Excerpt: ..., the court concludes that Agile has failed to meet its burden of authenticating plaintiff's purported electronic signature to the arbitration agreement. Agile provides the declaration of one of its customer service representatives and the on -site representative fo r Agile at Ortronics, Inc., Laura Caratachea, who is responsible for ensuring that employees complete their onboarding documentation. (Caratachea Dec. ¶3.) She states she was respons...

Excerpt: ... to the settl ement agreement rather than any amended settlement agreement. Counsel also must provide a red -lined version of any revised papers, including the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees, rather than with just a suppleme...

Excerpt: ...gations of th e parties under the agreement shall be construed and enforced in accordance with, and governed by, the laws of the State of California. (FAC, Ex. 4 §5(11).) Further, defendants are California residents, and the Home Solicitation Sales Act seeks to regula te conduct by defendants. Thus, plaintiff may seek to enforce the Act. As to the Second Cause of Action, plaintiff's allegations adequately plead the existence of a fiduciary rela...

Excerpt: ...2024 at 9:0 0 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a continuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concludes that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the individual claims asserted b y plaintiff in his Tenth Cause of Action for Violation of California Business & Professions Code §§17200, et seq. and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP...

Excerpt: ...tober 24 , 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a continuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concludes that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the individual clai ms asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP §1281.2. Defendant has shown the existence of a signed arbitration agreement dated November ...

Excerpt: ...des, “Any city receiving notice of the action filed against the board and the county may, within 30 days of the receipt of that notice, intervene in that action.” The court need not concern itself with what the statute might imply, because the text is unambiguous. The right of intervention belongs to a city, and DWA is not a city. As the court noted in Busse v. United PanAm Financial Corp. (2014) 222 Cal. App. 4th 1028, 1038, “The classic ...

Excerpt: ...s will be sp lit between the two law firms representing plaintiff and the class, so that the court can approve separate attorneys' fees awards. The initial preliminary approval papers stated there was no fee splitting, without any supporting citation. The Class Notic e said that Class Counsel is Kingsley and Kingsley, but Abramson Labor Group is on the caption and plaintiff declares in ¶6 of his declaration that he consented to a fee -splitting...

Excerpt: ...erbroad word “REFER”. Defendants also must serve all d ocuments responsive to Request for Production Nos. 14, 19, 20- 22, 45, 50, 56, 58- 60, 70-72 and 75 within 20 days, except that Request Nos. 14, 19, 56 and 72 will be deemed to exclude the overbroad word “REFER”. Such documents should include the pay summaries, time records, commission reports and commission summaries for all putative class members. Defendants also must serve a veri�...

Excerpt: ...commission reports and commission summaries for all put ative class members, within 20 days. Plaintiffs served a request for production of documents seeking documents relevant to seeking class certification, including documents concerning the “salaries, wage levels, hourly rates, commissions, and/or bonuses of each and every COVERED EMPLOYEE” (Request for Production No. 72). Defendants provided unverified responses with various objections t...

Excerpt: ...r Competition Law. Defendant challenges the pleading on the ground that plaintiff has failed to allege a defect in materials or workmanship, as required under 13 C.C.R. §2037(b)(2). Plaintiff relies on 13 C.C.R. §2037(b)(1), which discusses design issues, but the extended warranty is found only in 13 C.C.R. §2037( b)(2) and requires a defect in materials or workmanship. Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint adds legal arguments as to why the Em...

Excerpt: ...so should provide a red -lined version of any revised papers, inc luding the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declarati on or brief that simply asserts the issues have been resolved. The moving papers do not include a copy of the letter that was se...

Excerpt: ...hours on this case. Objector Andrew Mapes' Objection to Settleme nt is overruled. Plaintiff has adequately explained the large increase in the number of class members, and has justified the gross settlement amount remaining unchanged. Objector argues that plaintiff failed to provide sufficient information for the cour t to evaluate the validity of the Pick Up Stix settlements in this case. Objector concedes there is no controlling authority perm...

Excerpt: ...fendant's motion to stay proceedings pending the outcome of the arbitration of plaintiff Piplack's individual PAGA claim. Defendant's Objections to the Robinson Declaration are sustained as to #6, and overruled as to #1 - 5 and 7- 11. Defendant's Objections to the Sherrod Declaration are sustained as to #1 -3, and o verruled as to #4. Defendant's Request for Judicial Notice is denied as irrelevant. Zucchet v. Galardi (2014) 229 Cal. App. 4th 1466...

