Excerpt: ...at 2205 South Standard Avenue for the purpose of determining whether deeper groundwater on the property is contaminated. (¶5 of Herndon Declaration). The inspection permitted shall be consistent with the CPT testing articulated in the Work Plan attached as Exhibit “1” to the Brown Declaration. More specifically, OCWD shall be permitted to obtain samples from SAM-CPT-89 and SAM-CPT-90 at the locations depicted in Figures 1 and 2 of Exhibit 1 ...

Excerpt: ...Pray and Mr. Aiwazian) are ordered to appear (by CourtCall) for today's scheduled hearing. I. Issues for Which the Court Requests Briefing from the LWDA After reviewing the parties' papers, the Court believes its analysis would be aided by a brief from the LWDA addressing the questions posed below, as well as any additional issues the LWDA believes merit the Court's attention. (See Starks v. Vortex Industries, Inc. (Ct.App. Aug. 25, 2020, Nos. B2...

Excerpt: ...EC are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS Both IEC and Mateos have filed objections to the other party's supporting evidence. The Court rules on these objections as follows. I. Mateos's Objections to McKaig Declaration These objections are overruled in their entirety. In particular, those objections raised under the sham declaration doctrine do not identify actual direct conflicts between deposition testimony and declaration testimony....

Excerpt: ...laintiff argues the Court should not consider IMC's demurrer because it is untimely. In reply, IMC argues that it has never been properly served, so there is no deadline for it to respond to the FAC. The Court agrees. The Court's register of actions shows a Doe amendment filed on June 23. The Doe amendment included a proof of service indicating that it had been electronically served on counsel for defendants The Irvine Company, LLC (“TIC”) an...

Excerpt: ... no dispute that Defendants, whose demurrer was sustained without leave to amend, are the prevailing party in this matter. Recoverable costs are set forth in CCP § 1033.5, which defines allowable, non-allowable and discretionary costs. (Id., § 1033.5(a), (b), (c)(4).) Allowable and discretionary costs may be recovered only if “reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its preparation....

Excerpt: ...ions. As summarized in The Rutter Group, California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial § 10.51.1: “The pleadings serve as the ‘outer measure of materiality' in a summary judgment motion, and the motion may not be granted or denied on issues not raised by the pleadings. [Laabs v. City of Victorville (2008) 163 CA4th 1242, 1258, 78 CR3d 372, 386; Nieto v. Blue Shield of Calif. Life & Health Ins. Co. (2010) 181 CA4th 60, 74, 103 CR3d ...

Excerpt: .... As to the Settlement: 1. Other than Garcia v. Optima Tax Relief, LLC, No. 19-01082473, are there any actions pending against Defendant (whether individual, class, or PAGA, including PAGA actions in the pre-filing LWDA stage) that could be affected by this settlement? 2. The Court is confused by the use of three separate dates as cutoffs for class membership, the class period and the escalator clause. The Court understands that the “Class,” ...

Excerpt: ...D to November 20, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in Department CX104. Defendants BA Hotel & Resort, LLC; Mona10, Inc.; and Patricia Pham may file a supplemental brief and any supporting papers by no later than November 6, 2020. The City may file a responsive supplemental brief and any supporting papers by no later than November 13, 2020. I. Background Defendants' prior counsel, Dina Nguyen, was placed on medical leave at the advice of her treating medical pro...

Excerpt: ...to compel, and the motion is DENIED AS MOOT insofar as it seeks to require that this information be turned over. The Court reminds Defendants of their obligations under the Court's prior order (ROA 137), which required them to serve further discovery responses, including the production of voluminous non-anonymized data, within 30 days of the opt-out deadline. The Court agrees with Plaintiffs, however, that Defendants' conduct with respect to the ...

Excerpt: ... two reasons for the continuance. First, the Application is continued due to lack of service on the relevant property owners. The instant application seeks an order against the owners of property located at 2201 and 2205 South Standard Avenue in Santa Ana, California. While the prior Application heard on August 14, 2020 was served on non-parties McFarlane Properties, LLC and Standard Avenue, LLC via both their Agents for Service of Process and Co...

