Excerpt: ...ion Chicago Title Insurance Company and cross -complainant Roya Javid (R Javid”) each filed joinder in Javid's opposition (collectively “Objectors”). On March 29, 2024, defendant and cross complainant Orange Coast Title Company of Northern California (“Orange Coast”) and defendant, cross - defendant and cross -complainant Susan Trujillo (Trujillo) filed response to Tashjian's motion to stay in support of stay. Evidentiary objections O...

Excerpt: ...ecompensated heart failure. (Ibid.) Based on Decedent's medical history, Good Samaritan knew or should have known that Decedent was at high risk of developing pressure sores. (SAC, ¶ 15.) Decedent presented with wounds in her right and left legs. (Ibid.) Pressure sore protocol sho uld have been instituted and followed at Good Samaritan. (Id. at ¶ 16.) Decedent suffered the development and/or worsening of pressure sores while at Good Samaritan. ...

Excerpt: ...024. The primary ba sis for the District's demurrer was the claim that Assembly Bill 218 (“AB 218”), which amended the limitations period for bringing a childhood sexual assault claim under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1, was unconstitutional under Article XVI, § 6 of the California Constitution, also known as the “Gift Clause.” The court ultimately rejected this claim and overruled the demurrer. (See January 23, 2024 Order.)3 Two...

Excerpt: ... Company (“LBMC”), borrow ing $125,000. (FAC, ¶9.) Plaintiffs executed a promissory note (“Note”) secured by a deed of trust (“DO”) against the Subject Property, Plaintiffs' primary residence. (FAC, ¶¶10 – 11.) The Note and DOT incorrectly identified the parcel number for the Subje ct Property as 599-44 -020. (FAC, ¶¶12 – 13.) LBMC subsequently assigned the [DOT] to Mortgage Electronic Registration Services (“MERS”) on o...

Excerpt: ...y are in the legal cu stody of defendant County. (Id.) Defendant County was responsible for the care and safety of children within Santa Clara County. (Id.) Defendant County provided child welfare, child protective, and childcare services to foster children in Santa Clara Count y, including plaintiff Michael Holys (“Holys”). (SAC, ¶9.) At all relevant times, plaintiff Holys was in foster care under the custody, care, and control of defendant...

Excerpt: ...that she and simila rly-situated dancers were employed by Defendants AJ's LLC and its owner, Paul Gill, from approximately May 1, 2013, until April 22, 2017, but were misclassified as independent contractors. AJ's Restaurant & Bar (“AJ's”) was a fictitious name for a sole pro prietorship owned by Andrea Russo until he passed away in May 2021. The restaurant closed in 2020 during the Covid pandemic and never reopened, as admitted by Plaintif...

Excerpt: ... attached to Dec. of Fineman. Defendant is correct that Plaintiff was not a party to the contract, and therefore lacks standing to bring suit. California law provides that “[e]very action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest[.]” Code Civ. Proc. § 36 7. A real party in interest is generally defined as “the person possessing the right sued upon by reason of the substantive law.” Redevelopment Agency of San Diego v....

Excerpt: ...rty located at 1343 San Juan Avenue in San Jose, California (“Property”) upon the death of his mother, Maria Castaneda (“Castaneda”). (Complaint at BC -4.) Upon Salvador's death or sale of the Property, Plaintiff was to be provided with her share a s issue of Castaneda.1 (Ibid.) On November 26, 2022, Salvador died and Plaintiff discovered that he transferred the Property into his trust to be given to Defendant, his wife, upon his death. (...

Excerpt: ...is Plaintiff s' motion for final approval of settlement, which is unopposed. As discussed below, the Court GRANTS the motion. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs began employment with Defendant in September 2019 and ended their employment in April 2022. (First Amended Class Act ion Complaint (“FAC”), ¶ 3.) Both Plaintiffs were employed by Defendant as hourly, non- exempt employees. (Ibid.) According to Plaintiffs, they were sometimes required to work ...

Excerpt: ...y associated premiums, and failed to provide code- complaint wage statements, among other Labor Code violations. Now before the Court are Plaintiffs' motion for final approval of a settlement and motion for attorneys' fees, costs and enhancement awards, which are unopp osed. As discussed below, the Court GRANTS the motions. I. BACKGROUND On January 24, 2022, Ms. Martinez and Ms. Orellano filed a PAGA Complaint against Defendant in this Court in...

