Excerpt: ...tate facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. The Court has adopted the following procedure for hearings in department 53 for self‐represented incarcerated parties. The clerk shall fax a copy of the tentative ruling to the litigation coordinator on or before the date of the scheduled hearing. The litigation coordinator shall provide the tentative ruling to plaintiffs within 48 hours of receiving it. The hearing date shall automatically...

Excerpt: ...‐ day period, as well as essential services disability coverage of $45.00 per week. Plaintiff alleges that on 7/2/2016, he was involved in rear‐end auto accident. As a result of the accident, he was disabled and unable to operate his 40 acre‐vineyard. Plaintiff alleges that USAA has refused to pay any wage earner disability payments and has made only partial payment of essential services disability benefit payments to Plaintiff. He alleges ...

Excerpt: ...rth below. Defendant's request for counter sanctions is denied as the circumstances make the imposition of sanctions unjust. This is a personal injury action arising from a vehicle collision. On September 21, 2018, plaintiffs served notice of taking the deposition of defendant Carson, and a request to produce documents. The deposition was scheduled to proceed on October 9, 2018. Defendant served an objection on September 25 and 26, 2018. The obje...

Excerpt: ...missions. Plaintiff's alternative motion to impose evidence sanctions on Mr. Avdalas prohibiting him from supporting his denials of the allegations in NCCS's complaint and from supporting any of his twenty‐five affirmative defenses at trial is also denied at this time. Plaintiff's Request for Judicial Notice is granted. NCCS previously filed two motions for terminating sanctions for Mr. Avdalas's failure to obey Court orders reg...

Excerpt: ... 12, 14, 23 (both objections), 28, 29, and 30. Declaration of Alan Hersh Ex 46: Sustained ¶ 6, 8. Overruled ¶ 13. Declaration David Mastro Ex 47: Sustained ¶ 12 Overruled ¶ 4, 8. Declaration of Roger Ex. 53: Sustained Declaration of Ying Xiong Ex 54: Sustained. Declaration of Robert Lauri Ex. 55: Sustained Declaration of Declaration of Mike Cortright Ex 57: Sustained. Declaration of Burk Ex 58: Sustained. Declaration of Hosokawa Ex. 59: Susta...

Excerpt: ...multiple common counts, seeking damages in the amount of $22,842.29, and related relief. Defendant filed an unverified general denial setting forth several facts alleged to constitute affirmative defenses, including accord and satisfaction, bar of an arbitration clause, payment, setoff and violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices act. WFB subsequently brought a discovery motion seeking to have specified requests for admissions to be deeme...

Excerpt: ...ck a parked vehicle in which Plaintiff Kent Taylor was sleeping. The vehicle driven by John Fabisiak was insured by defendant GEICO under its policy with Wannee Fabisiak, who was a passenger in the vehicle that struck Mr. Taylor parked car. In a handwritten complaint, utilizing Judicial Council form PLD‐PI‐001, Mr. Taylor has sued John Fabisiak, Wannee Fabisiak, and GEICO. The handwritten complaint is at times very difficult to read. Nonethel...

Excerpt: ...lic property and negligence. He alleges that the City created a dangerous condition by failing to provide overhead street lighting or failed to maintain, inspect and repair an inoperable overhead street light. In ruling on the demurrer to the Original Complaint, the Court ruled as follows: The demurrer is sustained with leave to amend for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (CCP § 430.10(e).) With respect to the fi...

Excerpt: ...ourt notes, however, that the taking of judicial notice of the official acts of a governmental entity does not in and of itself requires acceptance of the truth of factual matters that might be deduced therefrom, since in many instances what is being noticed, and thereby established, is no more than the existence of such acts and not, without further supporting evidence, what might be factually associated with or flow therefrom. Such being the ca...

Excerpt: ...n October 2017. In the 1AC plaintiff alleges he was rear‐ended by a truck, causing his vehicle then to strike the one in front. After the accident plaintiff contacted his insurer to make a claim under the uninsured motorist provision for his policy. The insurer subsequently took a recorded statement from its insured and is alleged to have “made an internal decision that Plaintiff was liable for causing the accident.” Plaintiff retained coun...

