Excerpt: ...inancial information is only discoverable when such information is directly relevant to the issues of the ongoing litigation or essential to the fair resolution of the lawsuit. Britt v. Superior Court (1978) 20 Cal. 3d 844, 859. Specifically, as to Special Interrogatories 87 – 119, Requests for Admission 14 and 15, and Requests for Production 51 – 59, which concern loans between Moody and the Sandhu defendants, this information is not directl...

Excerpt: ...A motion for judgment on the pleadings has the same function as a general demurrer but can be made after the time for demurrer has expired. Pursuant to CCP Section 439, before filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings the moving party shall meet and confer with the party who filed the pleading for the purpose of determining if an agreement can be reached that resolves the claims to be raised in the motion. Defense counsel has shown that he me...

Excerpt: ...e Code Section 1304(a). Samuel Orozco et al.'s Petition for Order Construing Trust Instrument, Determining Rights and Powers, Ascertaining Beneficiaries, Instructing Trustee, Quieting Title and Removing Trustee (“The Petition for Order Construing Trust Instrument”) is appealable under Probate Code Sections 1303(f) and 1304(a). Samuel Orozco et al.'s Petition for Removal of Henry Orozco as Personal Representative of the Estate of Guadalupe Oro...

Excerpt: ...ms related to the buyers' purchase of the property, including those against the broker; (2) all claims related to the deposits/holdbacks that were part of the purchase of the property; and (3) all claims related to the purchase contract and SIP (“Seller License to Remain in Possession Addendum”) between the Trust and the buyers pursuant to the Court‐approved settlement agreement. Motion, page 12, lines 6 – 9. Plaintiff argues that the Com...

Excerpt: ...arty, the court may grant leave to complete discovery closer to the initial trial date or to reopen discovery after a new trial date has been set. The date initially set for trial was October 4, 2022, so discovery originally closed on September 4, 2022, and the last day to hear a discovery motion was September 19, 2022. However, plaintiff filed an ex parte application to continue the trial date and “related dates thereto”. In the ex parte app...

Excerpt: ...al facts are in dispute. The fact that World International is no longer represented by counsel is not a reason for the Court to delay in making its ruling, because the Court has given World International sufficient warning and time to obtain new counsel and/or to request a continuance of the hearing. On October 6, 2022, the Court granted defendant World International's counsel's Motion to be Relieved as Counsel. Carmen Millan, an accountant for W...

Excerpt: ...the Court granted Plaintiff's Motion to Deem Requests for Admission Admitted as to Angels Crossing. As a result of the Court's ruling Angels Crossing is deemed to have admitted that as the owner of the subject properties it is obligated to pay the special taxes, that it has not paid any of the special taxes, that the special taxes for tax years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 have not been paid, and that the special taxes are delinquent. There are no Iss...

Excerpt: ...d severally. The fact that World International is no longer represented by counsel is not a reason to cause the Court to delay in making its ruling, because the Court has given World International sufficient warning and time to obtain new counsel and/or to request a continuance of the hearing. On October 6, 2022, the Court granted defendant World International's counsel's Motion to be Relieved as Counsel. Carmen Millan, an accountant for World In...

Excerpt: ... Southwest made a global settlement proposal on March 8, 2021. Cohen Declaration, Exhibit A, pages 7 and 22. In an e‐mail dated March 9, 2021, Alamo and APMI agreed to the amounts, and proposed that there be a time limit to receive the settlement checks and an enforcement mechanism under CCP Section 664.6. Id. at page 19. Southwest agreed to this in an e‐mail of March 9, 2021, but then stated that Mr. Goldstein had to confirm his clients' (Dr...

Excerpt: ...) The liability of a public entity established by this part (commencing with Section 814) is subject to any immunity of the public entity provided by statute, including this part, and is subject to any defenses that would be available to the public entity if it were a private person. Government entity liability for premises liability and the dangerous condition of public property is governed by Government Code Section 835, which provides as follo...

Excerpt: ...five years of the seizure of the property. On October 19, 2021, the Court granted the People's discovery motions, including the Motion to Deem Requests for Admission admitted. Motion, Exhibit B. Pursuant to this Order, Mr. Cruz has admitted that the money at issue was furnished or intended to be furnished by a person in exchange for a controlled substance within five years of the date of its seizure, that the money is proceeds traceable to an exc...

Excerpt: ... contain new or different facts which could not with reasonable diligence have been presented at the trial of the action. The moving party must provide a satisfactory explanation for the failure to produce the evidence at an earlier time. CCP Section 1008; Shiffer v. CVS Corp. (2015) 240 Cal. App. 4th 246, 255. Mr. Orozco states that the new evidence and facts include 15 confirmed documented instances of false and contradictory trial testimony, n...

