Excerpt: ...prove a settlement agreement"].) California follows a two-stage procedure for court approval: first, the Court reviews the form of the terms of the settlement and form of settlement notice to the class and provides or denies preliminary approval; later, the Court considers objections by class members and grants or denies final approval. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.769.) When no class has been certified, as is the case here, the Court must determ...

Excerpt: ...exchange insurance information with the other driver, and then falsified the collision report by attributing fault to plaintiff. Plaintiff alleges her rebuttal was investigated by the CHP but ultimately denied, and alleges that the CSAA insurance exchange denied her insurance claim in reliance on the report. Plaintiff seeks monetary damages against the defendants. Defendants demur to all causes of action on the grounds that plaintiff lacks standi...

Excerpt: ...e granted. (See CCP sec. 430.10(e); but see Angie M. v. Sup. Ct. (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1217, 1227 ["Liberality in permitting amendment is the rule, if a fair opportunity to correct any defect has not been [previously] given."].) Plaintiff shall file an amended complaint no later than September 10, 2019. (See CRC, R. 3.1320(g).) "A demurrer tests the legal sufficiency of the factual allegations in a complaint." (Redfearn v. Trader Joe's Co. (2018)...

Excerpt: ... with WSC that required a contractor's license and that MPI did not have such a license. (FACC, ¶¶ 15-17.) WSC alleges that, pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 7031(b), WSC is thus entitled to recover all compensation paid to MPI as an unlicensed contractor. (Id., ¶ 18.) MPI's demurrer is based on the ground that this was a claim that was required to be brought as a compulsory cross-complaint in the prior action entitled Masterp...

Excerpt: ...ction is OVERRULED. A general demurrer tests the sufficiency of the complaint, i.e., whether it states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action upon which relief may be based. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e); Aragon-Haas v. Family Security Ins. Services, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court give...

Excerpt: ...s the sufficiency of the complaint, i.e., whether it states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action upon which relief may be based. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e); Aragon-Haas v. Family Security Ins. Services, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation...

Excerpt: ...act. The allegations of the FAC reveal that the complaint might well be barred because the alleged oral contract may constitute mortgage fraud. That said, the allegations in the FAC do not necessarily establish that the oral contract was definitively mortgage fraud and therefore barred as a matter of law. (See CrossTalk Productions, Inc. v. Jacobson (1998) 65 Cal.App.4th 631, 635.) The FAC did not expressly or impliedly unequivocally admit that t...

Excerpt: ...t customer service in competition for insurance customers. Colony takes reasonable steps to maintain the confidentiality of these guidelines and may suffer unnecessary competitive harm if they were disclosed to the public or competitors. The Court finds that the claim handling guidelines submitted in support of Plaintiffs' opposition papers are confidential business information in which Colony has a legitimate and overriding privacy interest that...

Excerpt: ...leave, he received a letter informing him that his store was being restructured and that his position was to be eliminated on the same day he was due to return from leave. Walmart has answered by general denial. Bieker demurs. Of the Complaint's eleven causes of action, Castro asserts only two against Bieker: the third cause of action (for workplace harassment on the basis of age and disability), and the tenth cause of action for intentional or n...

Excerpt: ...the high evidentiary burden that Plaintiff will bear in seeking to establish that Defendant acted with "oppression" or "malice" within the meaning of Civil Code section 3294(c), the court does not find Plaintiff's allegations in this regard to be so "irrelevant, false, or improper" that it would be appropriate to strike them from the complaint at the pleading stage. (Cf. Perkins v. Superior Court (1981) 117 Cal.App.3d 1, 6 ["The stricken language...

Excerpt: ...loyer will show that plaintiff lied on her application for employment at defendant. The court considers whether the discovery sought is relevant, is privileged or protected, or unduly burdensome. RELEVANCE The testimony sought is relevant to the credibility of plaintiff. Defendant asserts that the deposition testimony is relevant because it will reveal that plaintiff made false statements in his/her applications for prior employment. Plaintiff is...

Excerpt: ...y 26, 2019, that requires the "income and accumulations of income for each of the three properties" to be "held by the property managers and not distributed without prior order of the Court or written agreement of the parties and their attorneys." (See Decl. of Edward Ngow, Exh. 2, ¶ 4.) Defendant seeks to restore "50/50 monthly distributions [of such income] to the parties through the conclusion of this matter," on the ground that she is a "sin...

