Excerpt: ...use of action against GGB. The demurrers are OVERRULED. In her SAC, Plaintiff alleges she worked for Taco Bell, wholly owned and operated by GGB, for more than 20 years before Defendants unlawful terminated her employment on July 11, 2018. During that time, she endured verbally abusive treatment from Robert Millhouse, her former supervisor and GGB's former Director of Operations. In February 2016, she was assaulted at work by a coworker whom she ...

Excerpt: ...pervision, and unfair business practices (the “Complaint”). This matter is on calendar for Defendants' motion to strike two paragraphs of the Complaint pursuant to Cal. Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) §§ 435, 436 on the grounds that they are “irrelevant” and “privileged.” The Motion is GRANTED with leave to amend. I. The Portions of the Complaint CCP § 436(a) provides in relevant part that the court may “[s]trike out any irrelevant, ...

Excerpt: ...er of ways and Defendants failed to correct the problems properly in accord with the applicable warranty. Plaintiff served Lithia with Form Interrogatories, Set No.1 and Special Interrogatories, Set No.1, on April 29, 2020; responses were due May 31, 2020. Plaintiff's evidence is not clear but Plaintiff apparently received responses, without verifications or promised documents, on May 29, 2020, Lithia promising to provide both “shortly”; on J...

Excerpt: ...Defendants covering the Hotel, Plaintiffs complain that after the Hotel was damaged and largely destroyed (“the Loss”) in the Tubbs Fire of October 2017 (“the Fire”), Defendants in bad faith failed to comply with their obligations under the insurance policies. They contend that Defendants have consistently lowballed the claim estimates by millions of dollars, far below the policy limits. Plaintiffs note that five of the buildings of the H...

Excerpt: ... papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c subd. (c).) A court also may grant summary adjudication of a cause of action, a claim for damages or an issue of duty. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c subd. (t)(l).) “From commencement to conclusion,” the moving party bears the burden of persuasion and production to make a...

Excerpt: ...onstructive Trust; 6) Unjust Enrichment; 7) an Accounting; and, 8) Declaratory Relief. It would also add additional facts to the cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty against cross-defendants sales brokers Carter Asefi (“Asefi”) and Franbiz Network for failure to disclose material facts to buyers; and it would add additional facts to the cause of action for breach of fiduciary duty against cross-complainants Elizabeth McGovern (“McGo...

Excerpt: ...The parties do not dispute that Plaintiffs are entitled to attorneys' fees under Civil Code section 1794(d), however, Defendant contests Plaintiffs' attorneys' hourly rates and the time they expended in this action. While the Court finds that some of the various hourly rates charged by Plaintiffs' fifteen attorneys from two different law firms are generally “reasonable,” some are far in excess of those of the local community. Regardless, the ...

Excerpt: ... and it joins improper parties. The Motion to Strike seeks an order striking the FAC's prayer for punitive damages and striking various portions of the FAC. The general demurrer is SUSTAINED with leave to amend. The special demurrer is OVERRULED. The motion to strike is MOOT. CCP section 430.41 requires the demurring party to meet and confer “in person or by telephone” prior to filing a demurrer. (CCP section 430.41(a).) The demurring party m...

Excerpt: ...Civil Procedure section 430.30; Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318. The grounds for a demurrer are set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 430.10. The grounds, as alphabetically identified in the statute, are: (a) the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction; (b) the person filing the complaint lacks legal capacity to sue; (c) another action pending between the same parties on the same cause of action; (d) defect or misjoinder of parti...

Excerpt: ...he complaint on the same grounds as the demurrer is MOOT. The Court refers Plaintiff to Code of Civil Procedure section 372(a) which provides in part that “[w]hen a minor, a person who lacks legal capacity to make decisions, or a person for whom a conservator has been appointed is a party, that person shall appear either by a guardian or conservator of the estate or by a guardian ad litem appointed by the court in which the action or proceeding...

Excerpt: .... Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) § 425.16, and Moving Defendant's Demurrer. The anti-SLAPP Motion is GRANTED, which renders the Demurrer MOOT. I. The Complaint The FAC alleges that Defendants knowingly and intentionally prepared, filed, and recorded a knowingly false abstract of judgment against Plaintiff (the “Abstract”) and that they refused to be accountable or investigate it. Defendants were the attorneys of record for the plaintiff/judgmen...

Excerpt: ...tion is DENIED and Defendants' Motion is GRANTED. I. The Complaint Plaintiff's Complaint alleges that for the past 35 years she has owned and lived in the real property commonly known as 2204 Seminole Court in Santa Rosa, APN 147-012-023 (“Plaintiff's Property”), and that Defendants have owned the real property commonly known as 2208 Seminole Court in Santa Rosa, APN 147- 012-022 (“Defendants' Property”) since December 2018. The two parce...

Excerpt: ...y), which Defendants had manufactured, distributed, and sold, exploded when he was carrying it in his pocket, causing severe burns. He claims that he had bought the electronic cigarette, Battery, charger, and related parts (“the Items”) from Defendant Ecig 101 Digital Cigarettes, dba E-Cig 101 (“E-Cig 101”) but does not indicate when. He claims that the explosion and injury occurred on September 11, 2016 at Home Depot in Oklahoma City, Ok...

