Excerpt: ...dants Caroline Kang, LLC dba Laguna Woods, RCFE (“Laguna Woods”), Caroline Kang and Francis Kang's (the “Kangs”)(collectively “Defendants”) demurrer to Plaintiffs' complaint is ruled upon as follows. Overview This is an Elder Abuse action. Decedent Christine Patton (“Christine”) was a resident a Laguna Woods, a residential care facility for the elderly (“RCFE”). Christine required help transferring in an out of her bed and whe...

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: ... of the documents. This matter was continued to allow defendant to file a Reply to the untimely Opposition. In this action, plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint alleges causes of action against defendants and numerous other entities and individuals for Negligence (1st), Breach of Contract and of the Covenant of Good Faith and fair Dealing (2nd), Fraud by Concealment (3rd), Quiet Title (4th), Negligent/Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distr...

Excerpt: ...ank”) demurrer to Plaintiff Janet Robinson's complaint is ruled upon as follows. Overview This is a Homeowners' Bill of Rights (“HBOR”) action. The named defendants are Clear Recon Corp. (“CRC”) and Bank. Plaintiff Janet Robinson alleges that in April 2006, she financed her property which was secured by a Deed of Trust (“DOT”). In early 2018, due to financial hardship, Plaintiff was unable to make timely mortgage payments. She alleg...

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: ... of a corporation that provides pest control services. The corporation is Plaintiff Blizzard Pest Management, Inc. (BPM). The two BPM officers and directors are Plaintiff Samuel Wesley Blizzard (Blizzard) and Defendant William Raymond Rains (Rains). (The court refers to BPM and Blizzard as “Plaintiffs.”) In their complaint, Plaintiffs allege that Blizzard and Rains each own 50% of BPM's shares. Plaintiffs are suing Rains and Rains' recently f...

Excerpt: ...that Defendants are liable on theories of negligence and premises liability. Defendants move for summary judgment on the ground that the lip in the sidewalk was a “trivial defect” and, therefore, they had no duty to repair it. (See Stathoulis v. City of Montebello (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 559, 567 [“trivial defect” is not an affirmative defense, but rather is an aspect of the landowner's duty that the plaintiff must plead and prove].) To su...

Excerpt: ...ected to contact opposing counsel and advise him/her of Local Rule 1.06 and the court's tentative ruling procedure and the manner to request a hearing, along with the correct address for Dept. 53/54. If moving counsel is unable to contact opposing counsel prior to hearing, moving counsel is ordered to appear at the hearing in person or by telephone. Moving counsel failed to comply with CRC Rule 3.1110(b)(3)‐(4). Opposing counsel failed to compl...

Excerpt: ... oral argument must still be made by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 12/18/2018. Defendant CAPPO Management XXIX, Inc. dba Harrold Ford's motion to compel arbitration is ruled upon as follows. Overview In this action, Plaintiffs Margaret Campana (“Campana”) and Dianna Brock (“Brock”) (collectively “Plaintiffs”) are suing their employer for various Labor Code violations for unpaid overtime compensation; failure to pay compensation for forfeited ...

Excerpt: ...ment/adjudication, without prejudice, to allow Plaintiffs an opportunity to amend the complaint. The parties shall appear and be prepared to discuss with the Court. No trial is scheduled. This is an action for personal injuries arising from a motor vehicle accident. Plaintiffs are Derrick Raible (“Raible”) and Donovan Caudill (“Caudill”) (collectively “Plaintiffs”). Raible is represented by counsel and has filed an opposition to the m...

Excerpt: ..., he was in a car accident with another vehicle which resulted in a total loss of his vehicle. Plaintiff alleges that UFCC wrongfully determined that there was no coverage for the damage. UFCC explained that it denied coverage “[s]ince the purpose of the use of the vehicle at the time of the loss [was] ‘to carry persons or property for compensation or a fee' as indicated by the [Lyft] app's ‘on' status, this exclusion applies regardless...

Excerpt: .... *** Plaintiff Dene Starks' motion to compel further responses to Special Interrogatories and Inspection Demand is ruled upon as follows. This is a putative class action for race and sex discrimination, failure to prevent and various violation of the Labor Code. Plaintiff proposes the following two subclasses: (a) persons in the employ of Nationwide in California as Commercial Underwriters whom Nationwide misclassifies as exempt from June of 201...

Excerpt: ... request for oral argument must still be made by 4:00 PM today. (See Local Rule 1.06.) ** This is a putative class action. Plaintiff Michael Smith, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated, alleges that they are “individual gamers who have been deceived into making in‐game purchases of deceptively marketed in‐ game items in Defendant's immensely popular games Overwatch and Hearthstone. Defendant contends that Plaintiff a...

