Excerpt: ... of the pleading or from other matters properly subject to judicial notice. (See Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) The issue is the sufficiency of the pleading, not the truth of the facts alleged. Thus, no matter how unlikely or improbable, the allegations made must be accepted as true for the purpose of ruling on the demurrer. (See Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) 2nd COA for Unfair Busines...

Excerpt: ...tlement agreement', to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. As to the Settlement 1. Although the Davis Declaration indicates “information regarding the preliminary approval hearing” was provided to the LWDA (ROA 386, Davis Decl., ¶75), it is unclear if this means the moving papers were served on the LWDA. If so, proof of service of the moving papers on the LWDA should be filed with the Court. 2. The Settlement and Plaintiffs repres...

Excerpt: ... Case No. 30-2017- 00908279; Anderson v. The Irvine Company, LLC, Case No. 30-2017-00907780; Anderson v. The Irvine Company, LLC, Case No. 30-2017-00908262 and Abousheta v. The Irvine Company, LLC, Case No. 30-2017-00920789. The Court GRANTS Moving Plaintiffs' Request for Judicial Notice (ROA 875). When there are actions involving common questions of law or fact pending, a court may order a joint trial of any or all of the matters in issue in the...

Excerpt: ... claims or defenses typical of the class; and (3) class representatives who can adequately represent the class.” (Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court (2012) 53 Cal.4 th 1004, 1021 [internal quotations and citations omitted].) These elements are typically referred to as: (1) ascertainability; (2) numerosity; (3) commonality; (4) typicality; (5) adequacy; and (6) superiority. (See e.g. Capitol People First v. State Dept. of Developmental S...

Excerpt: ...ties shall also provide redline copies of the revised notice and proposed order. A judgment in a PAGA action “binds all those, including nonparty aggrieved employees, who would be bound by a judgment in an action brought by the government.” (Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, 986.) Thus, “PAGA settlements are subject to trial court review and approval, “to determine whether it is fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA'...

Excerpt: ...they had been unsuccessful in contacting Elias and, as a result, could not provide any discovery responses on her behalf. (Lambert Decl. ¶ 7.) After no responses were made, even after extensions, a motion to compel further responses was filed, went unopposed, and was granted by the Court on 01-07-22, including an award of monetary sanctions. (ROA 124.) At that time, the Court declined to issue terminating sanctions absent proof of service of the...

Excerpt: ...on's outstanding loan obligation. ROA 1075, NOM. GF Capital's Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. The Court SUSTAINS GF Capital's Objection Nos. 4, 5, 8 and 9. ROA 1151, Objections. The Court OVERRULES GF Capital's Objection Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7. Notwithstanding that the Court overrules the Objection Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7, the Court notes that the statements therein are irrelevant because Defendants signed the Forbearance Agreement, which ac...

Excerpt: ...ent to the settlement agreement is directed, rather than “amended settlement agreement”, to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. Further, the parties are reminded to properly bookmark their filings. As to the Settlement 1. Plaintiff represents in the Memorandum of Points and Authorities that “[u]pon final approval of the settlement, the other named defendant, Kushagram will be dismissed from the case without prejudice." (ROA 185, ...

Excerpt: ... [PAGA Action]. For the reasons set forth below, the Motions are DENIED. Plaintiff does not dispute that the parties entered into the Inside Loan Officer Employment Agreement (“Employment Agreement”) and the Mutual Arbitration Agreement (Arbitration Agreement) and that the latter encompasses the claims in this action. ROA 38, Randall Decl. in the Class Action [ROA 28 in the PAGA Action], at ¶¶6-14 and Ex. 1, Inside Loan Officer Employment A...

Excerpt: ...nd 4 are SUSTAINED. Plaintiff's objection no. 5 is OVERRULED. Plaintiff's objection no. 6 is OVERRULED. Defendants' objection nos. 1, 2, and 3 are OVERRULED. Defendants' objection no. 4, as to Foss Decl. ¶ 22 is OVERRULED; as to Foss Decl. Ex. B is SUSTAINED. Legal Standard A defendant moving for summary judgment or adjudication bears the initial burden to show the plaintiff's claims have no merit. It may do this by demonstrating either “that ...

Excerpt: ...s shall also provide redline copies of the revised notice and proposed order. A judgment in a PAGA action “binds all those, including nonparty aggrieved employees, who would be bound by a judgment in an action brought by the government.” (Arias v. Superior Court (2009) 46 Cal.4th 969, 986.) Thus, “PAGA settlements are subject to trial court review and approval, “to determine whether it is fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA's p...

Excerpt: ...ement agreement', to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. As to the Settlement 1. Were the Settlement and moving papers served on the LWDA? Proofs of service on the LWDA should be filed with the Court. 2. The PAGA notice letter(s) to the LWDA should be submitted to the Court. 3. The Participating Class Members' Release is confusing. The Settlement states “Plaintiffs and all other Participating Class Members shall be deemed to have set...

