Excerpt: ...ffice position. The original complaint was filed on August 31, 2021 as a class action. PAGA claims were added by amendment in December 2022, and additional claims added in March 2023. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $750,000. The class representative payment to the plaintiff would be $10,000. Attorney's fees would be $250,000 (one-third of the settlement). Litigation costs would not exceed $15,000. The settlement administra...

Excerpt: .... For the following reasons, the Motion is denied. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 36 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CLARE MAIER HEARING DATE: 05/18/2023 Page 11 of 26 Request for Judicial Notice Plaintiffs' unopposed request for judicial notice of Contra Costa County Tax Assessor Records and California Department of Energy Climate Zone Designations by Zip Code is granted. (Evid. Code SS 452, 453.) General Description...

Excerpt: ...n complaint against John Muir Health (JMH). The Court previously sustained in part a demurrer to their original complaint. Plaintiffs allege that each of them is a Facebook user which gives them a unique Facebook ID associated with their Facebook profile and account. (FAC 55, 91, 95, 101, 106.) They further SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 05/18/2023 2 all...

Excerpt: ... alleges Fay Servicing, LLC ("Fay") is the servicer for her mortgage loan secured by the Property. (Compl. 2, 5.) She alleges she submitted "a completed loan modification application" to Fay on "December 13, 2021," though she contends in her opposition the date is a typographical error and is really December 13, 2022. (Compl. '1 9; Opp. p. 3, II. 19-23.) Plaintiff alleges on January 17, 2023, Fay requested her two most recent paystubs, which she ...

Excerpt: ... and Brook Andrew Woolley, M.D. ("Kaiser Defendants"). For the reasons set forth, and subject to the Kaiser Defendants making the supplemental submission addressed below at or prior to the hearing on the petition, the petition is granted as to all claims by Plaintiff in her individual and representative capacities against the Kaiser Defendants; the motion to stay the action is granted as modified by the Court pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure s...

Excerpt: ...erra" or "defendant"), which operates drug and alcohol treatment centers. (Separate Statement of undisputed Material Fact, hereinafter "SSUMF," Fact Nos. 1-2, and plaintiff's response.) Approximately a month later, she was promoted to Interim Director of Nursing. (SSUMF, Fact No. 4, and plaintiff's response.) In that capacity, plaintiff received two disciplinary "write-ups," one for failing to regulate overtime for nursing staff and another for f...

Excerpt: ...onal practice in performing Slava's hernia surgery and his treatment. Plaintiff Slava alleges the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center ("medical center"), on whose behalf the County is appearing in the action, is vicariously liable for Dr. Berguer's negligence as his employer. Plaintiff Ilga Viner ("Ilga") is Slava's wife. The current operative pleading is the Second Amended Complaint ("2AC'). Plaintiffs seek leave to file a Third Amended Complai...

Excerpt: ...d denied, in part, as fully explained below. Discussion Request for Judicial Notice Defendant's unopposed request for judicial notice is granted. (Evid. Code SS 452, 453.) The Court will take judicial notice of the recorded property documents and accepts the fact of their existence, but not the truth of their contents. (See Herrera v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1365, 1375; Kalnoki v. First American Trustee Servicing Solu...

Excerpt: .../A (breach of fiduciary duty) — sustained, with leave to amend. Background Plaintiff Pearl Seaborn is the former spouse of Charles Lee Seaborn, now deceased. She alleges that she and her husband became the owners of a residential property on Bismarck Terrace in Brentwood, California (the "Property") in 2001. (Fourth Amended Complaint ("4AC') "1 2, 15-17.) She alleges in February 2005, a forged Interspousal Transfer Grant Deed ("Interspousal Dee...

Excerpt: ...f Rights [42 U.S.C. S 1983 for violation of equal protection]; (3) writ of mandamus [Cal. Civ. Proc. S 10851; and (4) declaratory relief. For the reasons set forth below, the City's Demurrer is sustained without leave to amend. (CCP S 430.10(e).) The City's Request for Judicial Notce regarding Ordinance No. 801-C-S, Ordinance No. 2133-C-S, Right-of-Way Agreements between the City and SFPP, L.P., and the certified transcript of the February 2, 202...

Excerpt: ...present are current or previous Operators that worked at Chevron's oil refinery in Richmond, California. The Operators belonged to a union (United Steelworkers Local 5), which was the sole bargaining representative of Chevron's employees. The union and Chevron had a collective bargaining agreement which covered the Operators throughout the period of November 25, 2019 through May 30, 2022. (Mohon at 9:22-28.) The collective bargaining agreement co...

Excerpt: ...ourt ...." "The party advocating class treatment must demonstrate the existence of [1] an ascertainable and sufficiently numerous class, [2] a well-defined community of interest, and substantial benefits from certification that render proceeding as a class superior to the alternatives. [Citations.]" (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004, 1021; see also Code of Civil Procedure S 382.) Plaintiff has the burden of showin...

