Excerpt: ...plaintiff can plead California has a “special obligation” to undertake the massive burden of a nationwide class action. Osborne v. Subaru of America (1988) 198 C.A.3d 646 held that California courts should not, lacking a “special obligation” to do so, undertake the massive burden of adjudicating nationwide class action lawsuits when to do so would require the trial court to adjudicate issues by application of numerous different rules of l...

Excerpt: ... Finally, defendants do not sufficiently establish the relevancy of these materials. Ruling on Objections Plaintiffs' objections are sustained in their entirety. The court also notes that new evidence and arguments submitted in the reply papers is improper to consider where the opposing party has not had the opportunity to respond. (Plenger v. Alza Corp. (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 349, 362, fn. 8; Alliant Ins. Services, Inc. v. Gaddy (2009) 159 Cal.Ap...

Excerpt: ...trial court shall grant a motion for summary judgment if “all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material 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 PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law an...

Excerpt: ... “all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(c).) In reviewing a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the supporting evidence, and inferences reasonably drawn from such evidence, in the light most favorable to the opposing party. (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Company (2001) 25 C...

Excerpt: ...is moving defendant. A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the pleadings, not the truth of the plaintiff's allegations or accuracy of the described conduct. (Picton v. Anderson Union High School (1996) 50 Cal.App.4th 726, 733.) All properly pleaded facts are assumed to be true as well as those that are judicially noticeable. (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318; Gomes v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. (2011) 192 Cal.App.4th 1149, 1153.) T...

Excerpt: ...As a preliminary matter, plaintiff's notice of intention to move for new trial states that the court's power to rule on the motion expires 60 days after service of notice of entry of judgment, which occurred on January 19, 2021. The court notes that pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 660(c), the power of the court to rule on the motion in fact expires 75 days after service of written notice of entry of judgment. Plaintiff Christopher She...

Excerpt: ...l Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) In the current request, defendant challenges the sufficiency of the allegations within the second and third causes of action. Plaintiff alleges a fraud claim in the second cause of action. A fraud claim requires the plaintiff to plead a misrepresentation; knowledge of it falsity; intent to induce reliance; justifiable reliance; and damages. (Lazar v. Superior Court (1996) 12 Cal.4th 631, 638.) Here...

Excerpt: ...r how improbable the allegations may seem. (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) A review of the third cause of action shows allegations are conclusory statements that fail to allege sufficient factual allegations to support an intentional tort claim. For these reasons, the demurrer is sustained as to the third cause of action. Plaintiff is not afforded leave to amend the intentional torts claim as she fa...

Excerpt: ...ously sought leave to add a claim for negligent misrepresentation that was denied on October 27, 2015 and the ruling unchallenged by plaintiff. He has not made a sufficient showing that would support a reversal of the prior denial to add this claim to his operative pleading. The same is true for the breach of contract claim. Defendant Wells Fargo successfully challenged plaintiff's breach of contract claim with a demurrer. The court issued a ruli...

Excerpt: ...aith Settlement The unopposed motion is granted. Based on the standards set forth in Tech‐Bilt v. Woodward Clyde & Associates (1985) 38 Cal.3d 488, the settlement at issue is within the reasonable range of the settling cross‐defendant's proportionate shares of liability for plaintiffs' injuries and therefore is in good faith within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 877.6. /// PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil...

Excerpt: ... that arbitration should be ordered based upon the existence of an arbitration agreement between plaintiff Dycus HVAC and defendant JBS Ventures, reiterating they are not signatories to the agreement. A threshold question for any motion to compel arbitration is whether there exists an agreement to arbitrate. (Cruise v. Kroger Co. (2015) 233 Cal.App.4th 390, 396.) The moving party carries this initial burden of proving, by a preponderance of the e...

Excerpt: ...r the motion should be denied on the grounds of untimeliness, the court has taken into account the lengthy procedural history in this matter, including numerous discovery motions, and the circumstances under which the motion was set for hearing in the first place. This motion was set on shortened notice by the ex parte application of plaintiff. Plaintiff claimed in the ex parte application that the discovery needed was critically important. The e...

Excerpt: ...2 of 24 PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR MARCH 11, 2021 AT 8:30 A.M. Defendants' objections to the Kirnon declaration are sustained in their entirety. Defendants' objections to the Patrick declaration are sustained in their entirety. Defendants' objections nos. to the Pruett declaration are sustained in their entirety. Ruling on Motion The application f...