Excerpt: ...es a non‐ parent. …a trial court has the responsibility to protect the rights of a minor who is a litigant in court, and in this role the court has the inherent authority to make decisions in the best interests of the child, even if the parent objects. This judicial protection of minors encompasses a court's authority to select a guardian ad litem who is not the parent or general guardian. Williams v. Superior Ct. (2007) 147 Cal. App. 4th 36,...

Excerpt: ...g proposed to be filed therein, otherwise the application shall not be granted, and shall be made within a reasonable time, in no case exceeding six months, after the judgment, dismissal, order, or proceeding was taken. The Motion was not timely filed by Project‐Mate, Inc. On September 13, 2021, Project‐Mate, Inc. filed a Request for Dismissal of the Cross‐Complaint it had filed on March 10, 2021. Even if Project‐Mate, Inc. could show tha...

Excerpt: ...n is DENIED as to Issue No.'s 1, 2, and 4, and GRANTED as to Issue No. 3. Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice is granted. Plaintiffs' Evidentiary Objections are sustained as to objections no.'s 2, 5, 10, 49, 55, 56, and 57, and are otherwise overruled. Defendants' Evidentiary Objections are sustained as to objection no.'s 1 and 2 and overruled as to objection no.'s 3 – 11. Issue No. 1 – At the time when the subject accident occurred, defe...

Excerpt: ...CCP Section 386 and Rutter's Guide to Civil Procedure Before Trial, Ch. 2‐F (2019) at 2:470. The fact that plaintiff, by virtue of an attorney lien, may have a right to a portion of the $25,000.00, does not mean that plaintiff can simply deduct the amount it believes it has a right to before interpleading the remaining funds. The amounts which plaintiff and each defendant are entitled to must be determined by the Court. ...

Excerpt: ...20 and 22, and sustained as to No.'s 18 and 21. The liability of the Dragon defendants is based on whether or not the Dragon defendants can be liable as successors in interest to Vantage Trailer, Inc. Plaintiff's Response to Defendants' UMF No. 3. Defendants have shown that no issues of material fact exist which support a successor in interest claim. The Agreement called for Vantage Trailers to sell certain assets to Dragon Products related to th...

Excerpt: ...onally, reconsideration of the denial of a summary judgment motion cannot be sought on the 10‐ day notice period set forth in CCP Section 1008, because this would bypass the procedural protections of CCP Section 437c afforded to parties opposing summary judgment, such as the requirement of 75 days' notice. Torres v. Design Group Facility Solutions, Inc. (2020) 45 Cal. App. 5th 239, 243. Finally, the Court finds that it did not err in denying de...

Excerpt: ...ration, based on the U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana (2022) 142 S.Ct. 1906. The Court further notes that Plaintiff does not appear to oppose the application of Viking River Cruises, supra, with regard to the individual claim. Therefore, the motion is GRANTED in that respect. However, the issue of whether Plaintiff retains any ability to pursue a representative PAGA claim despite the existence of the arbitrati...

Excerpt: ... same damages as the claim for breach of contract, with the result that no separate claim has been sufficiently stated. (See, e.g. Careau & Co. v. Security Pacific Business Credit, Inc. (1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 1371, 1395.) Therefore, the demurrer is SUSTAINED with regard to this cause of action; however, the Court will grant Plaintiff leave to amend the pleading in this regard. With regard to the Third Cause of Action for Common Counts, the Court f...

Excerpt: ...ky Stores, Inc. (2000) 79 Cal.app.4th 1081,1086.) There are thirty‐seven issues for adjudication which all boil down to whether each allegation in the complaint were sufficiently alleged in the LWDA Notice. The first three issues address the entirety of the PAGA cause of action. The remaining issues address a “claim within his PAGA cause of action.” California Code of Civil Procedure 437c allows summary adjudication “only if it completely...

Excerpt: ... PERB. (UMF #.) Ms. Trevethan was Plaintiff's direct supervisor and Barney Gordon was a member of the Board of Trustees viewed as Ms. Trevethan's supervisors. (UMF 4.) Therefore, there remains a triable issue of material fact as to whether Defendants were “supervisory employees.” (See, Hartnett v. Crosier (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 685; see also, Caldecott v. Sup. Ct. (2015) 243 Cal.App.4th 212, 223.) The Tort Claim does not have to identify caus...

Excerpt: ...le Dam Blvd. E in Oroville. (Undisputed Material Fact [hereinafter, “UMF”] 1 and 11; Complaint at 4‐5.) Defendant Wright applied for a position with Foodmaxx on April 2, 2016. (Ex. F.) He denied any felonies and had prior work experience without any adverse employment actions. (Id.; UMF 5). He had not been in any physical altercations prior to the subject incident. (UMFs 4, 22.) He was a meat clerk that did not include any physical altercat...