Excerpt: ...s as follows:  $178,771.88 for exhibits, trial tech and graphic support – Category 11, and  $65,125 in costs for discovery referee fees (Category 16). ROA 8176, Reply, p. 2. The Court concludes there is no basis for staying a determination of costs pending the appeal in this matter. (See Code Civ. Proc. § 916(a); Korchemny v. Piterman (2021) 68 Cal.App.5 th 1032, 1052 [“filing a notice of appeal does not stay any proceedings to determi...

Excerpt: ...ete the sentence commencing “The Objection . . .” Requirements for the objection are adequately addressed in the Notice, as more fully discussed below. f. Propose dates for paragraphs 25 and 26 based on the implementation schedule approved by the Order. Final approval hearings are held on Thursdays at 2 PM. The motion for final approval must be filed at least 16 court days before the hearing g. The Settlement Agreement and Notice, including E...

Excerpt: ...lement agreement”, to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. As to the Settlement 17. There are references to PAGA claims or PAGA penalties in the Settlement Agreement and Class Notice, and the settlement purports to release PAGA claims, but no portion of the settlement amount is allocated to any PAGA penalties and there is no PAGA claim in the Complaint (ROA 2). With no reference to PAGA in the Complaint, and with no pre-filing notice ...

Excerpt: ...The Court DENIES Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice (ROA 89) and Supplemental Request for Judicial Notice (ROA 104) because they are not necessary or relevant to the Court's decision in this matter. As such, Plaintiff's evidentiary objections (ROA 96) to Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice are MOOT. The Court GRANTS all of Defendants' Objections (ROA 106) to the Anbari Declaration. The Merits. To compel arbitration under either the CAA o...

Excerpt: ...e proceeding. (Code Civ. Proc. §473(a)(1); Hulsey v. Koehler (1990) 218 Cal.App.3f 1150, 1159.) Similarly, any judge, at any time before or after commencement of trial, in the furtherance of justice, and upon such terms as may be proper, may allow the amendment of any pleading, including answers. (Code Civ. Proc. §576.) California courts generally allow great liberality, at all stages of the proceeding, in permitting the amendment of pleadings ...

Excerpt: ...t of pleadings to resolve cases on their merits. (IMO Development Corp. v. Dow Corning Corp. (1982) 135 Cal. App. 3d 451, 461.) Because the policy favoring amendment is so strong, “It is a rare case in which denial of leave to amend can be justified. Leave to amend should be denied only where the facts are not in dispute, and the nature of the plaintiff's claim is clear, but under substantive law, no liability exists and no amendment would chan...

Excerpt: ..., is entitled to “the reasonable expenses and attorney's fees incurred in presenting or opposing the motion. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm shall be held jointly responsible for violations committed by its partners, associates, and employees”. To warrant attorney fees for defending against a sanctions motion, Defendant must show the sanctions motion is frivolous, unfounded, filed for an improper purpose, or otherwise unreasonabl...

Excerpt: ...nd confer as required under CCP §§ 430.41 and 435.5. Although the Court elects to proceed on the merits, the Court reminds the parties of their obligation to meet and confer and expects that the parties will make more robust efforts to comply with their meet and confer requirements in the future. A general demurrer challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint on the ground that it fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of acti...

Excerpt: ...court ordinarily has inherent power, in its discretion, to stay proceedings when such a stay will accommodate the ends of justice.' (People v. Bell (1984) 159 Cal.App.3d 323, 329.) As the Court in Landis v. North American Co. (1936) 299 U.S. 248, 254, explained, “the power to stay proceedings is incidental to the power inherent in every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time and effort for itself, for ...

Excerpt: ...improper purpose, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the costs of litigation”; (2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions “are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law” and (3) the allegations and other factual contentions have evidentiary support or are likely to have evidentiary suppor...

Excerpt: ...tlement agreement', to avoid use of limited Court time and resources. Further, the parties are reminded to properly bookmark their filings. As to the Settlement 1. How are the PAGA payments treated for tax purposes? 2. The Settlement expressly provides there is no extension for objections. Is the same intended for requests for exclusion and disputes? How does re-mailing effect these deadlines? 3. If a Class Member submits an objection and request...

Excerpt: ...were insufficient. Therefore, the remaining discovery issues are: RPD Nos. 1 and 3, SI Nos. 5 and 6, and the PMQ and Peter Swartz depositions. Petitioner argues that Gemdale was required to move to reopen discovery before seeking to compel discovery. This argument has already been considered and rejected in connection with Gemdale's second ex parte application. See ROA 249; ROA 266, Hedenkamp Decl., Ex. 1, at pp. 7:9-8:13. This Court has discreti...

Excerpt: ... Rounding Policies, Practices and Procedures; and 4. Topics 18 and 21 – Payroll Systems and Software. Defendant responds that Plaintiff's topics were not clearly stated and that Trocellier testified completely given the broad descriptions of the topics. In particular, Defendant argues that nowhere in Plaintiff's then-existing operative complaint or the Amended Notice did Plaintiff specifically identify “pay codes” or “rounding” with rea...