Excerpt: ...al of the sixth cause of action, the only cause of action where defendant is named individually, was dismissed on September 9, 2020. The dismissal was filed prior to plaintiff's opposition and well before the hearing on the motion. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 1 of 10 PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATI...

Excerpt: ... no merit to one or more of the causes of action. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(f)(1).) A plaintiff seeking summary judgment must establish each element of the cause of action to meet its initial burden. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(p)(1).) Once a plaintiff proves its prima facie case, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to prove material facts. (Code of Civil Procedure section 437c(p)(1).) In reviewing a motion for summa...

Excerpt: ...tice of motion here only seeks summary judgment without specifically requesting summary adjudication. The failure to seek summary adjudication is also reflected in defendants' separate statement. A party seeking summary adjudication must identify each of the specific causes of action challenged in the separate statement. (California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1350(b), (d), (h).) Defendants failed to do this in their separate statement. The deficienci...

Excerpt: ...re is no triable issue as to any material 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 ca...

Excerpt: ...by that firm in this action until July 30, 2020 when he PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 10 of 13 PLACER COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT THURSDAY, CIVIL LAW AND MOTION DEPARTMENT 42 THE HONORABLE CHARLES D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR FEBRUARY 25, 2021 AT 8:30 A.M. became self‐represented. A sampling of only some of the many disparaging, accusatory and alarming comments made by respondent S...

Excerpt: ... the court's June 14, 2018 ruling. The issuance of these writs against the defendants was improper. The June 14, 2018 ruling awarded plaintiffs $13,745 in attorney's fees and $474.37 in costs related to a motion to set aside defaults entered against defendants. The basis for the set aside was attorney fault under Code of Civil Procedure section 473(b) and the court's ruling clearly identifies attorney fault as the sole basis for setting aside the...

Excerpt: ...fact plaintiff is not proceeding with the unlawful detainer based upon a nonpayment of rent. Plaintiff makes it clear that the action is based upon the failure to perform covenants other than the failure to pay rent. (Complaint ¶9.a(5).) Plaintiff maintaining the option to proceed with nonpayment of rent in her 3‐day notice does not require plaintiff to comply with Section 1179.03 when plaintiff chooses to proceed by the other performance cove...

Excerpt: ...based upon the “self‐critical analysis privilege.” Defendant submits the court has inherent power to recognize the privilege, even though case law and the Evidence Code do not recognize the privilege. The court declines to recognize the claimed privilege. “The Evidence Code recognizes 13 privileges, each in a separate article. (Evid.Code, §§ 930–1063.) The self‐critical analysis privilege is not among them.” (Cloud v. Superior Cou...

Excerpt: ...09) 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.) In the current challenge, cross‐defendants contend the FACC is a sham pleading. Under the sham pleading doctrine, a pleader is precluded from amending complaints to omit harmful allegations, without explanation, to avoid a demurrer...

Excerpt: ...iciency of the pleadings, not the truth of the allegations or the accuracy of the described conduct. Bader v. Anderson (2009) 179 Cal.App.4th 775, 787. The allegations in the pleadings are deemed true no matter how improbable they may seem. Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604. The demurrer is overruled as to plaintiff's first cause of action for negligence. With respect to this cause of action, plaintiff a...

Excerpt: ...d appears on the face of the complaint or from matters of which the court may or must take judicial notice.” (Aaronoff v. Martinez‐Seftner (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 910, 918.) Here, defendants challenge all five causes of action asserting each is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. However, the allegations within the complaint do not bear this out. Plaintiff alleges defendants acknowledged, promised to pay, and made payments on the ...

Excerpt: ... D. WACHOB TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR FEBRUARY 4, 2021 AT 8:30 A.M. PLEASE NOTE THAT ORAL ARGUMENT WILL BE HEARD ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021 AT 8:30 A.M. IN DEPARTMENT 42. PLACER SUPERIOR COURT – DEPARTMENT 42 Thursday Civil Law and Motion – Tentative Rulings Page 6 of 11 records requested in RPDs nos. 39 and 40. The motion cannot be granted as currently presented to the court. First, the motion does not include a separate statement as required u...