Excerpt: ...§ 437c on the grounds that the insurance policy at issue is void and that CSAA did not unreasonably withhold insurance benefits from the Plaintiffs. For the following reasons, the Court denies Defendant's motion for summary judgment or in the alternative summary adjudication. Factual Background Plaintiffs business and residence were burglarized on February 26 and February 29th, respectively. (Def. UMF 6, 7.) CSAA opened a claim for the business ...

Excerpt: ...ndant Carrington. In the supplemental brief filed on June 1, 2020, plaintiffs state as follows: “Upon further review of the record, Plaintiffs will dismiss Defendant Carrington from this action.” Plaintiffs are directed to file the request for dismissal on or before June 24, 2020. The motion is granted as to defendant BSI. Defendant shall prepare a proposed judgment of dismissal, separate from any formal order on this motion, and shall submit...

Excerpt: ...pproximately a year later, Derek Beal was granted leave to file a cross‐complaint. Around the same time, Derk Beal also sought leave to amend his complaint. Trial, which had initially been set for February 2018, was vacated. The second trial date, set for February of 2020, was also vacated pursuant to the parties' stipulation, and a new (third) trial date was set for June 29, 2020. Recently, on May 19, 2020, Derek Beal appeared ex parte to requ...

Excerpt: ...age Pass Through Certificates, Series 2006‐3 (“Bank of New York”) (collectively, “Defendants”). The Demurrer relates to the Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) filed by Plaintiff Robert Peralta, as Trustee of the Beatriz Peralta Revocable Trust (“Plaintiff” or “Peralta”). The SAC alleges causes of action for (1) violations of HBOR (Civil Code §§ 2923.5 and 2923.7); (2) violation of SBOR (Civil Code § 2920.7); and (3) violati...

Excerpt: ...onstitute a cause of action.” Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e). “A demurrer should not be sustained without leave to amend if the complaint states a cause of action under any theory or if there is a reasonable possibility the defect can be cured by amendment.” Seidler v. Municipal Court (1993) 12 Cal.App.4th 1229, 1233. Analysis Defendants demur on three bases. They first argue that the Complaint does not sufficiently set forth allegations of t...

Excerpt: ...us job classifications and in various collective bargaining units at the City of Antioch. They retired from the City at different times in different years. Defendant City of Antioch provides retiree health benefits through CalPERS. Plaintiffs are eligible participants in Defendant City of Antioch's retiree Medical‐After‐Retirement benefit. The monthly insurance premium for CalPERS health insurance plans is deducted from the retiree's monthly ...

Excerpt: ...alty Ins. Co. (1987) 189 Cal.App.3d 1072, 1086.) Bifurcation is typically ordered where a narrow and discrete liability issue may result in a defense verdict, thereby saving all the court time that would otherwise be spent trying all issues simultaneously. When the same witnesses and evidence will be presented in both phases of the trial, the argument for bifurcation is weak. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING...

Excerpt: ... no engineering services. Plaintiff disputes these facts, citing evidence that Wood worked under a written contract and documents stating that the contractor was to notify both the engineer and the architect when he noted any conflict on the contract drawings or documents. (See Disputed Material Fact Nos. 3 and 4, Ex. 3 to the McAuley Decl., and General Notes 4 and 5 in Ex. 4B to the McAuley Decl.) Plaintiff has raised a triable issue whether the...

Excerpt: ... of Value of Membership in LLC; and (3) Fraudulent Misrepresentation. ZLAJ contends that each of these fails to state a cause of action. First Cause of Action, Fraudulent Transfer Based on the 4th AC and reasonable inferences, the facts are as follows. John Valentine is a member and majority owner of a limited liability company, ZLAJ, and had possession and control of its assets. (¶ 3.) ZLAJ is John's agent and was acting within the scope of tha...

Excerpt: ...laminskis are seeking summary judgment based in part on this same argument. The Defendants argue that Alma Electric was a suspended corporation when it bought Plaintiff's property and remained a suspended corporation when it transferred the property to Plaintiff. Defendants argue that under Revenue and Tax Code section 23302(d), Alma Electric could not transfer real property and thus Alma Electric's purchase and subsequent transfer to Plaintiff w...

