Excerpt: ... from Defendant's negligence in permitting an unrestrained dog to chase Plaintiff giving rise to fear of an attack which caused Plaintiff to fall and suffer injuries. This is Plaintiff's second effort seeking summary judgment. Her first motion was denied on February 13, 2020 almost a year prior to the current hearing. Defendant points out a myriad of procedural deficiencies in the moving papers, the majority of which are valid. The court, however...

Excerpt: ...r Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 2. Plaintiff shall submit a revised proposed order with the correct department and judicial officer as well as providing for the final hearing date. The court initially heard the motion on October 21, 2019 and denied the motion outlining a number of deficiencies. The court finds Plaintiff's supplemental declarations filed on October 23, 2020 sufficiently address the court's concerns and to enable...

Excerpt: ...ed by the parties is precluded as a matter of law under Business and Professions Code 16600. B&P 16600 limits but does not totally bar non-solicitation agreements. Defendant has not shown that the agreement at issue here is precluded by the statute as a matter of law. Defendant has not shown that the agreement restricts Defendant from employment opportunities. Defendant has not shown that the agreement is unenforceable as a matter of law under Lo...

Excerpt: ...Ruling: (1) To Grant the motion of Defendant Marriott Visalia for Summary Judgment; (2) to Deny the motion of Defendant Elmore Sports Group, Ltd. for Summary Judgment; (3) to Deny the motion of Defendant Inland Empire 66ers for Summary Judgment and to deny the alternative motion for summary adjudication as to all issues submitted; and (4) to Deny the motion of Defendant Taylor Dunn for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff asserts she was severely injured ...

Excerpt: ...y of Tulare for improper maintenance of the intersection where the accident occurred (Plaintiff's Fifth Cause of Action). Defendant County of Tulare moves for summary judgment. In support of the motion, Defendant submits 19 material facts supported by evidence. Defendant's facts and evidence are sufficient to support Defendant's contentions that Plaintiff cannot show the intersection was improperly maintained or was in a dangerous condition at th...

Excerpt: ...serts Plaintiffs are required to arbitrate even though one of them is not a signatory to the agreement containing the arbitration clause under Felisilda v. FCA US LLC (2020) 53 Cal.App.5 th 486. Plaintiff asserts the case is not applicable because Plaintiff has dismissed all claims against the dealer and is pursuing only the manufacturer. At least one federal court agrees with Plaintiff's contention that Felisilda does not apply when pursuing onl...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiff's Motion to Tax Costs. Defendant seeks monetary sanctions asserting Plaintiff continued to pursue frivolous pleadings after being advised that Plaintiff intended to seek sanctions for such conduct under CCP 128.7. The court finds Defendant's notice of the hearing on its motion for sanctions was statutorily compliant. Plaintiff's attempt to assert the motion was fatally deficient because the motion was heard on January 14, 2021 rather th...

Excerpt: ... at 8:30 a.m. in Department 1. On August 27, 2020, the court granted preliminary approval of the class settlement entered between Plaintiffs and Defendants. The declaration from the settlement administrator shows that notice of the settlement was provided to 474 class members by mail on October 19, 2020. Twenty-nine notices were ultimately undeliverable. No requests for exclusion from the class were received. No objections to the settlement were ...

Excerpt: ... approximately 12:45 a.m. on June 20, 2017 in a courtyard of the hotel. The two runners were employed by minor league baseball teams staying at the hotel. Moving Defendant William Thornhill is also employed in a management capacity by a minor league baseball team, Defendant Lancaster Jethawks. Plaintiff asserts moving defendant was one of the organizers of the footrace. Plaintiff asserts a cause of action for negligence against Movant. Plaintiff ...

Excerpt: ...he covenant of good faith and fair dealing, slander of title, and intentional interference with prospective economic relationship. The action relates to development of real property commonly known as 2948 and 2950 East Douglas Avenue, Visalia California and 1333 Lewis Lane, Tulare, California. Defendants demur to the sixth cause of action – for slander of title and to the seventh cause of action – for intentional interference with prospective...

Excerpt: ...Judgment; and (2) To Deny the Motion by Defendant Buckman Mitchell, Inc. for Summary Judgment and to Deny the alternative motion for summary adjudication as to all issues submitted. "'"The standard for deciding a summary judgment motion is well-established, as is the standard of review on appeal." [Citation.] "A defendant moving for summary judgment has the burden of producing evidence showing that one or more elements of the plaintiff's cause of...

Excerpt: ...ession of property was based on failure to comply with lease covenants other than payment of rent. Defendants opposed the action. Defendants unsuccessfully demurred to the complaint, filed answers, and propounded voluminous written discovery to which Plaintiff was required to respond. Only when the matter was called for trial on December 14, 2020, was the court advised that Defendants had vacated the subject property. Plaintiff asserts Defendants...

Excerpt: ...n should be filed and served within twenty (20) days of this order. Petitioner is self-represented. Notice of both demurrers appears to have been adequate. Petitioner has not filed a response to either demurrer. Petitioner's amended petition is unclear and improperly appears an attempt to add to rather than replace her initial pleading which was captioned as a “Motion for Judicial Review.” Taken together it appears the primary relief sought b...

