Excerpt: ... -02883 and now pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California as No. 24 -cv -01678- SK. The motion is GRANTED, with the limited exception of Plaintiff Ronald Li's concurrent motion for curative notice and to invalidate settlement releases. The Court will decide that motion before fully staying proceedings. Defendant's unopposed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. GROUNDS FOR RULING I. Background This is a...

Excerpt: .... Administration costs in the amount of $12,511.43, per the administrator's declaration. 4. Payment to the LWDA of $3,750, representing the LWDA's share of the amount allocated to the PAGA claim. Please submit a revised proposed order that conforms to the foregoing for the Court's signature. GROUNDS FOR FEE AWARD Counsel requests a fee award of $146,800, or 40%, of the $367,000 GSA. Per the moving papers, counsel will receive $133,000 of the $333...

Excerpt: ...§ 1670.8 and (2) materials taken from Cisco's website, including the various service terms at issue. Notice of the legislative history is proper under Evid. Code § 452(c). Notice of the materials from Cisco's website is proper under Evid. Code § 452(h) given the lack of op position and the fact that both parties seeking notice of materials from Cisco's website suggest it is “not reasonably subject to dispute” that these are the full -servi...

Excerpt: ...e motion is GRANTE D as to the request to vacate the current preliminary injunction. The motion is DENIED as to the request for a new preliminary injunction. As discussed below, this matter involves members of the Rhee family: decedent Henry Rhee, his wife Grace Rhee, their sons Thomas and Brian Rhee, and Thomas's wife Judy Ren. The Court refers to these persons by their first names for clarity. No disrespect is intended. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS I. ...

Excerpt: .... Univ ersity of San Francisco (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 75 should inform its analysis. In their supplement, “Plaintiffs recognize Berlanga's persuasive force on this Court” and concede that “their arguments may, ultimately, may need to be decided in this District's appellate court.” (ROA 369 at p. 3.) To be clear, Berlanga is not merely persuasive authority in this Court, it is binding. (See Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) ...

Excerpt: ...s should be prepared to discuss the deadline for answering or otherwise responding to the 3AC. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS Defendant Orange County Health Authority dba CalOptima (“CalOptima”) has filed unnumbered evidentiary objections to the Prime Hospitals' evidence. The Court numbers them sequentially for the purposes of ruling on them. 1. Overruled. 2. Overruled. 3. Sustained on hearsay grounds as to the sentence “The judgment was entered afte...

Excerpt: ...nes, and to maximize enforcement of state labor laws.” (Moniz v. Ade cco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 72.) Because it appears Defendant provided Pick Up Stix releases to employees in both English and Spanish, the Court will require that notice of this settlement be given in both English and Spanish. The Court approve s the following distributions: 1. Attorneys' fees and litigation costs in the amount of $108,750. The grounds for this awa...

Excerpt: ...ed, a redline showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, please provide proof of service of any revised agreement on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide a copy of Plaintiff's pre - filing letter to the LWDA . 2. Are there any other actions, whether individua l, class, or PAGA (including in the pre -filing LWDA stage) that may be affected by this settlement? 3. Please provide 60 days, rathe...

Excerpt: ...ble result in light of the quality of the result obtained, the work performed by class counsel, a review of the billing records provided, and the estimated lodestar. In approving this amount and examining the billing records provided, the Court is not approving any particular hourly billing rates proposed by class counsel. 2. Litigation costs in the amount of $40,571.39, the full amount sought. 3. An enhancement of $2,500 to Plaintiff. In making ...

Excerpt: ...for a properly noticed deposition. In a minute order dated January 27, 2023, the Court granted Defendant's motion to compel and ordered her to sit for deposition by February 17, 2023. (ROA 164.) Defendants renoticed Doe's deposition for February 15, 2023. This notice was electronically served on her counsel of record. (Lakhman Decl. Ex. 4.) On February 10, defense counsel followed up with a Zoom link for the deposition (which was to be conducted ...

