Excerpt: ...tions and off calendar as to the prayer for treble damages. Ms. Diamond adequately alleges punitive damages liability against Uber. While gender discrimination in employment may not always or necessarily constitute malice or oppression, depending on the facts found gender discrimination in employment can be sufficient to meet the definitions of malice and/oppression in Civil Code 3294. Liberally construed, the complaint alleges conduct that meets...

Excerpt: ... the fourth cause of action for violation of Civil Code 3344 and overruled as to the fifth cause of action for common law appropriation of name. Mr. McKee does not, nor does it appear that he can, allege that Eastwood used his name and/or contractor's license on or in any product, merchandise or good or for the purpose of advertising, selling or soliciting the purchase of a product, merchandise, good or service, which is required for section ...

Excerpt: ... unconscionability or duress under CACI 332 or 333 to warrant denial of arbitration. Even if defendant violated Business and Professions Code sec. 7159.5(a)(3), that illegal conduct is collateral to the main purpose of the contract and courts will generally sever an offensive clause and enforce the contract. (See Little v. Auto Stiegler, Inc. (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1064, 1074‐1075.) Moreover, the claim of illegality is attenuated because the illegal...

Excerpt: ...he request for punitive damages in the complaint filed by Janine and Michael Zavosky is denied in its entirety. There are triable disputes whether Farmers: a) conducted a reasonable and thorough investigation and complied with its good faith obligations as stated in CACI 2330 and b) acted with malice or oppression as those terms are defined in Civil Code 3294. Farmers' objections to the Painter and Frangiamore declarations are overruled. Any ...

Excerpt: .... The fees sought by Ng Solutions far exceed the reasonable amount of fees for a simple collection action against a pro per defendant who, apart from filing an answer, did not make any real effort to defend this case. The outer limit for the high end of a reasonable range of hours for experienced collection counsel to expend on this case is 40. 40 multiplied by the reasonable hourly rate of $200 yields an award of $8000. Any party who contests a ...

Excerpt: ...d as to all six causes of action. Mr. Norman allegations that Mr. Strateman unilaterally ceased operations of the company and took its assets for his personal benefit suffice to make Mr. Strateman an interested director per Delaware law. (Rales v. Blasband (Del. 1993) 634 A.2d 927, 936 ("A director is considered interested where he or she will receive a personal financial benefit from a transaction that is not equally shared by the stockholde...

Excerpt: ...er compelling plaintiffs' depositions and responses to discovery and for monetary sanctions is denied. Plaintiffs Masha Levinson and Leon Taylor's request for sanctions is also denied. The primary asserted basis for the relief sought in the motion ‐ that plaintiffs lied to the court and defense counsel about the scope of the destruction of their property as a result of the Sonoma County wildfires ‐ lacks merit as previously adjudicate...

Excerpt: ...tah Investments, LLC, Ninth Street Lodging, LLC and Lintedge, LLC's demurrer to all four causes of action alleged in the first amended complaint filed by Jonathan Asselin‐Normand is sustained without leave to amend as to all four causes of action. Mr. Asselin‐ Normand fails to allege a viable claim for violation of the Unruh Act. The amended complaint shows that Mr. Asselin‐Norman was perusing hotel options while in Canada. The Unruh Ac...

Excerpt: ...ay Hospitals' motion for summary judgment and alternative motion for summary adjudication are denied in their entirety. The declaration of Dr. Lorne Label shows that there is a triable dispute whether the acts or omissions of CPMC's nurses, staff and employees were a substantial factor in causing any of plaintiff Kyee Yeo's claimed injuries. Dr. Label's opinion that nothing in Mr. Yeo's medical condition made a tPA administrat...

Excerpt: ... Street Homeowners' Association, Matthias Spanle, Mark Sher, and Pamela Yoon's motion to enforce settlement agreement is granted. The court has jurisdiction to enforce the settlement per CCP 664.6. Defendants shall pay the settlement funds by February 28, 2018. The parties were obligated merely to "explore" in good faith the concept of retaining an independent board. In other words, the parties agreed to study or investigate the p...

Excerpt: ...tion is granted as to "Designated Defense Counsel" costs totaling $6,224.90, which are taxed because defendant failed to demonstrate how they are allowable pursuant to C.C.P. ? 1033.5(a)(10) or (a)(16). The motion is granted as to "Medical Records" costs totaling $841.49, which are taxed because defendant failed to demonstrate how they are allowable pursuant to C.C.P. ? 1033.5(a)(10) or (a)(16). The motion is granted in part and d...

Excerpt: ... costs are taxed: 1) $150 of the filing and motion fees because of an addition error by defendant Scott Smith; 2) All $795.43 of the service of process costs because no explanation is provided why the costs were incurred and it is not apparent why such costs were incurred and/or the costs are not allowed per the costs statute; and 3) All $120 of the court reporter fees because no explanation is provided why the costs were incurred and it is not a...