Excerpt: ...ave standing to bring this motion, let a lone adequate grounds for disqualification of plaintiff's counsel as class counsel in this action. Standing generally requires that the party be able to allege an invasion of a legally protected interest. Great Lakes Construction, Inc. v. Burman (2010) 1 86 Cal. App. 4th 1347, 1356. Generally, before the disqualification of an attorney is proper, the complaining party must have or have had an attorney -c...

Excerpt: ...ould provide a red -lined version of any revised papers, inc luding the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declarati on or brief that simply asserts the issues have been resolved. Plaintiff has not filed her First Amended Complaint containing a PAGA...

Excerpt: ...that the court improperly ruled on the demurrer without taking into consideration that plaintiff was going to seek leave to file a First Consolidated Class Action Complaint in the related case of Carlson/Aresh v. Hunt. However, plaintiff has since withdrawn his motion seeking leave to file a consolidated class action complaint, rendering this argument moot. The court previously ruled that plaintiff improperly split his causes of action between ...

Excerpt: ...aywood 1, LLC. Specifically, Judgment Creditor has shown the required elements that (1) the parties to be added as judgment debtors had control of the underlying litigation and were virtually represented in that proceeding; (2) there is such a unity of interest and ownership that the separate personalities of the entity and the owners no long er exist; and (3) an inequitable result will follow if the acts are treated as those of the entity alone...

Excerpt: ..., 24, 25, 29, 31 -34, 36, 39 and 43- 48. As to #13 and 14, the court's file does not include any Exhibit W or X, but just a notation that they were allegedly filed under seal. However, the court's file shows none of Goldman's moving papers being filed under seal. Plaintiffs' supplemental Objections (ROA 527) are overruled. Plaintiffs had the opportunity to respond to Goldman's new evidence submitted on reply. As a threshold matter, Goldman ha...

Excerpt: ...s to one which the court Þnds acceptable), in which case defendant must provide supplemental responses within 90 days only for employees who do not respond within 60 days that they do not want their information shared. The supplemental responses will be subject to a protective order whereby the information provided may be used only for purposes of this litigation. Plainti
¯'s Special Interrogatories #1 and 2 seek the contact information of puta...

Excerpt: ... ownership interest she received in Plaza 205, and (#28) the 25% ownership interest she received in the Harbor Gateway Project. Goldman asserts the tax return privilege, but that privilege does not apply here. Goldman concedes that courts will Þnd a waiver of the tax return privilege where the gravamen of the lawsuit is so inconsistent with the continued assertion of the taxpayer's privilege as to compel the conclusion that the privilege has bee...

Excerpt: ...should submit an amendment to the settlement agreement rather than any amended settlement agreement. Counsel also should provide a red- lined version of any revised papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief that si...

Excerpt: ...rovement that proximately caused injury to private property. Paterno v. State of California (2003) 113 Cal. App. 4th 998, 1029. Here, plainti
¯s' allegations of the City's substantial participation are insu
¯icient as a matter of law. Plainti
¯s allege in ¶71.1 of the Second Amended Complaint, “Defendant City of Cypress never reviewed the proposed land use instituted by Defendant Cypress School District in July 2021, and further did not app...

Excerpt: ...tiff has shown that defendant failed to pay the $14,000 JAMS invoice, first sent on September 13, 2023, within 30 days of its due date. JAMS sent follow-up notices on September 14 and 27, and October 12, 2023. The email sent on September 14, 2023 said that the invoice was due on receipt. Defense counsel admits receiving the invoice and notices but admits not paying JAMS until October 26, 2023, one day after plaintiff served his letter saying he w...

Excerpt: ...e arbitration. Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice is denied as irrelevant. Zucchet v. Galardi (2014) 229 Cal. App. 4th 1466, 1474 n.5. The Case Management Conference set for today is ordered off calendar. A PostArbitration Review Hearing is set for July 25, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a continuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concludes tha...

Excerpt: ...vide a red- lined version of any revised papers, including the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief simply asserting that the issues have been resolved. The proposed relea...

Excerpt: ...l times in my individual capacity", and otherwise overruled, '17 —sustained, 98 — overruled. Plaintiff's Evidentiary Objections as to the original Daniel Nguyen Declaration are: 92 — overruled, "3 overruled as to sentences 1-2, and sustained as to sentences 3-4, 94 — overruled. Plaintiff's Evidentiary Objections as to the supplemental Huynh Declaration are: 94 — overruled as to sentences 1-2 and 4-5, and sustained as to sentence 3, 95 a...