Excerpt: ...hearing date for the motion. The motion is therefore timely and the court will consider it on its merits. The court grants the request for a site inspection of 1910-12 East 20th Street, Oakland, California. However, the inspection shall be limited to a non-intrusive walk through of the property with a real estate professional. Plaintiff or Plaintiffs agents may not inspect the personal items at the property, especially any personal property conta...

Excerpt: ...orm. Both Moneygram and plaintiff rely on California law. The agreement states below the arbitration clause that it is governed by Minnesota law. Both parties have waived any argument that Minnesota law applies. PROCEDURAL UNCONSCIONABILITY Plaintiff argues that the arbitration agreement is procedurally unconscionable on several grounds. The agreement is in 6 point font. This is an indication that it is procedurally unconscionable. California sta...

Excerpt: ... of action upon which relief may be based. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e); Aragon-Haas v. Family Security Ins. Services, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. (Aubry v. Tri-City Hos...

Excerpt: ...§ 430.10, subd. (e); Aragon-Haas v. Family Security Ins. Services, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. (Aubry v. Tri-City Hosp. Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 966-67; Blank v. Kirwan (1985)...

Excerpt: ...se of action upon which relief may be based. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e); Aragon-Haas v. Family Security Ins. Services, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. (Aubry v. Tri-City H...

Excerpt: ...er is directed only to the portion of the cause of action alleging age discrimination. "A demurrer does not lie to a portion of a cause of action." (PH II, Inc. v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1680, 1682; see also Grieves v. Superior Court (1984) 157 Cal.App.3d 159, 163.) Second, the demurrer is based on the argument that Plaintiff has not sufficiently alleged that she was "replaced by a substantially younger employee with equal or inferi...

Excerpt: ...fendants caused harm to Plaintiffs through their willful failure to remedy the aforementioned defective conditions," and the other allegations in paragraphs 101 through 105, are conclusory and insufficient to support punitive damages if intended to apply to FPI along with the other defendants. Plaintiffs have not included specific factual allegations as to conduct by agents or employees of FPI, as distinguished from those of the other defendants,...

Excerpt: ...arate Statement of Facts ("SSF") Nos. 7-8.) Plaintiff's claim against Grubb is premised on Grubb's alleged failure to ensure that appropriate carbon monoxide detectors were properly installed on the subject property. (See SSF No. 16.) As a result of that alleged failure, Plaintiff's decedent, who was a tenant of Kwong, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. (See SSF Nos. 1-4 and 9-14.) The Court determines that as a matter of law under the facts of t...

Excerpt: ...produced to Bautista's counsel until April 1, 2019. However, that document does not change the result of the Court's ruling on Bautista's prior motion for summary judgment, which was denied on November 29, 2018. It is not reasonably disputed that Bautista sold the subject property to Cindy Kwong and Tony Wong (in their capacities as Trustees of the Wong/Kwong Family Trust, collectively "Kwong") on October 23, 2015, over a year before decedent's d...

Excerpt: ...s, Inc. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 232, 238. ) The complaint must be "liberally construed, with a view to substantial justice between the parties." (Code Civ. Proc. § 452.) The court gives the complaint a reasonable interpretation, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. (Aubry v. Tri-City Hosp. Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 966-67; Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) The court may consider all material facts p...

Excerpt: ...endant is named in that cause of action. As currently pled, there are no facts specifically indicating why Schubert is liable for any of the claims asserted. Plaintiffs' blanket references to "defendants", plural, throughout the First Amended Complaint is insufficient to put Schubert, or any of the 10 other named defendants, on notice as to why they are being sued. In particular, claims based on fraud must be pled with particularity, including wh...

Excerpt: ... the Third, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and the claim for punitive damages is DENIED. Legal Standard for Summary Adjudication "A party may move for summary adjudication as to one or more causes of action within an action, one or more affirmative defenses, one or more claims for damages, or one or more issues of duty, if that party contends that the cause of action has no merit or that there is no affirmative defense thereto, or that there is no ...

Excerpt: ... 10:00 a.m. in Department 15 of the Alameda County Superior Court, 1221 Oak St., Oakland to show cause, if any, why sanctions should not be imposed pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7, for the following conduct: On June 28, 2019, attorney Donald C. Schwartz signed and filed, and thereafter advocated, a motion to set aside and vacate default judgment arguing that the default judgment should be vacated, which had already been heard an...