Excerpt: ...this portion of his claim. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is GRANTED. PRELIMINARY MATTERS Because the evidence objected to is immaterial to the Court's ruling, the Court declines to rule on the parties' evidentiary objections. However, the Court must comment on Disney's “Objections to Purported Evidence Submi tted by Plaintiff in Support of His Separate Statement of Undisputed Material Facts,” which are included in Disney's reply...

Excerpt: ...tice is submitted, a redline showing all changes, deletions an d additions must be submitted as well. In addition, please provide proof of service of any revised agreement on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide copies of Plaintiffs' pre -filing letters to the LWDA. 2. Please provide proof of service o f the original settlement papers on the LWDA. Paragraph V of the agreement requires Plaintiffs to serve the LWDA, but the proof of s...

Excerpt: ...led a statement that would file an amended answer by the hearing date. As of the day before the hearing, the Court has no record of the amended answer having been filed. The Court takes Defendant's failure to oppose the demurrer as a concession, and on that basis sustains the demurrer. Defendant shall file an amended answer by April 2, 2024. For a complete record, Defendant shall also file by April 2 its original answer as no such filing can be f...

Excerpt: ...ed, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plaintiff must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supplemental papers on the LWDA. 1. In a supplemental declaration, Plaintiffs' counsel Millay Kogan states tha t no depositions were taken. But the prior declaration of Plaintiffs' counsel Vincent Granberry says Plaintiffs' depositions were taken. (ROA 131, ¶ 12...

Excerpt: ...edline showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, please provide proof of service of any revised agreement on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide copies of all PAGA notice letters sent by Plaintiff to the LWDA. 2. Per a notice of related cases, there are two cases in Los Angeles titled Garibaldo vs. Ware Disposal, Inc. that are related to this matter. How will this settlement affect the Gari...

Excerpt: ...d on Defendant Beverly Mitchell; Request for Monetary Sanctions Against Beverly Mitchell in the Amount of $1,560.00 ROA 832 3. Plaintiff Zenith Insurance Company's Notice of Motion and Motion to Compel Responses to Requests for Productions, Set One Propounded on Defendant Beverly Mitchell; Request for Monetary Sanctions A gainst Def endant Beverly Mitchell in the Amount of $1,560.00 ROA 833 Zenith Insurance Company has filed three motions co...

Excerpt: ...is GRANTED. The Reeds are ordered to file and serve t he FAXC (Rubin Decl., Ex. A) by March 22, 2023. The Court finds no prejudice will result from consideration of Azadian's untimely opposition. GROUNDS FOR RULING A court “may, in the furtherance of justice . . . allow a party to amend any pleading.” (CCP § 473(a)(1).) “[C]ourts are bound to apply a policy of great liberality in permitting amendments to the complaint at any stage of the...

Excerpt: ...dant argues this case should be stayed in favor Gates, an earlier -fil ed action also pending in this department. It argues first that the case should be abated and second that the Court should exercise its discretion to stay this case. I. Abatement Defendant's argument for abatement conflates two separate concepts: the plea in abatement and the rule of exclusive concurrent jurisdiction. The Court considers each in turn. A. Plea in Abatement �...

Excerpt: ...posed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. I. Background This case, file d in 2022, is a wage-and -hour class action involving the non- exempt employees of Herbalife Manufacturing, LLC. Suri Figueroa, the sole remaining plaintiff in the operative Second Amended Complaint (2AC), brings the following claims: (1) minimum wage violat ions, (2) overtime violations, (3) meal break violations, (4) rest break violations, (5) sick time violations, (6)...

Excerpt: ...tted, a redline showing all changes, deletions and addi tions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plaintiff must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supplemental papers on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. Please provide a copy of Plaintiff's pre -filing letter to the LWDA. 2. Are the parties aware of any actions, whether individual, class, or PAGA (including in the pre -filing LWDA stage) that may be affected ...

Excerpt: ... is DENIED. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS The Court incorporates by refe rence the portion of its prior tentative ruling regarding Best Buy's evidentiary objections. The Court DENIES Best Buy's request for judicial notice (ROA 179) as unnecessary. GROUNDS FOR RULING While the Court originally sought further briefing and evidence on the issue of whether Best Buy's counsel actually received an invoice from AAA by email on September 7, 2023, the Court ultima...