Excerpt: ...cal system, transmission, and powertrain. Plaintiffs seek to compel Defendant FCA US to provide further responses to certain requests for production (set one), as follows: Nos. 1, 7, 13, 20, 21, 30‐35, 50‐53, and 73. In general, the requests at issue pertain to three main categories of documents: (1) documents that refer or relate to vehicles sold by FCA US of the same year, make and model (Nos. 20, 21, and 30‐35); (2) documents that refer ...

Excerpt: ...tiff, the real property was owned by decedent Floyd E. May. In May 2017, Plaintiff responded to an ad on Craigslist to purchase the house. Plaintiff alleges that she entered a written agreement to buy the property in June 2017, paying someone named Tim Campos at Equity Property Management in Las Vegas $15,000 for the purchase. Equity Property Management was the ostensible settlor of Mr. May's estate. According to the terms of the purchase contrac...

Excerpt: ...fices of Mark R. Swartz, a corporation, (Swartz Law Firm) (collectively “Defendants") to strike the complaint pursuant to CCP § 425.16 is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. In the future, defense counsel is directed to file any request for judicial notice separately from other documents. (See CRC 3.1113(l).) Overview This is a workers' compensation insurer's action for damages and imposition of a constructive trust after an insured's empl...

Excerpt: ... in finding substitute counsel due to Mr. Watts apparently placing a lien on any settlement or verdict proceeds that Plaintiff ultimately may realize. Plaintiff's Opposition provides greater detail than the moving papers, alleging actions by Mr. Watts that she contends violate the Rules of Professional Conduct. That said, Plaintiff also seemingly affirms Mr. Watts' representation that a substantial breakdown in communications between clie...

Excerpt: ... the clerk and opposing counsel of the specific issues identified below and/or objections to evidence that will be addressed at the hearing. Counsel are also reminded that pursuant to local rules, only limited oral argument is permitted on law and motion matters. *** Defendants' counsel failed to comply with CRC Rule 3.1113(f). Factual Background This action arises out of a 2017 Inventory Security Agreement and Power of Attorney (“ISAPA”) bet...

Excerpt: ...10 or CRC Rule 3.1110(a) and does not provide the correct address for Dept. 53/54. Although the notice of motion provided notice of the Court's tentative ruling system as required by Local Rule 1.06(D), the notice does not comply with that rule. Moving party is directed to review the Local Rules, effective 1/1/2019. The proof of service filed on 4/9/2019 fails to comply with Code of Civil Procedure §1013a, requiring the “exact title” of each...

Excerpt: ...han the notice, no other documents were filed in opposition, including a memorandum of points and authorities. Therefore, the motion is unopposed. Defendant's request for judicial notice of documents in the Court file is granted. Plaintiffs filed a proof of service on February 19, 2019, indicating Defendant was personally served on February 14, 2019. (ROA 70.) At the outset the proof of service is problematic as Plaintiffs used the incorrect proo...

Excerpt: ...cts asserted in every document of a court file, including pleadings and affidavits. However, a court cannot take judicial notice of hearsay allegations as being true, just because they are part of a court record or file. A court may take judicial notice of the existence of each document in a court file, but can only take judicial notice of the truth of facts asserted in documents such as orders, findings of fact and conclusions of law, and judgme...

Excerpt: ...tion. Plaintiff contends its complaint is sufficient to state a valid cause of action against Defendant whose answer not only admits all allegations in the complaint but also fails to plead facts which constitute any defense to the complaint. The Court agrees. The complaint states facts sufficient to establish that Defendant is indebted to Plaintiff. However, the answer filed by Defendant fails to deny any of the complaint's allegations and s...

Excerpt: ...cramento, California (the “Property”). In September 2017, Plaintiff entered into a Real Estate Purchase Agreement to purchase the Property from co‐defendant, Alexis Tillman (the seller). Moving Defendants were the real estate broker/agent for Plaintiff (selling agent). Ms. Tillman had her own real estate broker/agent (listing agent). After the close of escrow, Plaintiff claims to have discovered for the first time that the Property was encu...