Excerpt: ...udd alleges that CTC acted as the escrow agent on the transaction. Judd alleges that he invested $150,000, which was deposited into escrow, to fund the property's rehabilitation. In exchange, he was promised a promissory note, a second trust deed and a right to share in any profit once the property was resold. Another investor funded the property's purchase for rehabilitation, and that investor received the first trust deed. Judd alleges that an ...

Excerpt: ...his is a FEHA case. Plaintiff Angela Henao (Henao) alleges that the County discriminated against her based on disability and failed to accommodate her with another position. As she did in her second amended complaint (SAC), Henao contends in the TAC that the County's Accommodation Transfer List (ATL) was part of the problem. In the SAC, Henao leveled the following allegations: Further, in violation of FEHA, Defendant County refused to provide any...

Excerpt: ...ng business day, a legal brief no greater than eight (8) pages in length that addresses the following issues: Without expressly identifying which cause(s) of action in the complaint constitute "real property claims" under CCP § 405.4, the parties appear to assume that the breach of contract cause of action for damages qualifies as such a claim. The court questions whether the breach of contract cause of action, the other damages causes o...

Excerpt: ... discrimination based on national origin, retaliation in violation of Labor Code §98.6 and §1102.5, defamation, failure to prevent discrimination, and wrongful termination. Defendant EHC now moves to strike the punitive damages allegations from the complaint on the grounds that plaintiff has failed to plead facts sufficient to establish the requisite malice, fraud or oppression and sufficient to satisfy the requirements of Civil Code §3294(b) ...

Excerpt: ...n Butte County and on 7/22/2014, plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint (“1AC”) which asserted two causes of action for disability discrimination and violation of the California Whistleblower Protection Act at Government Code §8547 et seq. (“CWPA”) based on her employer's 2011 decision to require plaintiff to report to work in Sacramento rather than continue working from her home in Chico, which plaintiff insists was a reasonable acco...

Excerpt: ... she had an uninsured motorist policy with Defendant and that Defendant is liable to Plaintiff resulting from Doe 1's conduct. Plaintiff alleges a negligence cause of action against Defendant. Defendant demurs on the ground that FAC fails to state sufficient facts because pursuant to Insurance Code §11580.2 the action must be referred to arbitration. Ins. Code §11580.2 concerns uninsured/underinsured motor vehicle coverage. Subdivision (f) prov...

Excerpt: ...ng 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. *** Defendants Francolin, LLC dba Soaring Oaks RCFE, Francis Kang, and Colin Kang's (collectively “Defendants”) motion for summary adjudication is ruled upon as follows. I. Overview This is an Elder Abuse action. The decedent Josephine Boykin ("Josephine") was a 94 year ...

Excerpt: ...t Isabella Garcia (“Garcia”) dba Alliance Financial's (“Alliance Financial”) (“Defendant”) demurrer to Plaintiff Arthur Dockter's complaint is ruled upon as follows. Defendant's request for judicial notice 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; Steed v. Departmen...

Excerpt: ... argument is requested pursuant to Local Rule 1.06. In the alternative, Department 54 will honor requests to continue hearings scheduled for 12/12/18 so that parties desiring oral argument may obtain court reporting services through the Court's normal channels. (See Local Rule 1.12.) No hearings, however, will be continued to any date from 12/24/18 through 1/04/19. Any party seeking a continuance must first meet and confer with opposing counsel (...

Excerpt: ...ument is requested pursuant to Local Rule 1.06. In the alternative, Department 54 will honor requests to continue hearings scheduled for 12/12/18 so that parties desiring oral argument may obtain court reporting services through the Court's normal channels. (See Local Rule 1.12.) No hearings, however, will be continued to any date from 12/24/18 through 1/04/19. Any party seeking a continuance must first meet and confer with opposing counsel (or t...

Excerpt: ...nform the Department 54 Clerk of the same when oral argument is requested pursuant to Local Rule 1.06. In the alternative, Department 54 will honor requests to continue hearings scheduled for 12/12/18 so that parties desiring oral argument may obtain court reporting services through the Court's normal channels. (See Local Rule 1.12.) No hearings, however, will be continued to any date from 12/24/18 through 1/04/19. Any party seeking a continuance...

Excerpt: .... Instead, Defendant offered Plaintiff $3,500, which Plaintiff rejected. Plaintiff then retained The Knight Law Group (“KLG”). KLG then associated in as co‐counsel Bryan Altman of The Altman Law Group (“ALG”). Plaintiff filed the action on April 12, 2016. On September 22, 2016, Plaintiff accepted Defendant Hyundai Motor America's CCP §998 offer (“Offer”) in the amount of $68,138.06. Pursuant to the Offer Defendant agreed that it wo...

