Excerpt: ...ted by any evidence. While the court could grant the summary judgment motion given that opposing parties have not supported their arguments with any evidence that might create triable issues of fact, the court will provide plaintiffs with an opportunity to supplement their papers. The hearing on this matter is continued to January 31, 2020 at 1:30PM in CX 101 so that plaintiffs can, if they wish, supplement their papers appropriately. Any supplem...

Excerpt: ...es that Lutsky and other defendants engaged in the “illegal unlicensed practice of dentistry, in violation of Business and Professions Code sections 1625(a) and (e), 1629, 1630, 1701.1, and 1807.” Long Form Master Complaint, ¶¶ 120- 121. Based on the allegations, Plaintiffs seek to recover damages, including punitive damages. Long Form Master Complaint, ¶¶ 122-127. The Tenth Cause of Action seeks a declaration as to whether Lutsky and oth...

Excerpt: ...s settlement. However, Kirby v. Kindred, Case No. 5:19-cv-00833 is still active and might be impacted by this settlement. The First Amended Complaint in this matter alleges overtime, minimum wage, meal period, rest period, wage statement and waiting time penalties under both class and PAGA theories. The alleged classes include “all of Defendants' current and former non-exempt employees” who were subject to certain alleged violations, e.g. an ...

Excerpt: .../12/19, the Court adopted the recommendation and ordered Plaintiff to provide supplemental responses to those form interrogatories within 30 days. Exhibit K. Defendants now move for terminating sanctions or evidentiary sanctions or an order compelling further responses, based on the assertion that Plaintiff's responses to Form Interrogatories 2.6 and 17.1 remain deficient. In addition, Defendants ask this Court to designate Plaintiffs' responses ...

Excerpt: ...vide Accurate Itemized Wage Statements; (5) Failure to Pay All Wages Due Upon Separation of Employment; (6) Violation of Business and Professions Code §§ 17200, et seq.; and (7) Enforcement of Labor Code § 2698, et seq. (“PAGA”). Defendant Woodbridge demurs to the entire complaint and the 1st through 6th causes of action on the ground that they are fatally uncertain because Plaintiff fails to sufficiently allege the employment relationship...

Excerpt: ...y “the CDG Defendants”) argue that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring the Ninth Cause of Action for Illegal Ownership and Operation of Dental Clinics and the Tenth Cause of action for Declaratory Relief because there is no private right of action under the California Dental Practice Act, Business & Professions Code § 1600 et seq. Defendant Jerry Minsky, D.D.S. joins in the motion. The Ninth Cause of Action alleges that the CDG Defendants and ...

Excerpt: ...time. However, the mediator did not “require” in person attendance. Rather, as shown in Exhibit C to the Hanle Dec., it was “strongly recommend[ed] that the principal parties” attend in person. Defendants also argue that the Plaintiffs' counsel promised that Plaintiffs would appear in person. However, the email exchange between counsel does not include either a specific request for in-person attendance or a specific representation that Pl...

Excerpt: ...tions against Plaintiffs in connection with discovery. Plaintiffs argue that the order must be “clarified” because it was based on misinformation provided by Defendants at the hearing of the matter. Plaintiffs also argue that pursuant to a private agreement between the parties, the motions to compel which were the basis of the sanctions were to have been taken off- calendar. The Court's original order does not require clarification. Defendant...

Excerpt: ...the Company, or its officers, agents or other employees . . . [¶] includ[ing] but [] not limited to . . . claims for wages and other compensation, . . . and claims for violation of any of the federal, state, or other government law, statute, regulation, or ordinance . . .” Plaintiff's complaint alleges claims which fall within the arbitration provision. Plaintiff alleges that the provision cannot be enforced because it is both procedurally and...

Excerpt: ...ies Act. As one of the requested remedies, Plaintiffs seek public injunctive relief. Complaint, ¶¶ 2, 82, 84, 86, 89- 91 and Prayer for Relief. By its motion, Defendant seeks to compel arbitration of the claims pursuant to an arbitration provision included in the “Loan Agreement[s] and Promissory Note[s]” signed by the Plaintiffs. The arbitration provision (¶ 14 or ¶ 16, depending upon the year of the agreement) includes a class action wa...

