Excerpt: ...ond amended complaint (“SA C”) on October 3, 2023, after the court overruled in part and sustained in part a demurrer to the first amended complaint. There are also cross -actions. Encore filed a cross - complaint against Hacker on June 9, 2023, stating causes of action for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, common counts, and imposition of a constructive trust. Hacker brought a demurrer to this cross -complaint, which the court sustain...

Excerpt: ...case on July 5, 2023; it filed the operative first amended complaint (“FAC”) on November 2, 2023. This case is preceded by three other cases between Lebar and Kim that were filed in 2022: two unlawful detainer actions that are now closed, as well as a civil action for damages by Kim against Lebar that is scheduled to go to trial on September 30, 2024. The parties both conducted dental businesses at 1240 Scott Boulevard, Santa Clara, Califo...

Excerpt: ...act contract (based on Lerma's use of a credit card); (3) common count— money lent; (4) common count —money paid on request; (5) common count —open book account; and (6) common count — account stated. Attached to the complaint as Exhibit A is a copy of the Visa credit card agreeme nt upon which the first cause of action is based. (See Complaint, ¶ BC -1.) While the credit card agreement is not signed by either party, paragraph 1 states,...

Excerpt: ...ng trial date of July 1, 2024, the court GRANTS the motion. As an initial matter, the court agrees with Plaintiff that this proposed amendment comes extraordinarily late in the case, long after the original trial dates of May 30, 2023 and August 14, 2023. At the same time, the co urt is unmoved by Plaintiff's contention that this motion is an effort to “sandbag” him. Having reviewed the file in this case, including Judge Kuhnle's November 3,...

Excerpt: ...papers and the com plaint, the court rules as follows: 1. Fraud Causes of Action Although it is not entirely clear, it appears that the core allegations of Castro's complaint are fraud allegations, as set forth in the fifth cause of action (“violation of Civil Code § 1572”), sixth cause of action (“fraud”), and eighth cause of action (“intentional misrepresentation”). Castro contends that he defaulted on a home loan that was procure...

Excerpt: ... complaint does not identify any “Doe” defendants in paragraph 1, where all defendants are supposed to be identified. In paragraph 6, however, Sun has checked the box stating that Doe defendants “1 -5” were the “agents or employees of other named defendants.” The co mplaint does not allege compliance with any claim presentation requirement, as none of the boxes in paragraph 9 of the form are checked. In paragraph 10, where causes of ...

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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ..., 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ... 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: ...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: ...nt requested a n extension, the extension kept open the time for Defendant to respond, as there was no agreement by the parties that objections were waived and Defendant claims he was not properly served with the requests. As such, Defendant may raise a proper objection. Defendant objects to requests 1 and 2 claiming that the requests do not identify the documents sought with “reasonable particularity” which Defendant claims is required by CC...

Excerpt: ...i nt In the operative first amended complaint (“FAC”), plaintiff Chicago Title Company (“CTC”) alleges on or about 27 July 2019, defendant 28th St Villa Apts, LLC (“Buyer”) and defendant Green Villa Apartments, LP (“Seller”) entered into an agreement for the sale of real property located at 1319 Tripp Avenue in San Jose (“Property”) from Seller to Buyer. (FAC, ¶¶9 – 10.) Between July 2019 and November 2019, plaintiff CTC ...

Excerpt: ...ain the utility or performance of the vehicle, or to provide compensation in the event of a failure in utility or performance for a specified period of time. (See complaint, ¶ 6.) During the warranty period, the vehicle contained or developed nonconformities including power steering failure, loss of communications between modules, dash lights illuminating including traction control light, airbag light, TPMS light, check engine light and the wre...

Excerpt: ...“Condo”). Plaintiff initiated this act ion by filing a complaint on June 9, 2022. Plaintiff filed the first amended complaint (“FAC”) on May 15, 2023. Thereafter, Defendants demurred to the FAC. The Court (Hon. Rosen) made the following ruling: Defendants' demurrer to the first, third, fourth and fifth causes of action on the ground of insufficient facts is SUSTAINED with 10 days leave to amend. Defendants City and Housing Authoritie...