Excerpt: ...matters. *** Defendant Department of Fish & Wildlife and Tina Bartlett's ("Bartlett") (collectively “DFW”) demurrer to Plaintiffs' first amended complaint (“FAC”) is ruled upon as follows. DFW's request for judicial notice is GRANTED. Plaintiffs' opposition exceeds the 15 page maximum in violation of CRC Rule 3.1113 (d). They did not obtain permission to file a longer memorandum. (CRC Rule 3.1113 (e).) Plaintiffs also fail to incl...

Excerpt: ...tiff's complaint is merely a cut and paste of other Complaints that were held to be deficient at the demurrer stage are irrelevant to this court's independent determination as to whether plaintiff states a cause of action in this Complaint. Plaintiff's Objection to the Request for Judicial Notice is sustained. Plaintiff has filed this wage and hour putative class action Complaint on behalf of "[a]ll current and former hourly‐pai...

Excerpt: ...explained in Sosinsky v. Grant (1992) 6 Cal. App. 4th 1548. While a court may take judicial notice of the existence of any document in a court file, it cannot judicially notice the truth of facts asserted in the document. (Steed v. Department of Consumer Affairs (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 112, 121.) For example, courts cannot take judicial notice of the truth of statements in transcripts or declarations even though they are part of the trial court re...

Excerpt: ...denied as to the declarations in opposition to the MSJ and in opposition to IP's discovery requests. IP's Request for Judicial Notice is granted as to the Cross‐complaint. The motion is denied as to the deposition testimony and discovery responses. This case arises out of a non‐payment dispute for materials provided to a public works construction project. In 2015, the State of California, Department of Transportation ("Caltrans...

Excerpt: ...nds that a misdiagnosis of cancer in her left breast was caused by contamination of her breast biopsy specimen with tissue from an unrelated patient, and resulted in an unnecessary bilateral mastectomy. Mercy San Juan Medical Center contends that there is no disputed issue of fact that Dignity Health employees at Mercy San Juan Medical Center had any causal connection with the contamination of plaintiff's biopsy sample. Plaintiff Berry does n...

Excerpt: ...f each month beginning 2/30/2018 (sic). Defendant made the first payment but no subsequent payments. The agreement also stated the judgment would include any court required fees or motion fees. Plaintiff incurred a first appearance fee in the amount of $225 that it was required to pay for defendant when the stipulation was filed, as well as this $60 motion fee. (Declaration of Karayan) Pursuant to CCP § 664.6, “[i]f parties to pending litigati...

Excerpt: ...was looking for an assisted living facility due to the fact that Mr. McDonald recently suffered a stroke, that the after‐ effects of Mrs. McDonald's injuries, which are the subject of the lawsuit, have progressively hindered her ability to care for herself and Mr. McDonald, and Anne McDonald, their only daughter living in California, is finding she is unable to care for her parents' care needs. Plaintiffs indicate that they did not include a li...

Excerpt: ...es that he was injured while he was struck by a bus while on his bicycle while on a pedestrian island on July 17, 2016 at the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Florin Road. He alleges that the intersection was a dangerous condition on the basis that it was constructed in such a way that bus drivers heading eastbound on Florin Road and intending to stop at the bus stop immediately beyond the crosswalk on Franklin Boulevard are induced to make...

Excerpt: ...ney v. Wells Fargo Bank (1990) 220 Cal. App.3rd 1117, 1138.) Newberg on Class Actions (4th Ed.), the most authoritative treatise on class actions, discusses the process for approving the settlement of a class action. At § 11.24, “Procedure for Submitting Class Settlement for Approval,” Newberg describes the review at the preliminary stage as the submission by the parties of the essential terms of the agreement for informal review of the sett...

Excerpt: ...rines of res judicata and collateral estoppel as a result of a final judgment in a previous qui tam California False Claims Act lawsuit brought by Plaintiff in San Francisco Superior Court (“First CFCA Action”). Defendants also argue that the instant lawsuit is barred by the CFCA's first to file rule in Government Code § 12652(c) (10). A defendant may move for judgment on the pleadings if the complaint does not state facts sufficient to cons...