Excerpt: ...below, Plaintiff' s motion is GRANTED. I. BACKGROUND According to the allegations of the operative Complaint (“Complaint”), Ms. Velasco was employed by Bright Matters, which provides cleaning and janitorial services throughout the state of California, as a janitor from appr oximately September 2021 until her termination in January 2022. Ms. Velasco alleges that she and other aggrieved employees were willfully misclassified as independent con...

Excerpt: ...mon areas on the subdi vision map of Tract No. 10108, file no. 21798266 in San Jose (“Project”). (See TAC, ¶¶ 2, 14.) However, as a result of Defendant's omissions and actions, there were numerous latent defects at the Project, including: missing head flashings at windows and doors, improperly installed stucco and stucco accessories, improperly installed self- adhered membrane and building paper, improperly installed lath, improperly inst...

Excerpt: ...ENIED IN PART. Fi rst, Steinberg Hart seeks further responses to Requests for Production Nos. 24, 25, and 26 from its second set of document requests, under section 2031.310. Z&L's responses consisted solely of objections, without any statement of compliance. But Z&L argu es in its opposition that these requests are duplicative of Requests for Production Nos. 4, 5, and 6, which were presumably contained in Steinberg Hart's first set of document ...

Excerpt: ...n Hsu and Chin- Wei Hsu in Case No. 23CV427626 filed a similar notice in their case referencing this Case No. 22CV407623, the same day. In both notices, the second box in Section 1(h) is checked indicating that each case “arise from the same or substantially identical transact ions, incidents, or events requiring determination of the same or substantially identical questions of law or fact.” The plaintiffs in both actions are represented by ...

Excerpt: ...n September 29, 2021, Pl aintiff designs, manufactures, and sells electric cars, electric vehicle powertrain components, as well as scalable energy generation and storage products. (FAC, ¶ 36.) Plaintiff sells successful electric vehicles and is poised to enter the pickup truck market, with over 500,000 reservations for its highly anticipated Cybertruck. (Ibid.) Defendants Rivian Automotive, Inc. and Rivian Automotive, LLC (collectively, “Rivi...

Excerpt: ...) Arvind Srin ivasan v. ZL Technologies, Inc., et al. (Case No. 20CV373027); (3) Arvind Srinivasan v. ZL Technologies, Inc. (Case No. 20CV373149); (4) ZL Technologies, Inc., et al. v. Arvind Srinivasan (Case No. 21CV378097); (5) Arvind Srinivasan v. ZL Technologies, Inc . (Case No. 21CV382329). and As is relevant here, ZL Technologies, Inc., et al. v. Arvind Srinivasan (Case No. 21CV378097) (“Defamation Case”) is a defamation action filed by...

Excerpt: ...k to amend the c omplaint to add two new causes of action against defendants Suzanne Ramirez (Jonathan Ramirez's ex -fiancee) and RRT Group, Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”): for financial elder abuse and for an accounting. Defendants respond that they “will not oppose” t his motion “with the following conditions”: (1) that Defendants not be required to file a response to the amended complaint; (2) that they be allowed to conduct ...

Excerpt: ...nts LLC (collectively, the “Gong Defendants”) in “multiple protracted complex litigations” involving residential property located at 2276 Bentley Ridge Drive in San Jose (the “Property”).1 (Complaint, ¶¶ 1, 9.) In 2015, Jason Pacheco and Shanna Pacheco (collectively, the “Pachecos”) sued the Gong Defendants over a dispute regarding the Property. (Complaint, ¶ 12 -14.) David Hamerslough represented the Pachecos in the underlying...

Excerpt: ..., 2022, and the y filed the operative first amended complaint (“FAC”) on October 16, 2023. The FAC alleges in part that of the $623,300.00 currently owed to Plaintiffs: . . . $552,300 represents money Plaintiffs loaned to Defendant to assist in the purchase of two pieces of residential real property —one in the City of San Jose and one in the City of Palo Alto, as well as a small of amount of interest on one of those loans. Constituting t...

Excerpt: ...(“San Jose City”) (collectiv e l y, “City Defendants,”), and the County of Santa Clara (“Santa Clara County”) (collectively, “Defendants.”) Plaintiffs Valdez and Garrett were employed by Kiewit6 Infrastructure West Corporation (“Kiewit Corporation”) as Journeyman Pipe Fitters, working a t San Jose-Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility (“Wastewater Facility.”) (FAC, ¶ 19.) The Wastewater Facility is jointly owned and op...

