Excerpt: ...e can be used to attack the entire pleading, or any part thereof, including single words or phrases. Stearns Ranchos v. Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (1981) 19 Cal.App.3d 24. It is proper for the Court to strike any irrelevant, false or improper matter. CCP § 436(a). The Court can also strike any part of a pleading that is not drawn or filed in conformity with California law. CCP § 436(b). Damages for emotional distress and general damages...

Excerpt: ...evance should generally be resolved in favor of permitting discovery. Colonial Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Sup. Ct. (1982) 31 Cal.3d 785, 790. Boilerplate objections are not proper objections and cannot be used indiscriminately to evade discovery obligations. Korea Data Sys. Co. v. Sup. Ct. (1997) 51 Cal.Ap.4th 1513, 1516. 2 This is an action brought under the Song‐Beverly Act. Civil Code § 1790 et seq. To succeed on a claim, a plaintiff bears the...

Excerpt: ...Court. If requested by the parties, the Court also retains jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement. Id. The parties signed a Stipulation for Settlement that was filed with the Court on March 10, 2021. After the matter was dismissed, the parties signed an Amended Stipulation for Settlement that was not filed with the Court, but attached as Exhibit 1 to the Declaration of Coun...

Excerpt: ...n the same date, the Court issued an Order Granting Stipulation for Binding Arbitration and Stay of Action. The Stipulation includes an agreement to submit the entire Action to the arbitrator (¶ 1) and that the parties would split the costs of arbitration equally (¶ 5). The parties went to arbitration on August 31 and September 1, 2021. On October 25, 2021, the 4 arbitrator rendered an Arbitration Decision. The Arbitration Decision resolved all...

Excerpt: ...attorney's fees pursuant to CCP § 425.16(c) if they prevail on the motion. Merits of Motion: Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (b)(1), provides that “A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the ...

Excerpt: ...ower of the court to apply the ultimate sanction of default against a litigant who persists in an outright refusal to comply with his discovery obligations.” Deyo v. Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 787. On December 15, 2021, the Court issued an order granting Defendant's motion to compel further responses. To date, the further responses have not been provided. Court awarded sanctions have also not been paid. The Court order did not provide ...

Excerpt: ...hat there is no triable issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. “A plaintiff…has met his or her burden of showing that there is no defense to a cause of action if that party has proved each element of the cause of action entitling the party to judgment on the cause of action.” CCP § 437c(p)(1). Once a plaintiff has met its burden, the burden shifts to the defendant to show a triable issu...

Excerpt: ...r to be attempted responses to the OSC. Although nothing in the correspondence was in an appropriate format for filing, and some appeared to be ex parte communications, as Plaintiff is the only party to have made an appearance in this case, in the interest of justice the Court chose to consider the correspondence. However, the numerous letters sent to the Court do not provide a sufficient excuse for not effectuating service in this case, especial...

Excerpt: ...clearly qualified by the responding party; 2) deny so much of the matter involved in the request as is untrue; or 3) specify so much of the matter involved in the request as to the truth of which the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge. CCP § 2033.220(b)(1‐3). A propounding party may move for an order compelling further responses to request for admissions if the responses are evasive/incomplete or the objections are with...

Excerpt: ...ium. Defendants are alleged to have breached that promissory note which has an outstanding principal balance of $12,100. Merits of Motion: CCP § 438(c)(1)(A) provides a plaintiff may move for judgment on the pleadings if the complaint states sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint. Here, Plaintiff has alleged indemnity and breach of promissory note c...

Excerpt: ... 2 CRC 2.551. The Court finds good cause to seal the documents. The motion is GRANTED. A proposed order was lodged with the Court which will be executed. The clerk is instructed to seal the documents. Tentative Ruling on Motion to Compel and Competing Motion for Protective Order: Defendants Jas. D. Easton, Inc. and Easton Technical (hereinafter “Defendants”) move for a protective order to prevent the inspection of their manufacturing process....

Excerpt: ...and body of the complaint as a Defendant. On July 20, 2021, Plaintiffs filed their FAC which omits OES. References to OES in the caption and as a Defendant were removed from the FAC. An amended complaint that omits a defendant named in the original complaint, serves as a dismissal without prejudice as to that defendant. Kuperman v. Great Republic Life Ins. Co. (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 943, 947. Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that OES has be...

Excerpt: ...017) 13 Cal.App.5th 880, 891. However, the parties may delegate resolution of these issues to the arbitrator as long as there is clear and unmistakable evidence they intended to do so and the delegation clause is not revocable on state law grounds such as fraud, duress or unconscionability. Pinela v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 227, 239‐ 240. The Arbitration Agreement entered on behalf of Decedent and Defendant on March 20,...