Excerpt: ...sion included at the conclusion of its handbook. According to Defendant, the provision covers “any dispute or aspect of the terms and conditions.” (Emphasis added.) MPA at 1:8-10. The provision does not include that specific phrase. It reads, in full: “I agree that any dispute involving discharge that is left unresolved by the company and is covered under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1...

Excerpt: ...rge batch of documents produced on March 20, 2019 and clawed back late on March 21, 2019, the night before the Jacks deposition. Moriarty used the document the following day at the deposition. Then, in August at the deposition of Jay Lutsky, Moriarty used a different privileged document. That document had been included in a production made many months earlier. However, Defendants hadn't identified it as privileged or requested its return until it...

Excerpt: ...1-800”). Defendant Marc Lazo sold the property on 1-800's behalf. Plaintiff alleges he did so without permission or authority. Sunset Escrow was the escrow company on the sale. Defendant Shirley Thompson owned Sunset Escrow and Defendant Jessica Sarpong was her assistant on the sale. At some time prior to the sale, Lazo, an attorney, represented Sunset Escrow and a small amount remained on unpaid for legal services. 1-800 alleges that because o...

Excerpt: ... Temenoujka Marinov, Maria Martinez, and Rosa Islas as time-barred under CCP § 583.360 (5-year statute). As a preliminary matter, the Court takes judicial notice of the pleadings attached to the Declaration of Simren K. Gill. The motion is opposed only by Casas. Pursuant to CCP § 583.340, a case which has not been brought to trial within five years of its filing must be dismissed. The statute dictates that the five-year period is tolled during ...

Excerpt: ...filed on or before August 9, 2019. If a revised settlement and/or proposed Class Notice are submitted, a redlined version showing all changes, deletions, and additions must also be submitted electronically to the Court. Issues: 1. Provide a valuation for each individual cause of action. 2. There still is no mechanism within the stipulation for payment of the $625 (25% of the LWDA amount) to “aggrieved employees” as opposed to class members. T...

Excerpt: ... 2), or (2) establishing that only Plaintiff could have accessed her work email regarding the revised agreements by, for example, demonstrating by way of admissible evidence (rather than “information and belief” or “an understanding”) that after initially signing on at the commencement of her employment using the default password she was required to create a unique password or identifier that only she could use. While the declarations cre...

Excerpt: ...ed to settle Plaintiff's claims for the amount of $3,501 plus “[t]he amount of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred by Plaintiff” against that Defendant as of the date of the offer. (Emphasis added). While the court, for the reasons set forth below will not consider the merits of the motion, it does note that unlike the situation in Linton vs. County of Contra Costa (2019) 31 Cal. App. 5 th 628 at 635, Defendants' offers to pay reaso...

Excerpt: ...s raised by both the motion and the demurrer. Both motions, therefore, constitute improper filings because they violate this Court's stay which was lifted for the limited purpose of permitting motions that did not implicate class action allegations. Motion for Summary Judgment The Motion for Summary Judgment is denied. Defendant moves for summary judgment of this action comprising a single cause of action, contending that Plaintiff Lily Chiang, w...

Excerpt: ... Paul Martin's settlement of $15,001—a total of $640,001 in approved settlements. This ruling addresses only the proposed settlements by Nico Designs, Inc. (paying $155,000), Bahrami (contributing $5,000 to Nico Design's settlement amount of $155,000), Safarpour (paying nothing) and MPH Construction (paying nothing). “The party seeking a determination of good faith may file a ‘bare bones' motion, stating the grounds on which the determinati...

Excerpt: ..., very minimal, and Trilogy was often dismissed from construction defect suits for waiver of costs or with payment of very little money. But Navigators directed its attorneys to avoid vigorously defending Trilogy and to try to use money Trilogy would have to reimburse to resolve claims. This created circumstances where other law firms Navigators selected were subject to conflicts of interest, often receiving conflicting instructions from their cl...