Excerpt: ...ba Alexander Cohen Hospice House's Demurrer to Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint – OVERRULED, part; SUSTAINED, in part, with leave to amend. a) With regard to the First Cause of Action for Elder Abuse and/or Neglect, the Third Cause of Action for Wrongful Death, and the Fifth Cause of Action for Violation of Patient's Rights, the Court finds the allegations sufficient at the pleading stage to state the challenged claim. Therefore, the demurre...

Excerpt: ...s to the Third Cause of Action for Harassment. The Court addresses the issues in numerical order. Issue #1 [First Cause of Action]: While discrimination claims are subject to a three‐step burden‐shifting paradigm, establishing a prima facie case is not particularly onerous. (Guz v. Bechtel Nat'l, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 317, 354‐355.) Here, Plaintiff is Laotian/Mien/Asian, and therefore, within a protected class. He was treated differently f...

Excerpt: ...ust establish that the employee committed a tort within the scope of employment. (Pierson v. Helmerich & Payne Internat. Drilling Co. (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 608, 618.) Pursuant to the well‐known “coming and going rule,” an employee's commute to and from work is not considered to be within the scope of employment unless a specific exception applies. (Anderson v. PG&E (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 254, 258.) CEI's employees, such as Plaintiff and Defen...

Excerpt: ...GRANTED. There are no allegations of any written contract signed by both Alston and Northern California Nail Company by which the latter agreed to indemnify the former. (Nielsen Constr. Co. v. Int'l Iron Prod. (1993) 18 Cal.App.4th 863, 869: “The language of section 3864 clearly requires execution of the written agreement (i.e., signatures of all parties) before the injury.”) Alston has requested leave to amend to allege the existence of a wr...

Excerpt: ...bd. (c), against Plaintiff in the Amount of $660.00 – GRANTED, in part, and unopposed. a) Based on the information set forth in the moving and reply papers, and in the absence of opposition, the Court finds that responses to the subject discovery have now been served and the request for an order compelling the same has been rendered MOOT. However, the Court finds that Defendants are entitled to an award of monetary sanctions in connection with ...

Excerpt: ... public use and/or not necessary. Although there are instances in which a client list is proprietary, the Court finds that any such concerns are adequately protected by the stipulated protective order in place in this case. Therefore, the Motion to Compel Further Responses to Special Interrogatory Numbers 1, 23, 24, and 27 is GRANTED. Further responses are due within twenty (20) days of the Court signing this Order. The Burchell Nursery, Inc. see...

Excerpt: ...t Defendant failed to comply with his own promised deadline for service of substantive amended responses within one week of the Court's ruling denying the arbitration motion. Moreover, Defendant acknowledges that the partial amended responses he provided have not been verified. Unverified responses are tantamount to no response at all. (Appleton v. Superior Court (Cook) (1988) 206 Cal.App.3d 632, 636.) Therefore, all objections have been waived a...

Excerpt: ... Request for Sanctions in the Sum of $1,050 ‐ DROPPED, at the request of the moving party. (a) Based on the Joint Status Statement submitted on 4‐15‐22, the Court recognizes that the dispute with regard to Mr. Broussard's deposition has now been resolved and only the issue of Mr. Crenshaw's deposition remains at issue in the instant motion. Plaintiff has demonstrated that the subject deposition was properly noticed pursuant to the requireme...

Excerpt: ...jurisdiction to determine whether an employee was probationary or permanent. Contrary to Defendant's arguments, the Board did not make the finding that Plaintiff was a probationary employee. Plaintiff also applied to this court for permission to seek adjudication on the issue whether Plaintiff was entitled to Skelly due process as a permanent employee, which was granted. Defendant's claim that Plaintiff would not be entitled to Skelly regardless ...

Excerpt: ...ose CA; c) Motion to Expunge Lis Pendens and for Attorneys' Fees and Costs – 30 W Reed, San Jose CA; d) St Motion to Expunge Lis Pendens and for Attorneys' Fees and Costs – 425 N 7 th St, San Jose CA – a) Samuel Orozco's Motion to Expunge Lis Pendens Re: 458 N. 7th Street, San Jose CA – Continued from Tuesday, 2/1/22, to Wednesday, 2/9/22: Respondent Samuel Orozco's Motion to Expunge Lis Pendens filed against 458 N. 7 th Street, San Jose,...

