Excerpt: ... threshold matter, the Court finds that the Complaint is the operative pleading. The Complaint alleges one cause of action for motor vehicle negligence against Defendant Brayan Florian Perez ("Defendant"). On November 4, 2020, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to file a First Amended Complaint to add a punitive damages claim against Defendant. (See November 4, 2020 Minute Order.) The Court also denied without prejudice Plaintiff's Motion for Leav...

Excerpt: ...trict high school. (See San Mateo Union High School District v. Educational Testing services (N.D. cal., Aug. 30, 2013, No. C 13-3660 saA) 2013 WL 4711611.) For the reasons stated below the court DENIES defendant San Mateo Union High School District's (District) Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings, filed Aug. 18, 2023, directed to Plaintiff's November 8, 2022 Second Amended Complaint (SAC). The court grants defendant's request for judicial Notic...

Excerpt: ...tte Sun Group, LLC's and Evan Haskell's Demurrer to Plaintiff TGA Franklin F299 LLC's First Amended complaint is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND as discussed below. Plaintiff TGA Franklin F299 LLC is to file a Third Amended Complaint no later than ten (10) days after service of written notice of the Court's ruling. PlaintiffTGA Franklin F299 LLC's Request for Judicial Notce is DENIED as irrelevant. (Licudine v. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (2016) 3 ...

Excerpt: ...Mayer communicated with his attorney concerning Plaintiff Mayer's expert testimony. Any privilege that existed between Plaintiff Mayer and his attorney as to communications regarding expert testimony was waived when Plaintiff Mayer testified as an expert at his deposition. Plaintiff has already agreed to produce such documents but stated that none exist. (Mayer Deposition, attached as Exhibit G to Moving Declaration of Varnica.) The motion is DEN...

Excerpt: ...the Court sustained Defendant's Demurrer to Plaintiffs Third Amended Complaint, in part, with respect to the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth causes of acton therein, without leave to amend at that time because leave to allege those causes of action was not within the scope of the leave to amend permitted by the Court's December 9, 2022 Order. The denial of leave to amend on July 10, 2023 was issued without prejudice to granting leave to a...

Excerpt: ...ich are directed to the FAC'S Third Cause of Acton, which asserts a claim for "foreclosure of mechanic's lien." As explained below, the Court finds that these arguments are not grounds for a demurrer. Defendant Rose's unopposed Request for Judicial Notice, filed 4-25-23, is GRANTED as to Ex. 1 (Evid. Code Sect. 452(d)), and GRANTED as to Ex. 2. (Evid. Code Sect. 452(h).) As to the USPS website page, the Court takes judicial notice of the contents...

Excerpt: ...to comply with California Rules of Court and Local Rules of Court regarding electronically filed documents. Specifically, exhibits must be bookmarked. (CRC Rule 3.1110(f)(4) ["electronic exhibits must include electronic bookmarks with links to the first page of each exhibit and with bookmark titles that identify the exhibit number or letter and briefly describe the exhibit" l; San Mateo County Superior Court Local Rule 3.3 [same].) "Rules of Cour...

Excerpt: ...42 U.S.C. 1983 Monell Liability for False Arrest in Plaintiff Chris Tagunicar's ("Plaintiff") Amended Complaint is ruled on as follows: (1) Plaintiff claims in opposition that his attorney has abandoned him and that he does not have a paid subscription for legal doctrines that he can use to support his opposition. (Plaintiff's Opposition, p.l.) However, at all times in this action, Plaintiff has represented himself in propria persona. Furthermore...

Excerpt: ... Memorandum of Costs and a motion to tax costs is pending hearing. This is a simple collection case seeking an unpaid portion of a loan for approximately $11,000. By this motion, Plaintiff seeks a staggering award of $63,223.50 in attorneys' fees. Plaintiff's counsel billed 118.90 hours for a lodestar of $56, 673.50, plus seeks an additional 10 hours for this fee motion. Although pursuant to contract and Civil Code section 1717, Plaintiff as prev...

Excerpt: ...UT LEAVE TO AMEND, on the basis that all claims are time-barred. All other grounds for Demurrer are thus MOOT. Respondents' 8-21-23 Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. In 2020, Petitioner Thomas Nussbaum filed a Petton for Writ against these same Respondents in the Alameda County Superior Court, challenging Respondents' calculation of his deceased mother's (Evelyn Clayton Nussbaum's) Medi-Cal benefits/eligibility. In April 2021, the Alameda C...