Excerpt: ...: Carrer a VII, L.P., Carrera VII (B), L.P., Mantra Ventures, LLC (the “Businesses”). (FAC, ¶1.) Defendants Chan and the Businesses (collectively, “Defendants”) convinced Plaintiff to fund an investment portfolio by making various promises and representations. (Ibi d.) Defendants promised and represented that for a payment of approximately 15 percent and related fees, they would invest Plaintiff's money for his benefit in securities as ...

Excerpt: ...oduction. The par ties asked the court to hear this matter on shortened time (essentially, within nine calendar days of the court having received the parties' ex parte papers). Because this case is set for a trial on July 22, 2024, the court agreed to do so, with an exceptionally truncated briefing schedule. The court has now reviewed the parties' filings. Because of the rushed nature of this hearing, the court makes the following preliminary o...

Excerpt: ...nts”). The origin al and still-operative complaint, filed on January 17, 2023, alleges that Defendants improperly recorded a judgment lien on April 3, 2019, which operates as a cloud on the title of Plaintiffs' residence. (Complaint, ¶ 26.) The judgment lien was the last in a series of abstracts of judgments entered in a case between defendant Cintora and plaintiff Clifford Stanley and Stanley's former company, Bad Boys Bail Bonds, Inc. (Los ...

Excerpt: ...arch 23, 2022. It filed the operative First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), adding defendant Link Corporation (“Link”), on March 15, 2023. The FAC states claims for: (1) Fraud in the Inducement (against AMS, Achkar, and various Does); (2) Fraud and Deceit (against AMS, Achkar, and vario us Does); (3) Breach of Contract (against AMS and various Does); (4) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing (against AMS and various Do...

Excerpt: ...r action mo ot. The trial court in Department 12 (Judge Isger) then set the matter for an order to show cause re: dismissal on September 21, 2023. At the OSC hearing, Fang asked that the case not be dismissed in order to proceed with the case as an ordinar y civil ac tion. He also asked that his ex parte application to amend his complaint be granted. The court denied the ex parte application “without prejudice” and sent the matter back to the...

Excerpt: ...t for dismissal of the co mplaint as to all Defendants and all causes of action, without prejudice. Although Ari Law dismissed the complaint and never filed an opposition to the anti -SLAPP motions, the parties nevertheless appeared for the hearing on October 26, 2023 to address th e court's tentative ruling. In that October 25, 2023 tentative ruling, the court recognized that it no longer had jurisdiction to rule on the motion to strike, given ...

Excerpt: ... complaint, Moreno was injured on July 6, 2021 when an outdoor wall dividing property between the defendants fell over. There are no exhibits attached to the complaint, and the complaint itself is notably quite vague as to how Moreno came to be at the location where the wall collapsed and how the several defendants are liable for his injury. The complaint for the most part refers only to “Defendants.” Currently before the court is a motion fo...

Excerpt: ...rding to the complai nt, Citizens is in the sign, construction, and advertising business. (Complaint, ¶ 8.) In 2018, Citizens brought a civil rights action against the City of San Jose (the “2018 federal action”). (Id. at ¶ 9.) In September 2018, Citizens entered into a wr itten representation agreement with Defendants, who handled various aspects of the 2018 federal action. (Id. at ¶¶ 10 -14.) In 2020, the City of San Jose filed a lawsu...

Excerpt: ... of these motions. The court's limited understanding as to the individual defendants, based on the parties' papers (which barely differentiate between the defendants), is as follows: (1) Tessier -Lavigne was the President of Stanford at the time of Katie Meyer's suicide —he is no longer President but is still employed by Stanford; (2) Brubaker -Cole is the Vice Provost for Student Affairs; (3) Zumwalt is the General Counsel; (4) Caldera is the ...

Excerpt: ...e Order No. 4 -2001); (2) Failure to Provide Mandated Meal Periods (Violation of Labor Code Sections 226.7 & 512 and Wage Order No. 4- 2001); (3) Failure to Provide Mandated Rest Periods (Violation of Labor Code Section 226.7 and Wage Order No. 4 -2001); (4) Failure to Provide Item ized Wage Statements (Violation of Labor Code Sections 226 & 226.3 and Wage Order No. 7 -2001); (5) Failure to Pay Wages Upon Termination (Violation of Labor Code Sect...