Excerpt: ...fact knew of the potential claim against it because it was the licensee of the facility. It claims that there will be no prejudice to Plaintiff because the statute of limitations has not run and Plaintiff may therefore file a separate action against it instead of forcing it to litigate in this case without time to prepare for trial. Plaintiff opposes the motion, arguing that there is no authority allowing a party to quash service of summons and c...

Excerpt: ...dgment discovery to Defendants by first-class mail on March 10, 2020; responses were due by April 17, 2020; Defendants have failed to provide responses although Plaintiff made an effort to resolve the matter informally on June 24, 2020 and again on July 6, 2020. Plaintiff moves the Court to compel Defendants to respond to the discovery. He also seeks monetary sanctions of $300 plus a $90 filing fee. Judgment creditors may propound written post ju...

Excerpt: ...nt which is not a shining example of pleading, Plaintiffs CQ Innovations, LLC (“CQ”) and James Clay (“Clay”), one of its managing members and owners, complain that Defendant Jesse Quiles (“Quiles”), the other managing member and owner of CQ, has breached his loyalty and business obligations to Plaintiffs as set forth in CQ's Operating Agreement (“the Agreement”). Clay and Quiles are allegedly founders and, currently, the only owne...

Excerpt: ...owever, on June 27, 2019, Day filed forms for substitution of attorney, substituting out and leaving each Defendant self-represented. Plaintiff now moves the court to strike the answer of Union on the basis that it is a business entity which may not appear without counsel. Although it has capacity to sue and defend, a corporation is not a natural person and therefore cannot appear in an action in propria persona. Merco Const. Engineers, Inc. v. M...

Excerpt: ...d contribution. This matter is on calendar for the motion by Defendant/Cross-Defendant Dan Herrera, Jr. (“Herrera Jr.”) to stay this action, or in the alternative, to stay discovery on the ground that a felony criminal complaint was filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office against him on March 13, 2019 alleging violation of B&PC § 7028.16. Herrera Jr. asserts that the criminal complaint arises out of the same operative events, t...

Excerpt: ...ns under CCP section 473(b), which must be filed within 6 months of the entry of the order or default or judgment, whichever is at issue. Section 473.5 provides relief where service may have been proper but did not result in actual notice in time to defend the action. See Randall v. Randall (1928) 203 Cal.462, 464-465. The defendant or respondent is thus entitled to relief as long as the party did not receive actual notice, and imputed or constru...

Excerpt: ...rt that Defendant “negligently failed to exercise the proper degree of knowledge and skill in examining, diagnosing, treating, and caring for Plaintiff with respect to his custodial and medical needs, as set forth in this complaint, as a proximate result of which Plaintiff sustained injury to his body, and in his health, strength, and activities, and sustained injury to his mental health and shock and injury to his nervous system, all of which ...

Excerpt: ...elated declaratory relief. This matter is on calendar for: 1) the motion by Plaintiffs for summary judgment, or in the alternative, summary adjudication of each cause of action pursuant to Cal. Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) § 437c, on the grounds that the undisputed facts establish that under California law, “all Grange property must remain with the Grange”; and 2) the motion by Defendant for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary ad...

Excerpt: ...) harassment; 4) interfering with the exercise of civil rights (Cal. Civ. Code § 52.1); 5) intentional infliction of emotional distress; 6) negligence/premises liability; and 7) breach of fiduciary duty. The Complaint alleges that Plaintiff suffered injuries and damages as a result of a physical and verbal altercation on June 22, 2017 with an employee named Anjelica Solorio, AKA, Martha Soloriolara at the Metro PCS store in the City of Healdsbur...

Excerpt: ...nied. A defendant seeking summary adjudication need only “negate plaintiff's theories of liability as alleged in the complaint; that is, a moving party need not refute liability on some theoretical possibility not included in the pleadings” (emphasis in original); Johnson v. Raytheon Co., Inc. (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 617, 636. Plaintiffs allege that they rent real property located on Timber Cove Road from the Defendants; and that they initiated...

Excerpt: ...s to Plaintiff's causes of action, the motion is denied without leave to amend. The Code provides that a plaintiff is entitled to judgment on the pleadings if “the complaint states facts sufficient to constitute a cause or causes of action against the defendant and the answer does not state facts sufficient to constitute a defense to the complaint.” (Code Civ. Proc. §438(c)(1)(A).) “The grounds for a motion for judgment on the pleadings mu...

Excerpt: ...r an insurance policy in December 2016, Defendants promised to provide a policy with enough coverage and Defendants' agent promised that the policy provided would be sufficient to cover the Property “so that it all gets rebuilt”; Plaintiffs relied on Defendants and their agent to determine the proper amount of insurance coverage needed; Defendants knew of Plaintiffs' needs and reliance; Defendants were aware of the large number of homes which...