Excerpt: ...Court finds that Plaintiff has satisfied his meet and confer obligations. Plaintiff sent a meet and confer letter addressing Defendant's responses to the discovery requests at issue on September 7, 2021. Defendant provided further responses on September 17, 2021. Although there is no evidence that Plaintiff attempted further meet and confer after September 17, 2021 , Defendant's further responses did not address any of the issues raised by Plaint...

Excerpt: ... James H. Seymour (Defendants' Counsel) (Sanctions Motion) is DENIED. Plaintiff seeks sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure sections 128.5 and 128.7 on the ground that Defendants' Motion for New Trial (New Trial Motion) was frivolous and harassing. The Court, however, concludes that Plaintiff has not established that the New Trial Motion was frivolous or brought in bad faith. As an initial matter, the Court notes that no order appears to have b...

Excerpt: ...ummary judgment, a moving defendant may prove an affirmative defense, disprove at least one essential element of the plaintiff's cause of action [citations] or show that an element of the cause of action cannot be established [citations]. [Citation.] The defendant ‘must show that under no possible hypothesis within the reasonable purview of the allegations of the complaint is there a material question of fact which requires examination by trial...

Excerpt: ...graphs 44, 45, and 63 and the prayer for relief of the FAC is GRANTED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff seeks punitive damages in connection with her strict liability and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims. To support a claim for punitive damages, the plaintiff “must allege the ultimate facts of the defendant's oppression, fraud or malice.” (Cyrus v. Haveson (1976) 65 Cal.App.3d 306, 316‐317.) “Malice” is defined as “con...

Excerpt: ...erested subcontractors. Wheeler's unopposed Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED (Evid. Code, § 452, subd. (d)), BUT NOT FOR THE TRUTH OF ANY FACTUAL MATTERS ASSERTED THEREIN (Arce v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (2010) 181 Cal.App.4th 471, 483‐484). Wheeler and Plaintiff Thompson Builders Corp. (Thompson) entered into a written contract for a commercial and residential project (the Project) in San Carlos (the Wheeler/Thompson Contrac...

Excerpt: ...treat the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded.” (Guerrero v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 567, 571.) The Court may “also consider matters that may be judicially noticed . . . .” (Brown v. Deutsche Bank Natl. Trust Co. (2016) 247 Cal.App.4th 275, 279.) The Court does “not, however, assume the truth of contentions, deductions or conclusions of law.” (Ibid.) As to Defendant and Cross‐Complainant...

Excerpt: ...ies, Inc.'s (Genesys) Motion to Strike is GRANTED IN PART WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND AND DENIED IN PART. 1. Punitive Damages Genesys contends TEN6's claim for punitive damages should be stricken because the Cross‐Complaint failed to state a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation. But as explained in the Court's ruling on the demurrer, TEN6 has stated a claim for fraudulent inducement to enter into a contract. This is a sufficient basis for TEN6's c...

Excerpt: ...urfaces and walkways” of a shopping center owned by Millbrae Square (Resurfacing Project). (Pl. SSUMF #2; Imbimbo Decl., ¶ 1.) The system allegedly failed (Pl. SSUMF #4; Imbimbo Decl., ¶ 1), and Millbrae Square sued nine defendants, including RPMI(Pl. SSUMF #1). In its complaint, Millbrae Square asserted one cause of action for breach of warranty against RPMI. (Pl. SSUMF #8.) RPMI is a Delaware corporation with a principal place of business i...

Excerpt: ...l basis for the Disqualification Motion, the Court finds that Defendants did not act in bad faith within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure sections 128.5 and 128.7 by filing the motion. Defendants' request for sanctions is DENIED. In denying the request, the Court notes that the issue is close because the Court advised Plaintiff at the hearing on the Disqualification Motion that it saw no basis for an award of sanctions based on its review o...

Excerpt: ...mited's (TEN6) CrossComplaint (Demurrer) is OVERRULED IN PART and SUSTAINED IN PART WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. 1. Standard On a demurrer, the Court must “give the pleading a reasonable interpretation and treat the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded.” (Guerrero v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 567, 571.) The Court does “not, however, assume the truth of contentions, deductions or conclusions of law.” (I...

Excerpt: ...s and complaint. The Court agrees. On a motion to quash that alleges improper service, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving effective service. (Summers v. McClanahan (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 403, 413.) The return of a registered process server establishes “a presumption , affecting the burden of producing evidence, of the facts stated in the return.” (Evid. Code, § 647.) Where this statutory presumption applies, the defendant must produce...

Excerpt: ...urt (rule 3.1113(d)) provides that, except for motions for summary judgment, no opening or responding memorandum may exceed 15 pages. Because Plaintiff Brian Munneke's opposition filed on November 5—which is 25 pages long‐‐violates this rule, the Court STRIKES it. Plaintiff, however, submitted an amended opposition on December 9 that complies with rule 3.113(d). Because Defendants have not been prejudiced by this amended opposition— which...

Excerpt: ... the California Rules of Court, would have expired in March 2021 absent further tolling. Plaintiff Capital One Bank has not, however, established that this time period was further tolled. The only ground for tolling cited by Plaintiff is Code of Civil Procedure section 583.340, subdivision (c). But the critical factor in applying this exception is “whether the plaintiff exercised reasonable diligence in prosecuting his or her case” (Bruns v. ...