Excerpt: ...tions are generally deemed substantial enough, particularly when deemed necessary to hire an outside investigator); and ii) the allegations were founded (i.e. discipline was imposed). (See, Marken v. Santa Monica‐Malibu Unified School Dist. (2012) 202 Cal.App.4th 1250, 1271‐1276; see also, Associated Chino Teachers v. Chino Valley USD (2018) 30 Cal.App.5th 530, 541‐ 543; see also, newly enacted 2019 statutes disfavoring withholding of sexua...

Excerpt: ...ty, has met the burden of demonstrating entitlement to judgment herein. Specifically, Defendant has demonstrated that Plaintiffs cannot establish the elements of negligence and causation against the moving defendant and cannot assert a theory of vicarious liability based on ostensible agency in this instance as a matter of law. ...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiffs' motion asserts that such forms have been provided, the correspondence attached to counsel's declaration does not confirm this information, and the defense indicates that such documentation has not been provided for Plaintiffs Rosa and Brian Cornejo. Counsel shall appear to advise the Court of the status of this exchange, as it appears the settlement can be concluded if such alternate documentation can be provided. ...

Excerpt: ...ima facie entitlement to adjudication of the subject causes of action based on the existence of a contractual release of liability executed by the decedent, the Court finds that Plaintiffs have met their burden of demonstrating the existence of material factual disputes precluding judgment on that basis. At a minimum, Plaintiffs have introduced admissible evidence supporting their assertion that the decedent lacked the capacity to enter into the ...

Excerpt: ...ion of Public Policy: Plaintiff has met the minimal threshold to demonstrate a prima facie case of discrimination based on race related to the shift schedules and assignments of less‐desirable tasks. (Material Fact ## 2, 3, 14; Additional Material Fact ## 82, 89, 96, 97,101, 102.) Defendant has met its burden to explain the legitimate non‐discriminatory basis for these business decisions. (Material Fact ## 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 162.) Plaintiff h...

Excerpt: ...D as to the Streets and Highway Code and the City Ordinances. The Request is DENIED as to the Google Maps street image and City of Modesto Public Works website. City's Objections to Evidence are SUSTAINED as to 1‐8 pertaining to Zachary Moore's Declaration. The objections are OVERRULED as to numbers 9 and 10 pertaining to Maxine and Felix Bracero's Declarations. Church's objections to evidence are SUSTAINED as to 1‐ 12 pertaining to Zachary M...

Excerpt: ...ant must allege the names of the persons who allegedly made the fraudulent representations, their authority to speak, to whom they spoke, what was said and when. (See, e.g. Tarmann v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. (1991) 2 Cal.App.4 th 153, 157.) As Cross‐Complainant has represented the ability to amend the pleading to correct these deficiencies, the Court will grant leave to amend in this regard. Cross‐Complainant shall submit an amended ple...

Excerpt: ...as demonstrated that Defendant's responses to Form Interrogatories, Set One, Nos. 16.2, 16.3, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, and 16.10 do not comply with the requirements of Code Civ. Proc. §2030.220. Despite the possibility that later‐acquired discovery may further inform and support Defendant's contentions in the case, the Code requires that the responding party provide responses that are as complete as possible based on the information that is reasonabl...

Excerpt: ...property and the reasons therefore and facts demonstrating probable cause for Plaintiff's belief that the subject equipment is located at the address set forth in the application. (Code Civ. Proc. §512.010(a)(2),(4).) Plaintiff shall be prepared to present admissible evidence on these issues at the time of the hearing. In addition, the application does not contain admissible evidence establishing the purported value of the items sought to be rec...

Excerpt: ...o monetary sanctions and submitting to deposition. Further, the Court finds that Plaintiff has engaged in a willful pattern of deliberate non‐compliance and obfuscation with the Court's procedural orders regarding prosecution of the action with due diligence and with the Court's orders regarding discovery, resulting in a prior order to show cause re dismissal where the Court allowed Plaintiff a reprieve after admonishing that continued obstruct...

Excerpt: ...e was $6,500. There is no indication whatsoever that the amount was a total from two different sources/contributors. Nor is there a different attorney's name on the pleadings – the pleadings are signed by counsel bringing the current motion. The motion for acceptance of expenses is CONTINUED on the Court's own motion to November 18, 2021, at 8:30 a.m. On or before November 9, 2021, the guardian will provide a declaration signed under penalty of...

Excerpt: ... Defendant Motor Parts Distributors Inc.'s Motion to Bifurcate; d) Plaintiff's Motion for Bifurcation and for Order Granting Priority Over Plaintiff's Main Case; e) Cross‐Defendant/Cross‐Complainant Express Services, Inc.'s Motion to Bifurcate Trial – Motion (a)—DENIED. While the Court is not inclined to reject or strike moving party's separate statement of undisputed facts, opposing party's objection is well‐taken in that the manner in...