Excerpt: ...ow turns to the merits of the demurrer. Farmer (added as a Doe defendant on 1/23/19) demurs to the 4th and 5th c/a of the Second Amended Complaint on the following grounds: (1) defect or misjoinder of parties (CCP § 389); (2) duplicative claims; and (3) failure to state facts/uncertainty. Each of those grounds is addressed below. Defect or Misjoinder of Parties. Farmer demurs on the grounds that OC Investment Pros, LLC is an indispensable party ...

Excerpt: ...nued, or whether final approval was granted or denied. Absent any such notice, the class members do not have any knowledge as to whether the court granted the preliminarily approved settlement and so whether will ultimately be bound by a judgment. Most parties simply post notice of final approval on the administrator's website, which is sufficient notice if they have been told in the Notice of Preliminary Settlement to consult the website as to t...

Excerpt: ...998, which Plaintiff did not timely accept. The offers, which are attached to the McLeod Declaration, fail to specify in any respect how the offer may be accepted. Therefore, the cost-shifting provision was not triggered. (CCP § 998(b) [“[t]he written offer shall include … a provision that allows the accepting party to indicate acceptance of the offer by signing a statement that the offer is accepted]; Perez v. Torres (2012) 206 Cal.App.4th ...

Excerpt: ... action. The Suns may not have the court summarily adjudicate whether documents were forged, or whether real property interests are subject to certain liens, both of which constitute the four issues the Suns seek adjudicated. For example, two of the relevant causes of action seek declarations that trust deeds were signed by other parties, yet this motion addresses only if reconveyances were signed by the Suns. In addition, the Separate Statement ...

Excerpt: ... Josiah N. Drew because he does not have any relevant personal knowledge about the events at issue in this case, and any second-hand information he has is protected by the attorney-client, attorney work product and/or mediation privileges. Drew is an in-house attorney for defendant and is responsible for managing defense counsel in the defense of this lawsuit. Plaintiff even admits in her opposition that Drew acted as defendant's main point of co...

Excerpt: ...der § 558 is subject to arbitration based on Esparza v. KS Industries, LP (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 1228, review denied (Nov. 15, 2017). The Court agrees. Although the Fourth District, Division One came to the contrary conclusion in Lawson v. ZB, N.A. (2017) 18 Cal.App.5th 705, review was granted in that matter and so it has no precedential effect. CRC, Rule 8.1115(e). Accordingly, the Court must follow Esparza and Defendant's motion is granted. Dur...

Excerpt: ...ts employees for work-related cell phone costs. On 11/7/15, Isabel Garibay (replaced Gama as named plaintiff in the Gama action. The following year, on 3/9/16, Plaintiff Uribe filed a proposed class action in OCSC, alleging that Crown Building Maintenance Co. failed to reimburse its employees for work-related uniform costs. On 11/13/17, Uribe filed a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement. In connection with the motion and the settlement...

Excerpt: ..., 24, and 31-36. Plaintiffs South Coast Shipyard, Inc. is a business located in Newport Beach which performs repairs and maintenance on large boats and ships. Plaintiff Peter Stewart is the president of South Coast Shipyard, Inc. Plaintiffs allege they suffered damage to their property as a result of development of NPB Marina LLC on a neighboring property. Defendants Clauss Construction and Patrick Michael Clauss (collectively “Clauss” or Def...

Excerpt: ...ion to compel arbitration. The Court issued a ruling on that motion on 9/11/18. On 10/10/18, after the ruling was issued, Plaintiffs named SCI as a doe defendant. SCI now brings a motion to compel arbitration of Plaintiff's 1st -9th causes of action against SCI. (The Court notes that before this motion was filed, Plaintiff agreed to submit the 5th-9th causes of action against SCI to arbitration, so the only causes of action at issue are the 1st-4...

Excerpt: ...plemental materials shall be filed on or before April 12, 2019. If a revised settlement and/or proposed Class Notice are submitted, a redlined version showing all changes, deletions, and additions must also be submitted electronically to the Court. Issues: 1. The Court requires all parties to identify any pending actions of which they are aware that potentially overlap with the claims in this action or which might be impacted by the release inclu...