Excerpt: ...ion of an Informal Discovery Conference. If the tentative ruling is uncontested, it shall become the order of the Court, pursuant to Rule 3.1308(a)(1), adopted by Local Rule 3.10, effective immediately, and no formal order pursuant to Rule 3.1312 or any other notice is required as the tentative ruling affords sufficient notice to the parties. December 2, 2021 Law and Motion Calendar PAGE 4 Judge: HONORABLE DANNY CHOU Y. CHOU, Department 22 ______...

Excerpt: ...ING COMPANY; INEGRAL GROUP, INC., a California corporation; SC BUILDERS, INC., a California corporation; PERFORMANCE MECHANICAL, INC., a California corporation; RODDA ELECTRICAL, INC., a California corporation; BAY POINT CONTROL, INC. dba MARINA MECHNICAL, a California corporation; MYSON, INC./RETTIG USA, a Vermont corporation; and DOES 1‐50, inclusive, Defendants. AND ALL RELATED CROSS‐ACTIONS ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ...

Excerpt: ... ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No.: CIV458258 Assigned For All Purposes to Hon. Danny Y. Chou ORDER DENYING ELIZABETH KARNAZES'S FURTHER REQUEST FOR AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT CONTINUANCE OF HEARING AND GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART JUDGMENTCREDITOR/CROSS‐DEFENDANT JOHN J. HARTFORD'S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY FEES AND COSTS; Judgment‐Creditor/Cross‐Defendant John J. Hartford's Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Costs Incurred from April 1, 2017 to...

Excerpt: ...ANDRADA'S FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS IN SBC CASE #18‐1724, MOTION FOR DEFENDANT SBC TO REOPEN ANDRADA'S COMPLAINTS AGAINST DEFENDANT PATRICK METERING FOR INVESTIGATION AND MURDERS OF ANDRADA'S FOUR FAMILY MEMBERS IN SBC CASE #14‐22198, AND MOTION TO STRIKE ON THE DEMURRER FILED BY DEFENDANT VIVIAN QUE‐AZCONA TENTATIVE RULING: 1. Demurrer The unopposed demurrer of Defendant Vivian Que‐Azcona is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. On August 5, 2020, th...

Excerpt: ...tiff) is OVERRULED IN PART and SUSTAINED IN PART WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. 1. Plaintiff's First Cause of Action for Breach of Contract Against CSMC The demurrer to the first cause of action for breach of contract against CSMC is OVERRULED. The SAC alleges facts sufficient to establish that CSMC breached the Collaboration Agreement through its nonperformance. “[F]acts alleging a breach, like all essential elements of a breach of contract cause of act...

Excerpt: ... Provision In ruling on the Demurrer, the Court must first decide whether California or Colorado law applies to the causes of action at issue. (See Nedlloyd Lines B.V. v. Superior Court (1992) 3 Cal.4th 459, 462 (Nedloyd).) Paragraph 8.7 of the parties' agreement contains a choice of law provision – which states, in pertinent part, that “[t]he Contractor further agrees that any and all disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement or ...

Excerpt: ...n the ground that Plaintiff failed to correctly add Parkview Produce, Inc. (PP Inc.) as the defendant instead of Parkview Produce, LLC (PP LLC) or to seek leave to file the FAC is overruled. Although Plaintiff should have added PP Inc. and stricken PP LLC from the complaint on October 2, 2019 rather than designate PP Inc. as a doe defendant, Defendant suffered no apparent prejudice. To the extent that Defendant may have been confused by Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...o the First Amended Complaint (FAC) of Plaintiff Dategra, Inc. is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. 1. Plaintiff's First Cause of Action for Breach of Contract Against CSMC The demurrer to the first cause of action for breach of contract against CSMC is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff alleges that CSMC breached the parties' Collaboration Agreement by repudiating it on September 24, 2020, and by failing to perform under its terms on or after...

Excerpt: ...th of California, Inc., Aetna Health Management, LLC, and Aetna Life Insurance Company (collectively, Aetna) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART 1. Defendants' Special Interrogatories (Set Three) Nos. 23‐27, Requests for Production (RFP) (Set Three) Nos. 1‐5 & Person Most Knowledgeable (PMK) Deposition As a threshold matter, the Court finds that Defendants' motion is timely as to the Special Interrogatories, RFPs, and PMK Deposition. The Mi...

Excerpt: ...ty to respond to new evidence presented by Defendant in its reply papers. (See Plaintiff's Suppl. Brief.) Having reviewed this new evidence and Plaintiff's Supplement Brief as well as all the other relevant pleadings filed by the parties in connection with this Motion and case, the Motion is denied. This is an employment discrimination case. Decedent Nick Theroux (Decedent) owned an auto repair shop. Gomez alleges that she worked at the shop begi...

Excerpt: ...nopposed Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. Plaintiff Skendzic Nenad's unopposed Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. In a previous action filed on July 18, 2017, Plaintiff asserted causes of action for negligence and tort of another against Defendants. Those causes of action alleged the same wrongdoing by Defendants that is alleged in this action. (See Request for Judicial Notice (RJN), ex. 1.) Plaintiff's previous causes of action again...

Excerpt: ...7) 3 Cal.5th 531.) And Plaintiff Fourth Amended Complaint (4AC) repeatedly identifies his wife as having been involved in the underlying facts. (See, e.g., 4AC, ¶¶ 19‐22, 28, 31, 36.) Plaintiff also expressly identified his wife in discovery responses as a witness. (See Lowe Decl., Ex. A [Plaintiff's response to Form Interrogatory No. 12.1].) Finally, Defendant appears to have a recorded telephone call between Ms. Olazabal and a Nordstrom Cus...