Excerpt: ...cy of this lawsuit is granted. Dr. Artus has shown that she will likely prevail on the merits of her claims that the November 2016 changes to the election rules were not made in compliance with the notice requirements of Civil Code 4360(a) and violate the ballot counting and recovery of fees and costs provisions in Civil Code 5105(a)(5) and (6) and 5145(b). The statement "Simplify the election process" does not substantially comply with t...

Excerpt: ...motion to strike the sole cause of action for conversion in the complaint filed by plaintiff John Hanlin is denied. Defendants failed to satisfy their first prong burden of showing that Mr. Hanlin's claim arises from activity protected by the anti‐SLAPP statute. Mr. Hanlin alleges that defendants converted his BMW by wrongfully taking possession of, denying him access to, assuming ownership of, and selling the BMW. Nowhere in the complaint ...

Excerpt: ...nd to seek punitive damages is granted on the following conditions: 1) Mr. Pankonin must provide code‐compliant verified responses without any objections other than privilege no later than February 6, 2018 to the following deem‐served discovery: a) state all facts that support each of the new allegations and all previously existing allegations against the new defendants; b) identify and provide full contact information for each person who kno...

Excerpt: ...ive motion for summary adjudication is granted as to the eighth cause of action for failure to pay wages upon termination and denied as to other ten causes of action alleged in the first amended complaint filed by plaintiff Gregory Jeloudov. The undisputed facts show that Wells Fargo paid all wages and penalties it owed to Ms. Jeloudov as required by Labor Code 201‐203 and thus Wells Fargo is entitled to summary adjudication in its favor on the...

Excerpt: ...ructive notice of that dangerous condition. It cannot be determined as a matter of law that the one inch discrepancy in the sidewalk was not a dangerous condition of public property. "In general, '[w]hether a given set of facts and circumstances creates a dangerous condition is usually a question of fact and may only be resolved as a question of law if reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion.'" (Peterson v. San Francisco C...

Excerpt: ...or summary judgement is GRANTED. Defendants satisfied their summary judgment burden by presenting evidence that plaintiff Richard Thomas is unable to prove either of his claims for intentional tort (trespass to real property) or negligence and plaintiff Richard Thomas has not presented any evidence creating a triable issue as to either of his claims. Strictly construing defendants' evidence and liberally construing Mr. Thomas' evidence fa...

Excerpt: ... leave to amend as to all six causes of action. Per Public Utilities Code 1759(a), this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain this action. The parties are familiar with the three‐part test used to determine whether a superior court lacks jurisdiction to hear an action against a utility regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. The first element of that test is satisfied because the California Constitution gives the CPUC broad aut...

Excerpt: ...is SUSTAINED without leave to amend to the first through third causes of action for violation of FEHA and the seventh cause of action for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing and SUSTAINED with twenty days leave to amend as to the fourth cause of action harassment and retaliation in violation of public policy, the fifth cause of action for violation of Labor Code 1102.5 and the sixth cause of action for intentional infliction of ...

Excerpt: ...does not clearly state that he and/or Argoz, Inc. intended to perform when the promises were made. Defendants' undisputed facts 1-68 do not directly address Argoz's/Soha's intent when the contract was executed. Second, a court can deny summary adjudication where a party's state of mind is at issue. (See CCP 437c(e).) Third, while the increase of plaintiff's salary to $170,000 per year indicates a willingness to perform, Mr. So...

Excerpt: ...he alleged conduct; it is not limited to "creation of a fake account." Second (Penal Code 502): OVERRULED; the statutory language is broad enough to encompass the alleged conduct. The statute defines "data" expansively and Plaintiff may be able to prove he had an ownership interest in, e.g., his login credentials. Third (Invasion of Privacy): OVERRULED; Plaintiff has adequately pled illicit use by Defendants of his logon credentia...

Excerpt: ...equest For Production Of Documents, Set One, Against Defendants Unum Group And Provident Life & Accident Insurance Company Pro Tem Judge Aaron Minnis, a member of the California State Bar who meets all the requirements set forth in CRC 2.812 to serve as a temporary judge, has been assigned to hear this motion. Prior to the hearing all parties to the motion will be asked to sign a stipulation agreeing that the motion may be heard by the Pro Tem Ju...

Excerpt: ...sel per Le Francois v. Goel (2005) 35 Cal. 4th 1094. Mr. Rogers has failed to provide any persuasive reason why he needs the Lees' current address and the Lees have shown that there is at least some risk that their disclosure of their address will needlessly expose them to harassment. The extraordinary manner in which this case has been litigated provides at least some corroboration for the Lees' concerns. Any party who contests a tentati...

Excerpt: ...laint with leave to amend. The Court sustains defendant's demurrer to the seventh cause of action without leave to amend. As to the sixth cause of action, Plaintiff fails to plead specific facts sufficient to establish the elements of fraud. (Small v. Fritz Companies, Inc. (2003) 30 Cal.4th 167, 184; Stansfield v. Starkey (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 59, 73.) The complaint lacks particularized facts showing that Defendant did not intend to perform t...