Excerpt: ...rises out of plaintiff's prior employment with CDCR. Her complaint asserts various causes of action under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). In 2015 the parties stipulated to a protective order which permits the parties to designate as confidential certain documents including plaintiff's employment, medical, psychiatric and psychological records so as to limit their use and disclosure to this litigation only but it also permits the...

Excerpt: ... employment dispute involving allegations of discrimination under the FEHA. Sterling's fourth cause of action is for defamation. The County argues that it is entitled to summary adjudication because “the alleged ‘defamation' was nothing more than the internal evaluation of [Sterling]'s work performance” and therefore is inactionable under Jensen v. Hewlett‐Packard Co. (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 958. Sterling opposes on grounds that the motion ...

Excerpt: ...wheelchair. Trial in this action is currently set for January 14, 2019, and the parties have exchanged expert witness designations. Plaintiff now seeks to have the Court strike some of Defendants 17 retained experts pursuant to CCP § 2034.250(b)(6) on the grounds that some of the expert designations are duplicative. CCP § 2034.250(b)(6) provides that a court may issue a protective order to “reduce the list of employed or retained experts desi...

Excerpt: ...lity in Galt, California during the operation of a machine called a power press, also known as a punch press, Chicago press, or punch press 8, which injured plaintiff Alvaro Alvarez' (“Plaintiff”) right hand and forearm. Plaintiff's right hand and forearm had to be amputated just below his right elbow. Plaintiff filed this action against Defendant on November 14, 2016. In this action, Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) alleges t...

Excerpt: ...ove, California (the "Property") owned solely by Defendant Kiran Rawat ("Defendant" or "Rawat"). On November 29, 2018, Plaintiffs noticed Defendant's deposition for December 17, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. On December 11, 2018, Defendant sent Plaintiffs an email indicating she was “not available” for deposition on December 17. (Hobbs Decl. ¶ 3, Exh. B‐1.) Defendant did not serve written objections. (Hobbs Decl. ¶ 3.) Plaint...

Excerpt: ...hole on the highway related to the construction. Plaintiff is incarcerated at Wasco State Prison, Wasco, California, and is eligible for parole in May of 2020. Prior to Plaintiffs incarceration in August of 2018, defendants noticed Plaintiff's deposition for February 23, 2018 and then April 6, 2018, but were unable to depose him. (Garcia Decl., ¶ 9) Defendants seek an order granting leave to take Plaintiff's videotaped deposition at Wasc...

Excerpt: ...el of Local Rule 1.06 and the Court's tentative ruling procedure. If Defendant's counsel is unable to contact Plaintiff's counsel prior to the hearing, Defendant's counsel shall be available at the hearing, in person or by telephone, in the event Plaintiff's counsel appears without following the procedures set forth in Local Rule 1.06(B). Request for Judicial Notice Plaintiff's request for judicial notice is denied. The Complaint filed by a diffe...

Excerpt: ...nc., JAMS Reg. No. 1100090976, and (2) the DLSE Opinion Letter regarding the professional exemption is GRANTED. In taking judicial notice of these documents, the Court accepts the fact of their existence, not the truth of their contents. (See Professional Engineers v. Dep't of Transp. (1997) 15 Cal. 4th 543, 590 [judicial notice of findings of fact does not mean that those findings of fact are true].) Defendant's request for judicial noti...

Excerpt: ...s portions of a cause of action that are substantively defective on the face of the complaint. (PH II, Inc. v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1680, 1682‐83; see also Code of Civ. Proc. § 437.) More specifically, a motion to strike should be granted to remove "any irrelevant, false, or improper matter inserted in any pleading," or where the pleadings are drawn in violation of a law, rule or court order. (Code of Civ. Proc. § 436....

Excerpt: ...will be addressed at the hearing and the parties should be prepared to point to specific evidence which is claimed to show the existence or non‐existence of a triable issue of material fact. *** Defendant California Department of Toxic Substances Control's (“DTSC”) motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative, summary adjudication is ruled upon as follows. At the outset, the Court notes that DTSC's notice of motion fails to comply wit...