Excerpt: ... broad and includes matters that are reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence. Here, moving parties sufficiently establish the relevance and discoverability of the desired information as bearing on issues related to vicarious liability, comparative fault and indemnity. Accordingly, the deponent is ordered to respond to the subject questions but any further deposition is expressly limited to the matters raised in this ...

Excerpt: ...ted factual matters or hearsay assertions not within exception. (Evid. Code, §§ 452(c), 453.) The documents speak for themselves and establish matters of corporate disclosure required by law and the applicable dates thereof. Nothing more is required for purposes of the Court's tentative ruling. Regarding the merits, Plaintiff's Complaint asserts causes of action including, as pertinent here, breach of contract and breach of promissory note, aga...

Excerpt: ...n to which the litigation privilege was previously raised is improper and an abuse of the discovery process for which sanctions are warranted. As to the text messages, Defendant Moody technically, albeit in the narrowest sense possible, complied with the September 1, 2021 Order by contacting Metro PCS and asking if the text messages could be retrieved. However, Plaintiff's counsel aptly noted in the further meet and confer process that the custom...

Excerpt: ...Parents) only on the Fourth Cause of Action for violation of Government Code section 11135. SUSD moves for summary judgment of this cause of action on the basis that section 11135 et seq. only provides for a private right of action for equitable relief, not monetary damages, as a matter of law. (Gov't Code § 11139.) SUSD is correct. Moreover, SUSD has met its burden to demonstrate that there is no triable issue of material fact that Parents were...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff's Motion for an Order Deeming the Truth of Facts and Matters in Request for Admissions, Set One, Propounded to Defendant, Maria Islas; Request for Monetary Sanctions of $3,035 – Motions a), b), c) and d)—SANCTIONS DENIED. Pursuant to the Minute Order of August 31, 2021, motions (a.), (b.) and (c.) were granted, in part, and continued to the present with respect to monetary sanctions against Defendant Islas, only, with the opportunit...

Excerpt: ...ttlement agreement. Therefore, the Court finds that the circumstances supporting entry of a preliminary injunction preventing Petitioner from “selling, transferring, or otherwise encumbering” the real property located at 10501 Alvarado Road, Oakdale, California no longer exist. The preliminary injunction shall therefore be dissolved. With regard to the other pertinent points made by the parties in their briefing, the Court finds as follows (a...

Excerpt: ...al.App.4th 873, 885. Additionally, attorneys hired by a trustee to aid the trust are entitled to reasonable fees paid from the trust assets (Kasperbauer v. Fairfield (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 229, 235) and the Court has inherent equitable authority to sanction a beneficiary when the beneficiary brings or maintains an unfounded suit against the trustee. (Emphasis the Court's.) Here Petitioner and her counsel, in failing to notify Respondents that Pet...

Excerpt: ...ive conduct, irrespective of whether such communications may be barred from imposing liability as a matter of affirmative defense. (Shade Foods v. Innovative Products Sales & Marketing (2000) 78 Cal.App.4th 847, 915, 93 C.R.2d 364 [litigation privilege did not bar introduction of evidence involving settlement offers or answers to interrogatories to prove bad faith in action against insurer].)” (5 Witkin, Summary 11th Torts § 660 (2021); see al...

Excerpt: ...; d) Plaintiff's Motion for an Order Deeming the Truth of Facts and Matters in Requests for Admission, Set One, Propounded to Defendant, Maria Islas; Request for Monetary Sanctions of $3,035 – Motions (a.), (b.) and (c.)—GRANTED, in part; CONTINUED, in part; Motion (d.)—CONTINUED, on the Court's motion. With regard to motions (a.), (b.) and (c.), Defendant Islas is ordered to provide complete and verified responses without objections other ...

Excerpt: ...ry. (Cal. Rules of Ct., rule 3.1345(a)(1)-(5), (b).) The Court sees no purpose to its utilization here and this objection is overruled. The subject discovery consists of 424 separate Requests for Admissions, Form Interrogatory 17.1 that, itself, contains three subparts for facts, witnesses and documents, and a blanket Request for Production for any and all documents identified in 17.1. The end result is that the propounding party is effectively s...

Excerpt: ...t Law, Set One, and Request for Production of Documents, Set One; and Request for Monetary Sanctions – a) GRANTED, in part. The order to compel responses to the subject discovery without waived objections is granted. Defendant shall serve responses without the asserted objections within ten (10) days of this order. In light of Defendant's filed Notice of Non-Opposition, the amount of sanctions awarded will be reduced to Six Hundred Twenty-Five ...

Excerpt: ... documents in support of the Defendant's own affirmative defenses and that Defendant's investigation is “ongoing.” (Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. LCL Adm'rs, Inc. (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 1093.) Accordingly, Plaintiff's motion is granted, in part, and Defendant shall provide further substantive responses within two (2) weeks of this Order. That said, no opposition was filed, Plaintiff did not file a reply, and Defendant's counsel of ...