Excerpt: ...ile a reply in support of his motion for preliminary injunction. For the following reasons, Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction is denied. Legal Standard CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 06/03/20 ‐ 21 ‐ The ruling on an application for preliminary injunction rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. (Whyte v. Schlage Lock Co. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1443, 1450.) “An injunction ...

Excerpt: ...EARING DATE: 06/03/20 ‐ 6 ‐ section 23302(d). The Court finds that Plaintiff has standing to pursue this case. The reasoning for this decision is stated in the accompanying motion for judgment on the pleadings. The Klaminskis also argue that summary judgment is appropriate because Plaintiff cannot prevail on his easement by implication claim. The Klaminskis rely on two evidentiary presumptions, section 662 and 1600, to shift the burden on thi...

Excerpt: ...trol Bd. (1994) 23 Cal.App.4th 1459, 1471.) Further, after carefully weighing the evidence, and considering both the likelihood that plaintiff will prevail on the merits and the “relative interim harm” to both sides, the Court does not believe that a preliminary injunction would be appropriate. (See, City of San Jose v. MediMarts, Inc. (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 842, 850; O'Connell v. Superior Court (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 1452, 1463‐64.) The Cour...

Excerpt: ...ovided (CCP § 487.010 (a)) and as to defendant Christian Campos all property described in item 9.c. of plaintiffs' Application for Right to Attach Order against Campos, except to the extent that the court grants Campos' claims of exemption, as described below. (See CCP § 487.0101 (c), 487.020.) This relief is conditioned on Plaintiffs' filing an undertaking in the amount of $10,000.00. CCP § 489.220 (a). Plaintiff shall prepare a Right to Atta...

Excerpt: ...iff BRM, Robertson & McBride (“BRM”) as a commercial insurance sales account executive/producer in BRM's insurance brokerage business. BRM terminated Hillman's employment on August 26, 2019. Hillman signed a Severance Agreement that day, in which BRM agreed to pay Hillman a specified amount of severance and he agreed not to “directly or indirectly use any confidential information . . . about the Company (“the Confidential Information”) ...

Excerpt: ... Provider Services Agreement with Defendant Staff Care, Inc., a healthcare staffing agency. Plaintiff agreed to provide medical professional services as an anesthesiologist by assignment (a locum tenens) to hospitals contracting with Staff Care. Plaintiff began the assignment with Defendant Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC or Hospital) on September 13, 2017. Three days after the assignment, Defendant Jeffrey Saadi, CCRMC's Chair of Ane...

Excerpt: ... duties, he monitored Plaintiff's work. During the proctoring, Dr. Saadi documented several concerns with Plaintiff's performance, including not providing patients with a pre‐surgery sedative, putting a patient to sleep without first investigating the CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 05/27/20 ‐ 6 ‐ cause of the patient's shortness of breath, and not using a face mask while performing an epidural....

Excerpt: ...or preliminary injunction rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. (Whyte v. Schlage Lock Co. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1443, 1450.) “An injunction properly issues only where the right to be protected is clear, injury is impending and so immediately likely as only to be avoided by issuance of the injunction.” (Korean Philadelphia Presbyterian Church v. California Presbytery (2000) 77 Cal.App.4th 1069, 1084.) The burden is on Plaintiff t...

Excerpt: ...dium was tabbed. (See, Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110, subd. (f). See also, Local Rule 3.42, subd. (3).) Further, the deposition testimony attached to the corrected compendium as Exhibits 38 and 39 shall be properly highlighted. (See, Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1116, subd. (c).) The Court also requests supplemental briefs addressing the following matters. The parties shall file supplemental briefs on or before June 1, 2020. The parties may fil...

Excerpt: ...rmination. In September of 2016, Marcela traveled to Colombia for medical reasons. In October, she underwent surgery, but developed sepsis and pancreatitis, which put her in the intensive care unit. On October 26th, Paula informed her employer Yapstone that she needed to travel to Colombia to attend to her sister. After a couple of extensions of her unpaid leave of absence, Paula was informed that she must return to work on November 28, 2016, and...