Excerpt: ... plaintiff's health, strength and activity, sustaining injury to plaintiff, and shock and injury to plaintiff's nervous system and person, all of which said injuries have caused and continue to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress and nervous pain and suffering, in an amount to be determined and according to proof at trial.” (First Amended Complaint, ¶ ¶ 13, 16, 21, 25, 32, 39.) In its notice of motion and motion, Defendants explain: The...

Excerpt: ...re are two named plaintiffs, Jimboy's Marketing, Inc. ("JMI") and BGI. BGI is the only moving party. Plaintiffs allege that for many years, JMI acted as an area franchisor for Jimboy's Tacos restaurants under a Master Franchise Agreement with non‐party Jimboy's Tacos, Inc. Opposing Defendant Jimboy's North America ("JNA"), is the successor to Jimboy's Tacos, Inc. In 2012, JMI and JNA entered into a Transition...

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: ...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: ...�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: ... 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: ... 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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...;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: ...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...

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: ...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: ...ining dispute is request no. 14. Request no. 14 states: “Any and all DOCUMENTS, including but not limited to drafts, notes, memoranda, hand‐ written or typed, e‐mails, or text messages, that PERTAIN TO the September 17, 2014, Faculty Meeting. (Names may be redacted to protect third‐party privacy.)” Defendant served objections to the notice of deposition, which included objections based on attorney‐client privilege, attorney‐work pro...

Excerpt: ...ey Defendants”) Special Motion to Strike (CCP §425.16) is GRANTED. The Court fully incorporates herein its ruling on the Attorney Defendants' Special Motion to Strike. (Item #12.) To reiterate, the anti‐SLAPP as to the breach of contract is DENIED. A breach of a settlement agreement after the underlying action is concluded is not protected activity. (Applied Bus. Software, Inc. v. Pac. Mortg. Exch., Inc. (2008) 164 Cal.App.4th 1108, 1118.) �...

Excerpt: ...on for writ of mandate and complaint filed by Plaintiff/Petitioner and Cross‐Defendant American Towers, LLC (“ATC”) against the State on March 4, 2015. On February 19, 2016, the writ proceeding was heard. On March 8, 2016, the ruling on the writ proceeding was issued, denying the petition and related request for declaratory relief. On August 31, 2016, the case was referred back for reassignment to the regular civil calendar following the co...

Excerpt: ... and 23 through 32 in Plaintiffs' Second Set of Document Requests propounded to Defendant Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services (SAC EMS) is GRANTED. Warren's further request for an order compelling SAC EMS to produce responsive documents is DENIED as premature. The court may only compel a party to produce responsive documents after the party serves written responses indicating it will produce responsive documents and then fails to make th...

Excerpt: ... Abir, Cohen, Treyzon, Salo, LLP and Federico C. Sayre's First Amended Answer is SUSTAINED without leave to amend as follows. This is a legal malpractice action. Plaintiff alleges Defendants represented her in a personal injury case against the City of Sacramento (the “City”), which she intended to pursue on a theory of dangerous condition of public property. Plaintiff allegedly was injured while crossing in an unmarked City crosswalk. Her pe...

Excerpt: ...n satisfies the requirements of Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41(a). Defendant Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency's (“Defendant”) demurrer to plaintiff Nikolay Koval's (“Plaintiff”) complaint is ruled upon as follows. Defendant has indicated the incorrect address in its notice of motion. The correct address for Department 54 of the Sacramento County Superior Court is 813 6th Street, Sacramento, California 95814. Defendant s...

Excerpt: ...on this matter. First, this matter must be dropped from calendar due to plaintiff's defective service of notice. Plaintiff's service of the moving papers by mail on 6/21/2018 for a hearing on 7/10/2018 does not give 16 court days plus 5 calendar days' notice as required by Code of Civil Procedure §1005(b), since 7/4/2018 (Independence Day) was a court holiday. (Code Civ. Proc. §12c; Barefield v. Washington Mutual Bank (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 299...

Excerpt: ...roude's notice of motion inexplicably fails to provide notice of the court's tentative ruling system, as required by Local Rule 1.06. Moving counsel is directed to contact all counsel and advise them of Local Rule 1.06 and the court's tentative ruling procedure and the manner to request a hearing. If moving counsel is unable to contact any counsel prior to hearing, moving counsel is ordered to appear at the hearing in person or by telephone. Frou...

Excerpt: ...to comply with Code of Civil Procedure §1013a, requiring the “exact title” of each document being served. The court rejects plaintiff's claim that DHCS' opposition papers were not timely filed or served but even if they were, the court has exercised its discretion and considered them. DHCS' objections to plaintiff's reference to the parties' settlement negotiations are sustained. Factual Background This consolidated action arises from a 2013...