Excerpt: ...th 1054, 1062. When determining whether California courts have specific jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, the question of whether the defendant purposefully availed itself of the benefits of conducting activities in this state focuses on defendant's intent. In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I & II (2005) 135 Cal. App. 4th 100, 122. Nonetheless, a plaintiff may establish purposeful availment based on the effects of the defendant's out-of-s...

Excerpt: ...ary 3, 2018 to the present. Defendant's original response consisted of objections, but its supplemental response, as set forth in plaintiff's Separate Statement, cited payroll summaries containing payroll and contact information for non-exempt employees who did not opt out through the Belaire-West notice process, and identified the documents as Bates Nos. 69-1709. Plaintiff's Separate Statement then went on for two pages about defendant's objecti...

Excerpt: ...the deposition subpoena was not personally served on Burton. But since plaintiff provided proof of personal service in his opposition and Crawford did not refute that evidence in reply, Crawford's motion to quash is denied. Crawford also seeks a protective order requiring that any deposition of Burton take place only after expert witness designations based on the March 11, 2024 trial date. However, plaintiff contends that his deposition subpoena ...

Excerpt: ... on violations allegedly suffered by other employees. Defendants now ask the court to stay such litigation. The court concludes that litigation of those claims should be stayed pending completion of the arbitration. Both the Federal Arbitration Act and California law provide for a stay of proceedings pending arbitration. 9 U.S.C. 53; CCP 51281.4. More importantly, plaintiff's "group" PAGA claims are based on the same labor law violations she asse...

Excerpt: ...ifornia fully releases PAGA claims. This court will not approve a direct release by plaintiff on behalf of the State of California, but will approve a change from "fully releases and discharges" to "shall be deemed to have fully released and discharged". Plaintiff has not submitted her attorneys' bills or a detailed hourly breakdown of her attorneys' hours to support the court's review of the attorneys' fees request. The summary chart in 939 of t...

Excerpt: ...n late 2013 or early 2014, "Torres verbally represented to Plaintiff Steve Valbuena that the construction of the pool at the project would cost $256,546 to build, and that this amount was the accurate market rate for the construction of a pool of its kind in the project area." However, plaintiffs further allege in 936, "On or around late 2013 or early 2014, while securing a loan for the construction ofthe project, Plaintiff Steve Valbuena was adv...

Excerpt: ...ndment to the settlement agreement rather than any amended settlement agreement. Counsel also should provide a redlined version of any revised papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any correctons to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief that simply asserts the issues...

Excerpt: ... Counsel also should provide a red-lined version of any revised papers, including the class notice. Counsel also should provide the court with an explanation of how the pending issues were resolved, with references to any corrections to the settlement agreement and the class notice, rather than with just a supplemental declaration or brief that simply asserts the issues have been resolved. The allocation of only 20% of the settlement payments for...

Excerpt: ...d #2, and sustained as to #3 (2nd and 3rd sentences only), #4, #5, and the second #1. Plaintiff's request to contnue the hearing to take discovery is denied. The Status Conference set for today is ordered off calendar. A Post-Arbitraton Review Hearing is set for June 28, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a contnuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concl...

Excerpt: ...rney fee, the most common award in federal cases, still results in a generous multiplier of 2.47. The average recovery per aggrieved employee does not merit a higher award. Moreover, enhancement awards of $3,000 each, and a total of $33,000 in enhancements, are sufficient for a class and settlement of this size, and considering the average recovery per aggrieved employee, and that there was nothing extraordinary about plaintiffs' contributions to...

Excerpt: ...t provide a red-lined version of any revised papers, including the proposed letter to the aggrieved employees. The Covered period/PAGA Period defined in 51.4 of the PAGA Settlement and Release Agreement should not be based on the date of the signing of the proposed Order Granting Approval of PAGA Settlement and Entering Judgment, but rather on the date the court grants approval of the PAGA settlement. The Covered Claims defined in 51.3 of the Set...

Excerpt: ...njured in responding to the fire. The California Supreme Court explained, "Where the defendant's negligence, whether active or passive, creates an apparent risk, which is of the type usually dealt with by firemen, and which is the cause of the fireman's presence, and which is the direct cause of the fireman's injury, the defendant is not liable to the fireman." Lipson v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal. 3d 362, 367. Plaintiffs contend that the firef...

Excerpt: ...job responsibilities, without reimbursement. This allegation satisfies the commonality requirement for class actions at the pleading stage. The court in Prince v. CLS Transportation, Inc. (2004) 118 Cal. App. 4th 1320, 1329, held that a demurrer to a class action complaint is improper where the plaintiff alleges institutional practices that affected all of the members of the potential class in the same manner, and it appears from the complaint th...

