Excerpt: ...a motion to compel further responses to request for production of documents, the motion shall set forth specific facts showing good cause justifying the discovery sought by the demand. (Code of Civ. Proc. § 2031.310(b)(1); Kirkland v. Sup.Ct. (Guess?, Inc.) (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 92, 98.) In order to establish “good cause,” the moving party's burden is to show both: (1) relevance to the subject matter (e.g., how the information in the documen...

Excerpt: ...ed causes of action arises from (i.e., is based on) protected activity. City of Cotati v. Cashman (2002) 29 Cal.4th 69, 79. If defendant meets this initial burden, the burden shifts to the plaintiff(s) to demonstrate a probability of prevailing on the claim(s). Zamos v. Stroud (2004) 32 Cal.4th 958, 965. Here, Plaintiffs' 12‐4‐20 Complaint asserts two causes of action, for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress (“IIED�...

Excerpt: ... Motion for Summary Adjudication is DENIED. Neither Plaintiffs' Notice of Motion nor Plaintiffs' Separate Statement of Undisputed Facts are compliant with California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1350(b) because they do not state specifically the cause of action for which summary adjudication is sought and repeat it verbatim on the separate statement. Defendants' objections numbers 1 and 3 are SUSTAINED on those grounds. Additionally, Plaintiffs have no...

Excerpt: ...ges claims for: (1) Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress; (2) Breach of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment; and (3) Violation of Government Code § 815.6. The FAC is brought against Defendant, who is “a city located in San Mateo County, California.” (FAC ¶ 7.) A claim for money or damages against a local public entity requires that a claim first be presented before filing a lawsuit, subject to certain exceptions. (See Gov. Code §§ 905, ...

Excerpt: ...Defendants are barred by the doctrine of res judicata. The asserted claims arise from the same conduct alleged in Plaintiff's complaint against Defendants in Yichao Chen v. Patricia Lileggi, et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, Index No. 655664/2017 (“New York Civil Case”). See RJN, Ex. E. Defendants' summary judgment motion was granted in the New York Civil Case and the case was dismissed. RJN, Ex. F. Thus, Plai...

Excerpt: ...lows: Demurrer to the First Cause of Action for Premises Liability and Second Cause of Action for Negligence is OVERRULED. Defendant demurs to these claims based on failure to state facts sufficient to support these claims. Defendant assert that the facts pled are insufficient to support that Defendant owed Plaintiffs a duty of care. After reviewing the cases cited by the parties and the facts alleged in the Complaint though, the Court finds that...

Excerpt: ... Further, the Demurrer provides no argument that the first or second cause of action is uncertain. B. Demurrer to Third Cause of Action Defendant's demurrer to the third cause of action (fraudulent inducement) is sustained with leave to amend. 1. The Economic Loss Rule bars Plaintiff's claim. The economic loss rule allows a plaintiff to recover in tort when a product defect causes damage to “property other than the product itself.” (Jimenez v...

Excerpt: ...by Defendant Clark Pest Control Services, Inc. (CPCS) in 2016. Plaintiff alleges that, following a company event at a San Mateo County golf course on January 20, 2018, her supervisor, Chris Burkett, “made a racist comment to Plaintiff” using a racial slur. Complaint, ¶ 8. Plaintiff complained to her employer about the comment. Defendant conducted an investigation and found Plaintiff's claim unsubstantiated. Id., ¶ 9. Upon learning the resul...

Excerpt: ... confusion, the Court will refer to Equinix Services, Inc. as “PHI,” even though PHI is the company's prior name. The legal basis for the Court's exercise of personal jurisdiction over a Defendant is set forth in detail in the parties' moving and opposing papers, and will not be repeated at length here. Procedurally, when a non‐resident Defendant challenges personal jurisdiction, the burden is on the plaintiff to first demonstrate, by a pre...

Excerpt: ...led to comply with the terms of the parties' Settlement Agreement by failing to make payments due thereunder. The Agreement provided that Defendant was to make payments to Plaintiff's counsel's law firm. Mahfouz Decl., Ex. A. ¶ 6. Plaintiff's counsel's declaration states that no payments have been made. Mahfouz Decl., ¶ 9. As a result, Plaintiff has established Defendant is in default under the parties' Agreement. The terms of the Settlement Ag...

Excerpt: ...f Act precludes a court from finding a tenant guilty of unlawful detainer before July 1, 2021, absent certain exceptions. (See C.C.P. § 1179.03.5.) The Complaint does not allege that any of the exceptions under C.C.P. § 1179.03.5 apply to this unlawful detainer action. As a result, Plaintiff has failed to allege facts sufficient to support a cause of action for unlawful detainer. Leave to amend is not granted. Although leave to amend is routine...

Excerpt: ...fendant Agrawal, whereby Agrawal would take over Plaintiff's lease with EJC (FAC, ¶¶ 13‐15); JLL knew of this contract prior to charging Plaintiff with an improperly calculated Additional Rent (Id., ¶¶ 21‐22); JLL charged Plaintiff an incorrect amount for Additional Rent and failed to correct it, despite Plaintiff informing JLL that curing the Additional Rent issue was “paramount” to it being able to complete the sale of its business ...

Excerpt: ...ency Regulation, through August 31, 2020, unless further extended by the County before that date (“Termination Date”), no Landlord shall endeavor to evict a tenant . . . for a no‐fault termination of tenancy as defined herein unless necessary for the health and safety of the Tenant, other residents of the building at which the Tenant resides, the Landlord, or the Landlord's Family. Endeavors to evict that are prohibited by this Emergency Re...

Excerpt: ...ndants' conversion/theft of Plaintiffs' corporate assets (i.e., Defendants' alleged theft of funds from Plaintiffs' corporate bank accounts). Defendants contend the dispute centers on Plaintiffs' violation of labor and employment laws (i.e., alleged failure to pay its Californiabased employees' wages). In 2018, shortly after filing the Complaint in this case, Plaintiffs filed their first application for a writ of attachment, seeking to attach pro...

Excerpt: ...so primarily in the interests of judicial economy and efficiency, minimization of expense, and avoidance of potentially inconsistent rulings. Having reviewed the parties' briefing, given the still ongoing Delaware court proceeding, the Court finds that the rationale and policy concerns underlying the 3‐2‐20 stay Order still apply, and thus declines to lift the stay at this time. Plaintiffs Blum et. al. argue the Delaware lawsuit is “essenti...

Excerpt: ...s well as a code‐compliant separate statement of material facts. Plaintiff appears not to have filed any evidence in support of the opposition, in violation of CRC 3.1350(3). The clerk's office has confirmed that it is not in receipt of any of Plaintiff's evidence. Further, the Court notes that Plaintiff's separate statement is 515 pages. The separate statement sets forth pages of narrative in response to each of Defendant's undisputed facts an...