Excerpt: ...rez demurrer is made on the grounds of uncertainty. (See Code of Civ. Proc., S 430.10, subd. (f).) The sole basis for the claimed uncertainty in the Complaint is a discrepancy between the amount of rent due stated in the notice to pay or quit— attached to the Complaint as exhibit a—and another notice purportedly served on Miranda and Perez three days earlier. (See Aug. 17, 2023 Complaint, exh. B; Aug. 29, 2023 Memorandum of Points & Authoriti...

Excerpt: ...class members of "all persons who had background checks performed in connection with an application for employment with Defendant The Salvation Army between November 2, 2018 and May 17, 2021," with certain exceptions, and propose as part of the administration the "posting of a one- page summary of the Settlement Notice in a public location in each of its thrift stores." (Setareh Dec., Ex. 1, 12, 42(d) ("Settlement Agreement").) The class appears ...

Excerpt: ...skovitz in Support of Plaintiff Steven Herskovitz's Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication in the Alternative; Exhibits 12-14 of the Declaration of Jonathan Yank in Support of Plaintiff Steven Herskovitz's Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment or Summary Adjudication in the Alternative; Paragraphs 8-12 and Exhibits 10 and 11 to the Declaration of Palmer Morrel-Samuels in Support of Plaintiff Steven Herskovitz's Oppo...

Excerpt: ...ddress. As another preliminary matter, the Court directs Counsel for both parties to comply with California Rules of Court and Local Rules of Court regarding electronically filed documents. Specifically, exhibits must be bookmarked. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110(f)(4) ["electronic exhibits must include electronic bookmarks with links to the first page of each exhibit and with bookmark titles that identify the exhibit number or letter and brie...

Excerpt: ...THOUT LEAVE TO AMEND and OVERRULED IN PART. Defendants Marianne Onate and Emmanuel Onate shall file their answer(s) no later than ten (10) days after entry of this order. Defendants Marianne Onate's and Emmanuel Onate's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. Plaintiffs Proud Thai Massage LLC's and Alexander Mayer's Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. The demurrer is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND, with respect to the First through Eighth C...

Excerpt: ...eclaration in Defendant's demurrer filed March 24, 2023. However, because a failure to meet and confer is not grounds to sustain or overrule a demurrer, the Court proceeds to the merits of the motion. In this subrogation action, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant negligently provided professional plumbing services to Plaintiff's insured. The Complaint contains two causes of action: negligence and breach of implied warranty. Defendant demurs on vari...

Excerpt: ...LLC, PHIL STOKER, DIANE STOKER, SCOTT O'NEIL, AND DALE HUISH TENTATIVE RULING: For the reasons stated below, Defendants' Motion to Strike Punitve Damages, filed Aug. 25, 2023, which seeks to strike the punitive damages allegations in Plaintiffs' June 30, 2023 Second Amended Complaint (SAC), is DENIED. Code Civ. Proc. Sect. 435, 435. To be clear, the SAC asserts claims against a long list of defendants, generally referred to by the parties as the ...

Excerpt: ...ts tentative ruling granting the motion in part. (Jul. 7, 2023 Minute Order.) The Court ordered a sentence stricken from the Complain, as the sentence constituted an attempt to base a claim for injunctive relief on Stiles' and Johnsons' service of an eviction notice—which is protected activity. (Aug. 22, 2023 Order, pp. 3—4.) The remainder of the cause of action, comprising valid claims for injunctive relief based on non-protected activity, w...

Excerpt: ...all or may be taken." Under Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, the party moving for summary judgment has the burden of production to make a prima facie showing that there is no triable issue of any material fact. The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to make a prima facie showing that there is a triable issue of material fact. Cal. Code of Civil Procedure Secton 1161a(b) provides in relevant part that a person who holds ...

Excerpt: ...s Mohon to Quash Service of Summons for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction is GRANTED. Plaintiff E.W.'s request for a continuance to conduct jurisdictional discovery is DENIED. Plaintiff E.W!s Requests for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. However, the Court notes that there are evidentiary issues with the documents. Since even if the Court accepts the truth of the matter in the documents, the Court denies the motion, the Court does not focus on the technic...

