. Procedural Objections The Court rejects Defendants' objections. They are contrary to the express directions of the Court at pretrial conferences. Defendants point out that in seeking a ruling on what Plaintiff cont...

Excerpt: ...by Plaintiff Praveen Gupta. For the follow-ng reasons, the Mohon is granted. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 12/07/2023 26 Legal standard lis pendens is recorded by someone asserting a real property claim, to give notice that a lawsuit has been filed which may, if that person prevails, affect title to or possession of the real property described in the no...

Excerpt: ...in addition to whatever other costs it may be entitled to. Background and Substance of the Case Plaintiff filed this lawsuit against two residents to compel them to correct a number of what plaintiff said were violations of the HOA rules concerning defendants' unit and common areas. To make a long story short, after some litigation and extensive discussion, plaintiff now acknowledges that defendants have taken all the corrective actions that plai...

Excerpt: ... action. The other, No. C23-01484, is filed as a PAGA-only case, but asserts essentially the same set of violations of the law. In both cases, defendants bring substantially the same motion to compel arbitration, based on an arbitration agreement found in Wynn's employment contract. (See Line 12.) Although the two motons would call for slightly different treatment if they were to be granted, they raise essentially the same issues; the parties' ar...

Excerpt: ... by unspecified forms of cyber harassment and traumatization by agents of the Chinese government on account of plaintiffs' political opposition to the Chinese regime. The events giving rise to this complaint occurred in June 2020. Plaintiff Yue Ma admitted herself to an emergency psychiatric facility in Santa Clara County for trauma allegedly induced by the repressive acts of the Chinese government. She was transferred to John Muir Health Behavio...

Excerpt: ...twice during each calendar month, on days designated in advance by the employer as the regular paydays." Defendant demurs. The demurrer is overruled. Defendant is given 28 days in which to file and serve its answer. Demurrer Standards "The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law." Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420. A complaint "is sufficient if it alleges ultimate...

Excerpt: ...ral negligence, and her third cause of action for premises liability. Accordingly, summary judgment is also denied. The trial date previously set in Department 36 is no longer available because that Department is vacant. The trial date and all related dates are vacated, and the case is set for Case Management Conference and trial-setting in Department 12 on December 19, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. l. Background This is a wrongful death action. Plaintiff Re...

Excerpt: ... to file and serve a first amended complaint. In the event that he elects not to amend, FPI is given to January 5, 2024 in which to answer the surviving counts of the complaint. Legal Standard "The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of aw." (Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2Cu) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420.) A complaint "is sufficient if alleges ultimate rather than evidentiary facts" (Doe v. City ...

Excerpt: ...e returned by the post offce. Follow up resulted in 12 new addresses, leaving 5 nondeliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. The motion is granted. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant operates a number of addiction treatment clinics. Plaintiff was employed there as a nonexempt employee. The original complaint was filed on June 3, 2022, and amended shortly thereafter to add PAGA claims. The settlement will crea...

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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ... 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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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...