Excerpt: ...7 Cal.4th 1097, 1104–1105 [recognizing that FEHA exemption of religious/non-profit entities does not preclude public policy claim under Cal. Const., art. I, sec. 8]; Phillips v. St. Mary Regional Medical Center (2002) 96 Cal.App.4th 218, 232–233 [trial court erred in sustaining defendant's demurrer as to plaintiff's wrongful termination claim based on defendant's retaliation in violation of Section 8's policy against race and sex discriminati...

Excerpt: ... of jurisdiction prevents this Court from adjudicating the matters stated therein. In addition, the pleading fails to state facts constituting a cause of action and is uncertain. (Code Civ. Proc. §§430.10(c),(e),(f).) Under the circumstances, and in view of the lack of opposition, it is clear that Plaintiff is unable to amend her claim to state a viable cause of action herein. Therefore, the demurrer is SUSTAINED, without leave to amend. 2. The...

Excerpt: ...oner filed this motion. It is inappropriate to submit additional material related to a matter under submission without leave of court. Further, although filed prior to any announcement of the Court's decision, Petitioner's motion appears to be a veiled motion for reconsideration. Simply put – the law does not authorize Petitioner's motion. Although the Court considered making an additional award of attorneys' fees and costs to Respondents for b...

Excerpt: ...th Causes of Action and has identified material factual disputes with regard to the elements of each of the challenged claims, i.e. whether her termination was substantially motivated by discriminatory and/or retaliatory animus under FEHA and/or CFLA; whether Defendant's attendance policies interfered with Plaintiff's rights under CFRA, and whether Defendant's termination of Plaintiff violated public policy as a result of unlawful acts under FEHA...

Excerpt: ...gligence. (Pultz v. Holgerson (1986) 184 Cal.App.3d 1110, 1117 [property owner's duty inferred from assertion that defendant owned and managed property]; 4 Witkin, Cal.Proc.5th (2020) § 580.) Here, the complaint contains a single cause of action for premises liability. Defendant is not alleged to be negligent solely on the basis of ownership, but also on the basis that it negligently “maintained, managed and operated” said premises. But the ...

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: ...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: ...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: ... 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: ...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: ...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: ...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: ...vil complaints filed in other cases are sustained and the Court did not consider them. 1. Disability Discrimination in Violation of FEHA (First Cause of Action); Retaliation (Fourth and Seventh Causes of Action); Failure to Prevent Discrimination/Retaliation (Fifth Cause of Action); Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy (Eighth Cause of Action) Both discrimination and retaliation claims are analyzed using the McDonnell Douglas shifti...

Excerpt: ... for Failure to Provide Meal Periods – STAYED. a) and b) Plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint specifically alleges alter-ego and successor-in-interest theories and alleges that SEG assumed all of the liabilities arising out IOT's employees' employment. The Asset Purchase identified specific contracts which were not be assumed but the Arbitration Agreement is not identified as an excluded contract. Rather, the employment contracts and liabilities...

Excerpt: ...djudication as to the Second Cause of Action for general negligence based on premises liability is DENIED. Taking all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party, Shooter Farms has failed to provide sufficient foundation as to the industry standard. While Wendel Trinkler, Jr. has been a farmer for over 30 years, conditioning the almond harvest was “new” to him. (Plaintiff's Material Fact #12.) There are triable issues of material f...

Excerpt: ...s suspension, allowing Mr. Wallace to return to work in the same unit as Plaintiff was appropriate, particularly when coupled with the threatening phone call Plaintiff received the same as Mr. Wallace's return and Mr. Wallace's subsequent allegedly intentional bumping into Plaintiff while Plaintiff was with a patient. (Disputed Fact #16, Plaintiff's Additional Fact #1, 7.) Summary Adjudication as to the Second Cause of Action for Sex Discriminati...

Excerpt: ...llows: “Real property claim means the cause or causes of action in a pleading which would, if meritorious, affect (a) title to, or the right of possession of, specific real property … .” The courts who have construed this definition have explained that a lis pendens may not be recorded in a creditor's action to impose a constructive trust or equitable lien on real property solely as a means of enforcing a debt. See e.g. Urez v. Superior Cou...

Excerpt: ...pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure 1008, which requires new facts and/or new law. Plaintiff argues that an amended complaint provides new facts. Even if that were the standard, Plaintiff has not attached a proposed amended complaint. Therefore, at the time of Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration, there are no new facts or law for the Court to reconsider.” ...