Excerpt: ... 2020. All exhibits to any amended complaint shall be properly tabbed. (See, Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110, subd. (f).) The voluminous exhibits to the original Complaint were not tabbed, which caused the Court's staff substantial inconvenience. A. The Entire Complaint. 1. Proper Defendant. Defendant demurs to the entire Complaint on the ground that defendant is not a proper party, because it was not the seller of the subject residences. Defend...

Excerpt: ...side has cited a published California appellate decision directly on point: i.e., a decision dealing with the situation where the owner records a release bond before expiration of the 90‐ day limitations period for commencing a mechanic's lien foreclosure action, and — with notice of the release bond — the claimant chooses to forego commencing a foreclosure action and instead rely on the six‐month limitations period for bringing an action...

Excerpt: ...ckground Following a car accident in 2017, plaintiff Conrad Garcia, is suing defendants for damages related to his injuries. He originally filed this suit in November 2018, naming Does 1‐ 100. On August 13, 2019, after the statute of limitations had run, plaintiff filed an amendment to the complaint attempting to add defendants Mubarek and Alicea as Doe defendants. Defendant Mubarek brought a demurrer and motion to strike, arguing, in part, tha...

Excerpt: ...sferred only an easement rather than a fee simple with a condition subsequent. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 03/04/20 ‐ 7 ‐ The construction of a deed is ultimately a question of law for the court. Some deeds to railroads have been held to be unambiguous, and thus that courts must construe them without resort to extrinsic evidence. (See Severns v. Union Pac. R.R. Co. (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 1209,...

Excerpt: ...orth, Plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is granted. Based on the Court's determination that summary judgment should be awarded to Plaintiff, the Court does not reach the alternative relief sought in the motion for summary adjudication in Plaintiff's favor on Martarella's affirmative defenses. Summary of Facts The complaint alleges a single cause of action for enforcement of a judgment obtained by Plaintiff against defendants Martarella and ...

Excerpt: ...dants filed an antiSLAPP motion. The court granted the motion in part by dismissing four causes of action. The court denied the motion in part by allowing the sixth cause of action for defamation against Mr. Graves to proceed. The only other cause of action remaining in the cross‐ complaint is a breach of contract cause of action against the Gannon plaintiffs, Mr. Odell's former clients. Plaintiffs/cross‐defendants filed this motion to sever ...

Excerpt: ...motions for summary judgment rely on the same evidence and made nearly identical arguments. In addition, Plaintiffs provided one opposition to all three motions. Therefore, the Court's analysis below applies to all three motions equally. Plaintiffs are suing the Defendants for fraudulent transfer and civil conspiracy. In 2016, Chou transferred his ownership interest in five properties to five separates trusts. At the same time, Cui transferred he...

Excerpt: ...me Foods”). For the following reasons, the Motion for Summary Judgment is granted. Standard Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) §§ 437c(c) provides, in relevant part: The motion for summary judgment shall be granted if all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Section 437c(p)(1) provides: A plaintiff or cross‐complainant has me...

Excerpt: ... amended complaint on or before March 27, 2020. Special Demurrer. The special demurrer is sustained because plaintiff's Complaint is ambiguous as to whether plaintiff is seeking reimbursement for both emergency and nonemergency services, or just emergency services. Plaintiff concedes that it has no legal basis to seek reimbursement for non‐ emergency services. 1st C/A. Implied Contract. Plaintiff has failed to allege facts giving rise to an imp...

Excerpt: ...dant”) filed this action for breach of a lease agreement against its former tenants, Anrol International, Inc. and Carol Y.W. Liao (collectively, “Cross‐Complainants”). As alleged in the original complaint, CrossComplainants entered into a commercial lease agreement with Cross‐Defendant's predecessor in interest for a unit in a mall, the term of which was three years, beginning May 1, 2018. (Complaint, ¶¶1‐2.) Cross‐Defendant then...

