Excerpt: ...physical restraints and seclusion at the Floyd I. Marchus School (“Marchus”). (SAC, Pars. 7, 21– 28.) Student Plaintiffs bring this action through their guardians ad litem against several county‐level defendants and several state‐level defendants. Their guardians also bring their own claim based on their standing as taxpayers (collectively the “Taxpayer Plaintiffs,” and together with Student Plaintiffs, “Plaintiffs”). Marchus is...

Excerpt: ...e to pay all wages owed upon termination. The First amended complaint, filed August 7, 2018, added a cause of action for civil penalties under PAGA. The second amended complaint, filed October 22, 2019, after the settlement had been reached, added a cause of action for failure to provide rest periods. The agreement provides a settlement class consisting of truck drivers implied during the Class Period, consisting of 132 persons. A gross settlemen...

Excerpt: ...the Court notes that there seems to be a difference among the parties about the stipulation to the manner in which this issue would be heard. In the Court's recollection, the issue arose because after the Court granted the motion to sever the statute of limitations defense, it inquired about how it would be tried, and whether a jury trial was requested. Plaintiff requested a jury. Defendants urged that there was no factual dispute. All concerned ...

Excerpt: ...ing her employment[.]” (Complaint, Par. 4.) Nonetheless, defendant “willfully, and deliberately hired her to work for the corporation and continued to keep her employed despite clear evidence that her mental health issues were escalating.” (Par. 5.) He then “failed to avoid the probable dangerous consequences of exposure to Kimberly Goldman's propensity for violence in a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of fellow employees, v...

Excerpt: ...asa, Inc. That case does not include PAGA claims, but states a putative class action for wage and hour and other Labor Code violations on behalf of Hasa employees that are similar to those underlying the PAGA claim here. The Los Angeles court ordered Mejia to arbitration under the terms of the relevant employment agreements. Because PAGA actions are brought in the shoes of the state, an individual employee's agreement to waive those representativ...

Excerpt: ...ion for (1) violation of Commercial Code§ 3118; (2) violation of Civil Code § 2923.6 and § 2924.11; (3) negligence; (4) violation of Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.; and (5) violation of Code of Civil Proc. § 366.2. Plaintiff abandoned her first and fifth claims, without prejudice, in her Opposition. Opp. at 5:27‐ 28. For the following reasons, the Demurrer is sustained, with leave to amend. Request for Judicial Notice Defendant req...

Excerpt: ...y change the classification where it finds that “an action previously declared to be a complex case is not a complex case.” He asserts that this will help assure the “prompt resolution” of this case. Plaintiff responds that the Court should exercise its authority to extend the deadline to file the motion for class certification. The Court declines to extend the deadline based on this CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPART...

Excerpt: ...uling, plus any additional time necessary due to the method of service. (C.C.P. § 1167.4.) Frasier states that she calculated this as resulting in an additional five days for service by mail, and was not aware that, because the order was service by overnight mail, the time to respond was extended only by two days. As a result, her last day to respond was March 21, 2019, not March 25, as she had expected. Her default was taken on March 22. Pursua...

Excerpt: ...us, the request is not directed at the case as a whole, but only at the portion of the case as to which there is an applicable fee statute, i.e., Probate Code section 21380, which governs the validity of gifts to a drafter beneficiary. Indeed, the Court previously awarded trial court fees in favor of petitioners and against Youngman based on its invalidation of Youngman's gift under the trust. That order is not disputed. The nature of the appeal ...

Excerpt: ...s that the hearing on defendants' demurrer should be continued, in order to allow plaintiff to file a request for judicial notice of the documents from the Mallano case that plaintiff believes are pertinent, and in order to allow both sides to brief the collateral estoppel issue. The parties should be prepared to discuss an appropriate briefing schedule. The Court also rules as follows on selected procedural issues. 1. Plaintiff may refer to docu...

Excerpt: .../19 ‐ 2 ‐ The lead case here is one of four different cases that have been consolidated. On March 7, 2019, plaintiff submitted a request for dismissal as to Tara Plaza, which was entered by the court. Plaintiff's attorney now states that this was due to inadvertence and mistake, and was not authorized by plaintiff. This claim is supported by the declaration of counsel. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b), the court is “required to ...

Excerpt: ... that arbitration is stayed pending resolution of the UCL claim. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1281.2.) I. Background Plaintiff brings this putative class action for violations of the RFDCPA and UCL, alleging false and deceptive practices by defendant Wheels Financial Group, d/b/a Loan Mart (Wheels), which were designed to deceive debtors into paying more money than they actually owed. Pursuant to the section of the promissory note entitled “”Arbitrat...

Excerpt: ... before May 2, 2019. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 04/18/19 NOTE: CALENDAR WILL NOT START UNTIL 9:15 A.M. ‐ 2 ‐ Background During the four years preceding this complaint, Digna Ramos was employed by Defendants as a caregiver in Defendants' care homes for the elderly in the Contra Costa County. Plaintiff brings this class action lawsuit against Defendants pursuant to CCP § 382, on behalf of hers...