Excerpt: ... has not met its initial burden and proved by a preponderance of evidence that an arbitration agreement with class action waiver provision was entered into by the parties. (Knight, Cal. Prac. Guide: Alt. Disp. Res. (Rutter, Dec. 2022 Update) 5:320.) The Court finds Defendant has not demonstrated that Plaintiff agreed to arbitration because of inconsistencies in the documents and procedures for the onboarding process. Defendant uses "the online pl...

Excerpt: ...Grytsayenko ("Lyudmyla") and Yuriy Grytsayenko ("Yuriy") (also collectively "Plaintiffs") is DENIED for the reasons set forth below. The Complaint alleges claims for General Negligence and Premises Liability. (McCann Decl., Exh. A.) Plaintiffs claim that Lyudmyla was forced to walk toward metal cross-bracers that were a part of scaffolding with no padding or warning tape in place, and hit her head against the low-placed, unprotected metal cross-b...

Excerpt: ...eet, San Mateo, CA 94401. Zoom appearances are allowed. The Court overrules the demurrer filed by Defendant Maiden Stone, Inc. as to the first, sixth, and seventh causes of action. A. First Cause of Action (Breach of Express Warranty) Plaintiffs' express warranty claim is based on Exhibit 1, which is Maiden Stone's product detail sheet. On its face, Exhibit 1 is not a typical express warranty. Express warranties, however, can be created by "Any d...

Excerpt: ...on, and judgments—but cannot take judicial notice of the truth of hearsay statements in decisions or court files, including pleadings, affidavits, testimony, or statements of fact. (Williams v. Wraxall (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 120, 130, n. 7. ) In this case, plaintiff sued defendant in federal court. The district court granted defendant's motion to dismiss (DCR Workforce, Inc. v. Coupa software Inc. (N.D. cal., Oct. 13, 2021, No. 21-CV06066-EMC) 2...

Excerpt: ...intiff did not unreasonably delay its request to amend the Complaint. Additionally, the Court takes note of the rule that requests to amend are to be liberally granted. Nestle v. City of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 939. When amendment would not prejudice and has not misled the other side, even if the request is delayed, the liberal policy of allowing amendments prevails and it is an abuse of discretion to deny leave in such a case even if s...

Excerpt: ...filed on August 19, 2019, and this amended complaint was otherwise substantially unchanged from the initial complaint. A Second Amended Complaint was filed on January 13, 2020, alleging eight causes of action: The First COA for Breach of Contract against the seller, Betty L. Swedberg; Second COA for Fraud against Swedberg; Third COA against Swedberg for Negligent Misrepresentation, and Fourth Cause of Acton against Swedberg of violations of Civil...

Excerpt: ...otion for Order to Release Plaintiff and Crossdefendant Mavericks Builders' Mechanics Lien and Expunge Lis Pendens is GRANTED for the reasons set forth below. Defendants, Cross-complainants, and Cross-defendants Ryan Atkins and Meghan Concra are ordered to prepare a formal order or orders that include the required specifications of the lien and lis pendens and release Plaintiff and Cross-defendant Mavericks Builders' claim of a mechanics lien and...

Excerpt: ...tos admittedly used an alias, Jose Rodrigues, while employed by Defendant Cheesecake Factory. Plaintiff stated in his Complaint that he worked there from 2019 to 2021 as a cook. Plaintiff's signature on his declaration is for his true name, and does not match any documents submitted by Defendant. Plaintiff states that he speaks very little English, and his declaration is submitted as translated from Spanish. Plaintiff denies that it is his signat...

Excerpt: ... the Court sustained with leave to amend. Watt joined in AVM's demurrer, and separately filed the instant demurrer as to Hirata's first cause of action under Labor Code S 1102.5(b) as against Watt specifically. For the reasons stated below, Watt's demurrer to the first cause of action is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. Labor code section 1102.5 is a whistleblower statute, the purpose of which is to "encourag[el workplace whistle-blowers to repo...