Excerpt: ...het v. Galardi (2014) 229 Cal. App. 4th 1466, 1474 n.5. Plaintiff alleges he was falsely accused of violating masking policies at work when someone reported to plaintiff's employer that he refused to wear a mask. Plaintiff tried to correct that accusation, and later his employer put him under performance review. Plaintiff again tried to refute the false masking accusation, and then was fired. Plaintiff's 1st cause of action is for Wrongful Termin...

Excerpt: ...for anonymity should be granted only if the court finds that an overriding interest will likely be prejudiced without use of a pseudonym, and that it is not feasible to protect the interest with less impact on the constitutional right of access. In deciding the issue the court must bear in mind the critical importance of the public's right to access judicial proceedings. Outside of cases where anonymity is expressly permitted by statute, litigati...

Excerpt: ... their recovery under the proposed settlement. In the motion for preliminary approval, plaintiff represented that there were 1270 employees, 1189 of whom were class members, 1029 of whom signed Pick-Up Stx agreements, leaving 160 class members to participate in the settlement. But in the motion for final approval, plaintiff represents that there are 1445 class members, 1130 of whom signed Pick-up Stx agreements, leaving 315 class members to parti...

Excerpt: ...er employees will be stayed pending completion of the arbitration in this case and/or in the related case of Bustos vs. Stations Service, Inc., Case No. 2022-01297805. Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice is granted as to #1 and 2, and is denied as irrelevant as to #3. Zucchet v. Galardi (2014) 229 Cal. App. 4th 1466, 1474 n.5. The Case Management Conference set for today is ordered off calendar. A Post-Arbitration Review Hearing is set for Ma...

Excerpt: ...ies and legally operative language, they do not accept the truth of matters stated in those documents. Fontenot v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2011) 198 Cal. App. 4th 256, 254- 65; Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Plaintiff presented a Government Claims Act claim to the State Bar on October 18, 2021, which was denied on November 12, 2021. (Dfs' RJN, Exs. '-J.) However, the Doe Amendments adding the Stat...

Excerpt: ...it does not accept the truth of matters stated in those documents. Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Plaintiffs' Objections to Evidence are all overruled based on the authority of Cole v. Town of Los Gatos (2012) 205 Cal. App. 4th 749, 764 n.6, that "where a trial court is confronted on summary judgment with a large number of nebulous evidentiary objections, a fair sample of which appear to be meritl...

Excerpt: ...t does not accept the truth of matters stated in those documents. Herrera v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2011) 196 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1375. Plaintiff's Objections to Evidence are all overruled based on the authority of Cole v. Town of Los Gatos (2012) 205 Cal. App. 4th 749, 764 n.6, that "where a trial court is confronted on summary judgment with a large number of nebulous evidentiary objections, a fair sample of which appear to be meritle...

Excerpt: .... A Post-Arbitration Review Hearing is set for May 10, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. The parties must file a Joint Status Report at least a week before the hearing, and may request a contnuance if arbitration is not yet complete. The court concludes that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the individual claims asserted by plaintiff and that no grounds exist to bar enforcement of the agreement. CCP 51281.2. Plaintiff does not deny that she signed the...

Excerpt: ...nty of Orange, et al., Case No. 8:18-cv-CM55- DOC-JDE. However, this court previously ruled that it will leave the equitable issues in this case for now while the issue of jurisdiction is still being disputed in federal court. Thus, the issue of the availability of monetary damages does not completely dispose of these causes of action, and a demurrer cannot rightfully sustained to part of a cause of action or to a particular type of damage or rem...

Excerpt: ...ical services in the future was legally unavailable, noting it was impossible for Kaiser to defintively know the reasonable and customary value of emergency medical services until a jury fixed that value. 71 Cal. App. 5th at 343. Yet plaintiffs here allege in 965 of their First Amended Complaint at 15:6—8, "KPC HOSPITALS seek an injunction prohibiting Kaiser from continuing to deduct the items and services from KPC HOSPITALS' bills when paying ...

Excerpt: ...ndants' Evidentiary Objections to Plaintiff's Declaration are overruled as to #1-2, 6-17 and 23-27, and are sustained as to #3-5, 18-22 and 28-29. Defendants' Evidentiary Objections to Plaintiffs Request for Judicial Notice are overruled; the court has disregarded all the commentary included within Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice and has simply ruled on the propriety of taking judicial notice of the cmuments referenced therein. Plaintiff ...