Excerpt: ...ttachment alleges that “Pomogaibo has to sent [sic] order for publication, summons, and credit card details to newspaper. Newspaper has to publish summons 4 weeks and charge $400 for it. Newspaper refused to comply with court order based on conversation with attorney Ekate rina Berman, who said to newspaper three false datums – she represented his client Yevgeniy Babichev, [I]'m [vexatious] litigant, [I] have not received permission from pres...

Excerpt: ...t a single cause of action for intentional tort – defamation.2 Zhan alleges that Tang intentionally and maliciously mistranslated Zhan's emails from Chinese to English as part of the evidence submitted to the Santa Cruz court in the civil harassment case. According to Zh an, she notified Tang about these alleged mistranslations and thereafter sent a cease -and -desist letter to Tang. Zhan never received a response from Tang. Zhan then filed t...

Excerpt: ... (“UPI”). (Complaint, ¶¶ 4 -5.) Cheng, a licensed accountant, provided accounting services to the brothers and to UPI. (Id. at ¶¶ 2 -3, 6, 9, 14 & 19.) In 1991, UPI established a Money Purchase Pension Plan (“Plan 1”) and a Profit Sharing Plan (“Plan 2”). (Complaint, ¶ 10.) S cott made contributions and payments to Plan 1 and Plan 2. (Id. at ¶ 12.) In addition, UPI was required to make annual contributions to Plan 1 for Scott. ...

Excerpt: ...s. (Complaint, ¶ 1.) O n March 5, 2015, Royal Coach and Miletak entered into an employment agreement in which Miletak agreed to participate in Royal Coach's Student Driver Trainee Program. (Id. at ¶ 5.) Under the program, Royal Coach would pay Student Driver Trainees to attend classroom instruction, enabling them then to apply for a commercial driver's license. (Ibid.) Upon completion of the program, Royal Coach had the option to hire trainees ...

Excerpt: ...opposes the motion. Because the court sees little to no utility in a four -month stay, and because Timothy does not demonstrate any valid basis for a stay, the court DENIES the motion. Timothy contends that this case was commenced improperly by his brother, Brian Bumb (“Brian”), in Bria n's capacity as manager of S.J. Bayshore, and that the First Street case will establish this fact by granting Timothy a declaratory judgment that Brian unlawf...

Excerpt: ... enumerated “issues,” which the court heard on July 18, 2023. The court granted the motion with respect to Issue No. 5, determining “that Galan Ramirez, like all of the drivers on the roadways in California, had a duty to operate his vehicle in a safe and reasonable manner .” (July 18, 2023 Order at p. 6:5 -7.) The court denied the motion with respect to all of the other issues, none of which disposed of a cause of action, affirmative def...

Excerpt: ...ting four causes of action against State Farm and/or non -insurance company defendants: (1) Breach of Contract (the insurance policy, alleged against State Farm only); (2) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing (insurance bad faith, alleged against S tate Farm only); (3) Negligence (against all defendants); and (4) Unfair Business Practices (against all defendants). While the specific insurance policy for the subject prope...

Excerpt: ...ES in part Bernasconi's demurrer. This case arises out of a recorded interview between Hogan, Bernasconi, and Catherine Somers (Bernasconi's “podcast partner”) on June 7, 2023. (Complaint, p. 3:4.)1 After the interview, Hogan indicated to Bernasconi and Somers tha t she wanted to listen to the recording and wanted to play it on her own podcast, but Bernasconi allegedly deleted it. (Id. at p. 4:7, 4:10 -11, 4:16 -17.) Hogan filed this case tw...

Excerpt: ...ril 10, 2023 email exchange demonstrates [that] the parties mutually consented to essential settlement terms— payment of $8,000 by Defendant in exchange for Plaintiff's dismissal . . . . These emails form an enforceable settlement contract under California law.” (Memo randum at p. 4:1 -4.) The court has reviewed these emails attached to the motion and finds that they are somewhat ambiguous as to whether the parties truly had a final enforce...