Excerpt: ...ce Company, et al. (Following the Moving Defendants' naming conventions, the Court refers to the Moving Defendants collectively as “Rubin” and the Relators collectively as “Allstate.”) For the reasons set forth below, the motion is DENIED. Allstate's request for attorney's fees, made in opposition, is also DENIED. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS Allstate's Objections to 1 st Rubin Declaration (ROA 70): OVERRULED in their entirety. Rubin's Objections ...

Excerpt: ...or judicial notice (“RJN,” ROA 49) is GRANTED. I. Factual and Legal Background A. The FDA Approval Process Corcept's demurrer focuses heavily on the argument that federal preemption bars Plaintiff's claims relating to Korlym, a drug manufactured by Corcept. (FAC, ¶ 3.) A brief explanation of the FDA approval process therefore is necessary to provide context. No new drug may be sold or marketed in the United States unless it has been approved...

Excerpt: ...s must be submitted as well. As to the Settlement: 1. Per the parties' initial case management statement (ROA 47), Plaintiff had a separate lawsuit against Defendant in Los Angeles Superior Court (Billberry v. Hardy Window Company, No. 18STCV05043) in which he brought discrimination and wrongful termination claims. The online docket for the individual action reflects a request for dismissal filed on December 31, 2019. Did Plaintiff's individual a...

Excerpt: ... in Le v. CashCall, Inc., No. 14-00724582 are entitled to res judicata effect. At the hearing, the parties are to discuss the effect this finding will have on Plaintiffs' sole remaining claim for PAGA penalties. CashCall's request for judicial notice (ROA 776) is granted. The LWDA's objections thereto (ROA 792) are overruled. On its own motion, the Court proposes to take judicial notice of the file in Le. (Evid. Code § 455.) I. Background The Co...

Excerpt: ...public entity, is not required to post a bond. (CCP § 995.220.) Because the Court grants the City's request for a preliminary injunction, it does not decide whether defendants are entitled to injunctive relief. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS The parties' requests for judicial notice all appear to be unopposed. These requests are GRANTED. The City and Cardenas have filed evidentiary objections to various supporting declarations. The Court rules on these obj...

Excerpt: ...a, and Javier Terrazas (“Plaintiffs”). Defendants Sodexo, Inc. and SodexoMAGIC, LLC (collectively “Sodexo”) join in Disney's demurrer. For the reasons set forth below, the demurrer is OVERRULED. A. EVIDENTIARY MATTERS I. Judicial Notice of Agreements Central to this matter are two development agreements entered into by Disney and other entities: an Infrastructure and Parking Finance Agreement (the “Finance Agreement”), dated October 8...

Excerpt: ...amount of $3,454. These sanctions are payable to Plaintiff no later than September 21, 2020. In addition, the final approval hearing in this matter is continued to December 11, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. in Department CX104. I. Relevant Factual Background A. The Settlement After the parties reached a settlement of this wage-and-hour class action, Plaintiff moved for preliminary approval on July 1, 2019. In a minute order dated July 26, 2019, the Court ide...

Excerpt: ...have until September 21, 2020 to file an amended complaint that addresses the concerns identified below. I. Background This is a toxic tort exposure case. Plaintiff Javier Avila Garcia was a warehouse worker in Orange County from 1986 through 2018. (Compl., ¶ 8.) In July 2018, he was diagnosed with plasmacytoma. (Compl., ¶ 12.) He alleges his plasmacytoma was caused by occupational exposure to Defendants' products, which contained carcinogenic ...

Excerpt: ... status conference with respect to the progress of the arbitrations shall take place on February 24, 2021 at 8;30 a.m. A joint status conference statement shall be filed on or before February 17, 2021. Plaintiffs are former employees of Defendant. Each signed different versions of a mutual arbitration agreement upon hiring—McCoy-Darden's provided for arbitration before JAMS, while Gomez-Luna's provided for arbitration before the AAA. (See Lamar...

Excerpt: ...ross-Complainant Brookhurst Town Center, LLC's Motion for an Order Compelling Cross-Defendant Newmark of Southern California, Inc. to Respond to Brookhurst Town Center, LLC's Form Interrogatories and for Monetary Sanctions 4) Defendant and Cross-Complainant Brookhurst Town Center LLC's Motion for an Order that Matters in Requests for Admission Served on Cross-Defendant Glenn Rudy be Deemed Admitted and Imposing Monetary Sanctions 5)Defendant and ...