Excerpt: ...about November 21, 2017, following an altercation with his wife. (Compl. ¶ 13.) The deputies transferred Plaintiff to a Kaiser hospital where he was prescribed Ibuprofen prior to his intake with the Sheriff's Department at the main jail. (Compl. ¶ 14.) The following day, Plaintiff was in pain while incarcerated and was seen by correctional medical staff. Plaintiff was released later that same day. Defendant Maria Candalla R.N.'s demurre...

Excerpt: ...worked as a para professional for Defendant Elk Grove Unified School District during the 2015‐2016 and 2016‐2017 school years. The case is currently set for trial to commence on February 25, 2019. The Sacramento County Sheriffs Department arrested Gollas on or about September 16, 2016 and conducted an investigation into the allegations of the complaint. Deputy Mark Francis, Badge #1490 and Detective Heidi Hampton, Badge #567 investigated the ...

Excerpt: ...ng parts of the 2014 and 2015 baseball seasons. Defendant served a business records subpoena on Wells Fargo asking for all of plaintiff's bank records for the period of time he was employed by the Rivercats. On September 7, 2018, Defendant Sacramento River Cats Baseball Club, LLC served Plaintiff with its Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records from Wells Fargo Bank, National Association c/o CSC ‐ Lawyers Incorporating Servic...

Excerpt: ...led this lawsuit in March 2017, asserting a sole cause of action for motor vehicle negligence. The named defendants include One Call Medical, Inc. (NJ) dba One Call Care Management as well as Zonecare USA of Delray, LLC (FL) dba One Call Care Transport + Translate (collectively “One Call”), which were sued as One Call Care Management, One Call Medical, Inc. and Coral Acquisitions, Inc. Plaintiff alleges that “One Call provides services to t...

Excerpt: ...other torts, punitive damages are available in FEHA cases. (See Commodore Home Systems, Inc. v. Superior Court (1984) 32 Cal.3d 211, 218‐220.) To obtain punitive damages, however, Scott must plead and prove the elements in CC § 3294. Under that section, punitive damages are available where the defendant is guilty of malice, oppression or fraud. Those terms are defined, respectively, to mean “conduct which is intended by the defendant to caus...

Excerpt: ...LLC (2013) 2013 Cal.App.4th 772, "we know of no 'official Web site' provision for judicial notice in California." (See L.B. Research & Education Foundation v. UCLA Foundation (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 171, 180, fn. 2.) "Simply because information is on the Internet does not mean that it is not reasonably subject to dispute." (Huitt v. Southern California Gas Co. (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1586, 1605, fn. 10.) In this elder abuse ...

Excerpt: ... before November 1, 2012. (See Second Amended Notice of Motion to Strike, Items 1 ‐ 15) Raley's contends any adverse action that occurred before that date is outside the limitations period for filing a FEHA complaint. A motion to strike may be used to attack any part of a pleading‐even single words or phrases‐ that are "irrelevant, false or improper" or "not drawn or filed in conformity with the laws of this state, a court r...

Excerpt: ... Redacted versions of the summary judgment and the supporting documents were filed on November 6, 2018. (ROAs 24‐26) The redacted information contains Plaintiff's medical information. The redactions are narrowly tailored to only encompass that information. In order to issue the requested order, the Court must find that there is an overriding interest to support the sealing of these records; that there is a substantial probability that the parti...

Excerpt: ...and others. Plaintiff Farhad Hojatoleslami and Defendant Fatemeh are brother and sister. Plaintiffs allege that in February 2000, Plaintiff Farhad Hojatoleslami entered into an oral agreement with Defendants to form a company using funds from his property in Novato (“Novato Property”) to purchase three lots in Fair Oaks (“Fair Oaks Property”). According to the alleged agreement, Plaintiff Farhad Hojatoleslami worked in Defendants' gas sta...

Excerpt: ...�home marijuana cultivation operation. SMUD first noticed Defendant's deposition to be held on November 3, 2017. Defendant did not appear. On January 26, 2018, SMUD filed a motion to compel Defendant's deposition attendance, which was granted. SMUD then noticed Defendant's deposition to occur on March 8, 2018. Defendant again failed to appear. SMUD subsequently moved for issue, evidentiary, terminating, and monetary sanctions. On July 31, 2018, t...