Excerpt: ...mplaint (“FAC”), ¶ 4.) Loren z is the Chief Executive Officer of County Hospital/SCVMC. (Id. at ¶¶ 2, 3(a).) During Plaintiff's employment, he observed County Hospital's failure to maintain a sanitary environment and improper handling of materials, including surgical instruments. (FA C, ¶ 11.) On and after September 2022, Plaintiff informed several people that certain instruments were incorrectly sterilized and had been incorrectly steril...

Excerpt: ...t, but from the breach of the separate Noncompetition and Nonsolicitation Agreement (“Noncompetition Agreement”) between the parties. Plaintiff argues that because the Noncompetition Agreement does not contain an arbitration clause, it cannot be compelled to arbitration. Defendant responds that the Employment Agreement and Noncompetition Agreement should be read as one, citing both Civ. Code § 1642 and Fillpoint, LLC v. Maas (2012) 208 Cal.A...

Excerpt: ...her responses to requests for production of documents, and (5) to compel compliance with requests for production of documents. In addition, Plaintiffs seek $7,429.00 in monetary sanctions against Surgicare. Because Plaintiffs' motion fails to demonstrate good cause for further responses to the document requests, and because the moving papers barely address the substance of the answers to the interrogatories, the court DENIES the motion in large p...

Excerpt: ... now seek an o rder compelling GM to produce documents relating to (1) the SUBJECT Vehicle (RFP Nos. 1, 2, 3, 9, 14); (2) communications between Plaintiff and Defendant or those associated with Defendant (RFP Nos. 15 and 16); (3) documents relating to the call center, lo yalty program, after warrant assistance program, or technical hotline (RFP Nos. 31 -33); and (4) documents evidencing complaints made by California owners of the same make, model...

Excerpt: ... agent to serve. Plai ntiff has been unable to serve EMC. Defendant is a citizen of Canada and was a board director and significant shareholder of EMC. After another investigation, Plaintiff found a residential address for Defendant. In October 2023, Plaintiff engaged a Canadi an process server to conduct personal service on Defendant, but this was unsuccessful. In November or December 2023, Plaintiff retained a new process server who was able t...

Excerpt: ...a fraudulent sc heme to retire senior water rights vis- à-vis duplicitous water claims….for the construction and massive expansion of a luxurious private urban development” in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Complaint ¶ 2.) On September 26, 2014, Plaintiff filed suit under the Fed eral Claims Act in the Federal Court for the District of Utah relating to a public drinking water system in Salt Lake County operated by the Emigration Canyon Improvement...

Excerpt: ...y generic and dev oid of specific explanations regarding the disputed requests. Indeed, the brief does not include or discuss the specific text of any of the 37 the requests at issue, instead grouping them into broad categories and then making general arguments about them. In addition, the brief contains no definition of the “transmission defect” and “engine defect” at issue, leaving it for the reply brief to define these terms. Even ...

Excerpt: ...on November 12, 2019 by plaintiffs Wendy Towner, Francisco Aguilera, Nick McFarland, Justin Bates, and Brynn OtaMatthews (collectively, the “Towner plaintiffs”). The Towner plaintiffs eventually filed a Fifth Amended Complaint (“5AC”) on July 23, 2021, stating several c auses of action against defendants Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, Inc. (“GGFA”), First Alarm Security & Patrol, Inc. (“First Alarm”), the City of Gilroy (“...

Excerpt: ...ccording to the c omplaint, Xu has refused to contribute to the loan since January 2023, and Jiang has had to pay Xu's share of the loan. (Ibid.) In addition, despite verbal promises, Xu has refused to repay Jiang one -half of the advance payment and transaction fees. (Id . at ¶ 11.) Jiang incurred other expenses related to the Bowen Property, including property tax, insurance premiums, replacement of airconditioning system, gardener fees, repai...

Excerpt: ...choscopy. (SA C ¶ 2.) While Dr. Nathan was under anesthesia, the anesthesiologist left him for crucial minutes, during which time the internist made a mistake, and Dr. Nathan suffered a stroke. (SAC ¶ 22.) Failing to detect the stroke, Stanford staff wrongly concluded t hat Dr. Nathan had suffered a heart attack and did not conduct a physical or neurological examination until 48 hours after the procedure. Dr. Nathan was released on March 16, 20...