Excerpt: ...§1822.50 et seq. is DENIED without prejudice to a properly supported Application. An inspection warrant shall issue “upon cause, unless some other provision of state or federal law makes another standard applicable.” (CCP § 1822.51). Within the Reply, Plaintiff asserts the applicable standard is articulated in California Water App. §40-8 which provides that the District “determines [the inspection] to be necessary and appropriate to dete...

Excerpt: ...fendant Orange Coast will pay off the approximately $64,000 remaining on Plaintiffs' loans from Defendants Ally and Gateway, giving Plaintiffs free and clear title to their two vehicles. (Barry Decl. (ROA 600), ¶ 15.) The parties stipulated that Plaintiffs could seek fees and costs against Orange Coast only. (Compendium of Evidence (ROA 599), Ex. 3.) Plaintiffs' operative 4AC includes an individual cause of action under the CLRA. “The court sh...

Excerpt: ...EVIDENTIARY MATTERS Ford seeks judicial notice of two decisions of the United States District Court for the Central District of California regarding fee awards in Song-Beverly Act matters litigated by Plaintiff's counsel. Ford also seeks judicial notice of the reply briefs in support of the fee motions in those cases. (See ROA 449.) These unopposed requests for notice of court records are GRANTED. Plaintiff has filed objections (ROA 458) to the d...

Excerpt: ...Estela v. Pacific Dental Services, LLC, San Diego County SC No. 37-2020-00010251-CU-OE-NC. Defendant's initial request for judicial notice (ROA 21) and Plaintiff's request for judicial notice (ROA 28) are both unopposed, and both requests are GRANTED. Defendant also makes an unopposed request for judicial notice of a decision of the San Diego County Superior Court in an unrelated matter. (ROA 32.) This request, which seeks notice of the decision ...

Excerpt: ...urt's ruling on the accompanying motion to strike to file a fourth amended complaint, with the scope of permitted amendment limited as set forth below. To be clear, Plaintiff shall not file a fourth amended complaint until after receipt of the Court's ruling on the motion to strike. I. Factual Background Plaintiff owned a condominium in Aliso Viejo. The condominium secured a loan from Wells Fargo. (TAC, ¶¶ 27-28.) In June 2015, Plaintiff defaul...

Excerpt: ...lier, on January 8, 2020, Linden was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. (Skibbe Decl. (ROA 30), Ex. A.) The operative FAC in this action (ROA 8) and the operative FAC in Linden (Furuta Decl. (ROA 47), Ex. A) contain substantially identical allegations. From the Court's review of the two cases, the only non- overlapping allegations are (1) this case alleges unreimbursed business expenses, while Linden does not, and (2) Linden alleges a PA...

Excerpt: ...of the arbitration. The Court sets an arbitration review conference for January 28, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in Department CX104. Plaintiff was employed by GHOH as a Director of Operations. (FAC ¶ 10.) She alleges that Kreitner, GHOH's CEO, pressured her to fraudulently inflate her billing so that GHOH could receive increased grant money. Plaintiff alleges that she refused to inflate her billing as Kreitner requested and that she was terminated in reta...

Excerpt: ...te compensation system for its courier drivers. Plaintiffs seek to represent a class dating back four years from the filing of the underlying Quijada action in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Defendant contends a court-approved settlement in Kostyuk v. Golden State Overnight Delivery Service, Inc., Alameda County Superior Court Case No. RG14727191, bars all claims prior to December 17, 2016. Defendant therefore moves to strike the following la...

Excerpt: ...l. The Court does not reach any other questions about the releases, such as their legal effect or their enforceability. I. Factual Background This is a wage-and-hour class/PAGA action. The parties attended mediation on January 24, 2020 but failed to reach a settlement. (Young Decl. (ROA 78), ¶ 5.) After the mediation, Defendant began to offer Pick Up Stix settlements to putative class members. (Id., ¶ 6; see Chindarah v. Pick Up Stix, Inc. (200...

Excerpt: ...onse period for both requests extends from October 10, 2017 to April 2, 2018. As to RFP 15 only, the response period is further limited to cover only records from days Plaintiff actually worked, and Plaintiff may redact the phone numbers associated with personal calls, texts or other messages. Finally, as to both requests, Plaintiff may designate her production confidential under the existing protective order. I. Background As relevant here, this...