Excerpt: ...n as to Plaintiff's individual wage claim under Labor Code section 558.” The Court did not order plaintiff to arbitrate her representative claim for civil penalties, and could not have done so under the Iskanian decision discussed in the order. Plaintiff has now unequivocally waived her individual claim for unpaid wages. Accordingly, there is nothing to arbitrate, and no reason to stay plaintiff's representative claim for civil penalties. This ...

Excerpt: ...f Plate Line Framers, Inc. (SAC ¶ CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 03/28/19 ‐ 4 ‐ 4(g).) Miks argues that plaintiffs' allegations are uncertain and insufficient to state a cause of action. (See Code of Civil Procedure § 430.10 (e)‐(f).) The tort liability of corporate officers and directors was explained in Frances T. v. Village Green Owners Assn. (1986) 42 Cal.3d 490, 503‐504: “It is well ...

Excerpt: ...he Court. The order granting the motion was filed on September 26, 2018. Judgment for defendants was also entered on September 26, 2018. Plaintiff filed this motion on February 13, 2019. The motion appears to be based upon Code of Civil Procedure section 473(a) and (b) as those sections are referenced on page 20 of the motion. Code of Civil Procedure section 473(a) applies to amending complaints and does not help plaintiff at this stage in the ca...

Excerpt: ...price of $54,714.39. Plaintiffs' lender, Educational Employees Credit Union (EECU), thereafter became concerned when defendants could not produce title to the car. As of June 28, 2018, the date of the complaint, plaintiffs still did not have title to the car. It appears EECU never funded the loan, as defendants now hold the security interest. Defendants ultimately transmitted registration and tags on August 2, 2018. Negotiations ensued about whet...

Excerpt: .... Its motion for summary adjudication of the second cause of action for declaratory relief is granted in part and denied in part. The requests for judicial notice are denied as unnecessary. The Court need not judicially notice its own files, but appreciates receiving copies of relevant documents. I. Background Plaintiff San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District (District) hired defendant A. Teichert & Son, Inc. (Teicher...

Excerpt: ...ient to oppose summary judgment. (As to Defendant's claim that the complaint was not properly verified, the motion relies on competent declarations, not the verification of the pleading.) In order to avert summary judgment, the opposing party “must produce substantial responsive evidence sufficient to establish a triable issue of material fact.” (Sangster v. Paetkau (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 151, 162, 163 [assertion that documents were “fabrica...

Excerpt: ...is improper because plaintiffs were aware of Mr. Klinkovsky's identity when the filed their complaint. In considering the motion, the Court is mindful of the liberal policy allowing amended pleadings. (Howard v. County of San Diego (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1422, 1428.) A plaintiff may not amend a complaint for the purpose of substituting a named defendant for a fictitious defendant pursuant to Section 474, if, at the time the original complaint was...

Excerpt: ...oldings, but Parcel B was sold. When Parcel B was sold, it was made subject to certain easements: a Landscape Easement, which gives 956 Holdings, as the owner of Parcel A, the right to control landscaping (including fencing) within a defined portion of Parcel B. In addition, a Sewer Line, with an authorizing easement, runs through Parcel B, serving Parcel A, and connecting to the main sewer line on the west side of Parcel B. The owner of Parcel B...

Excerpt: ...y plaintiff alleges. (See Gov. Code §§ 815, 818.8; see also Masters v. San Bernardino County Employees' Retirement Association, (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 30, 42‐43.) Plaintiff Valerie M. Brown alleges that she was misinformed as to the requirements for taking a lump‐ sum rollover of her 30‐year accrued retirement as an employee of the Alameda Court. She alleges that she was told the process for calculating her final retirement benefit would t...

Excerpt: ..., the risk of meaning class action status through trial, the amount offered in settlement, the extent of discovery completed and the state of the proceedings, the experience and views of counsel, the presence of a governmental participant, and the reaction … to the proposed settlement.” Because this matter also proposes to settle PAGA claims, the Court also must consider the criteria that apply under that statute. The Legislature's express co...

Excerpt: .... Respondent relies on White v. Ultramar (1999) 21 Cal.4th 563. Petitioners claim that White does not apply, because its discussion of whether a person is a managing agent is for purposes of the defendant's liability for punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294(b). The Court has found no authority specifically addressing whether the White test applies under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987(b). The language “officer, director, or manag...

Excerpt: ...icizing the doctrine, Witkin notes, “so long as the rule remains, however, it seems wise to avoid the detailed form of specific denials and use the simpler methods of specific denial by paragraphs or parts,” while noting that such denials “will not always be safe.” (See also Weil & Brown California Civil Procedure Before Trial (2018) Par. 6:421 [p. 6‐128].) At least one reported case, however, refused to apply the doctrine mechanically,...