Excerpt: ...4.) Doe 6 was a teacher empl oyed by Doe 1 who abused his position of power to groom young students, including Plaintiff. (Id. at ¶ 15.) After Doe 6 gained Plaintiff's trust, his sexual advances against Plaintiff became more aggressive. (Compl., ¶ 16.) Doe 1's employees knew, or shou ld have known, that Doe 6 was sexually grooming and sexually abusing Plaintiff. (Id. at ¶¶ 18, 26.) Doe 6 targeted Plaintiff because of his gender. (Id. at ¶ 20...

Excerpt: ...2. (See complaint, ¶ 7.) Construction of the project was to be substantially completed by July 7, 2022. (See complaint, ¶ 8.) Plaintiffs contend that Premiere improperly over -excavated and demolished the base rock of an approved location of a 10,000 -gallon water tank with its foundation without notifying Plaintiffs, and the project ultimately was severely delayed and incomplete. (See complaint, ¶ 9.) Premiere stopped work and left the projec...

Excerpt: ...merger of Plaintiff with Tal amantez' Castling Kids Chess, and then the hiring of Talamantez as Plaintiff's Director of Enrichment. (See TAC, ¶¶ 28, 3738.) On May 14, 2018, Talamantez executed a nondisclosure agreement with Plaintiff, in which he agreed not to disclose Plaintiff's c onfidential information or solicit its customers and to return all property in his possession at the time of termination with Plaintiff. (See TAC, ¶ 49, exh. D.) ...

Excerpt: ...er the name “ Findora.” In Case No. 20CV372622 (“Abittan”), Temujin alleges that Defendants and CrossComplainants Ariel Abittan, Benjamin Fisch, and Charles Lu conspired to: (a) assert a false claim of ownership of its business; (b) misappropriate its trade secrets; (c) usurp and interfere with control over its assets, such as social media accounts; and (d) interfere with its relationships with investors and business partners. Mr. Abittan...

Excerpt: ...actions whe re there is a common question of law or fact pending in the same court. CCP §1048(a). In considering a motion for consolidation, the court should consider the timeliness of the motion, the complexity of the case, and prejudice. See State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Superior Court (1956) 47 C.2d 428, 430- 432. Jane Doe's motion is timely and the two actions concern the same property and involve overlapping parties. However, LHP 2019 wi...

Excerpt: ...e Fenton”). Pursuant t o California Rule of Court 3.1308, the Court issues its tentative ruling. I. Background This is an action for fraudulent conveyance. According to the allegations, on November 25, 2014, Martin and Hoge Fenton entered into an agreement in which Hoge Fento n agreed to represent Martin in an underlying action, which was a real property dispute between Martin's father and Mark and Paul Watts related to property located at 3156...

Excerpt: ...2024, in the principal amount of $ 894,443.54 that was modified on June 5, 2023, to $979,425.90, on two major grounds. First, Kokinos claimed that vacatur is required pursuant to “section 1286.2(a)(6)(B) because WELSH refused to honor KOKINOS's timely demands for disqualification of hersel f and of her designated forensic accountant Vanessa Hill (Hill), when WELSH was required to remove herself and the accountant from the proceedings” citin...

Excerpt: ... and Housing Act (“FEHA”). (FAC, ¶ 9.) Plaintiff worked for the County's Probation Department at James Ranch. (FAC, ¶ 10.) In March 2020, he requested accommodations to work from home or to be transferred to a position that would allow him to work from home as an accommodation for his disability and being in the high -risk category for COVID -19. (FAC, ¶ 12.) Plaintiff alleges Defendants initially offered to compensate him with paid admini...

Excerpt: ...nts.”) I. Background A. Fac tual On July 14, 2021, Plaintiff was lawfully driving his car eastbound on El Camino Real in Mountain View, California (“Subject Location”) when Defendant Ossie B. Holt (“Holt” or “Defendant”), while operating a vehicle, caused an automobile collision. (F AC, ¶¶ 10, 15.) Prior to the collision, Defendant Holt, while driving at high speed behind Plaintiff, failed to stop and “violently” rear -ended P...

