Excerpt: ...ns Plaintiff's objections are overruled in their entirety. Defendants' objections are overruled in their entirety. Ruling on Motion The motion for summary judgment is denied. The trial court engages in a specific analysis when reviewing a motion for summary judgment. First, it must define the scope of the motion by looking to the operative pleading. The pleadings serve as the “outer measure of materiality” for a motion for summary judgment in...

Excerpt: ...e August 12, 2018 email to plaintiff's counsel; (2) destroy all forms of copies within the possession of defendants; and (3) limit defendants' ability to question Mr. Auger regarding the email. Plaintiff clarifies in his moving papers that he seeks an order precluding defendants “from asking any questions (interrogatories or deposition) on the subject of the August 12th email, including Mr. Auger's transmission of the attachment thereto.” (Pl...

Excerpt: ...s to the portion of a settlement representing payment for medical expenses, in order to determine the amount available to satisfy the lien. The court is to be guided by the United States Supreme Court decision in Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn (2006) 547 U.S. 268, in determining what portion of a settlement represents payment for medical expenses or medical care. The total settlement amount in light of the total claim...

Excerpt: ...cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense thereto. Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(2); Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850. If the moving party carries its initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing that there are no triable issues of material fact, the burden shifts to the opposing party to make a prima facie showing of the existence of a triable issue of material fact. Id. The court notes tha...

Excerpt: ...the causes of action in question cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense thereto. Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(2); Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850. If the moving party carries its initial burden of production to make a prima facie showing that there are no triable issues of material fact, the burden shifts to the opposing party to make a prima facie showing of the existence of a triable issue of mater...

Excerpt: ...e to duly served discovery requests. As conceded by defendants, defendants failed to provide identifying information relating to a fact witness who was a Lyft passenger in plaintiff's vehicle and who observed the car accident which is the subject of this action. This was despite the fact that documents in the possession of defendant Richard Montoya, and subsequently in the possession of defense counsel, contained this information. Plaintiffs cont...

Excerpt: ...iling party.” Bad faith may be shown by: (1) the objective speciousness of the claim; and (2) subjective bad faith in bringing or maintaining the action, i.e., for an improper purpose. Cypress 7 Semiconductor Corp. v. Maxim Integrated Prod., Inc. (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 243, 260. Under the “objectively specious” standard, it is sufficient for defendants to point to the absence of evidence of misappropriation in the record. Id. at 260‐261. ...

Excerpt: ...e cited document is not attached to the request. Defendant's demurrer to complaint is sustained with leave to amend. Plaintiff fails to allege sufficient facts to establish a valid cause of action for professional negligence against defendant Nick Tziavaras. Any amended complaint shall be filed and served on or before January 10, 2020. Motion to Strike Defendant's request for judicial notice is granted as to Exhibit A. The request is denied as to...

Excerpt: ...s the recovery of attorneys' fees to a buyer who prevails in an action under that section, “determined by the court to have been reasonably incurred by the buyer in connection with the commencement and prosecution of such action.” Plaintiffs request attorneys' fees in the amount of $38,468, which includes estimated fees relating to the current motion of $6,975. Plaintiff also requests a .3 multiplier resulting in additional attorneys' fees of...

Excerpt: ...harges, the burden is on the party seeking to tax costs to show that they were not reasonable or necessary.” Ladas v. Cal. State Auto. Ass'n (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774. When the reasonableness of particular items is challenged, conclusory allegations do not satisfy the objecting party's burden. Id.; Jones v. Dumrichob (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1258, 1266. Alternatively, where items are properly put in issue by objection, the burden of proof is ...

Excerpt: ...otion – Tentative Rulings Page 17 of 23 PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2019 AT 8:30 A.M. Ruling on Motion The motion is denied without prejudice. A party may be declared a vexatious litigant under the following circumstances: (1) the person, acting in pro per, has filed five or more actions within the last seven years that were either a...

Excerpt: ...stitute a cause of action. (Code of Civil Procedure section 438(c)(1)(B).) “[J]udgment on the pleadings must be denied where there are material factual issues that require evidentiary resolution. (Schabarum v. California Legislature (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 1205, 1216.) The court reviews the motion keeping these principles in mind. Defendant challenges all four causes of action asserting, among other things, each claim is deficiently pleaded. A re...

Excerpt: ...al fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(c).) A party to the action may also move for summary adjudication if that party contends there is no merit to one or more of the causes of action. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(f)(1).) The moving party bears the initial burden of establishing that one or elements of a cause of action cannot be established or there is a compl...

