Excerpt: ...ct, and unwanted sexual attention following a 2010 episode of attempted forced sexual contact. Liberally construed - as they must be at the pleading stage - the allegations do not run afoul of the two-year statute of limitations, and they support the element of severe and pervasive unwelcomed conduct of a sexual nature. (SAC 14, 17, 18, 20-23, 26, 34-35; Richards v. CH2M Hill, Inc. (2001) 26 Cal.4th 798, 823; Birschtein v. New United Motor Mfg., ...

Excerpt: ...t Irene Pangilinan. Pro Tem Judge Maxwell Pritt, 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 Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Judge Pro ...

Excerpt: ...ry judgment and its alternative motion for summary adjudication of the cross‐complaint is granted as to all causes of action stated by cross‐complainants Fifth Historic Properties, LLC, 418 Jessie Historic Properties, LLC and 418 Jessie Properties, LLC. As to the causes of action stated by the Martin Building Company, the motion is granted as to the causes of action for equitable indemnity, contribution, and negligence and is denied as to the...

Excerpt: ...und, et al.'s motion to transfer and consolidate actions is granted. The claims asserted by Defendant and Cross‐Complainant Arturo Devesa in Devesa v. Stanford University, Santa Clara County Superior Court Case No. 19‐CV‐347760, share numerous common factual and legal issues with those asserted by Mr. Devesa in his second amended cross‐complaint and proposed third amended cross‐ complaint in this action, and involve many of the same...

Excerpt: ...t he was properly served with the summons and complaint, and he admits he received the March 6, 2019 letter from Plaintiff's counsel notifying him that Plaintiff would seek entry of default unless he responded to the complaint. Mr. LeClerc contends that he did not understand that he was required to respond to the complaint because the package also included a notice of an initial case management conference, but he does not explain why he (appa...

Excerpt: ...ntered into a partly handwritten Stipulation for Settlement, signed by all parties and counsel, which had been prepared on February 8, 2019 during mediation with a neutral bench officer at ADR Services. The signed Stipulation for Settlement contains a provision whereby the court reserved jursidiction to enforce the terms and conditions of the settlement pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure Section 664.6. The Stipulation for Settlement recited that...

Excerpt: ...rivolous appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. (Compl. 18.) He alleges further that Yan fraudulently transferred assets to third parties, including Legal Recovery, LLC, to avoid paying that award. (Id. 21‐23, 26.) The only charging allegations against Mr. Mora in the first amended complaint are that he is the agent for service of process of Legal Recovery, and is not a California resident, and that he has "actively rend...

Excerpt: ...tiff and Cross‐ Defendant Lian Tong, LLC is denied. The motion is brought under Code of Civil Procedure Section 425.16(c)(1), which provides that if the court finds that a special motion to strike is "frivolous or is solely intended to cause unnecessary delay, the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to a plaintiff [here, a cross‐complainant] prevailing on the motion, pursuant to Section 128.5." Defendants' m...

Excerpt: ...irements 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 Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Judge Pro Tem who will decide the motion with the same authority as a Superior Court Judge. If a party appears by tele...

Excerpt: ...fendants Asher Holman and Emmanuel Al-Thani is denied, on several independent grounds. First, the motion for summary adjudication was set for hearing less than 30 days before the date of trial without a prior court order establishing good cause. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 437c(a)(2),(3); see Robinson v. Woods (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 1258, 1268 ["Unless and until the trial court found good cause, the notice of the hearing was invalid."].) Second...

Excerpt: ... verbatim their legal terms or plead their legal effect. (Compl. 18, 25, 32, 75.) (See Miles v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th 394, 402 ["a plaintiff may plead the legal effect of the contract rather than its precise language."]; McKell v. Washington Mutual, Inc. (2006) 142 Cal.App.4th 1457, 1489 ["A written contract may be pleaded either by its terms-set out verbatim in the complaint or a copy of the contract...

Excerpt: ...dvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect, and has timely sought relief. (Code Civ. Proc. § 473(b).) Defendant mistakenly argues, relying on Huens v. Tatum (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 259, that discretionary relief under Section 473 is not available for voluntary dismissals. Huens held only that "the mandatory 'attorney affidavit' provisions of section 473 cannot be used to set aside a voluntary dismissal executed pursuant to a settlement....

