Excerpt: ...Set One to Paula Roberts – Nos. 1-5 - GRANTED. 5. Form Interrogatories - General, Set One to Paula Roberts – Nos. 8.2 – 8.7 - DENIED. Counsel shall serve further code compliant responses to the requests for production of documents and special interrogatories not later than August 13, 2021. Discovery is supposed to be self-executing. The Court notes a more productive and civil “meet and confer” process would likely have prevented the nee...

Excerpt: ...t. (Code Civ. Proc. §871.10(d).) However, the Court finds that the provisions of Code Civ. Proc. §871.10(e) apply to the above-described claim, such that after submission of the amended pleading the action must be stayed until November 1, 2021 as required by that statute. The motion is DENIED as against Defendant Cuevas. To the extent that the proposed amended pleading seeks to add a new defendant who was not previously included as a named or f...

Excerpt: ...Defendant has provided declarations that it has no revenue from California customers, no employees in the state, no office or place of business in California, no bank account in California, and is not a registered business entity in California. In short, the international shoe does not fit. Given the state of the evidence, providing time for discovery appears unproductive. This dispute also appears to be bound by Arkansas law. If the Court had di...

Excerpt: ...ply is limited to rebuttal of the opposition by its very nature. As such, without good cause and leave of court, new facts or evidence are not within the scope of a reply. Other procedural mechanisms exist for this purpose and, in this regard, the Court has granted the parties' stipulation to continue the trial date with a limited re-opening of discovery. Presumably, if the facts and evidence so warrant, Defendant will avail itself of the appropr...

Excerpt: ...action. (Nelson v. Anderson (1999) 72 Cal.App.4 th 111, 131; Oak Grove School Dist. V. City Title Ins. Co. (1963) 217 Cal.App.2d 678, 698.) The Court further finds that Plaintiffs have offered adequate substantiation as to certain of the challenged costs but have failed to offer adequate substantiation as to other challenged costs. The Court acts within its discretion in determining whether costs are excessive and should be reduced. (Levy v. Toyo...

Excerpt: ...t an order dismissing the complaint would not “go further than is necessary to accomplish the purpose of discovery.” (Newland v. Superior Court (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 608, 613). The request for monetary sanctions is denied for noncompliance with Code of Civil Procedure section 2023.040. The notice of motion requests an amount of sanctions that is different from the amount requested in the supporting memorandum and declaration, so the declarati...

Excerpt: ...e of material fact. With regard to the moving defendant's motion challenging Plaintiff Evan Mays' causes of action for negligence (2 nd) and joint and several liability (3 rd): The Court finds that Defendant has failed to meet his initial burden with regard to the application of the recreational use immunity prescribed by Civ. Code §846. Defendant fails to submit evidence that Plaintiff Evan Mays was trespassing on Defendant Price's property or ...

Excerpt: ... 3 rd and 6 th causes of action is SUSTAINED, with leave to amend. The Court finds that the pleading fails to state facts sufficient to support the stated causes of action and is uncertain. (Code Civ. Proc. §430.10(e), (f).) With regard to the 3 rd Cause of Action for Medical Battery, Plaintiff's opposition suggests an intent to proceed on a conditional consent theory, but the Second Amended Complaint does not sufficiently plead the elements of ...

Excerpt: ... acquired].) Further, the complaint alleges all three statutory grounds. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1240.030; Complaint, ¶ 6-11.) Accordingly, the general demurrer is overruled. With respect to the special demurrer for uncertainty, the Possession & Use Agreement (agreement) explicitly contained an understanding that the “purpose of this Agreement is to allow [Plaintiff] to proceed with construction and operation of the Rail Facilities on the Parcel ...

Excerpt: ...re[s] a creditor wishing to invoke the doctrine to demonstrate the absence of a plain, speedy, and adequate remedy at law would protect against reverse piercing being used to bypass legal remedies.” (Curci Investments, LLC v. Baldwin (2017) 14 Cal.App.5th 214, 223 (Curci).) Here, plaintiff still has an unsatisfied writ of execution and has not pursued remedies such as a charging order or wage assignment order. (Cf. Curci, 14 Cal.App.5th at p. 2...

Excerpt: ...d facts, Nos. 34 – 37, raise further triable issues of material fact. Moving party's evidentiary objections to opposing party's evidence are overruled: the Court sees no basis for requiring expert witness testimony as to non-scientific and non-technical matters of identifying products and components within the personal knowledge of the affiant; photographs of the subject chair and the component catalog are non-testimonial and have independent l...

Excerpt: ...cts sufficient to show why the City of Riverbank should be held liable for alleged torts of the independent contractor it hired to collect trash. The rule regarding this kind of liability is: “a private person who hires an independent contractor can be liable for an injury to an independent contractor's employee, even when the injury is proximately caused by an act or omission of the independent contractor, provided the private hirer (1) retain...

Excerpt: ...ary judgment granted upon submission of a judgment. a) With respect to plaintiff's first and second causes of action for discrimination and the fifth for retaliation, the court will use a “burden-shifting system [that] requires the employee first establish a prima facie case of . . . discrimination [on the basis of a protected category or retaliation as authorized by law]. If the employee does so, the employer is required to offer a legitimate ...