Excerpt: ...f action against Defendants Hannah and Gary Borg. On December 7, 2020, a stipulation was filed to consolidate this action with Case No. 196131. On December 9, 2020, the Court executed the order consolidating the two files. Proofs of service were filed on July 7, 2021 which reflect Hannah Borg was served by certified mail on June 1, 2021 and that Gary Borg was substitute served on June 8, 2021. Both Gary and Hannah Borg were defaulted on July 22, ...

Excerpt: ...§ 8400 et seq. Once a mechanic's lien is recorded, the recording party has 90 days in which to file an action to foreclose. Civil Code § 8460. If an action is not recorded within the 90 day timeframe, the owner of the property may petition the Court to release the mechanic's lien. Civil Code § 8480. The procedural requirements for this statutory petition are provided in Civil Code §§ 8480 et seq. The Court finds that: the Petition has been p...

Excerpt: ...usually be exercised liberally to permit amendment. Nestle v. Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal. 3d 920, 939. “If the motion to amend is timely made and the granting of the motion will not prejudice the opposing party, it is error to refuse permission to amend and where the refusal also results in a party being deprived of the right to assert a meritorious cause of action or a meritorious defense, it is not only error but an abuse of discretion.” Mor...

Excerpt: ...of Motion: The Federal Arbitration Act and controlling California authority require the Court to enforce a parties' Arbitration Agreement and compel arbitration on all arbitrable claims. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd (1985) 470 U.S. 213, 218. In deciding a motion to compel arbitration, the Court's role is limited to answering two questions: 1) does a valid agreement to arbitrate exist; and, if it does; 2) does the arbitration agreement encom...

Excerpt: ... and Crown. Plaintiff alleges various statutory violations of the SongBeverly Act and fraud by omission against Ford. Plaintiff alleges a single cause of action of negligence against Crown. None of the complaint's allegations relate to a term or obligation imposed by the Sale Contract between Plaintiff and Team Ford. Defendants separately seek to compel arbitration based on the Arbitration Provision in the Sales Contract which states in pertinent...

Excerpt: ...ice identified 32 areas of inquiry and demanded production of 28 categories of documents including any and all documents related to certain recalls and technical bulletins. On April 23, 2021, GM served a 32 page response setting forth various objections to the categories of inquiry and the request for production. After a brief and meet and confer process, GM offered to proceed with a deposition but subject to terms that were not acceptable to the...

Excerpt: ...lleges that the Third Amended Complaint is barred by public immunity. The Demurrer is unopposed. Cause of Action No. 1 (FEHA): Plaintiff's first cause of action is an alleged hostile work environment citing to Gov't Code § 12940(j) of FEHA. FEHA protects against discrimination against identified protected classes. The Third Amended Complaint fails to identify any protected class to which Plaintiff belonged. Without discrimination, harassment or ...

Excerpt: .... Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal. 3d 920, 939. “If the motion to amend is timely made and the granting of the motion will not prejudice the opposing party, it is error to refuse permission to amend and where the refusal also results in a party being deprived of the right to assert a meritorious cause of action or a meritorious defense, it is not only error but an abuse of discretion.” Morgan v. Sup.Ct. (1959) 172 Cal.App.2d 527, 530. Defendants se...

Excerpt: ...n was continued, by stipulation, to the instant date. This case is currently set for trial on November 16, 2021. The Plaintiffs' complaint alleges 6 causes of action. Cause of Action No. 1 alleges violation of 14 separate Labor Code Sections; Cause of Action No. 2 alleges violation of Health and Safety Code Section 1278.5; Cause of Action No. 3 alleges violation of Labor Code Section 1102.5; Cause of Action No. 4 alleges ‘senior abuse'; Cause o...

Excerpt: ...2021. Kelly Cotton (“Moving Party”) now seeks leave to intervene pursuant to CCP § 387(a) and Welfare and Institutions Code § 15657.3 and CCP § 377.33, claiming to have superior rights to pursue these claims. Moving party has provided admissible evidence that she was nominated by the Decedent to act as his personal representative in his Will. The terms of the Will provide that all assets of the Estate are to be deposited into the Decedent'...

Excerpt: ...roposed cross‐complaint relates to the same parties and deals with disputes and issues arising from the use of an easement. The Court finds that allowing the filing of the cross‐complaint would be in the interests of justice. In reaching this finding the Court notes that there is presently no trial date set. The Court is in agreement with much of the discussion contained in the opposing party's briefing. The motion to amend is indeed late in ...

Excerpt: ...o. 4: OVERRULED Objection No. 5: OVERRULED Objection No. 6: OVERRULED Objection No. 7: SUSTAINED on the grounds of a legal conclusion; OVERRULED as to the remainder Objection No. 8: OVERRULED Objection No. 9: OVERRULED Objection No. 10: OVERRULED Objection No. 11: OVERRULED Objection No. 12: OVERRULED Objection No. 13: OVERRULED Objection No. 14: OVERRULED Plaintiff's Objections: Objection No. 1: OVERRULED Objection No. 2: OVERRULED Objection No....