Excerpt: ...COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 02/19/20 ‐ 6 ‐ Her First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) sets forth seven causes of action: (1) Negligence; (2) Battery; (3) Nuisance; (4) Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; (5) Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress; (6) Breach of Contract; and (7) Breach of Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment. After meeting and conferring with plaintiff's counsel by phone, and failing to reach an ...

Excerpt: ...her students; and school administrators, her supervisors, and the District knew this but failed to act. On February 22, 2018, she ordered a student, plaintiff Austin Swope, to stand for the duration of her lecture. As a result, he fainted and fell, fracturing his skull and suffering permanent brain damage. (TAC, ¶ 22.c.) CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 02/19/20 ‐ 3 ‐ The complaint has gone throug...

Excerpt: ...inally founded in 1950 as the Home for Jewish Parents in Oakland, defendant The Reutlinger Community (“Reutlinger”) is a nonprofit public benefit corporation that owns and operates a senior living community in Danville. (Complaint, ¶¶1, 2, 22, 36.) Home to up to 180 senior citizens, it offers specialized assisted living, enhanced care, memory care, and skilled nursing units. (Id. at ¶1.) The mission of Reutlinger is to “provide high qual...

Excerpt: ...efendants”) demur to Plaintiff Lester Sequeira (“Plaintiff” or “Sequeira”)'s First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff is in pro per. Defendants demur pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure § 430.10 subsections (e) and (f) on the grounds that the FAC (a) fails to state facts sufficient to support any of its alleged causes of action against Defendants and (b) is uncertain, ambiguous and unintelligible. For the following reasons, the Demurrer is s...

Excerpt: .... Superior Court (2014) 229 Cal.App.4th 468, 472 [an unconsummated agreement that clouds title to real property constitutes a taking of property for purposes of the elder abuse act]. See also, Mahan v. Charles W. Chan Ins. Agency, Inc. (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 841, 860‐861 [the financial elder abuse statutes are remedial and so are to be liberally construed on behalf of the class of persons they are designed to protect].) Cross‐defendants are co...

Excerpt: ...ent Ordinance and other related claims. Defendant demurs to all claims based on collateral estoppel. Defendant also demurs to causes of action four, five and eight based on the failure to state a cause of action and to cause of action eight for uncertainty. Collateral Estoppel Defendant argues that all of Plaintiffs' claims are barred by collateral estoppel because the parties settled an unlawful detainer case that Defendant brought against Plain...

Excerpt: ...nsel's argument is not evidence].) The motion is therefore denied without prejudice. Should plaintiff choose to file another motion for leave to amend complying with the above rules, the proposed amended complaint should additionally properly set forth the location of the incident and account for the newly added parties as substitutions (i.e., as the numbered Does for which they are being substituted). Background On August 13, 2019, after the sta...

Excerpt: ...est controller with Terminex, was working at Defendants Don and Beverly Steffen's home at 300 Summerhill Lane in Martinez, when Defendants' dog gave chase. Defendants owned a Dutch Shepherd dog and a mixed breed Dutch Shepherd/Belgium Shepherd. In trying to avoid the dogs, Plaintiff fell and suffered injuries to his shoulder, requiring surgery. Plaintiff filed this action for negligence. Motion Defendants move for summary judgment/adjudication on...

Excerpt: ...to stay arbitration is based on a sales agreement between Plaintiff Jeff Trudeau and the sellers Mitsuda LLC and Charles Mitsuda. Bayview Ex. 4. Bayview Builders is not a party to this agreement. For the following reasons, the motion to compel joinder and motion to stay action pending arbitration is denied. Analysis Code of Civil Procedure subdivision (a) provides: A person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive t...

Excerpt: ...ry Plaintiff filed his complaint commencing this action on February 6, 2019. On September 9, 2019, Plaintiff filed a request for dismissal of defendants Hartford Fire Insurance Company and “Hiscox, Inc.” On October 7, 2019, Hiscox filed a demurrer to the complaint, which Hiscox subsequently withdrew on November 8, 2019 based on Plaintiff's filing of the FAC. Hiscox's current demurrer is the first challenge to the sufficiency of Plaintiff's pl...