Excerpt: ...tem (collectively “Plaintiffs”). APM was the landlord's property manager. Co‐Defendant Ding Zhang (Zhang) was the landlord. In the operative fourth amended complaint (4AC), Plaintiffs allege they occupied the premises with a Section 8 HUD voucher. They allege a toxic mold infestation as well as other violations of housing laws, and they further allege that there were no timely attempts to repair despite their initial complaints. When repair...

Excerpt: ... against EMSA and others, for age discrimination in violation of FEHA, “Whistleblower Retaliation and Harassment in Violation of FEHA”, disability discrimination in violation of FEHA, national origin discrimination in violation of FEHA, wrongful termination in violation of public policy and defamation. Plaintiff alleges that he was employed by EMSA in an IT position and was threatened with termination or demotion and denied promotions as a re...

Excerpt: ...s from Oil Consumption Engine Defects including, but not limited to, “excessive oil consumption; improper burning/consumption of abnormally high amounts of oil; premature failure of the engine balance chains; premature failure of the fuel pump plunger seal; fuel leaks into the crankcase; rough running of the engine; engine run‐on conditions; loss of power; rough idle; and/or stalling” which “present a safety hazard and are unreasonably da...

Excerpt: ...ng on sexual harassment prevention on November 27, 2017, is GRANTED. (See Poseidon Devel., Inc. v. Woodland Lane Estates, LLC (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1106, 1117‐18.) In taking judicial notice of these documents, the Court accepts the fact that these articles were published and a hearing was held, but not the truth of their contents. (Id.) Defendant's request for judicial notice in support of her reply as to documents in the Court's file is GRANT...

Excerpt: ... consider plaintiffs' supplemental opposition filed on 11/30/2018 since Code of Civil Procedure §1005 does not provide for the filing of supplemental papers. Factual Background This is a legal malpractice action brought by plaintiffs in pro per Charles and Victoria Yeager. According to the First Amended Complaint (“1AC”), defendants represented plaintiffs beginning in or about June 2009 and according to the moving papers, plaintiffs breached...

Excerpt: ... for other relief” is denied. Plaintiffs'/Cross‐Defendants' City of Elk Grove and the People of California's (“Plaintiffs”) request for judicial notice is granted. The Court received but did not consider the "reply" filed by Cross‐ Defendant Raj Singh. Mr. Singh has no standing to file a "reply" with respect to a motion brought by Defendant. On November 5, 2018, this Court granted Plaintiffs' special motion to strike Def...

Excerpt: ... oral contracts. The fiduciary duty claim includes an allegation that the conduct constituting the breach was done with oppression, fraud and/or malice within the meaning of Civil Code §3294. Both contract causes of action include in their respective final paragraphs a claim attorney fees according to proof. Defendants contend the complaint fails to plead facts necessary to establish the existence of malice, fraud or oppression to support an awa...

Excerpt: ...of contract, and dual tracking pursuant to the Home Owners Bill of Rights. Civil Code section 2924.11 of the HOBR provides: (a) If a borrower submits a complete application for a foreclosure prevention alternative offered by, or through, the borrower's mortgage servicer, a mortgage servicer, trustee, mortgagee, beneficiary, or authorized agent shall not record a notice of sale or conduct a trustee's sale while the complete foreclosure prevention ...

Excerpt: ... the terms and conditions of her employment were governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA") between Delta Dental and the Professional & Clerical Employees Division of Local No. 856 ("the Union). (Id., ¶ 3, Ex. A.) The agreement contained the following provision "No employee or applicant for employment shall be discharged, disciplined, or otherwise discriminated against or denied promotional opportunities because of [.....

