Excerpt: ...r extensive investigation and an exchange of information and documents, including defendant providing a large volume of documents and data points via excel spreadsheets, plaintiff was able to evaluate the facts of the case and the veracity, strength, scope, and value of the claims. The parties eventually settled the case with the aid of a professional mediator for the gross amount of $307,626.00 – subject to the following allocations:  Attor...

Excerpt: ...  Number of pay periods: 1,518 o 11/22/16  02/19/17 o 11/15/19  10/26/20  Realistic estimation: $178,700.00  Settlement amount: $57,000.00  Attorney Fees: $19,166.66  Litigation costs: $11,000.00  Administrator costs: $1,400.00  Plaintiff enhancement: $1,500.00  Net Penalty: o To LWDA: $18,081.25 o To employees: $6,027.09  Ave. penalty per employee: $91.00 Scope of Settlement and Release The operative pleading her...

Excerpt: ...n any protected class. (Guz v. Bechtel National, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4 th 317, 355 [elements]; Fisher v. San Pedro Peninsula Hospital (1989) 214 Cal.App.3d 590, 604 [FEHA claims, like all statutory claims, must be pled with specificity]; FAC at Paras. 98 and 109 [alleging discriminatory motive as conclusion only, without supporting facts].) Further, the seventh and eighth causes of action fail as to the individual defendants, as individual employe...

Excerpt: ...is or her interest as a shareholder,' or a ‘derivative action filed on behalf of the corporation for injury to the corporation for which it has failed or refused to sue.' . . . ‘[Ordinarily,] The two actions are mutually exclusive: i.e., the right of action and recovery belongs either to the shareholders (direct action) or to the corporation (derivative action).' . . . When the claim is derivative, the ‘shareholder is merely a nominal plain...

Excerpt: ...L Insurance Company Limited, XL Insurance Company PLC; XL Insurance Company PLC Irish Branch and XL Insurance Company SE cannot be granted. The applicants have not complied with CRC Rule 9.40(c)(1) since they have not filed with the court a proof of service by mail of copies of the applications and the notice of hearing of the applications on the State Bar of California at its San Francisco office. The applicants also have not complied with CRC R...

Excerpt: ...ations in the complaint as a whole must be reviewed to determine whether a set of alleged facts constitutes a cause of action. (People v. Superior Court (Cahuenga's the Spot) (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 1360, 1376.) A complaint need only meet fact-pleading requirements, which requires a statement of facts constituting a cause of action in ordinary and concise language, and should allege ultimate facts that, as a whole, apprise defendant of the factual...

Excerpt: ...3, Defendants improperly moved to strike the Second Cause of Action for Negligence/ Negligence Per Se. The court is inclined to overrule the Demurrer to this cause of action. First Cause of Action for Elder Abuse and Neglect: Decedent was elder and a resident at Defendants' skilled nursing facility. Defendants were entrusted with the care and custodian care of decedent. Defendants willfully and recklessly breached their duties to decedent so that...

Excerpt: ...e proper, may allow the amendment of any pleading or pretrial conference order.” The court's discretion should be exercised liberally in favor of amendments. (Nestle v. Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 939.) “If the motion to amend is timely made and the granting of the motion will not prejudice the opposing party, it is error to refuse permission to amend and where the refusal also results in a party being deprived of the right to assert a ...

Excerpt: ...tlement agreement”, to avoid waste of limited Court time and resources. As to the Settlement 1. Was notice of this hearing provided to the LWDA? Any supplemental brief and/or amendments made pursuant to this Order should also be filed with LWDA along with notice of the continued hearing date, with a proof of service submitted to the Court. 2. Why is Defendant's share of payroll taxes being paid out of the gross settlement amount instead of in a...

Excerpt: ...ion is DENIED. The Court notes that recent cases have held that the court may summarily adjudicate an issue of duty without regard for the dispositive effect of such ruling on other issues of litigation. The County did not object to the motion on this ground. 1. LAB contends that Defendant County owed LAB a duty to provide LAB the exclusive option to lease the Premises during the Option Term. LAB contends that the Option Agreement provides the te...

Excerpt: ... alleged professional negligence, the time for the commencement of action shall be three years after the date of injury or one year after the plaintiff discovers, or through the use of reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury, whichever occurs first.” “The date of injury in a wrongful death cause of action is the date of death. Kleefeld v. Superior Court (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 1680, 1684. Decedent, Kristy Murdock died on 1/26/18...

Excerpt: ...001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850.) A defendant moving for summary judgment satisfies his or her initial burden by showing that one or more elements of the cause of action cannot be established or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action. (Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(2).) The scope of this burden is determined by the allegations of the plaintiff's complaint. (FPI Development, Inc. v. Nakashima (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 367, 381–82 (pleadings s...

Excerpt: ...n of the first and second causes of action on the grounds that LAB never paid the option price: County contends that the Option Agreement provided that LAB was required to pay $100 in full upon execution of the Option Agreement. LAB contends that there was adequate consideration for the Option Agreement, that the payment was immaterial and that the County waived any breach. Evidence submitted by LAB raises a triable issue of fact as to whether LA...