Excerpt: ..., alleging, inter alia, causes of action for breach of contract and negligence in the preparation of their Danville home site and construction of their new home. Plaintiffs allege Clawson failed to implement the grading and drainage plans prepared by their engineer, cross‐defendant DeBolt Civil Engineering, which were part of Clawson's contract. (Complaint, Exhibit 1 to RJN, ¶¶24‐29.) They also allege that Clawson failed to meet the standar...

Excerpt: ...UPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 21 HEARING DATE: 01/15/20 ‐ 11 ‐ Plaintiffs Philip Ferreira and Crystal Ferreira, their agents, servants, employees, and all persons acting under, in concert with, or for them, including any contractors or subcontractors, are to stay off of 2386 Heritage Oaks Drive, Alamo, California, and refrain from any construction activities within ten (10) feet of the property line bordering 2378 Heritage Oa...

Excerpt: ...ication served by mail must be served 80 days before the date of the hearing. (CCP § 437c (a)(2).) October 25, 2019 is 81 days before the hearing date of January 15, 2020. Therefore, the court rejects defendants' argument that plaintiff gave insufficient notice of the motion. The Opposition was due 14 days before the date for the hearing, but was served only 13 days before, on January 2, 2020, rather than on December 31, 2019, the day before the...

Excerpt: ...200. Foshay alleges that Cross‐Defendants Davis and Kodiak Moon entered into an agreement with Plaintiff for over $400,000 in solar modules. Cross‐Defendants represented that Foshay was involved in this transaction when Foshay was not aware of the transaction and did not condone or ratify it. (XComp. ¶10.) For this claim, Foshay seeks “injunctive relief, restitution and any other principal, incidental and consequential damages including bu...

Excerpt: ...out “any irrelevant… matter asserted in any pleading.” CCP § 436. “Irrelevant matter” means immaterial allegation. (CCP § 431.10(c).) “An immaterial allegation in a pleading is… A demand for judgment requesting relief not supported by the allegations of the complaint or cross‐complaint.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 431.10(b)(3).) The motion to strike may lie where the facts alleged do not rise to the level of “malice, fraud or oppr...

Excerpt: ... Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on the grounds that “it is undisputed that Defendant entered into a written agreement whereby Defendant borrowed money and agreed to pay the same back with interest” and that Defendant “materially breached his obligation to repay amounts due and owing.” The Court notes at the outset that while Plaintiff has filed a request for judicial notice of Plaintiff's Complaint and Defendant's Answer to the Comp...

Excerpt: ...hat defendant has not persuasively distinguished the governing case law. (See, Chacker v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 351, 356‐359; Hart v. Clear Recon Corp. (2018) 27 Cal.App.5th 322, 327‐329.) Defendant first attempts to distinguish the Chacker decision (ignoring entirely the Hart decision) by arguing that “unlike here, the mortgage loan in Chacker had not yet been foreclosed and so a loan existed to which attorney fe...

Excerpt: ...tional Distress. Any amended complaint shall be filed and served on or before January 29, 2020. Background In November of 2017, Plaintiff came under the professional care of Defendant Dr. Khashayar Montezari at John Muir Medical Center. Plaintiff alleges Dr. Montezari, while knowing the critical medical condition of Mrs. Kalnoki, intentionally or negligently discharged Mrs. Kalnoki on November 5, 2017. Plaintiff alleges her discharge came about a...

Excerpt: ... on September 12, 2019. He alleges one cause of action for “Violation of Standards for Residential Construction.” In this cause of action, plaintiff complains of many defective conditions including defective waterproofing of windows and patio doors, defective hardscape and drainage systems, defective plumbing and utility lines, structural concerns, and electrical fixtures. (Complaint, 8:1‐ 11:26.) Defendants, having first satisfied the stat...

Excerpt: ...Antioch. They retired from the City at different times in different years. Defendant City of Antioch provides retiree health benefits through CalPERS. Plaintiffs are eligible participants in Defendant City of Antioch's retiree Medical‐After‐Retirement benefit. The insurance premium for CalPERS health insurance plans is deducted from the retiree's monthly annuity payment from CalPERS. The City then reimburses the retiree for a portion of the r...