Excerpt: ... to the sales contract. Nor was FCA US LLC an “employee, agent, successor, or assign” of the dealer. Further, FCA US LLC may not enforce the arbitration clause under the doctrine of equitable estoppel or as a third party beneficiary. In contending that the arbitration clause applies to FCA US LLC under the doctrine of equitable estoppel, defendant primarily relies on Felisilda v. FCA US, LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5th 486. However, in that case, t...

Excerpt: ...ocedure sections 1281.97 and 1281.98 provide that where a party responsible under an arbitration agreement for payment of arbitration fees fails to pay required fees within thirty days of the fees' due date that party waives its right to compel the other party to continue with arbitration. The waiver of that right affords the other party certain privileges, most relevantly the ability to withdraw from arbitration and proceed in state court and th...

Excerpt: ..., or assign” of the dealer. Further, FCA US LLC may not enforce the arbitration clause under the doctrine of equitable estoppel or as a third party beneficiary. In contending that the arbitration clause applies to FCA US LLC under the doctrine of equitable estoppel, defendant primarily relies on Felisilda v. FCA US, LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5th 486. However, in that case, the dealer, who was a signatory to the sales contract, had been named as a d...

Excerpt: ...r from either Plaintiff's motion or Michelle Lim's declaration, or from Defendant's opposition or Sat Sang Khalsa's declaration that there was ever an actual agreement to stay discovery. Lim did not submit any emails or letters between the attorneys, although she referred to them in her declaration. Khalsa submitted some emails. Neither party submitted any emails or letters relating to or responding to the February 15, 2022 email from Lim to Khal...

Excerpt: ...tentional, willful, or fraudulent are insufficient. (Brousseau v. Jarrett (1977) 73 Cal.App.3d 864, 872; G.D. Searle & Co. v. Superior Court (1975) 49 Cal.App.3d 22, 29.) “In order to survive a motion to strike an allegation of punitive damages, the ultimate facts showing an entitlement to such relief must be pled by a plaintiff.” (Clauson v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1253, 1255.) “[T]he act of operating a motor vehicle while int...

Excerpt: ...ffered injury and death due to Defendant's understaffing of its care facility. Legal Standard on Demurrer. “The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law.” (Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420.) A complaint is sufficient if it alleges ultimate rather than evidentiary facts, but the plaintiff must set forth the essential facts of his or her case “with reasonable ...

Excerpt: ...the “FEHA”). Timeliness of Opposition; Spacing of Filing Text. Plaintiff's counsel admits that opposition papers were not served on Defendants until January 3, 2023. (Declaration of Shanna McDaniel in Support of Reply to Opposition at ¶ 1, Exhibits A‐B.) The court cautions Plaintiff's counsel to be careful of service deadlines and of the spacing requirements of California Rules of Court Rule 2.108 but uses its discretion to accept Plaintif...

Excerpt: ...rnia v. Superior Court (2018) 29 Cal.App.5th 890,903); Ford Motor Company v. Superior Court (1981) 120 Cal.App.3d 748, 751‐753. However, punitive damages can be recovered in a survivor action, filed by a successor in interest to the deceased person who if alive would have a proper basis for asserting a punitive damages claim. C.C.P. §377.34 authorizes a successor in interest action to recover “the loss or damage that the decedent sustained o...

Excerpt: ...and Production of Documents is DENIED in its entirety. California's Civil Discovery Act of 1986, Code Civ. Proc., § 2016 et seq., requires that, prior to the initiation of a motion to compel, the moving party declare that he or she has made a serious attempt to obtain an informal resolution of each issue. This rule is designed to encourage the parties to work out their differences informally so as to avoid the necessity for a formal order. This,...

Excerpt: ... Civil Code §3496, the statute at issue in that case, for red‐light abatement action]. Recovery of CITY's attorneys fees is governed by a different statute. Health & Safety Code §17980.7(c)(11) and (d)(1). However, neither of those subsections identify a particular method for computation of attorneys fees of the public agency. Thus, under Santa Rosa, the court will award fees not based upon what CITY pays its deputy city attorneys for the tim...

Excerpt: ...and Production of Documents is DENIED in its entirety. California's Civil Discovery Act of 1986, Code Civ. Proc., § 2016 et seq., requires that, prior to the initiation of a motion to compel, the moving party declare that he or she has made a serious attempt to obtain an informal resolution of each issue. This rule is designed to encourage the parties to work out their differences informally so as to avoid the necessity for a formal order. This,...

Excerpt: ...t inducement of a sales contract for a car (the “Vehicle”) that contained a serious latent manufacturing defect (the “Engine Defect”). Legal Standard on Demurrer. “The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law.” (Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420.) A complaint is sufficient if it alleges ultimate rather than evidentiary facts, but the plaintiff must set ...

Excerpt: ...he Requests for Production shall be served and responsive documents produced within 30 days of service of this order. Defendant served its Form Interrogatories, Set One, Special Interrogatories and Requests for Production on Plaintiff on September 29, 2022. Responses were due on October 11, 2022. No responses were received, nor was a request for extension made by the due date. Unverified responses were served to the Form Interrogatories and Reque...