Excerpt: ...ted, the administrator has mailed notces to 951 class members. Fourteen packets were returned by the post office. Follow up resulted in 10 new addresses, leaving 4 non- deliverable. No objections or requests to opt out have been received. 12 Both motions are granted. A. Background and Settlement Terms The original complaint was filed on September 28, 2020, raising claims under PAGA and a class action on behalf of non-exempt employees, alleging th...

Excerpt: ...ator has mailed notices to 533 class members. One packet was returned by the post offce. Follow up resulted in a new address, leaving none non-deliverable. No objections have been received, and only three class members have requested exclusion from the class settlement. The Court notes some confusion as to the amount of the settlement administration cost. The estimate at the time of preliminary approval was $11,857.70. Now the body of the motion ...

Excerpt: ...tration award. For the reasons set forth, the Court requests supplemental briefing by the parties before the Court issues a ruling on the merits of the motion. The parties shall file and serve supplemental briefs no longer than 10 pages double-spaced by May 22, 2023 addressing the issues set forth below. The hearing on the motion and Plaintiff's response is continued to 9:00 a.m. on June 1, 2023. On July 21, 2022, Ford commenced an arbitration be...

Excerpt: ... value under the Probate Code. Probate Code section 18100 states that "[w]ith respect to a third person dealing with a trustee or assisting a trustee in the conduct of a transaction, if the third person acts in good faith and for a valuable consideration and without actual knowledge that the trustee is exceeding the trustee's powers or improperly exercising them... The third person is fully protected in dealing with or assisting the trustee just ...

Excerpt: ...23 the Court issued an Order awarding and striking certain costs to Defendant for prevailing on Susan Clancy's claims. On behalf of Timothy Clancy, plaintiff has filed a memorandum of costs, and Defendant has filed a motion to tax costs claiming that certain of the costs are non-recoverable. Analysis Except as otherwise provided, a prevailing party is entitled as a matter of right to recover costs in any action or proceeding. (S 1032, subd. To ob...

Excerpt: ...tion. Procedural Background This matter pertains to claims made by Plaintiff Corporate Immigration Partners, LLP (a aw firm) relating to actions taken by former employee, Defendant Gina Sales-Cengiz (an attorney) before, during, and after her leaving her employment with Defendant. Defendant is alleged to have given notice of her intent to resign on December 23, 2022, with an effective date of January 12, 2023. During those last two weeks of emplo...

Excerpt: ...le, Lafayette, on December 30, 2022. The case does not have a trial date. Plaintiff now seeks to file a first amended complaint to (1) add her daughter, Mirabel Connor, as a plaintiff; (2) add a cause of achon for constructive eviction on behalf of Mirabel; and (3) make changes that are administrative in nature. Defendants oppose. Applicable Law It is well-established under California law that leave to amend is to be granted liberally, to accompl...

Excerpt: ...y that award of attorney fees has not been paid, and defendants seek to enforce it by contempt order. Left unspoken, however, is exactly what defendants mean by a "contempt order". What exactly do they contemplate the Court is supposed to do as a response to a contempt of court consisting of nonpayment of a judgment? Issue another order that Lewis pay up? Put him in jail? Give him a criminal conviction? Or what? It doesn't appear that defendants ...

Excerpt: ...reement between the parties that cover this actions' claims. The motion is denied, because in the Court's view defendant has waived the right to seek arbitration. The Agreement to Arbitrate Whether the arbitration agreement is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. SS 1 et seq., or by the California Arbitration Act, Code of Civil Procedure SS 1280 et seq., the threshold issue of whether a valid and enforceable agreement to arbitrate ex...

Excerpt: ...ENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 05/04/2023 7 Facts ["UMF"] No. 1; Neeno Decl. par. 3; Defs.' Additional undisputed Material Fact ["AUMF"] No. 1.) The Neeno Property is located near the top of the Martinez Ridge in or adjacent to the Muir Oaks subdivision of Martinez and was undeveloped when plaintiff purchased it. (AUMF No. 3.) The only paved access to the Neeno property is from Alhambra Avenue, a public road, is by using f...

Excerpt: ... CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 36 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CLARE MAIER HEARING DATE: 05/04/2023 Factual Background Plaintiff owns a 2008 GMC Yukon 1500 (the "Vehicle"). The Vehicle was towed to Defendant Lehmer's Concord Buick GMC ("Defendant") on or about May 13, 2020 as it was having engine problems. This included sputtering of the engine and an illuminated 'check engine' light. Defendant inspected the Vehicle and determined there was an...

Excerpt: ...ment facilities. Plaintiff was employed at one of them in various hourly capacities between 2019 and 2021. SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MARTINEZ, CA DEPARTMENT 12 JUDICIAL OFFICER: CHARLES S TREAT HEARING DATE: 05/04/2023 20 The original complaint was filed on August 27, 2021 as a class action. It was later amended to add a PAGA claim. The settlement would create a gross settlement fund of $395,000, payable in two equal insta...

Excerpt: ...al 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 failed to reimburse employees for the cost of obtaining personal protective gear (such as masks) during the COVID crisis. The original complaint was filed on October 8, 2020. After a demurrer ruling, an amended SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, CONTRA COSTA COUNTY MART...