Excerpt: ...D pending completion of arbitration. An arbitration review conference will take place in Department CX -101 on November 18, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Because no prejudice will result from consideration of Plaintiff's untimely, overlong opposition papers, the Court has elected to consider them. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS I. Plaintiff's Initial Objections A. Monica Stombaugh 1. Overrule. 2. Sustain on foundation grounds to the extent she testifies Plaintiff sign...

Excerpt: ... move to seal the following exhibits to the decla ration of Yvette Golan: 1. Exhibit AN: an email from Chapman's disability services office to plaintiff Findlay Grant informing him of accommodations the school will provide in response to his January 2020 request. 2. Exhibit BN: an email from Chapman's pr esident Daniele Struppa to the Chapman community announcing a phased return to campus in October 2020. 3. Exhibit BP: an email from Struppa to t...

Excerpt: ...f the Eighth Cause of Action in Plaintiff's Complaint ROA 186 Before the Court are two dem urrers to the complaint of Plaintiff Glenn Knott, as well as a motion to strike. Defendants Albertsons Companies, Inc. and The Vons Companies, Inc. (collectively, “Vons”) demur to the class allegations in Knott's complaint on the ground that the class clai ms (but not Plaintiff's individual claims) are barred by a class settlement in an action file...

Excerpt: ...y on the bond. Olen's unopposed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. Olen 's objections to TPG's evidence are OVERRULED. TPG's objections to the Declaration of John G. McClendon are SUSTAINED inasmuch as the entire Declaration is not relevant to the Court's ruling. I. BACKGROUND This lawsuit alleging CEQA and other violations and a second lawsuit alleging violations of certain CC&Rs stem from TPG's plans to build a 312 -apartment complex (the ...

Excerpt: ...pondent California Coastal Commission (“Commission”) demurs to the first amended petition (FAP) of Petitioner Friends of Newport Harbor. The demurrer is apparently joined by Real Party in Interest City of Newport Beach. The City has already answered the FAP, and it identifies no authority permitting a party that has already filed an answer to join ano ther party's demurrer. However, because the City seeks no relief on its own behalf (askin...

Excerpt: .... A joint status conference statement shall be filed on or before May 23, 2024. Defendant's unopposed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. I. Background As al leged in the complaints, Plaintiffs are tenants at apartment complexes in Santa Ana managed by Advanced Management Company. Plaintiffs allege the apartment complexes are subject to the Santa Ana Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (“Ordinance,” codified at Santa An...

Excerpt: ...n May 30, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. A joint status conference sta tement shall be filed on or before May 23, 2024. Defendant's unopposed request for judicial notice is GRANTED. I. Background As alleged in the complaints, Plaintiffs are tenants at apartment complexes in Santa Ana managed by Advanced Management Compan y. Plaintiffs allege the apartment complexes are subject to the Santa Ana Rent Stabilization and Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (“Ordinanc...

Excerpt: ... the contract under which JAS Pacific performed services for the City. (Evid. Code § 452(h).) In addition, JAS Pacific has attempted to introduce new evidence on reply. The Court has not considered this evidence. (See Jay v. Mahaffey (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 1522, 1538 [“The general rule of motion practice, which applies here, is that new evidence is not permitted with reply papers.”].) GROUNDS FOR RULING I. Background This is one of three r...

Excerpt: ...24 at 8:30 a.m. in Department CX-101. GROUNDS FOR RULING I. Background Plainti
¯ Þled this class action/PAGA lawsuit on December 29, 2022. On October 23, 2023, a Þrst amended complaint (FAC) was Þled per stipulation of the parties. The FAC also is a class action with a PAGA component. Despite these pleadings, Plainti
¯'s opposition to the motion to compel arbitration refers to his lawsuit as “PAGA- only action.” (Opp. p. 2) He makes no r...