Excerpt: ...arbitration. On August 24, 2020, the Court of Appeal issued an Opinion in which it remanded the case for a determination in the first instance whether the arbitration provision in the 2015 Provider Manual is unconscionable. For the following reasons, the court is inclined to find the Arbitration Provision in the 2015 Provider Manual unconscionable and, thus, deny Optum's motion to compel arbitration. Generally applicable contract defenses, such a...

Excerpt: ...esponses to Form Interrogatories, Set One (filed on 11-12-20) is GRANTED. Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.210, subdivision (a), provides, “The party to whom interrogatories have been propounded shall respond in writing under oath separately to each interrogatory by any of the following: [¶] (1) An answer containing the information sought to be discovered. [¶] (2) An exercise of the party's option to produce writings. [¶] (3) An objectio...

Excerpt: ...iams claims the dismissal was an improper tactical ploy. The case law favors Williams' position here. A dismissal without prejudice cannot be filed once the court posts an adverse tentative ruling. (Groth Bros. Oldsmobile, Inc. v. Gallagher (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 60, 72.) But since Plaintiff has dismissed Williams all the court will do is make its tentative ruling of 12-17-2020 the final order on the demurrer. Williams is no longer a party so the ...

Excerpt: ...beying a court order to provide discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010, subd. (g); Van Sickle v. Gilbert (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 1495, 1516.) If a party fails to obey an order compelling answers to discovery, the court may impose whatever sanctions are just, including issue sanctions, evidence sanctions, terminating sanctions, and monetary sanctions. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.030.) Imposition of sanctions for misuse of discovery lies within the ...

Excerpt: ...efendants said would be used to entirely pay off the Company's debts. FAC, ¶ 33. Plaintiff now alleges, among other things, that Defendants used the funds for personal expenses and not to pay off the company's debts. FAC, ¶¶ 4, 33, 37-38 and 51-61. According to Defendants, the $850,000 was deposited into an account belonging to The 12 Franchise, a separate corporate entity that is not a party to this action. Plaintiff issued a subpoena seeking...

Excerpt: ... make an order quashing the subpoena entirely, modifying it, or directing compliance with it upon those terms or conditions as the court shall declare, including protective orders…” On 11/2/20, Plaintiff issued deposition subpoenas for the production of business records to the Hemet Unified School District and Apple Valley Unified School District. The subpoenas request 25 categories of documents, including documents related to any suspensions...

Excerpt: ...rmation reasonably available to the responding party permits.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.220, subd. (a).) Absent an objection, the response must be: (1) an admission; (2) a denial; (3) or a statement claiming the inability to admit or deny. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.220, subd. (b).) Where responses have been timely filed but are deemed deficient by the requesting party, that party may move for an order compelling a further response. (Code Civ. ...

Excerpt: ...e (dismissed on 11/12/19) for: (1) wrongful death [three counts] and dangerous condition of public property. The complaint alleges that Sylvia Mehl [“Decedent”] was struck and killed in a crosswalk in Lake Forest by a vehicle owned by defendant Romos Transport, Inc. and driven by defendant Cordero-Garcia. Plaintiffs allege that defendants Baldwin & Sons, Inc. and Landsea Homes of California, Inc. operated a construction site in the area and f...

Excerpt: ... filing was due to a miscalendaring issue. Barrett Decl., ¶ 2. Although Pixalate objects to Plaintiff's untimely opposition, Pixalate served and filed a timely reply on the merits. The Court exercises its discretion to consider Plaintiff's opposition, subject to any objections to service by defendant LKQD Technologies, Inc. (“LKQD”). First and second causes of action for libel per se and libel per quod For defamation, a plaintiff must allege...

Excerpt: ...rce v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan, Inc. (2010) 181 CA4th 471, 482-484; see Richtek USA, Inc. v. uPI Semiconductor Corp. (2015) 242 CA4th 651, 659-660.] While it may be proper to take judicial notice that the judge did in fact make a particular finding, it is a different matter to take judicial notice that the fact is necessarily true. (Sosinsky v. Grant (1992) 6 CA 4th 1548, 1565.) Taking judicial notice of the truth of a judge's factual finding, ...

Excerpt: ...ble provision of Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b), as they attempted to serve an opposition, but the opposition was to the wrong defendant, and that the Order deeming the admissions admitted is essentially a terminating sanction. Defendants, Patricia Pacheco (“Pacheco”) and Keith Muraoka contend that Plaintiffs' counsel's failure to respond to Defendant Pacheco's First Set of Requests for Admission for nearly nine months constitutes ine...

Excerpt: ...mpliance even though those witnesses did not submit reports about that topic. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED. By way of background, Case Management Order (CMO) No. 4, section IX, addressed the need for expert reports without distinguishing between retained experts and percipient witnesses who might offer expert opinions. That ambiguity was rectified on February 18, 2020 when the Court entered a stipulated order modifying CM...