Excerpt: ...employee of Respondent Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Ana Region (“Regional Board”), and (2) the issuance of a records subpoena to the Regional Board. Petitioners' motion is DENIED in all respects. However, at the hearing, the parties should be prepared to address whether the AR should be supplemented to include documents referenced in AR116 to the extent that they are not already part of the AR. The Court additionally notes that...

Excerpt: ...fs seek summary adjudication of the following issues: 1. Defendant's wage statements violate Labor Code § 226 in two ways. First, the wage statements do not list the number of piece-rate units earned and the applicable piece rates. Second, the wage statements improperly state an employee's “Hourly Pay” (defined below) rather than the regular rate of pay. 2. Defendant improperly calculates the regular rate of pay for overtime purpose in two w...

Excerpt: ...xhibits A and B to the conditionally sealed notice of lodging (ROA 102). (Although the motion is signed only by Plaintiffs' counsel, the notice of motion states that “the parties move” for a sealing order. See ROA 101 at p. 1.) In a subsequently filed notice of errata (ROA 106), the parties also ask that the Mangan Declaration (ROA 98) be permanently sealed, and that it be replaced in the public file with a redacted declaration attached to th...

Excerpt: ...parties' familiarity with the factual background of the JVS Development-related cases. The allegations set forth below are those necessary to the resolution of this motion, and they are taken from the pleadings in both the WRW and ARC actions. WRW and ARC both arise from a series of allegedly fraudulent real estate transactions carried out by Vinh Phan, his associates, and related entities, including JVS Development, LLC and Amerilink Escrow, Inc...

Excerpt: ...LLC; Pacific Bells, Inc.; and World Wide Wings, LLC (“Defendants”) move to compel further responses to special interrogatories and requests for production propounded on Plaintiff Roberto Lopez. (ROAs 318, 324.) These motions, which Plaintiff does not oppose, are GRANTED as set forth below. Further responses are to be served by February 24, 2020. Plaintiff and his counsel, Henry M. Lee, are jointly and severally sanctioned in the amount of $5,...

Excerpt: ...is ruling is that only remaining claim in the lawsuit is the first cause of action for breach of contract. I. Evidentiary Objections A. Plaintiff's Objections Plaintiff filed a document entitled “Plaintiff's Objections to Defendant's Evidence.” (ROA 363.) The Court has reviewed these objections, which are not actually objections to evidence, and do not comply with CRC 3.1354(b). The rule requires the objecting party to identify items of evide...

Excerpt: ... cause of action is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Defendants' request for judicial notice of Plaintiff's pre-filing letter to the LWDA, made in the reply papers, is GRANTED. Although not directly relevant to this motion, the Court is disturbed by Defendants' counsel's pronouncement that she will not communicate with Plaintiff's counsel except in writing. Beyond the fact that oral communication is required for certain meet and confer obligations (e...

Excerpt: ...l, Inc. is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. This matter arises from several actions taken by the Regional Board regarding the remediation of a property located on Armstrong Avenue in Irvine. Petitioners seek a writ of mandate setting aside those actions. The operative Amended Petition (ROA 23) contains two causes of action: first, administrative mandamus under CCP § 1094.5, and second, traditional mandamus under CCP § 1085. The Regional Board ...

Excerpt: ...ns must be submitted as well. Any revised agreement and/or notice must also be served on the LWDA. 1. The Court continues to have major concerns with the class definition vis-à-vis the Arteaga matter. Counsel explains that the class in the present case —limited to mechanics in Redlands—was designed to fix a problem with respect to persons inadvertently excluded from the Arteaga class. This, per counsel, is why the settlement class is so much...

Excerpt: ...2019 (ROA 162) and the revised notice attached as Exhibit 4 to the Campbell Declaration of October 11, 2019 (ROA 190). The motion for final approval shall be heard on July 10, 2020 in Department CX104. Moving papers are due 16 court days before the hearing. Please submit a revised proposed order that includes the date of the final approval hearing and updates all dates that are calculated in reference to the date preliminary approval is granted. ...