Excerpt: ...st to compel arbitration. Plainti
¯'s individual claims and the individual portion of Plainti
¯'s PAGA claim are to be arbitrated on an individual basis. 2. The motion is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE as to the request to dismiss the remainder of the action, i.e., the representative portion of Plainti
¯'s PAGA claim. This portion of the case is STAYED pending the resolution of Plainti
¯'s individual arbitration. An arbitration review conference wi...

Excerpt: ...tted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plainti
¯ must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supplemental papers on the LWDA. Preliminary Matters Plainti
¯'s request for judicial notice (ROA 80) is GRANTED, but only as to the existence of the exhibits, not to the truth of anything asserted therein. (Evid. Code § 452(d).) As to the Settlement: 1. The...

Excerpt: .... In the alternative, Travelers moves for summary adjudication of each cause of action in LaBarre's Third Amended Cross-Complaint (3AXC). For the reasons set forth below, the motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS A. LaBarre's Objections to the Declarations of Shadie Maghareh and Shryl Anderson All objections are overruled. B. Travelers' Objections to the Declaration of Neal Bordenave Objections 1-5, 8-13, and 15-17 are overr...

Excerpt: .... In the alternative, Travelers moves for summary adjudication of each cause of action in LaBarre's Third Amended Cross-Complaint (3AXC). For the reasons set forth below, the motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS A. LaBarre's Objections to the Declarations of Shadie Maghareh and Shryl Anderson All objections are overruled. B. Travelers' Objections to the Declaration of Neal Bordenave Objections 1-5, 8-13, and 15-17 are overr...

Excerpt: ...im STAYED pending completion of the arbitration. An arbitration review conference will take place on September 30, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. in Department CX-IOI. Plaintiff's objections to the Declaration of Salah Ali are OVERRULED except for objection no. 1 which is SUSTAINED. Defendants' initial request for judicial notice is DENIED as these rulings are not relevant. Defendants' supplemental request for judicial notice is GRANTED. 1. BACKGROUND Plainti...

Excerpt: ...d their counsel of record, Charles Lew and The Lew Law Firm, jointly and severally, to pay monetary sanctions to Plaintiff, by January 29, 2024 in the amount of $5,600.80 for attorney's fees and costs associated with the arbitration and this moton. l. Background Pursuant to their arbitration agreement, the parties stipulated to arbitration on July 7, 2022 (ROA 17) and the Court ordered the case stayed on July 25, 2022 (ROA 23). Plaintiff filed he...

Excerpt: ... and additions must be submitted as well. In addition, Plaintiffs must provide proof of service of any revised settlement agreement and supporting papers on the LWDA. As to the Settlement: 1. The Court, as well as the settlement (S 7.1), requires declarations from Defendant and counsel to confirm whether there any other actions (class, individual, or PAGA, including PAGA achons in the pre-filing LWDA stage) that could be affected by this settleme...

Excerpt: ...prejudicial to a party's right to a fair trial. Townsend v. Gonzalez (1959) 150 Cal. App. 2d 241, 249-50. Significantly, a new trial cannot be granted unless it is established that the error was prejudicial, i.e„ the error must likely have affected the outcome of the trial. (See Cal. Const., art. VI, S 13 ("No judgment shall be set aside, or new trial granted, ... [forl the improper admission or rejection of evidence . . . unless, after an exam...

Excerpt: ... Valley Water District's ("District") objections to the Declaration of Stephen Johnson, and the Authority's objections to the Declarations of Timothy Parker and Charles Krieger as those declarations are not relevant to the Court's ruling. l. OVERVIEW This lawsuit and the related actions involve adjudication of various parties' rights to groundwater in the Indian Wells Valley Basin. Among the claims at issue in a number of the lawsuits is the vali...

Excerpt: ...Trustees of the Johns Living Trust, dated August 13, 2007, James R. Glidewell, Randy D. Bohart, Bonnie L. Bohart, and Joshua Merrell & Kimberly Merrell, Trustees of the Merrell Family Trust dated November 16, 2011 is SUSTAINED. The demurrer to the fourth cause of action for declaratory relief is OVERRULED based on the remaining controversies set forth in the second and third causes of action. The parties' unopposed requests for judicial notice ar...