Excerpt: ...ative defenses. Under the “Other” section of the judicial council form answer, Defendant states that he would like to reach a settlement to lower the amount owed and would like to make reasonable monthly installments. He states that if a settlement cannot be reached, he would like a court date to defend himself. Importantly, Defendant's inability to pay is not an affirmative defense. When the moving party is the plaintiff, there is only one g...

Excerpt: ...ng procedure and the manner to request a hearing. 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. Plaintiff's counsel failed to comply with CRC Rule 3.1110(b)(3)‐(4). Factual Background This is a putative class and representative action brought by plaintiff against her employer. The 1AC purports to assert four causes of action for violation o...

Excerpt: .... *** Defendant NewRez LLC fka New Penn Financial, LLC dba Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing's (“SMS”) demurrer to the First Amended Complaint (“1AC”) is ruled upon as follows. The notice of demurrer does not provide notice of the court's tentative ruling system, as required by Local Rule 1.06. Moving counsel is directed to contact opposing counsel and advise him/her of Local Rule 1.06 and the court's tentative ruling procedure and the manner...

Excerpt: ...on law and motion matters. *** *** If plaintiffs request oral argument in an attempt to obtain leave to amend, they shall be prepared to specifically discuss the new or different facts which may now be alleged in good faith to overcome the deficiencies noted below. *** Defendants' demurrer to the Third Amended Complaint (“3AC”) is SUSTAINED IN PART and OVERRULED IN PART, without leave to amend, as follows. Plaintiffs' counsel failed to comply...

Excerpt: ...titor. Defendant Robert Coral (“Coral”) is Serpentarium's president and CEO. (Serpentarium and Coral are collectively referred to herein as “Defendants”). In 2016, Plaintiff filed a misappropriation of trade secrets action against RoachKing, LLC and other individuals (collectively “RoachKing”), for a design for a colony used to breed dubia roaches for sale to reptile owners and pet stores, and for theft of dubia roaches. In 2017, the ...

Excerpt: ... matters. *** Defendant A. Teichert & Son, Inc.'s (“Teichert”) demurrer to Plaintiff Martin Davalo's first amended complaint (“FAC”) is ruled upon as follows. Teichert's request for judicial notice is GRANTED. This is a putative wage and hour class action. Plaintiff worked as a cement mason. Teichert demurs to each cause of action on the ground that the Collective Bargaining Agreements (“CBAs”) entered into between Plaintiff and Teich...

Excerpt: ... drip and micro‐ drip irrigation products throughout the United States. (FAC, ¶ 5.) Jain's trade secrets and proprietary information include its customer identities, marketing plans, financial information, business strategies, vendor and contact information, pricing details, products in development and manufacturing processes. (Id., ¶ 7.) In 2006, Jain's predecessor in interest hired Hardigree as a sales manager. (FAC, ¶ 11.) Hardigree recei...

Excerpt: ...ese documents, the court accepts the fact of their existence, not the truth of their contents. "There exists a mistaken notion that this means taking judicial notice of the existence of facts asserted in every document of a court file, including pleadings and affidavits. However, a court cannot take judicial notice of hearsay allegations as being true, just because they are part of a court record or file. A court may take judicial notice of t...

Excerpt: ...ion: (1) discrimination in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”); (2) harassment in violation of FEHA; (3) retaliation in violation of FEHA; (4) failure to take all steps necessary to stop discrimination, harassment, or retaliation in violation of FEHA; (5) failure to provide reasonable accommodation in violation of FEHA; and (6) failure to engage in timely good‐faith interactive process in violation of FEHA. Defendants ...

Excerpt: ...o participate in oral argument on April 19, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. Defendant John Anderson's motion for summary judgment is ruled upon as follows. Defendant Anderson and Plaintiff's requests for judicial notice are granted. In doing so, the Court takes notice of the existence of the documents, not their contents. (See, e.g., Steed v. Dept. of Consumer Affairs (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 112, 120‐121.) Overview Plaintiff Brian Spears filed his second ame...