Excerpt: ... the case has not been brought to trial within three years. (Code of Civ. Proc. S 583.420, subd. On April 18, 2019, plaintiffs' counsel filed this action. unfortunately, plaintiffs' counsel died in or around July 2021, over two years ago, and no counsel has substituted into the case and plaintiffs have not appeared in pro per. Defendants have served this motion on plaintiffs' counsel (which is proper since there has been no substitution of attorn...

Excerpt: ...uirements of the local rule. Plaintiff, an employee of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office ("SMCSO"), brings this action under Government Code section 12940 alleging hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, failure to engage in the interactive process, and failure to accommodate. As part of her Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that SMCSO has a pervasive atmosphere and pattern of sexual harassment and ass...

Excerpt: ...").) These have not been bookmarked in compliance with California Rules of Court rule 3.110(f)(4) or Local Rule 3.3. A court can sanction for local rules violations. (Shiheiber v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2022) 81 Cal.App.5th 588, 695.) Indigo is reminded to comply with all rules of court and local rules. Indigo moves here to reclassify this unlimited case to limited, contending that Plaintiffs Rajesh Yalamanchili and Olga Gritsevskaya (collect...

Excerpt: ...d Zhiying Qui (collectively defendants). The court finds that there are not grounds under Code of Civil Procedure secton 1008 because there are no new or different facts which warrant reconsideration. All the facts were known or could have been known at the time the two prior motions for preliminary injunction were filed. A filing of a cross-complaint is not a new fact justifying reconsideration. Nor is the fact that defendants deny liability a f...

Excerpt: ... 56, 76—77 ["trial court should evaluate a PAGA settlement to determine whether it is fair, reasonable, and adequate in view of PAGA's purposes to remediate present labor law violations, deter future ones, and to maximize enforcement of state labor laws."]; Kullar v. Foot Locker Retail, Inc. (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 116, 129 (" 'The court has a fiduciary as guardians of the rights of the absentee class members when deciding whether to approve a s...

Excerpt: ...2(d). Legal standard on demurrer. A demurrer may be used only to challenge defects that appear on the face of the pleading under attack or from matters outside the pleading that are judicially noticeable. Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal. 3d 311, 318. A demurrer tests the legal suffciency of the pleading it is attacking, and only raises questions of law." Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 589. For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of a cause of action, the ...

Excerpt: ...claim is one upon which an attachment may be issued, (2) plaintiff has established the probable validity of the claim, (3) the attachment is not sought for any purpose other than to secure recovery on the claim, and (4) the amount to be secured is greater than zero. CCP S 484.090. Except as otherwise provided by statute, a claim is one upon which an attachment may be issued: (1) in an action on a claim or claims for money, (2) based upon a contra...

Excerpt: ...he Complaint. PhotoGauge contends that (1) the first cause of action fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and (2) the Court has no jurisdiction over the subject of the second cause of action. (Code of Civ. Proc., S 430.10, subds. (a), A. First Cause of Action: Breach of Contract The first cause of acton is premised upon the employment contract entered into Heslin and PhotoGauge in March 2021. (Sep. 14, 2022 Complaint, '...

Excerpt: ...ss and Professions Code section 7031(b). "Except as provided in subdivision (e), a person who utilizes the services of an unlicensed contractor may bring an action in any court of competent jurisdiction in this state to recover all compensation paid to the unlicensed contractor for performance of any act or contract." (Bus. & Prof. Code S 7031(b).) Plaintiffs seek summary adjudication on the ground that Defendant was an unlicensed contractor duri...

Excerpt: ...-motions for summary judgment. Plaintiff partially settled with four of the five defendants, leaving Defendant Matthew Klein ("Defendant" or "Klein") the sole remaining Defendant in the action. The Court granted summary judgment for Plaintiff against Klein and entered the Judgment following its Order Granting Summary Judgment on June 29, 2023. Plaintiff served the Notice of Entry of Judgment Following Order Granting Summary Judgment on Defendant ...

Excerpt: ... to a commercial lease. The dispute centers on whether the parties' lease agreement included/incorporated by reference an "Addendum A," which purportedly granted/provided the tenants/defendant an option to renew the lease upon its expiration. The parties participated in a July 7, 2023 court trial, which inwlved witness testimony. upon its conclusion, the Court issued a Minute Order indicating its intenton to find in favor of Defendant (tenant) an...