Excerpt: ...elling Place Anaheim (the "Church") and (2) Individual Defendants Alan Scott, Kathryn Scott, Jeremy Riddle, Kate Riddle, Gregory Scherer, Banning Leibscher, and Julian Adams are SUSTAINED. At the hearing, Plaintiffs should be prepared to explain how they believe further amending of the lawsuit will result in a viable cause of acton. EVIDENTIARY RULINGS The Court makes the following rulings on Defendants' requests for judicial notice: Exs. 1-4. GR...

Excerpt: ...ionally lodged under seal at ROA 247, 248. Motion to Seal Factors A court may order a record to be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts establishing: 1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record; 2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; 3) A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is not sealed; 4) The proposed sealin...

Excerpt: ...of the above two cases pursuant to CCP S 1048(a) is GRANTED. All future filings in this litigation shall be filed under case no. 21-1186967, with the caption of all pleadings listing both cases. FACTUAL BACKGROUND These two cases arise from the construction of Plaintiff Kyle Reeves' home at 7210 West Oceanfront in Newport Beach. The basic underlying allegations are the same in both. Reeves submitted his construction plans to the City for design r...

Excerpt: ...Following a hearing on the issue of attorney's fees and costs, Judge Prager issued a final award on September 13, 2023. (Huston Decl [ROA 198] Decl. Ex. A.) Among other things, the Final Award states Plaintiffs sought, but were denied attorney's fees and costs associated with pre-arbitraton litigation of this action. (ld. at 2-4.) This ruling was based on the Arbitrator's finding that the attorney's fee provision in the applicable agreement was n...

Excerpt: ...f's PAGA claim and stay the representative component pending arbitration. The motion is GRANTED. An arbitration review conference will take place on July 29, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS OGC has filed a request for judicial notice. (ROA 55.) Because the document for which judicial notce is sought was filed in this action, the request is DENIED AS MOOT. "It is not necessary to ask the court to take judicial notice of materials previously ...

Excerpt: ...ce Ms. Christopher has no personal knowledge or foundation to state what was received by Defendants. 2. Factual Background and Conclusions On December 9, 2022, the Court granted Defendant's moton to compel arbitration of the individual portion of this PAGA case and staying the representative portion until completion of the arbitration. (ROA 119) Thereafter, Plaintiff initiated and served a Demand for Arbitration with AAA in January 2023. On Janua...

Excerpt: ... on Objection Nos. 1—3 to Plaintiff's evidence because the Court does not deem such evidence material to its disposition of the motion under CCP S437c(q). As to Objection Nos. 4—5, the objections are overruled as the evidence is not hearsay since it is not offered for the truth, but to the show Plaintiff's state of mind. II. Plaintiff's Objections to (1) Defendant's Reply Separate Statement (ROA 174); (2) Supplemental Avila Declaration (ROA 1...

Excerpt: ...a redline showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. The table of contents indicates 1.18 contains the definition for "Gross Settlement Amount," but the Settlement omits that paragraph. 2. Please provide 60 days, rather than 45, for opt-outs, objections, and workweek disputes. (Agr. 1.11, 6.1.) 3. Section 1.33 regarding "Released PAGA Claims" must be limited to those specific Labor Code violat...

Excerpt: ...mount of $317,500, nor do the settlement components set forth in the supplemental declaration add up to $250,000. 2. The amount of PAGA penalties allocated to the LWDA and to the aggrieved employees. Sections 13 and 19 of the Quintilone supplemental declaration appear to conflict on these amounts. 3. The amount of incentive payment Plaintiff seeks to receive. Is it $10,000 per Section 23 of the supplemental declaration, or is it $3,000 per Sectio...

Excerpt: ...or laws." (Moniz v. Adecco USA, Inc. (2021) 72 Cal.App.5th 56, 72.) The Court will approve the follow-ng distributions: 1. Attorneys' fees and litigation costs in the amount of $2,000 from the $30,000 allocated to settle the PAGA claim. This award is discussed more fully below. 2. Litigation costs in the amount of $4,000, representing the full amount sought. 3. Administration costs in the amount of $2,950, representing the full amount sought. 4. ...