Excerpt: ...imination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) (Govt. C ode § 12940(a)) is without merit because Plaintiff was not constructively discharged and therefore, cannot make out a prima facie cause of action. ISSUE NO. 2: The first cause of action for pregnancy discrimination in violation of FEHA is without merit b ecause Plaintiff was not subjected to any adverse employment action and therefore, cannot make out a prima fa...

Excerpt: ...al sought by this Motion is $76,866. The Song -Beverly Consumer Warranty Act pr ovides remedies for consumers that have purchased, among other consumer goods, new vehicles. Remedies include the right to recover “damages and other legal and equitable relief.” (Civ. Code, §1794, subd. (a).) Further, any buyer that prevails in an action brought under the Act shall recover “attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court...

Excerpt: ...er prevails in an action under this section, the buyer shall be allowed by the court to recover as part of the judgment a sum equal to the aggregate amount of costs and expenses, including attorney's fees based on actual time expended, determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action.” To determine the appropriate fee award under Civil Code section 1794, the...

Excerpt: ...hich was denied the next day on 7/25/2023 without any argument. After a two day jury trial on 7/25/2023 and 7/26/2023, Judgment was entered in favor of Plaintiff and against Defendant in the amount of $23,168.23. On 8/2/2023 Defendant filed a Motion to Stay Execution of the Judgment, which was denied on 12/7/2023. That motion was unopposed. 8/7/2023 Plaintiff filed a Memorandum of Costs in the amount of $724.60. 8/10/2023 Plaintiff filed this ...

Excerpt: ...led and refused to participate in mediat ion such that the parties are bound to submit this dispute to binding arbitration pursuant to the terms of the arbitration agreement. A petition to compel arbitration “shall be heard in a summary way in the manner and upon the notice provided by law for the making and hearing of motions, except that not less than 10 days' notice of the date set for the hearing Page 5 of 29 on the petition shall be given....

Excerpt: ...ernatively, Defendants request that the Court strike all allegations i n the Complaint where Plaintiff claims that his service dog was taken from him through an illegal seizure, and specifically where Plaintiff alleges the following: (1) “Due to race and disability, H.I.P.A. right violation, conspires false allegation of ani mal cruelty, illegal seizure of certified service dog for mental/emotional support,” (2) “conspires with OC Animal ...

Excerpt: ...ligence in making the motion after discovery of the default. [Cita tion.]” (Huh v. Wang (2007) 158 Cal.App.4th 1406, 1420, internal quotations omitted.) Whether the moving party has successfully carried this burden is a question entrusted to the discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed in the abs ence of a demonstrated abuse of that discretion. (Hopkins & Carley v. Gens (2011) 200 Cal. App. 4th 1401, 1410.) Initially, ...

Excerpt: ...ed and the automatic stay in effect before SB 365 took effect, SB 365 is not retroactive in nature, and the FAA preempts SB 365. Plaintiff Club Speed, LLC (“Plaintiff”) argues that SB 365 is procedural in nature and may be applied to existing litigation without any concerns regarding retrospectivity, the K1 Defendants ar e seeking to circumvent the Legislative intent of preventing delays caused by frivolous appeals, and, to the extent any sta...

Excerpt: ...tiff made a reasonable investigation of the condit ion at issue before proceeding with his work before the concealed hazard exception will apply, and there is no evidence of either requirement. Lastly, Defendant contends that new case law shows that there is no duty to warn when a hazard is open and obvio us, particularly when there are alternatives which could have been undertaken. Code of Civil Procedure section 1008(a) provides: “When an app...

Excerpt: ...conferred and agree on the need for a protective order; that Plaintiff provided a draft protective order and Kuhns indicated that it would stipulate to its entry, but Plaintiff has been unable to obtain Defendant Carlos Alcala's participation and signature on the proposed protective order, and that Plain tiff has also refused to seek assistance from the Court such that Kuhns has filed this motion. No opposition has been filed. Initially, the Co...

Excerpt: ...emises Liability Cause of Action. It contends that Plainti
¯ targets the Wallace Firm because it represented Casa Nicolina LP, Plainti
¯s former landlord, in litigation and prelitigation related to a successful unlawful detainer action against Plainti
¯; that all of Plainti
¯s allegations against Page 16 of 63 the Wallace Firm arise from its communications related to the termination of Plainti
¯s tenancy in preparation for the unlawful de...

Excerpt: ...njamin's indemnity, contribution, and declaratory relief causes of action. VCG also contends that these defects cannot be cured as none of VCG's vehicles were involved in the alleged incident although VCG had trucks parked on the street where there was an accident. VCG additionally contends that it satisÞed the meet and confer requirements of Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41. Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (a) requires...