Excerpt: ...nd Requests for Prod uction Nos. 1, 2, and 4. In addition, State Farm requests $2,060 in monetary sanctions against both Herrera and his defense counsel. For the reasons that follow, the court GRANTS the motion to compel; in addition, it GRANTS the request for monetary sancti ons against Herrera only, not his counsel. The responses given to the discovery so far consist entirely of objections. As such, they are insufficient on their face. The reas...

Excerpt: ...to hear Travelers' motion for summary judgment on this date (March 7, 2024), but Plaintiffs filed an ex parte application arguing that they needed additional discovery (and a motion to compel that discovery) before they could adequately respond to the summary judgment motion , under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (h). Without addressing the merits of Plaintiffs' discovery argument, the court granted the ex parte application, c...

Excerpt: ...d and/or distribut ed by Kia. (First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), ¶6.) Morales received an express written warranty which, among other things, covered the Theta 2.0 -liter and 2.4 -liter direct injection engines (“2.0L and/or 2.4L GDI Engine”) and transmission. (FAC, ¶ 7.) A ccording to the complaint, during the warranty period, the Subject Vehicle contained or developed defects that substantially impaired the use, value, or safety of the...

Excerpt: ...ion: (1) Breac h of Contract; (2) “Unauthorized charges to credit card on file with A Tool Shed,”; (3) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing; (4) “Unfair Debt Collection Action”; and (5) “Disparagement and Emotional Distress.” Although there are three named defendants in the complaint, all five causes of action are asserted against only ATS. There are also cross -complaints. On September 29, 2023, defendants ...

Excerpt: ...5) Private Nuisance; (6) Public Nuisance; and (7) Breach of Contract. All seven causes of action are alleged against all defendants. Two of the defendants, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (“Hilton Worldwide”) and Park Hotels and Resorts (“Park Hotels”), brought a joint motion to quash service of summons based on lack of personal jurisdiction on August 17, 2022. Yau did not file any opposition to the motion, and this court (Judge Kirwan) ...

Excerpt: ...ains are 9 2 requests for admissions (originally 123 requests), a form interrogatory (No. 17.1, which is based on the RFAs), and a request for production of documents that is also based on the RFAs. This is in addition to 35 RFAs for which Miller previously already provided responses. Although this case has been pending since June 29, 2020 —i.e., for three years and eight months— Duraipandan served this latest set of discovery requests on Jan...

Excerpt: ...o GRANT the motion, given that Singh's original answer was filed when he was self - represented, and his proposed amended answer has now been prepared with the assistance of counsel. In addition, there is no discernible prejudice to Ruiz arising from the amendment. S ingh shall file his pleading within 10 days of this order —i.e., by no later than Monday, March 11, 2024. As for the motion to withdraw the admissions, Ruiz opposes the motion, a...

Excerpt: ...s allegedly entere d into on April 21, 2020. The complaint stated three causes of action: (1) Breach of Contract (alleging a failure to pay for materials and finished goods under the LOA); (2) Breach of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing (again alleging a f ailure to pay for materials ordered under the LOA); and (3) Promissory Estoppel (alleging reasonable reliance on the LOA and requests from Cue in incurring costs). Cue brough...

Excerpt: ...ined in the parties' brief s, and so the court turns to the arbitrator's interim and final awards for an explanation. John is apparently Tom's nephew. The three parties (John, Tom, and MCM) hold membership interests in Urban Markets, LLC (“UM”) and Urban Markets Entertainment, LLC (“UME”), which are the entities that operate San Pedro Square Market, a food hall in downtown San Jose. John and Tom's economic interests in UM are held indire...

Excerpt: ... Kia had just recently filed its motion to tax costs. As a threshold matter, the court rejects Thuerk's argument that Kia's motion is untimely. Rule 3.1700(b)(1) requires that a motion to strike or tax costs be served within 15 days after service of the memorandum of c osts. That was done here, and so that ends the inquiry. It does not matter that an amended notice of motion was served later with an updated hearing date for the motion. As for th...