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

Excerpt: ... advice of Paul Bork", and "Internal document with legal advice of Paul Bork". CBE acknowledges that Bork is an inhouse attorney at Dow, and apparently does not dispute that Bork's legal advice is protected work product. CBE fails to state any basis for doubting the accuracy of these descriptions; nor for doubting that Bork's advice is attached, repeated, discussed, or incorporated into the challenged documents. 12. 9:00 AM CASE NUMBER: MSC21-020...

Excerpt: ...resses, leaving only one non-deliverable. No objections have been received, and only one class member has opted out. The motion is granted. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant is in the shipping business. Plaintiff was employed as a driver. This case is unusual among wage-and-hour cases, in that its sole focus is on a failure-of-reimbursement claim rather than any allegations as to payment for time worked. Plaintiff alleges that defendant f...

Excerpt: ...leged former landlords, defendants Deanna Graves (individually and as trustee of her family trust) and her daughter Rashida Graves. The Graveses filed a cross-complaint against Ellis only. The cross-complaint asserts two causes of action — the first for breach of contract (non-payment SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 08/17/2023 2 of rent), and a cause of...

Excerpt: ... action is stayed pending the completion of arbitration proceedngs. (CCP S 1281.4.) (2) A post-arbitration status conference is scheduled for February 5, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. The parties are required to file a status report or reports at least 10 calendar days before the conference. Background Plaintiffs Lindsay Jo Schutte Crittendon and Zachariah Bonsignore Crittendon filed this action for breach of a residential construction contract on April 3, 2...

Excerpt: ...notification of LWDA of the settlement. A. Background and Settlement Terms Defendant operates two car washes located in Concord and Fremont. Plaintiff has been employed there as a car washer since the mid-2000s. The original complaint was filed on March 23, 2022. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $437,800. The class representative payment to the plaintiffs would be $10,000. Attorney's fees would be $145,933 (one-third of the ...

Excerpt: ...e 3, 2022, and amended shortly thereafter to add PAGA claims. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $250,000. The class representative payment to the plaintiffs would be $10,000. Attorney's fees would be $83,325 (one-third of the settlement). Litigation costs would not exceed $10,000. The settlement administrator's costs are estimated at $5,350. PAGA penalties would be $7,500, resulting in a payment of $5,625 to the LWDA. The net...