Excerpt: ...ank (“FFB”) against BNY Mellon. The parties' unopposed requests for judicial notice are GRANTED. I. Factual Background A. The Lindsay Judgment and This Action This case and the related matters ultimately arise from transactions involving a property known as Stoneridge in the Coachella Valley. Plaintiffs Michael LaMelza and Villa Rossa, LLC sued Sam Lindsay, J. Robert Gilroy, First West-DHS Partners, LP, and First West Capital Corporation for ...

Excerpt: ...hat is, fees available through Defendants' victory on the 2006 NDA claims. Because the 2006 NDA is governed by Oregon law (ROA 167, Ex. A, at § 10.4), the Court ordered supplemental briefing on Oregon law governing contractual fee awards and its application in this case. The 2006 NDA provides that the “prevailing party” is entitled to “reasonable” attorney's fees. (ROA 167, Ex. A, at § 10.3.) Under Oregon law, for purposes of a fee awar...

Excerpt: ...5 th Rock, LLC and EXP U.S. Services, Inc.) is GRANTED. Drum's application for determination of good faith settlement is DENIED. I. Factual Background In the complaint in this construction defect action, the current owner of the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, T-12 Three, LLC, sued both Turner (the general contractor on the hotel project) and 5 th Rock (the prior owner of the hotel, and the party that hired Turner to build the hotel) for defect-rel...

Excerpt: ...for Production, Set One; and Request for Sanctions Against Defendant IEC Corporation and Its Attorneys of Record, Call & Jensen, in the Amount of $3,210.00 4)Defendants IEC Corporation and United Education Institute's Motion to Compel Plaintiff Richard Mateos' Further Responses to Requests for Admissions Before the Court are four motions to compel further responses discovery, each of which requests sanctions. The Court rules on each of the four m...

Excerpt: ...anges, deletions, and additions must be submitted as well. Late papers will not be accepted. 1. The current version of the settlement agreement provides, at ¶ 44, that settlement payments “shall be secured by a lien against all of the Defendant's assets, junior only to the existing line in favor of Bank of the West.” Included as Exhibit B to the current version of the settlement is the security agreement that creates this lien. Section 1 of ...

Excerpt: ...ant DRSS-1 LLC's First Amended Cross- Complaint Against Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and Orange County Water District 4) Cross-Defendant Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board's Notice of Demurrer and Demurrer to Defendant DRSS-1's First Amended Cross-Complaint 5) Defendant/Cross-Complainant DRSS-1, LLC and Defendant GE Aviation Systems, LLC's Motion to Sever and Stay the Orange County Water District's Claims Against DRS...

Excerpt: ... interest that overcomes the right of public access to the record.” Rule 2.550(d)(1). The Court is unaware of any case in which sealing of a damages allegation or a cause of action not involving confidential or private information has been allowed. Defendants fail to point to anything comparable to the types of disclosures that California courts have found to qualify as “overriding interests.” (See, e.g., NBC Subsidiary (KNBC TV), Inc. v. S...

Excerpt: ...equest for judicial notice of the FAC in this action (ROA 25) is GRANTED. Plaintiff's evidentiary objections to the declaration of Albert Reynaldo (ROA 38) are OVERRULED. The discrepancies Plaintiff identifies between Mr. Reynaldo's declaration filed in support of the present petition (ROA 16) and his subsequent deposition testimony (Hatcher Decl. (ROA 39), Ex. A) go to weight, not admissibility. I. Factual Background A. Plaintiff's Hiring On Feb...

Excerpt: ...ndi R Schwartz's Motion Compelling Defendant American General Life Insurance Company to Produce Further Documents in Response to Plaintiff's Document Demands 4) Plaintiff Sindi R Schwartz's Motion For Order Compelling Defendant American General Life Insurance Company to Produce Unredacted Emails Produced at Deposition in Response to Plaintiff's Document Demands Plaintiff Sindi R. Schwartz originally had four discovery motions (ROAs 288, 293, 304,...

Excerpt: ...ettlement agreement and/or proposed notice is submitted, a redline version showing all changes, deletions and additions must be submitted as well, including proof of service of the revised agreement on the LWDA Per the supplemental briefing, Plaintiff's valuation was based on a maximum exposure of $821,444, which was in turn based on alleged Labor Code violations affecting 65 employees over the period from August 15, 2015 to October 2016. The pre...