Excerpt: ...dical Treatment and Active Labor Act (the “EMTALA”), negligence per se, premises liability, wrongful death, as well as MITCHELL's cause of action against it for negligent infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs' complaint concerns SUTTER's alleged acts and omissions relating to the death of their son Daimon Ferguson (“Decedent”) on September 3, 2020. The court has not received opposition to the motion. Legal Standard. A defendant may...

Excerpt: ... the sixth cause of action is for constructive wrongful termination. All concern events during Plaintiff's employment with the POTEET Defendants' company Defendant HEALTHY BODIES, INC. and the acts of her supervisor Defendant TOM NAKANISHI. Legal Standard on Demurrer. “The function of a demurrer is to test the sufficiency of the complaint as a matter of law.” (Holiday Matinee, Inc. v. Rambus, Inc. (2004) 118 Cal.App.4th 1413, 1420.) A complai...

Excerpt: ... party requesting relief stating 1) what application was made, 2) when and to what judge, 3) what order or decision was made, and 4) what new or different facts, circumstances, or law are claimed to be shown. (Code Civ. Proc. § 1008(a).) A violation of the requirements of the motion for reconsideration may be punished as a contempt and may incur monetary sanctions. (Code Civ. Proc. § 1008(d).) Page 3 of 4 A motion for reconsideration must be ba...

Excerpt: ... court “shall award to the plaintiff reasonable attorney's fees” when it has been “proven by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant is liable for financial [elder] abuse”. (Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.5(a).) Defendant does not claim that the parties agreed to a fee shifting term to enforce either the partnership or the settlement contracts (Civ. Code § 1717) and does not identify any statute or contractual agreement providing f...

Excerpt: ...t and confer declaration]; 2030.300(b)(1) [meet and confer requirement to compel further responses to interrogatories]. The trial court has discretion in determining whether adequate meet and confer efforts preceded the filing of the motion. Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 424 [factors to be considered include the complexity of the discovery issues, the past history of the counsel on prior disputes, and to a certain extent, the ju...

Excerpt: ...at ¶ 82, Exhibit 5.) Validity of Code of Civil Procedure Section 998 Offer. Code of Civil Procedure section 998, subdivision (c)(1) provides, among other things, that a plaintiff who rejects a defendant's properly presented and reasonable settlement offer and then fails to obtain a more favorable result cannot claim attorneys' fees and costs incurred after the date of the offer even in a case under the Act. (Covert v. FCA USA, LLC (2022) 73 Cal....

Excerpt: ...ed Loan Servicing LLC (2020) 52 Cal.App.5th 795, 803. The “fraud by omission” cause of action elements include concealment or suppression of a material fact by one who actually knows that fact and has a duty to reveal it. Boschma v. Home Loan Center, Inc. (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 230, 248. Plaintiff's complaint contains no specific allegations that would establish actual knowledge by Defendants and demurring parties BUNDESEN ENTERPRISES dba Cen...

Excerpt: ...nd implied warranty obligations on manufacturers for the sale of new consumer goods. (Rodriguez v. FCA US, LLC (2022) 77 Cal.App.5th 209, 219.) The Act also applies to a retail seller of a used consumer good on a limited basis only if the retail seller makes an express warranty with respect to that used consumer good. (Civ. Code § 1795.5; Gutierrez v. Carmax Auto Superstores Ca. (2018) 19 Cal.App.5th 1234, 1246; Leber v. DKD of Davis, Inc. (2015...

Excerpt: ...nancial records. Ameri‐Medical Corp. v. Workers' Comp. Appeals Bd. (1996) 42 Cal.App.4th 1260, 1289 [suggesting in dicta that tax returns are not discoverable]; Sav‐On Drugs, Inc. v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 1 [interrogatories improperly sought information about specific deductions claimed on state sales tax returns]. The California Supreme Court explained that special protections were given by the California legislature (now at Revenu...

Excerpt: ...rden of establishing each element of the two breach of guaranty causes of action and the cause of action for fraudulent conveyance. (Code Civ. Proc. § 437c(p)(2); Lyle v. Warner Bros. Television Prods. (2006) 38 Cal.4th 264, 274.) The essential elements for a breach of contract are: 1) a contract, 2) plaintiff's performance, 3) defendant's breach, and 4) damages. (Poseidon Dev., Inc. v. Woodland Lane Estates, LLC (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 1106, 111...

Excerpt: ...t Cornerstone to prepare, and obtain from Plaintiff approval of, subdivision documents necessary to apply for and obtain a legal parcel in compliance with the Subdivision Map Act, including a proposed map and a proposed Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions. (FAC, ¶ 13(a), Exh. B, ¶ 32.) The agreement also required Defendant Cornerstone to refrain from agreeing to expansion or amendment of a tenant's lease without Plaintiff's pr...

Excerpt: ... Sav. Of Am. (1997) 59 Cal.App.4th 1192, 1199; Garcia v. Hejmadi (1997) 58 Cal.App.4th 674, 689‐690.) The need to show a satisfactory explanation is a strict requirement of diligence. (Garcia, 58 Cal.App.4th at 690.) Plaintiff's counsel presumably had personal knowledge of the material terms of the settlement agreement he negotiated and, to the extent that counsel may claim that he could not recall the precise terms of the settlement agreement ...