Excerpt: ...nt to constitute a cause of action), it was not waived by defendant's failure to demur. (Id. at 340.) The Answer, when read as a whole, and particularly in context with the allegations of the Complaint, contains sufficient facts to put Plaintiff on notice of the basis of Defendant's claims. (Perkins v. Superior Court (1981) 117 Cal.App.3d 1, 6; South Shore Land Co. v. Peterson (1964) 226 Cal.App.2d 725, 733-34: “if one of the defenses or counte...

Excerpt: ...Starn Farms since his cell phone was associated with the business and he represented himself as Darryl Starn for business purposes. (Undisputed Material Fact #10; Plaintiff's Additional Facts ## 11, 12, 13, 14, 16.) When speaking with Plaintiff's private investigator, Troy Starn made a statement the dog was a biter and he testified he would never touch the dog. (Undisputed Material Fact #11; Plaintiff's Additional Fact #15.) Therefore, there are ...

Excerpt: ...igeon's person and heroin in a napkin on his seat. Mr. Pigeon's passenger also had a large sum of cash. Mr. Pigeon's home was then subject to the probation search and paraphernalia consistent with drug sales (i.e. scale, baggies, large quantities of cash in smaller bills) was found. Mr. Pigeon's criminal case (CR-19-000041) resulted in a guilty plea to Cal. Health & Safety Code 11378 (possession for sale) and his conviction was entered on Novembe...

Excerpt: ... to Enforce Settlement Agreement – STAYED. a) and b) DENIED. Southwest Law Center's Notice of Appeal filed on April 16, 2021 does not relate to APMI/Alamo Surgery Center's Cross-Complaint, and therefore, these Motions are not stayed. (Cal. Civ. Pro. 916.) The Court finds that the Cross- Complaint is not compulsory, and therefore, the Motion to Strike the Cross-Complaint in its entirety on this basis is denied. The Court also finds that the Cros...

Excerpt: ...�that discovery be essentially self-executing.” (Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc. v. Pacific Healthcare Consultants (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 390, 402, internal quotations and citations omitted.) Generally, then the parties are free to use any of the statutory methods, in any sequence, and since neither the discovery nor the responses are filed with the court, the court does not consider the propriety of the demands or adequacy of a response un...

Excerpt: ... is aware that Plaintiff has also filed a Motion to remove the action to federal court, no such removal has occurred nor is there any evidence a federal complaint was actually filed. Therefore, at the time of Plaintiff's Motion for Reconsideration, there are no new facts or law for the Court to reconsider. ...

Excerpt: ...will produce documents and a privilege log in response to Requests 1 through 21; 31 through 36; 43, and 44, as well as verifications to the original responses. As Requests 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 46, Plaintiff has made the initial good cause showing that these requests are related to the issue of staffing and corporate ratification and are limited to those staffed in the same unit or wing where the decedent was housed. Defendant has not demonstra...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff has not explained why his position as supervisor would waive his requirement to complete training. Rather, Plaintiff's training records demonstrate he completed other training as a supervisor, which Plaintiff does not dispute. The training records show Plaintiff actually completed the arbitration policy training using his unique login and personalized password. There is substantial evidence to support the finding that Plaintiff actually...

Excerpt: ...ories, numbers 4.1 and 4.2, at issue. Defendant concedes the propriety of a further response. Therefore, Plaintiff's Motion is GRANTED. Defendant's verified responses to Form Interrogatories 4.1 and 4.2 are due within ten (10) days of the Court signing the Order. Plaintiff requests $3,770 in monetary sanctions. Since Defendant has conceded that a further response is warranted, sanctions are appropriate. However, as there are only two form interro...

Excerpt: ...February 23, 2018. Respondent's decedent Linda L. Butler was entitled to rely on the Affidavit. Petitioner's conclusory statements in the First Amended Petition that decedent Butler “knew” Respondent Richardson's affidavit was fraudulent are not supported by any facts. The Court is not required to assume that conclusory statements are true on demurrer. (See Serrano v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591 – conclusory allegations against defendan...

Excerpt: ...s that the proposed class representative and/or the proposed amended allegations are legally insufficient is not properly before this court. “[T]he better course of action [is] to allow [Plaintiff] to amend the complaint and then let the parties test its legal sufficiency in other appropriate proceedings.” (Kittredge Sports co. v. Superior Court (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1048.) Furthermore, while it appears there has been some delay in seek...

Excerpt: ...ause the evidence and case law cited in the Reply is new, Defendant must be afforded an ample opportunity to respond. Therefore, this Court continues the hearing on Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Adjudication as to these causes of action only, as well as Defendant's Objections to the Evidence and Plaintiff's Reply Objections to the Evidence to Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 8:30am in Department 22. Defendant's Response is due 14 days before the conti...