Excerpt: ...n 438(c)(1)(B).) “[J]udgment on the pleadings must be denied where there are material factual issues that require evidentiary resolution. (Schabarum v. California Legislature (1998) 60 Cal.App.4th 1205, 1216.) The court reviews the motion keeping these principles in mind. Defendants challenge all six causes of action asserting, among other things, that the claims are barred by the statute of limitations along with lacking the level of specifici...

Excerpt: ...d under well established principles. The challenge tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787.) The allegations in the pleadings are deemed to be true no matter how improbable the allegations may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) Furthermore, the failure to ple...

Excerpt: ...med at these defendants. The trial court engages in a specific analysis when reviewing a motion for summary judgment. First, it must define the scope of the motion by looking to the operative pleading. The pleadings serve as the “outer measure of materiality” for a motion for summary judgment in addition to determining the scope of the motion. (Government Employees Ins. Co. v. Superior Court PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Ci...

Excerpt: ...jections to evidence are ruled on as follows: Objection Nos. 3, 5, 8, 9 and 10 to the declaration of Michelle Gallagher are sustained. Objection Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8 to the declaration of Anna Murphy are sustained. The remaining objections are overruled. Ruling on Motion Defendant and cross‐complainant Charley Smith, individually and as trustee of the Charley D. Smith Family Trust (“Smith”) moves for summary judgment of plaintiff and cross...

Excerpt: ...cedure section 1033(a) is denied. The court notes that plaintiff sought damages for actual medical expenses resulting from the incident, future medical expenses and general damages that far exceeded the jurisdictional maximum of a limited civil action. There is no showing that plaintiff acted unreasonably or in bad faith in asserting her claims. Defendant alternatively moves to tax discrete items of costs claimed by plaintiff. “If the items app...

Excerpt: ...erson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The court assumes the truth of all facts properly pleaded, and accepts as true all facts that may be implied or reasonably inferred from facts expressly alleged, unless they are contradicted by judicially noticed facts. Evans v. City of Berkeley (2006) 38 Cal.4th 1, 6. However, the court does not assume the truth of contentions, deductions, or conclusions of facts or law. Id. Plaintiff's form complaint alleg...

Excerpt: ...r of law. Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 850. The moving party has the burden of showing, by 1 affidavit, facts establishing every element necessary to sustain a judgment in favor of the party. Consumer Cause, Inc. v. Smilecare (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 454, 468. Once a plaintiff sets forth evidence establishing each element of its prima facie case, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to prove a triable issue regardi...

Excerpt: ...perty claim. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 405.31, 405.32. A real property claim means “a cause of action in a pleading which would, if meritorious, affect (a) title to, or the right to possession of, specific real property or (b) the use of an easement identified in the pleading”. Code Civ. Proc. § 405.4. The current action was dismissed by the court without prejudice on September 17, 2019, with plaintiff's consent. Although the action has been dism...

Excerpt: ... letter to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (“LWDA”) on February 6, 2019, alleging wage and hour violations against her former employer, defendant Williams‐Sonoma Stores, Inc. Farinha filed the complaint in this action on April 12, 2019, as a putative wage and hour class and representative action. Overton submitted a letter to the LWDA on May 2, 2019, alleging violations of the Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Ord...

Excerpt: ...beth Voss. A party may move to quash a subpoena directed to a third party where the records sought are not within the permissible scope of discovery. Plaintiff moves to quash the subject subpoena on several grounds, including that it is facially overbroad, seeks confidential and privileged information, and seeks information that has been improperly retained by a former employee. The subpoena served on Elizabeth Voss requests two categories of doc...

Excerpt: ...BOATRIGHT, CHARLENE v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN MOSQUEDA, OPHELIA v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN ROSE, AMY v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN BRELFORD, VIRGINIA v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN BASILEU, JANET v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN RODRIGUEZ, SARAI v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN SOMERS, LUCY v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN MUNOZ, DULCE v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN BROADWAY, REBECCA v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN ARAKELYAN, GOHAR v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN ADAME, ULISES v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN FRANCO, SNA v. GONZALEZ, EFRAIN LAVOW‐DAVIS, PATRICIA ...

Excerpt: ...evidence a strong public policy in favor of arbitration that is frequently approved and enforced by the courts. Madden v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (1976) 17 Cal.3d 699, 706; Laswell v. AG Seal Beach, LLC, et al (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 1399, 1405. Under both federal and state law, a threshold question for any petition to compel arbitration is whether there exists an agreement to arbitrate. Cruise v. Kroger Co. (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 390, 396. In...