Excerpt: ... through twenty-Þrst, and the twenty-third through twenty-Þfth defenses fail to refer to the cause of action they are intended to answer and thus fail to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 431.30(g); that all 25 defenses fail to name or identify what defense is being pled and so fail to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 430.20(b), and are uncertain; that all 25 defenses fail to state any facts that constitute a defense and on...

Excerpt: ...nd “First Cause of Action – Common Count,” her “Second Cause of Action – Fraud,” and her Fourth Cause of Action;” and that all three of Plainti
¯s causes of action against the Wallace Þrm arise from protected activity related to prelitigation and litigation of two unlawful detainer actions where the Wallace Þrm represented Plainti
¯s landlord, including giving 60-day notice, statements made during the proceedings themselves, a...

Excerpt: ...ROG, No. 17.1 regarding RFA, Nos. 15 and 16 are neither complete nor straightforward as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.220; that Defendant has only provided objections based on privilege and no substantive response; that the objections based on attorney-client privilege and the attorney work product doctrine do not provide an adequate description of documents claimed to be privileged such that Plainti
¯ can evaluate the merits ...

Excerpt: ...n that there is no triable issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. (Aguilar v. Atlantic RichÞeld Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 849- 850). A plainti
¯ has met his or her burden of showing there is no defense to a cause of action if that party has proved each element of the cause of action entitling the party to judgment on that cause of action. (CCP §437c(p)(1)). Once the plainti
¯ has met that burden, the b...

Excerpt: ...tion or proceeding.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c(a)(1).) “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. In determining if the papers show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact, the court shall consider all of the evidence set forth in the papers, except the evidence t...

Excerpt: ...Pinel Realtors, Inc. (2019) 32 Cal.App.5th 972, 977-978.) “An arbitration agreement must be in writing to be valid and enforceable. [Citation.]” (Id. at p. 978.) Page 52 of 63 “Under ‘both federal and state law, the threshold question presented by a petition to compel arbitration is whether there is an agreement to arbitrate.' [Citation].” (Cruise v. Kroger Co. (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 390, 396, emphasis in original.) The court is to dete...

Excerpt: ... section 583.210 and 583.250. Moving Defendants contend that the summons and complaint has not been served upon any of the Moving Defendants within three years after this action was commenced as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 583.210(a) such that dismissal is mandatory and jurisdictional. More speciÞcally, Moving Defendants assert that the this case was Þled on June 17, 2019; that the statutory 3-year deadline is June 17, 2022; tha...

Excerpt: ...und of lack of jurisdiction of the court over him or her.” “When a defendant challenges the court's personal jurisdiction on the ground of improper service of process the burden is on the plainti
¯ to prove … the facts requisite to an e
¯ective service.” [Summers v. McClanahan (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 403, 413 (internal quotes omitted); see Lebel v. Mai (2012) 210 Cal.App.4th 1154, 1163.] Therefore, even though defendant is the moving par...

Excerpt: ...hat it “will comply in part and produce the following documents in its possession, custody or control: [list of documents].” Plainti
¯ contends these responses are deÞcient because (1) no privilege log was provided for withheld documents and (2) the responses are not code compliant as they do not state that GM has conducted a diligent search for responsive documents. In opposition, GM contends that it has already produced responsive documen...

Excerpt: ... a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement found in Section M(2); that the arbitration provision in the home warranty service plan subjects all of Plainti
¯s' claims to an arbitrator, including on issues related to the applicability or arbitrability of the contract, including any disputes over payments; and that the arbitration provision explicitly delegates all questions of arbitrability to the arbitrator such that questions of whether the ...

Excerpt: ...nti
¯ made a reasonable investigation of the condition at issue before proceeding with his work before the concealed hazard exception will apply, and there is no evidence of either requirement. Lastly, Defendant contends that new case law shows that there is no duty to warn when a hazard is open and obvious, particularly when there are alternatives which could have been undertaken. Code of Civil Procedure section 1008(a) provides: “When an app...

Excerpt: ...action for negligence, count two of the Þrst cause of action for liability under Civil Code section 846, and the second cause of action for general negligence are without merit as Plainti
¯ intends to Þle an Amended Complaint to remove these causes of action. Still, these causes of action are in the operative Complaint and the court will address them below. I. THE MOTION IS GRANTED AS TO COUNT ONE OF THE FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION AND THE SECOND CA...

Excerpt: ...action for (1) breach of equipment Þnance agreement; (2) recovery of possession of personal property; (3) breach of guaranty; and (4) indebtedness, and that they defended this case until on May 16, 2023, Plainti
¯ voluntarily dismissed its Complaint against Defendants. Defendants contend that they are the prevailing party under Code of Civil Procedure section 1032, regardless of whether the action is voluntarily dismissed with or without prejud...