Excerpt: ...ief) Causes of Action. Factual Background This action arises out of Plaintiff's employment with Foster Farms. He started his employment on July 25, 2013. His employment was temporarily halted for a couple of months, but he otherwise remained a full-time employee until he signed a resignation letter in connection with his worker's compensation settlement on January 12, 2017. The worker's compensation case and the crux of the allegations in this ca...

Excerpt: ...r justification that such expenses were reasonable and necessary. (Ripley v. Pappadopoulos (1994) 23 Cal.App.4th 1616, 1621; cf., Foothill-De Anza Community College Dist. v. Emerich (2007) 158 Cal.App.4th 11, 30 [overnight messenger fees recoverable if reasonable and necessary].) The Court denies the motion to tax deposition costs in the amount of $866.60. The Bankruptcy proceeding in which the examination and transcript were obtained was directl...

Excerpt: ... face of the pleading or matters judicially noticed]; Deyo v Kilbourne (1978) 84 Cal.App.3d 771, 779 n2; Weil & Brown, Cal. Prac. Guide Civ. Pro. Before Trial (TRG 2021) Ch. 7(I)-B, § 7:169 [defendant cannot base a motion to strike the complaint on affidavits or declarations containing extrinsic evidence].) The Court grants Plaintiffs' request for judicial notice pursuant to Evidence Code section 452, subdivision (d), as unopposed and without ob...

Excerpt: ...as to Each Cause of Action and/or Related Issues Asserted by Plaintiff, Maricela Cuevas Perez, in His First Amended Complaint – CONTINUED, on the court's own motion, to October 29, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. in Department 24. The court finds it would be inappropriate to rule on a motion that could be dispositive as to plaintiff Garibay's pleading without notice to his conservator, and/or to any other person who will represent Garibay's interests in thi...

Excerpt: ...4, 95, 162-173, and 238-249 are stricken and have not been considered. The Court will also address the five “issues” for summary adjudication out of order and begins with Issues 2, 3, and 4, together. These individual “issues” do not dispose of the entire cause of action, an entire affirmative defense, or an issue of duty. (Cal. Civ. Pro. 437c(f).) As framed by the moving party, the issues explicitly seek adjudication on the issue whether...

Excerpt: ...red only by the extent the parties have agreed. (Ajamian v. CantorCO2e, LP (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 771.) An arbitration agreement contained within the employee handbook is generally enforceable, particularly when the acknowledgement form specifically refers to the arbitration agreement. (See, Harris v. TAP Worldwide, LLC (2016) 248 Cal.App.4th 373.) Here, Defendant has demonstrated an arbitration agreement exists (within the employee handbook and ...

Excerpt: ...efendant Les Schwab Tire Center's Objections to Plaintiff's Requests for Production of Documents (RFPs), Set One; Request for Sanctions in the Amount of $2,860.00 from Defendant Les Schwab Tire Center and its Attorneys of Record, Vincent Castillo, Esq. and Allen Glaessner Hazelwood Werth - DENIED AS TO RFP NOS. 3, 4, 8, 17, 20, 21, GRANTED AS TO RFP Nos. 6, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16; d) Plaintiff Sandra Bunday's Motion to Compel Further Responses and to...

Excerpt: ...laintiff falsely accused defendant Silva of harassment or that she attempted to steal from her employer are subject to the ant-SLAPP statute, and the court does not see how those allegations could fall into one of the categories described by Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, subdivision (e). The court must “disregard[]” those allegations and therefore makes no orders regarding them. (Baral v. Schnitt (2016) 1 Cal.5th 376, 396 (Baral).) ...

Excerpt: ...tion to know if facts essential to justify opposition may exist, and the party is therefore unable to provide the requisite affidavit under Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (h), the trial judge may deny the request for continuance of the motion.”]; Cooksey v. Alexakis (2004) 123 Cal.App.4th 246, 257 [“We agree with the majority of courts holding that lack of diligence may be a ground for denying a request for a continuance of...

Excerpt: ...l rationale adopted by the Court in ruling that non-signatory enforcement of the arbitration agreement will be granted, and that such a bifurcated scope would entail a substantial risk of inconsistent, conflicting or even contradictory decisions between those claims decided by the arbitrator and those decided by the trier of fact in this case. (Jenks v. DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary US LLP (2015) 243 Cal.App.4th 1, 11; Marenco v. DirecTV LLC (2015)...

Excerpt: ...which has been ruled on by Judge Freeland. The Court cannot revisit those rulings. The First Cause of Action for abuse of process fails to state a cause of action because there is no allegation that any legal action was filed by Wells Fargo. Rather, the First Amended Complaint alleges nonjudicial foreclosure proceedings. This cause of action cannot be amended without contradicting the original and amended complaint. The Demurrer as to the First C...

Excerpt: ... for Admissions, Set Two (2); Request for Monetary Sanctions in the Amount of $1,750.00; and Request for Issue Sanctions Re Notice Against Defendant for Willfully and Fraudulently Concealing Evidence of Prior Incidents - DENIED; c) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Defendant City of Turlock to Provide Further Responses to Requests for Production, Set Three (3); Request for Monetary Sanctions in the Amount of $1,750.00; and Request for Issue Sanctions ...