Excerpt: ... seek various sanctions against Defendant ZB, N.A. dba California Bank & Trust (“Bank”) for its purported “misuse of the discovery process.” Plaintiffs request monetary sanctions in the amount of $9,840, a contempt sanction, and/or issue sanctions. Alternatively, Plaintiffs seek Bank's further responses to RFAs. 1. Overview On September 20, 2017, Plaintiffs served Bank with Request for Admissions (set one) which included 81 RFAs. Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...n at the facility, Eskaton Fountain Wood Lodge (hereinafter "the facility" or "EFL") from February 24, 2012, to March 22, 2012. Plaintiffs contend that defendants administered Ativan to Ms. Lovenstein which acted as a chemical restraint and resulted in an overdose, constituting elder abuse. Plaintiffs also make various fraud claims as well as a negligent infliction of emotional distress claim against defendants, Eskaton, Eskaton P...

Excerpt: ...ents and maintained insurance on the Properties, Cenlar wrongfully claimed Plaintiff was in default and force‐placed insurance on the Properties. As a result, Plaintiff alleges his credit was damaged and he was forced to pay penalties for the purported defaults. Plaintiff brings six causes of action against Cenlar for (1) accounting, (2) breach of contract, (3) breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, (4) negligence, (5) Violation...

Excerpt: ...d, fourth, and fifth causes of action. (ROA 36.) The District now seeks an award of attorneys' fees and costs incurred in bringing the special motion to strike and in bringing this instant motion for fees. The District seeks an award of $9,940 in attorneys' fees and $202.44 in costs incurred in preparing the underlying special motion to strike and this instant motion for fees. A prevailing defendant on an anti‐SLAPP motion is entitled to recove...

Excerpt: ...69(g).) Defendant is a pet supply company with store locations in the State of California. Plaintiffs Olivia Angel and Herman Parker are former employees of Defendant. On June 23, 2015, Plaintiff Olivia Angel ("Plaintiff Angel") filed a Class Action Complaint for Damages ("Complaint") in the Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento against Defendant thereby commencing a putative wage ‐and‐hour class action (the "...

Excerpt: ...onses. Here the Court finds that the drastic remedy of terminating sanctions, is not warranted at this time. “The sanctions the court may impose are such as are suitable and necessary to enable the party seeking discovery to obtain the objects of the discovery he seeks but the court may not impose sanctions which are designed not to accomplish the objects of the discovery but to impose punishment.” (Caryl Richards, Inc. v. Superior Court (196...

Excerpt: ...ral negligence. (FAC p.3 ¶ 10(b).) Plaintiff also alleges that he suffered “emotional distress and racial profiling” and he seeks “57.28 Million Dollars” in damages. (Id. ¶ 14.) Plaintiff attached his original complaint which is essentially a single paragraph in which he claims that he suffered racial discrimination when Defendants would not cash a check he brought in for the full amount. The attached original complaint does not set for...

Excerpt: ...ax Inc. and Equifax Information Services, LLC's (collectively “Equifax”) demurrer to Plaintiff Nabil Samaan's first amended complaint (“FAC”) is ruled upon as follows. Overview In this action, Plaintiff alleges that he owns multiple residential properties purchased with different mortgage loans being serviced by co‐defendants Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Cenlar Agency, Inc. and PennyMac Loan Services, Inc. (“Servicers”). The Servicers re...

Excerpt: ...tual Background. This is an elder abuse action which was commenced in 2015. On 8/20/2018 defendants propounded Special Interrogatories, Set Nine (consisting of Nos. 461‐562), on plaintiffs, who served on 10/8/2018 their objections and responses to these interrogatories. On 10/15/2018 defendants promptly commenced their efforts to meet‐and‐confer with plaintiffs' counsel regarding the deficiencies claimed to pervade plaintiffs' objections an...

Excerpt: ...igious standards because Defendant allegedly stuns the lambs prior to slaughter. Plaintiffs seek to certify a class of California consumers who purchased the allegedly mislabeled lamb products during the last four years. The parties have agreed to bifurcate discovery into two phases: class certification issues and merits issues. Plaintiffs served a PMQ deposition notice on Defendant which set forth 14 areas of inquiry. (Chase Decl. Exh. I.) The d...

Excerpt: ...ngful death cause of action. The action arises from the care the Decedent received at Defendants' facility. Defendants move to compel the action to arbitration on the basis that Janice Zacher (the Decedent's sister) signed an arbitration agreement (“Agreement”) in connection with the Decedent's admission pursuant to a California Healthcare Directive (“Directive”) designating her as the Decedent's healthcare agent to make medical decis...