Excerpt: ... to discovery. Notice of the motion appears to have been adequate. Plaintiff has not responded to the motion. Plaintiff's action has been pending for more than a year, since December 12, 2019. Plaintiff failed to respond to Defendants' written discovery propounded in February 2020. Plaintiff failed to respond to Defendants' initial motion to compel responses to discovery filed July 17, 2020. On August 17, 2020, the court adopted its tentative rul...

Excerpt: ...liminary approval. The court reviews the motion with regard to the deficiencies previously noted by the court. Justification for installment funding Plaintiff has filed a supplemental declaration from Defendant which adequately supports the provision for installment funding of the settlement amount within 90 days. Enhancement awards to class representatives Plaintiff has not presented additional information to support the requested awards and ref...

Excerpt: ...r Costs and Attorneys' Fees as Prevailing Party on Appeal and to Order that Defendant recover costs on appeal in the sum of $820.70; and (2) to Grant the Motion by Plaintiff to Strike/Tax Memorandum of Costs on Appeal Submitted by Defendant D.L. Walton Engineering and to Order the claim for attorneys' fees stricken from Defendant's Memorandum of Costs on Appeal. Plaintiff obtained judgment against Defendant by default. Defendant moved in this cou...

Excerpt: ...material, triable issues of fact exist are to be resolved in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. . .. A defendant moving for summary judgment meets its burden of showing that there is no merit to a cause of action if that party has shown that one or more elements of the cause of action cannot be established or that there is a complete defense to that cause of action. (§ 437c, subds. (o)(2), (p)(2).) If the defendant does so, the burden...

Excerpt: ...vised that Plaintiff intended to seek sanctions for such conduct under CCP 128.7. Defendant asserts Plaintiff's pleadings in this action were both factually frivolous and legally frivolous. Defendant seeks monetary sanctions in the sum of $8,757.00. Defendant asserts the amount represents reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred since the notice required under CCP 128.7 was given. Defendant's Request for Judicial Notice is granted. Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ... 20, 2017 in a courtyard of the hotel. The two runners were employed by minor league baseball teams staying at the hotel. Moving Defendant Lancaster Jethawks is the baseball team with whom one of the alleged race organizers was employed. (Defendant Will Thornhill.) One of the runners was also employed by Movant. (Defendant Dunn.) Plaintiff asserts a cause of action for negligence against Movant. Plaintiff was also employed in minor league basebal...

Excerpt: ...ather Pietroforte and Law Offices of Heather Pietroforte, A Professional Corporation's demurrer to plaintiff's first amended complaint (2) To grant defendants' motion to strike portions of plaintiff's first amended complaint without leave to amend. Defendants shall have 30 days from the date of notice of this ruling to answer the plaintiff's complaint DEFENDANTS' REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE The court notes that a more detailed ruling on defendant...

Excerpt: ...VE FACTS Plaintiff Elizabeth Rocha was employed by the defendant Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE) as a rehabilitation specialist. She alleges that during the time that plaintiff worked for TCOE at the Washington Intermediate School in Dinuba, she was the subject of incidents that threatened her safety and the safety of other students and staff. Plaintiff contends that TCOE ignored her requests for physical assistance (and was instructed t...

Excerpt: ...ns Against Plaintiff and Plaintiff's Counsel in the Sum of $860.00. If any party intends to request oral argument for either or both of these discovery motions, the parties are directed to meaningfully meet and confer before the hearing of these motions in a good faith attempt to resolve the issues raised in these discovery motions. Tentative Rulings: (1) To grant in part and deny in part defendant/cross complainant Visalia Motor's motion to comp...

Excerpt: ... faith dispute as to Interrogatory 12.1 that would make the imposition of sanctions unjust. See CCP §2030.300(d). Interrogatory 3.7 seeks information as to the nature of the corporate entity McAuliff Center LP. McAuliff's response is an incomplete attempt to comply with the provisions of CCP 2030.220 that afford the responding party to interrogatories to refer the propounding party to documents that contain the requested information. CCP §2030....

Excerpt: ...ould not submit the entire motion and initial declarations a second time. Insufficient information has been submitted as to various provisions of the settlement agreement for the court to make the merits evaluation required by Kullar v. Foot Locker Retail, Inc. (2008) 168 Cal.App.4th 116, 129. 1. Sufficiency of Amount of Settlement ($550,000) The gross settlement amount is $550,000. Plaintiff estimates the total number of class members is 100. Pl...

Excerpt: ...icient declaration showing full performance of the settlement is filed prior to the hearing, it will go off calendar. The court reviews the motion and Settlement Agreement for support that the settlement is fundamentally fair, reasonable, and adequate with reference to the public policies underlying PAGA. (O'Connor v. Uber Technols., Inc. (2016) 201 F.Supp.3d 1110, 1113.) The settlement is limited to PAGA claims. Compliance with class certificati...