Excerpt: ...nterrogatories, Set One is GRANTED as to Numbers 15.1 and 17.1. The objections are untimely and have been waived. The responses are evasive and warrant a further response that is statutorily compliant. Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Form Interrogatories, Set One is DENIED as to Numbers 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 4.1, 4.2, 12.1, 12.2, 12.3, 12.7, 13.1, and 14.1. Defendant's January 30, 2021 amended responses withdrew the objections at is...

Excerpt: ...§15610.23 excludes acute conditions caused by alcohol dependency is not supported by the cases cited or even by subsection (b) of §15610.23 referring to health facilities defined in Cal. Health & Safety Code 1250.3 (“chemical dependency recovery hospital,” providing inpatient care for persons dependent on alcohol (and/or drugs)). Since Plaintiff alleges the decedent was grossly impaired and actually under the influence of alcohol at the tim...

Excerpt: ...minent domain action after a project is started or even completed, and the City even cites to the applicable statutes by which a court order for prejudgment possession is obtained in such proceedings, the City of Modesto failed to avail itself of such timely proceedings. The City of Modesto opted to purchase the property interests at issue rather than commence eminent domain proceedings. It cannot now obtain a right to condemn the same property i...

Excerpt: ...nts finding Plaintiff is not entitled to deduct its own fees and costs from the settlement fund before interpleading the funds with the Court for adjudication of the competing interests thereto. While interpleader is an appropriate remedy to the disputes arising from the fact that the settlement was too small to pay all lienholders, much less to leave anything for the plaintiff in the underlying litigation, the entire fund must be interpleaded. (...

Excerpt: ...of costs appear to be proper and reasonable, as do all but one of the “costs” included on Petitioner's memorandum here, the burden is on the party challenging costs to show otherwise. Ladas v. California State Auto. Assn (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761. The challenging party may meet its burden by showing the entire costs bill is improper rather than challenging particular items. However, conclusory allegations that an item was neither necessary no...

Excerpt: ...ed a general release of all claims as well as a waiver of Civil Code section 1542 (Exhibit U to Defendant's Compendium of Evidence.) This language contained in the general release is plain on its face. Plaintiff argues that the release is invalid and unenforceable because she did not believe she was releasing and waiving all previous acts of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. She contends that there must be independent evidence, separate...

Excerpt: ...court OVERRULES the demurrer. The FAC retains allegations that defendants Trevethan and Gordon violated Education Code section 44113, and the demurrer gives no reason to think these allegations are insufficient. (See, e.g., Quelimane Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. (1998) 19 Cal.4th 26, 38 [“If the complaint states a cause of action under any theory, regardless of the title under which the factual basis for relief is stated, that aspect of th...

Excerpt: ...ary Sanctions – GRANTED, sanctions imposed in the reduced amount of $1,700. a) The motion is moot to the extent to which it requests an order compelling defendant to produce a deponent, as defendant has agreed to do just that. The court orders defendant to produce a deponent in response to plaintiffs' subpoena within 30 days of this order. The court also orders that deponent to produce documents on the following conditions: All objections based...

Excerpt: ...actually be awarded under section 1021.6 until “the trier of fact determine[s] that the indemnitee was without fault in the principal case which is the basis for the action in indemnity or . . . the indemnitee ha[s] a final judgment entered in his or her favor granting a summary judgment, a nonsuit, or a directed verdict” (§ 1021.6), the court sees no reason why the request for fees should not be made in the pleadings, on the assumption that...

Excerpt: ...go v. Empire Today LLC (2012) 205 Cal.App.4th 1138,1145.) Here, while plaintiff has demonstrated something in the way of procedural unconscionability (but cf. Performance Team Freight Systems, Inc. v. Aleman (2015) 241 Cal.App.4th 1233, 1248 [failure to provide documents in Spanish dis not establish unconscioability without evidence that Spanish translations were requested or that they would have helped]), she has not shown substantive unconscion...

Excerpt: ... to Form Interrogatories, Set One, from Defendant Kooger Farms, LLC and Conditional Request for Sanctions in the Sum of $1,050; d) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel Further Responses to Form Interrogatories, Set One, from J. Jesus Munoz Velasco and Conditional Request for Sanctions in the Sum of $1,050 – a) – d) – MOOT as to all issues raised except whether surveillance recordings of Plaintiff are to be immediately produced to Plaintiff. As to t...

Excerpt: ...aims as well as a waiver of Civil Code section 1542. (Exhibit U to Defendant's Compendium of Evidence.) This language contained in the general release is plain on its face. Plaintiff argues that the release is invalid and unenforceable because she did not believe she was releasing and waiving all previous acts of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. She contends that there must be independent evidence, separate and apart from the release i...