Excerpt: ...allegedly suffered while at Defendant's facility. Dr. Damper refused to comply with the subpoena on the basis that it was not accompanied with either a patient authorization or a Court order. Defendant also issued a subpoena to Costco Wholesale Corp. with respect to Plaintiff's pharmacy orders also related to her claims of injury. Costco refused to respond. Defendant thereafter requested that Plaintiff authorize release of the requested records. ...

Excerpt: ...uch an oversized opposition memorandum. Nevertheless, and despite Defendant's objection, the Court considered the entire reply. In this putative class action, Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of all current and former hourly‐paid or non‐exempt employees who worked for Defendant within the State of California at any time during the period from April 27, 2014 to judgment. Plaintiff propounded special interrogatories 1‐4 which asked fo...

Excerpt: ...e proofs of service in the court's files reflecting timely substituted service on 3/24/16. (See Patterson Decl., Exhs. C, E; see also id., Exh. H [minute order].) As the court explained in its minute order, the proofs of service are entitled to a presumption of validity, (Evid. Code § 647), and Defendants' first motion did not include evidence overcoming that presumption. The court denied the first motion without prejudice, however, and Defendan...

Excerpt: ...t to reconsider its May 4, 2018 decision related to ICC's licensing. ICC summarizes its argument as follows: On October 11, 2018, the First District Court of Appeal issued its decision in the matter of Contractors' State License Bd. v. Superior Court (Black Diamond Electric, Inc.) (Oct. 11, 2018, No. A154476) ___ Cal.App.5th ___ [2018 Cal.App.LEXIS 981, at *1]. The case was published on October 31, 2018. ICC advised the court of this new authorit...

Excerpt: ...ring. The parties should be prepared to point to specific admissible evidence which is claimed to show the existence or non‐existence of a triable issue of material fact. *** Defendant City of Sacramento's (“City”) motion for summary adjudication on plaintiff's two causes of action for inverse condemnation and premises liability is ruled on as follows. Moving counsel failed to comply with the mandatory provisions of CRC Rule 3.1350(b), requ...

Excerpt: ...;s ("Admiral") motion for judgment on the pleadings on its entire Cross‐Complaint against Plaintiff/CrossDefendant Ghosia, Inc. dba Sinnister Wheels, dba A N A Motoring Accessories ("Ghosia") is UNOPPOSED but is DENIED. In its action, Ghosia alleges it has a general liability insurance policy with Admiral, but Admiral failed to provide coverage after Ghosia was sued in a personal injury action. Admiral filed a cross‐complaint ...

Excerpt: ...is unopposed. Defendants' request for judicial notice of the Settlement Agreement, which is attached as an exhibit to the FAC, is granted. In taking judicial notice of this document, the Court accepts the fact of its existence, not the truth of its contents. This action arises from the sale of residential property. The parties entered into a Residential Purchase Agreement on or about July 7, 2016. (FAC ¶ 8, Exh. A of Exh. 1.) After a dispute aro...

Excerpt: ...e statement in opposition, the court now issues the following tentative ruling. Defendants Sutter Terrace Dental Group and Rae Ann Whitten, DDS' motion for summary judgment or alternatively, for summary adjudication is GRANTED since defendants' moving papers are sufficient to carry their initial burden under Code of Civil Procedure §437c(p)(2) and since plaintiff in pro per failed to carry her burden of producing admissible evidence sufficient t...

Excerpt: ...igations under the purchase agreement and accompanying master lease. Plaintiffs filed the operative First Amended Complaint on October 5, 2018, alleging causes of action for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, declaratory relief, intentional misrepresentation, rescission, libel, slander, trade libel, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional infliction of...

Excerpt: ...pecific categories for testimony or requests for production that will be addressed at the hearing. The parties are also reminded that pursuant to local rules, only limited oral argument is permitted on law and motion matters. *** Plaintiffs' motion to compel defendant General Motors' (“GM”) further responses to the former's Request for Production, Set One, is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, as follows. Both moving and opposing counsel fai...