Excerpt: ...ti ff purchased a laser hair removal therapy treatment course at Medspa, consisting of six “bikini Brazilian” treatments and six “upper leg” treatments. (FAC at ¶ 6.) On April 12, 2022, Plaintiff attended her fourth treatment of laser hair removal therapy w here Nurse Mottahed was available to treat her. (Id. at ¶ 7.) Plaintiff was burned during her laser treatment and left her appointment early. (Id. at ¶¶ 10 -16.) The employees at t...

Excerpt: ... Pacific Coast Med ical Clinic (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), based on alleged spoliation of evidence, (2) a motion to compel compliance with Cigna's third set of requests for production of documents (Nos. 33, 35- 37, and 39), and (3) a motion to seal certain exhibits submitte d with the motion to compel compliance. Plaintiffs oppose the first two motions but do not oppose the third. This case was originally set for trial more than 10 months...

Excerpt: ..., previ ously doing business as Lifestyle Hospitality Inc., provides case goods, seating, millwork, various types of furniture and related items and services to the hospitality industry. (Complaint, ¶¶2, 3, and 11.) Defendant ECD -Great Street DE, LLC dba theWit Ch icago (“Defendant”) has a principal place of business at 250 Parkway Drive, Suite 120, in Lincolnshire, Illinois. (Complaint, ¶4.) Defendant owns and/or operates one or more hot...

Excerpt: ...rtment between A ugust 25, 1997, and July 7, 2015. (Separate Statement of Undisputed Material Facts in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Adjudication (“SSUMF”), ¶1.) She was promoted to senior accountant on June 30, 2014, and remained in that position until her retirement. (Id., ¶2.) As both an accountant and senior accountant, Defendant's responsibilities included maintaining Cupertino's general ledger accounts and performing bank ...

Excerpt: ...ant is served by e mail and the Plaintiff asserts that Defendant has agreed to such service. The proof of service form specifically required Plaintiff to provide the authorizing code section for its method of service and unsurprisingly, Plaintiff offered none. Moreover, the Court Clerk indicated that service was not proper when it rejected the request for entry of default on March 2, 2022, noting that service was not proper. Plaintiff claims it ...

Excerpt: ...mstances, a defend ant must bring a motion to vacate and set aside default within six months of the date the default was entered. Code of Civil Proc. § 473(b) provides, in pertinent part, that: (b) The court may, upon any terms as may be just, relieve a party or his or her l egal representative from a judgment, dismissal, order, or other proceeding taken against him or her through his or her mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect....

Excerpt: ...dariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83 (Armendariz). Perera alleges that FINRA has not complied with the holding in Armendariz that an employment arbitration must involve a neutral arbitrator and must not require the employee to pay any type of expense that he or she would not have to pay if the dispute had been brought in court rather than in arbitration. Perera alleges that FINRA has charged him thousands of dollars ...

Excerpt: ...2023. It states four causes of action: (1) Nonpayment of Wages (against Flawless); (2) Breach of Contract (against Flawless and Flawless S.A.R.L.); (3) Violation of Business and Professions Code Section 17200 et seq. (against Flawless); and (4) Defamation (against Flawless an d Loughan). There are no exhibits attached to the complaint. Flawless filed an answer to the complaint on October 30, 2023. Currently before the court is a special motion t...

Excerpt: ...ard by Marriott hotel in Sunnyvale, California which was owned and operated by defendants. (FAC at ¶ 4.) Plaintiff was attending a business function in the area at the time of the events alleged in the FAC. (Ibid.) Around this time, defendants summoned officers of the Sunny vale Police Department and had Plaintiff arrested without a warrant and detained for the crime of felony vandalism. (FAC at ¶ 5.) Plaintiff was then transported to the Santa...

Excerpt: ...s discusse d below, the Court GRANTS the motion. I. MOTION TO SEAL A. Legal Standard “The court may order that a record be filed under seal only if it expressly finds facts that establish: (1) There exists an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public acc ess to the record; (2) The overriding interest supports sealing the record; (3) A substantial probability exists that the overriding interest will be prejudiced if the record is ...

Excerpt: ...nt. On February 15, 2024, defendant Sossaman, specially appearing, filed a motion to quash service of summons and complaint. Plaintiff filed written opposition. Motion to Quash Service of Summons Defendant Sossaman moves to quash service of summons as he was not personally served with the complaint in this action. Legal Standard “Service of process is the means by which a court having jurisdiction over the subject matter asserts jurisdiction ...