Excerpt: ...ristopher Dunn Cust(Nlianship ("Plaintiffs") "Motion to compel and Request for sanctions," filed June 12, 2023, is GRANTED-IN-PART and DENIED-INPART. Background. Plaintiffs filed this case in March 2022. Plaintiffs' present Motion argues that since roughly mid-2022 and continuing to the present, Defendants David Bragg and Silicon Valley Real Estate Ventures, LLC (SVRV) have engaged in various forms of discovery abuse/misconduct that warrants sanc...

Excerpt: ...e sole grounds for Defendant's motion as to the first cause of action is that the LLC Operating Agreement has terminated, the LLC has dissolved, and Defendant withdrew from the LLC in 2017. These facts are undisputed. Defendant contends, therefore, that he cannot be liable for a breach of contract claim. The argument has no basis in law, and Defendant cites no legal authority to support the argument. When a contract terminates or expires, it is n...

Excerpt: ...raud is OVERRULED. The elements of a claim for fraudulent concealment are: "(1) the defendant must have concealed or suppressed a material fact, (2) the defendant must have been under a duty to disclose the fact to the plaintiff, (3) the defendant must have intentionally concealed or suppressed the fact with the intent to defraud the plaintiff, (4) the plaintiff must have been unaware of the fact and would not have acted as he did if he had known...

Excerpt: ...of this order. As a preliminary matter, the hearing on this demurrer was originally set for July 21, 2023. The Court found that Defendant MPH International LLC ("MPH") had failed to meet and confer as required by Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41. The Court continued the hearing and ordered MPH to file a declaration, confirming that the parties had met and conferred, no later than September 5, 2023. MPH has failed to file a declaration, and ...

Excerpt: ...he parties entered into a Settlement Agreement, which that Defendants South Bay Real Estate Commerce Group, LLC and George Cresson (Judgment Debtors) would pay to Plaintiff MDIG, pursuant to a payment plan. There is no dispute that the Judgment Debtors paid of the Settlement, several years ago. MDIG contends that no additional payments have been made (i.e., Judgment Debtors have made no payments in over five years now), during which time MDIG has...

Excerpt: ... to Strike. As a preliminary matter, McLennan identifies four statutory grounds for this demurrer to the Complaint of Plaintiff 930 Linden Avenue, LLC ("930 LLC"): (1) 930 LLC's lack of capacity to sue, (2) misjoinder, (3) failure to state a claim, and (4) uncertainty. (See Code of Civ. S 430.10, subds. (b), (d)—(f).) However, none of the papers filed in support of the motion discuss capacity to sue, misjoinder, or uncertainty. The Court theref...

Excerpt: ... ON DEMURRER AND DEMURRER TO DEFENDANT AND CROSS-COMPLAINANT DONNA GOLDSTEIN'S VERIFIED CROSS COMPLAINANT BY PLAINTIFF AND CROSS-DEFENDANT TENTATIVE RULING: The instant dispute arises out of a loan and Deed of Trust ("DOT") executed by Defendant Donna Goldstein's nowdeceased husband, Andrew Goldstein, pledging real property at 1431 Laguna Avenue, Burlingame CA (the "subject property") to Option One Mortgage ("Option One") as security for a loan (...

Excerpt: ... filed a Cross-complaint against Plaintiff. On May 5, 2022, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint to add claims for accounting and declaratory relief. On June 28, 2022, this case was set for trial to commence June 1, 2023. On May 8, 2023, less than one month before trial, Defendant brought an ex parte application to continue the trial date, allow further merits discovery, and allow more time to complete expert discovery — due to the recent ...

Excerpt: ...elevant Facts This personal injury case arises out of a December 16, 2019 incident in which Plaintiff and Cross-defendant Nancy Hey, who had already been legally blind, was struck in the eye by a metal protrusion on the premises of Rancho Viejo horse stables located at 145 Ansel Lane in Portola Valley (the "Premises"). The Premises are owned by the Defendant Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University ("Stanford") and leased to Def...

Excerpt: ..."). In the operative First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges causes of acton against both Watt and AVM for whistleblower retaliation, false imprisonment, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.l Defendant AVM now demurs to all causes of action, arguing that Plaintiff has failed to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action as to his whistleblower retaliation claim, and that AVM has failed to allege sufficient fac...