Excerpt: ...ed by section 425.16. [Citation.] If the defendant makes the required showing, the burden shifts to the plaintiff to demonstrate the merit of the claim by establishing a probability of success.” Baral v. Schnitt (2016) 1 Cal.5th 376, 384. Step 1: Does the alleged misconduct arise from protected activity? Defendant has the burden in step one and must show that the plaintiff's claim arises from protected activity, i.e. that the conduct underlying...

Excerpt: ...tion of causes of action as against each of the four causes of action alleged by Plaintiff Jannette Campos in the Fifth Amended Complaint: (1) Intentional Misrepresentation; (2) Negligent Misrepresentation; (3) Unfair Competition (§ 17200); and (4) Wrongful Foreclosure. The motion is unopposed. A defendant moving for summary judgment may prevail on the motion by affirmatively negating at least one of plaintiff's essential elements. CCP §437c; A...

Excerpt: ...he action.” However, as the earlier denial was without prejudice, this Court considers it may hear this subsequent petition. Petitioners' first request for consolidation was denied because Stevens v. Suncrest, the case it sought to coordinate, had settled and the parties were seeking preliminary approval of that settlement. Now, two years later, not only has the settlement been preliminarily approved but it has also been finally approved and ju...

Excerpt: ...ith Defendant. Defendant responded with boilerplate objections. On July 29, 2018, after a meet and confer process and two informal discovery conferences, the Court ordered Defendant to provide “contact information for homecare caregivers through a Belaire-Westnotice process.” The order specified that it was without prejudice to Plaintiff's renewal of her motion to compel contact information for employees other than homecare caregivers. Defend...

Excerpt: ... the Court received any notice of a stay in this matter. Accordingly, the Court proceeds to rule on the motions which are before it. Garibay's Motion for Stay Invoking the rule of exclusive concurrent jurisdiction, Intervenor Isabel Garibay moves to stay this action pending resolution of Gama v. Able Services, et al., Case No. RG15773582, currently pending in Alameda Superior Court. In connection with her motion, Garibay requests that the Court t...

Excerpt: ... lead counsel is denied. The Court finds that both firms are competent and experienced and either could have been appointed as lead counsel. Given the apparently equal competence of the two firms in this case, the Court exercises its discretion and appoints the firm that filed the first complaint as lead counsel in this matter. As lead counsel, Lawyers for Justice, PC will be required to:  oversee case management;  sign and file all pleadin...

Excerpt: ...e lawsuit. Thus, the court's discretion will usually be exercised liberally to permit amendment of the pleadings. Nestle v. Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal. 3d 920, 939. Denial of leave to amend is rarely justified. Howard v. County of San Diego (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1422, 1428 (“the policy favoring amendments is so strong that it is a rare case in which denial of leave to amend can be justified”). Plaintiff sued on behalf of “job coaches.” On...

Excerpt: ...er to the 9th cause of action is overruled on each of the stated grounds. A. Standing Defendants argue that Plaintiffs lack standing to bring the 1st-8th causes of action because they do not allege any direct injury or interest. Plaintiffs argue that they have taxpayer standing to pursue all the claims alleged in the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). Plaintiffs' 1st, 4th and 7th causes of action assert claims under §42 U.S.C. § 1983 based on...

Excerpt: ...he GSINDA Policy, is such coverage subject to a $1 million self- insured retention that applies at GSINDA's layer of coverage after exhaustion of the limits underlying GSINDA's policy? If so, does that self-insured retention apply to losses falling within Insuring Agreement B (excess)?” This case relates to various layers of insurance obtained by Defendant Lennar for its operations during the years 2004 to 2009. The first layer of insurance was...

Excerpt: ...personal information to third parties who used it for their direct marketing purposes.  Plaintiff's claim fails because Tillys satisfied the STL by adopting and disclosing ‘a policy of not disclosing person information of customers to third parties for the third parties' direct marketing purposes unless the customer first affirmatively agrees to that disclosure.'” CC § 1798.83(c)(2). Each of those grounds is briefly addressed below. Plain...