Excerpt: ...a County Superior Court is denied without prejudice to its renewal. Defendants' motion under Code of Civil Procedure Section 396b(b) for an award of reasonable expenses and attorney's fees incurred in making the motion is denied. Defendants' alternative motion to stay the action pending the final resolution of the action currently in trial in Alameda County Superior Court, Jonathan Bornstein v. Daniel Bornstein, et al., Case No. RG16-...

Excerpt: ...bankruptcy protection although she was aware that Mr. Echtman had transferred his severance pay to his girlfriend for "safekeeping" several months before he retained Ms. Kostopoulos's services. It is also undisputed that Ms. Kostopoulos did not timely communicate to her client, Mr. Echtman, the settlement offer by the Trustee's counsel during the bankruptcy proceedings. (Echtman depo. 113‐114; Lucey Decl. Exh.3; Echtman Decl. Ex...

Excerpt: ...s bad faith allegations sufficiently support her prayer for relief for emotional distress and punitive damages. (See Jordan <001300190015000f000300 004900030057004b0048[ insurer denies benefits unreasonably (i.e., without any reasonable basis for such denial, it may be exposed to the full array of tort remedies, including possible punitive damages"]; Frazier v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. (1985) 169 Cal.App.3d 90, 101, 108 [affirming award of ...

Excerpt: ...uling has been emailed to all counsel on June 18, 2019 ** Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to [email protected] with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) of the tentative ruling that the party contests. The subject line of the email shall include the line number, case name and case number. Counsel for the Board is required to prepare a proposed order which repeats verbati...

Excerpt: ...itration award as to Respondent Linda T. Chen is granted. Contractual arbitration awards are subject to judicial review only on narrowly limited grounds. Respondent has not shown that any of the statutory grounds for vacating an arbitration award apply. (Code Civ. Proc. § 1286.2.) The only ground Respondent raises is Code of Civil Procedure section 1286.2(a)(5), which states that the court shall vacate the award if "[t]he rights of the party...

Excerpt: ...ase as limited if there is no reasonable possibility that the court could render a judgment greater than $25,000. (Ytuarte v. Superior Court (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 266, 276-277; Singer v. Superior Court (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 1315, 1320; Walker v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 257, 269.) Plaintiff seeks statutory damages of $900 under Civil Code section 2943. The complaint also alleges that as a result of Defendants' refusal to provide a sta...

Excerpt: ...ion Of Documents Set One. Pro Tem Judge Scott Borrowman, 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 Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Ju...

Excerpt: ...elatedly joined by Defendant Roadhouse Distribution, Inc. f/k/a/ Voss Distribution, Inc., is denied. Defendants have not met their burden to show that "the convenience of witnesses and the ends of justice would be promoted by the change." (Code Civ. Proc. § 397(c).) "A much more extensive factual showing is required for motions based on the 'convenience of witnesses and the ends of justice.'" (California Practice Guide: C...

Excerpt: ...ear 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 Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Judge Pro Tem who will decide the motion with the same authority as a Superior Court Judge. If a party appears by telephone, the stipulation may be signed via fax or consent to sign given by email. If no...

Excerpt: ...intiff was on inquiry notice with regard to her claim at the latest by October 2015. (First Amended Complaint, 33, 39, and 40.) Counsel Kleczek, who represents other plaintiffs with claims similar to plaintiff Rivera's, explains that these allegations only pertained to the other plaintiffs and they have no relevance to plaintiff Rivera's claim. (Kleczek Dec.) The court finds that counsel's drafting error provides a plausible explanati...

Excerpt: ...rt's April 10, 2019 order sustaining Defendant David Dyer's demurrer to the first amended complaint without leave to amend is denied. While Plaintiff seeks leave to file a second amended complaint based on certain facts that occurred after he filed his opposition to Defendant's demurrer, the new allegations he seeks to add cannot overcome the dispositive defects identified by the Court in its prior order. His attempt to reargue the Co...

Excerpt: ...ng policy favoring liberal amendment of pleadings supports the motion. Plaintiff Ali R. Shakoori has failed to show that the proposed amendments are barred by the sham pleading doctrine. "Critically, the sham pleading doctrine 'cannot be mechanically applied.' [Citation.] It 'is not intended to prevent honest complainants from correcting erroneous allegations or prevent the correction of ambiguous facts.'" (JPMorgan Chase ...

Excerpt: ... 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 Judge. If all parties to the motion sign the stipulation, the hearing will proceed before the Judge Pro Tem who will decide the motion with the same authority as a Superior Court Judge. If ...