Excerpt: ...isayans”). On 5/5/2018, counsel for all defendants withdrew as counsel, explaining that his clients were not cooperating or meeting with him. On 9/5/2018, the Court granted Plaintiffs' unopposed motion to strike the answers of the Entity Defendants which were no longer represented by counsel. The Sisayans are acting in pro per and have been without counsel since 5/5/2018. Plaintiffs move for terminating sanctions for the Sisayans' failure to co...

Excerpt: ...s counsel is directed to contact Defendants forthwith and advise of Local Rule 1.06 and the Court's tentative ruling procedure. If Plaintiff's counsel is unable to contact Defendants prior to the hearing, Plaintiff's counsel shall be available at the hearing, in person or by telephone, in the event the opposing party appears without following the procedures set forth in Local Rule 1.06. This action arises from an accident that occurred on October...

Excerpt: ...ted on in Fair Oaks, California (“Property”). Juda Ann passed away in 2005, and the Property passed to Ronald. In 2007, Ronald married Mabel. He added Mabel to the title as a joint tenant in December 2007. Plaintiffs allege that at the time her name was added to the title, Mabel understood and agreed that she would receive only a one‐half interest in the property upon Ronald's death and that she held the other one‐half of the Property, re...

Excerpt: ...ge the privilege log if necessary. On June 26, 2015, Defendants Jonathan Ellison and Frederick Winzer instituted a civil action against Plaintiffs Lotus Casino and John Park ("Plaintiffs"), alleging that Plaintiffs intentionally discriminated against Defendant Frederick Winzer by refusing entry of his Chihuahua, a purported "service animal" in of violation of the Americans With Disability Act (the "ADA") and California Unr...

Excerpt: ...arranty Act by, among things, selling to Plaintiff a 2010 Chevrolet Equinox vehicle (the "Vehicle") that suffers from engine and oil consumption defects (the "defects"), failing to repair the Vehicle after a reasonable number of attempts, and failing to repurchase the Vehicle. Plaintiff contends that the September 20, 2018 order compelled defendant to produce documents. However, the actual order was to compel defendant to serve fu...

Excerpt: ... an authorized representative on behalf of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and similarly situated individuals employed by Defendant Ferguson & Brewer Investment Company. ("Defendant"). Plaintiff worked for Defendant in California from approximately March 22, 2017, to about November 10, 2017. See generally Exhibit B (Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint). Plaintiff has alleged that Defendant failed to pay overtime wages, failed to...

Excerpt: ...ve an opportunity to file a reply brief, as a reply was due April 3, 2019. Plaintiff moves for attorney's fees in the amount of $103,933.75 and requests a lodestar enhancement of 0.5 in the amount of $51,966.88, for a total of $155,900.63 in attorney's fees. Plaintiff also seeks costs and expenses in the amount of $20,495.42. This is a lemon law action. On November 28, 2011, Plaintiff purchased a new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee (the “vehicle”) f...

Excerpt: ...iff's purchase of a new 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee for $86,673.60. This lawsuit was filed on June 30, 2016. On or about July 20, 2018 the parties agreed to settle the case for $245,000.00. This considerable settlement amount consisted of a full statutory "buy‐back" of Plaintiff s defective vehicle, incidental and consequential damages, and a civil penalty. Plaintiff now seeks the award of attorneys' fees and costs and expenses pur...

Excerpt: ...laintiff now seeks fees as the prevailing party pursuant to CCP § 425.16(c). Plaintiff seeks a total of $29,137.50 in fees representing 77.7 hours at $375 per hour in addition to $433.75 in costs. Plaintiff also "anticipates" expending an additional 15 hours in connection with the reply brief bringing the total amount requested to $35,316.25. CCP § 425.16(c)(1) provides that a “prevailing defendant on a special motion to strike shall ...

Excerpt: ...sented them beginning in or about June 2009. The Yeagers breached their fee agreement in July 2009 and this led to Defendants filing in Nevada County a Limited Jurisdiction action in 2010, resulting in a judgment in favor of Defendants. The Yeagers, acting in pro per, filed an appeal of the judgment but it was ultimately denied in late 2012. In early 2013, the Yeagers commenced this action against Defendants in Nevada County Superior Court but in...