Excerpt: ...tion Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348. Epic Systems does not alter the ruling of Iskanian. The FLSA claims addressed in Epic Systems are fundamentally different from PAGA claims: (1) The FLSA does not require a pre-litigation demand on the agency/employer nor any of the other devices designed to keep the agency apprised of the private action; (2) FLSA plaintiffs must “opt in” while all “aggrieved employees” are bound by a PAGA actio...

Excerpt: ...ionable in the following ways:  It was a contract of adhesion.  The font size is too small and Plaintiff wasn't given much time to review (about ten minutes).  It includes an illegal PAGA waiver.  It does not include any discovery rules. A court may refuse to enforce an unconscionable arbitration provision. Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83, 122. Whether a provision is unconscionable is a qu...

Excerpt: ...s.” Citing Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. (2017) 18 Cal.App.5th 1052, defendant refused to answer the interrogatory because plaintiff did not have standing to continue the action because she had settled her claims. Defendant relies on Kim v. Reins International California, Inc. (2017) 18 Cal.App.5th 1052 to supports its refusal to provide the information. In that case, the plaintiff accepted a § 998 offer and, pursuant to that off...

Excerpt: ...on of Robert Thompson. Evid. Code §§ 1202 and 1220. The court does not rule on plaintiffs' objections to the Declaration of Lorilyn Hayes as the objections were not material to the court's disposition of the motion. Defendants move for summary judgment on the following theories: 1. The loans were not usurious because they were arranged by Hayes, a licensed real estate broker. 2. Plaintiff lacks standing to pursue a § 17200 claim because he can...

Excerpt: ... The Ninth Circuit allowed him to proceed “holding that the reasoning of American Pipe extends to successive class claims.” The Supreme Court disagreed. The China Agritech opinion addresses only class action plaintiffs. That is clear from the very outset when the court frames the issue to be decided as follows: “The question presented in this case is whether American Pipe tolling applies not only to individual claims, but to successive clas...

Excerpt: ...rprises, LLC, C.D. Dal., Case No. 17-cv-00603 has a preclusive effect. However, defendant fails to provide this court with a judgment. Instead, defendant provides a June 5, 2018 order granting partial summary judgment in defendant's favor. An order granting partial summary judgment is not a judgment and is not a final decision on the merits. Further, because the order was entered only two months ago, it is unclear whether there will be an appeal....

Excerpt: .... App. 3d 22 and Brousseau v. Jarrett (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 864. Those cases do not impose a heightened standard of pleading, and neither limits the general rule that factual allegations in pleadings must be liberally construed. The punitive damage allegations in Searle failed because the plaintiff's allegations were “egregiously uncertain” and did not allege any intentional wrongdoing. As the Court explained: “When the plaintiff alleges an ...

Excerpt: ...tected by privacy rights. Defendant further argues that the requests are “limitless.” As set forth below, the Court does not find Defendants' arguments persuasive. The parameters of discovery under California law are very broad. As the California Supreme Court explained in Williams v. Superior Court (2017) 3 Cal.5th 531, 548: “In the absence of privilege, the right to discovery in this state is a broad one, to be construed liberally so that...

Excerpt: .../18 ruling as to the issues of notice and prejudice.) Petitioner (“Friends”) amended its writ to allege that it had filed the objections and motion for amended supplemental writ rather than filing a new writ because it had believed those procedures to be appropriate under County of Inyo v. City of Los Angeles (1977) 71 Cal.App.3d 185 and City of Caramel-by-the-Sea v. Board of Supervisors (1982) 137 Cal.App.3d 964. Amended Petition, ¶¶ 24 an...

Excerpt: ...Oxnard Harbor Dist. (2007) 146 Cal. App. 4th 511, 514; Burnett v. Chimney Sweep (2004) 123 Cal.App.4th 1057, 1064; and Pomona College v. Superior Court (1996) 45 Cal. App. 4th 1716, 1727-28; Defendant's demurrer is overruled. Defendant demurs to the sole cause of action on the ground that Plaintiffs, who sold their shares in response to the Second Repurchase Offer, cannot represent those shareholders who sold their shares in response to the First...