Excerpt: ... the legal sufficiency of the factual allegations in a complaint." (Redfearn v. Trader Joe's Co. (2018) 20 Cal.App.5th 989, 996.) The Court must determine "whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state a cause of action or discloses a complete defense." (Id.) "As a general rule in testing a pleading against a demurrer the facts alleged in the pleading are deemed to be true . . . ." (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 1...

Excerpt: ...fuses to arbitrate such controversy, the court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, unless it determines that: (a) the right to compel arbitration has been waived by the petitioner; or (b) grounds exist for the revocation of the agreement." (CCP § 1281.2; see also CCP § 1281.7; 9 USC §§ 1 et. seq.) Here, Plaintiff filed his Complaint ...

Excerpt: ...fety Code section 25249.6; (C) the reimbursement for fees and costs to be paid to Plaintiff's counsel pursuant to the CJ is reasonable under California law; (D) the civil penalty of $2,000.00 to be paid pursuant to the CJ is reasonable based on the criteria set forth in Health & Safety Code section 25249.7(b); and (E) and the allocation of any additional settlement payments to Plaintiff is in the public interest as set forth in Code of Regulation...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiffs' injuries caused by FastTrack Inc., because the single enterprise/alter ego doctrine dictates that the limited liability protections that usually insulate separate corporations from liability for the other corporation's debts do not apply under the circumstances of the case. Plaintiffs now move for summary adjudication, asking the Court to determine, as a matter of law, that DODG is liable for FastTrack Inc.'s debts under the single en...

Excerpt: ...ing leave to amend is strong. (See Atkinson v. Elk Corp. (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 739, 760-761.) Here, the main purpose of Plaintiffs' proposed amendment is to add a cause of action for retaliation alleging she was forced to resign a faculty position by Defendant in retaliation for seeking to enforce her rights. Plaintiff does not seek to add additional defendants to the action. Trial in this matter has not yet been scheduled. Given the length of t...

Excerpt: ...e liability, the amount paid in settlement, . . . a recognition that a settlor should pay less in settlement than he would if he were found liable after a trial, . . . the financial conditions . . . of settling defendants, as well as the existence of collusion, fraud, or tortious conduct aimed to injure the interests of nonsettling defendants." (Tech-Bilt, Inc. v. Woodward-Clyde and Assocs. (1985) 38 Cal. 3d 488, 499.) The Court finds the settlem...

Excerpt: .... Trader Joe's Co. (2018) 20 Cal. App. 5th 989, 996.) The Court must determine "whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state a cause of action or discloses a complete defense." (Id.) The Court assumes "the truth of the properly pleaded factual allegations, facts that reasonably can be inferred from those expressly pleaded and matters of which judicial notice has been taken." (Id.) "As a general rule in testing a pleading against a demu...

Excerpt: .... Trader Joe's Co. (2018) 20 Cal. App. 5th 989, 996.) The Court must determine "whether the complaint alleges facts sufficient to state a cause of action or discloses a complete defense." (Id.) The Court assumes "the truth of the properly pleaded factual allegations, facts that reasonably can be inferred from those expressly pleaded and matters of which judicial notice has been taken." (Id.) "As a general rule in testing a pleading against a demu...

Excerpt: ...ontinuance only on an affirmative showing of good cause requiring the continuance." (Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 3.1332(c).) Circumstances that may indicate good cause include the unavailability of a party, witness, or trial counsel because of death, illness, or other excusable circumstances, substitution of trial counsel, addition of a new party under certain circumstances, a party's excused inability to obtain essential testimony, documents, or o...

Excerpt: ...r purposes of settlement. Plaintiffs also seek court approval of claims raised under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 ("PAGA") (Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq.). The Court has concerns regarding the Settlement Agreement and is tentatively inclined to deny the motion if the Settlement Agreement and class notice are not modified. To afford the parties an opportunity to remedy these deficiencies, Plaintiff's motion for conditional c...

Excerpt: ...and. Plaintiff filed his original Complaint on August 29, 2018. Plaintiff filed his First Amended Complaint on March 28, 2019. The Court had granted Defendant's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings on March 27, 2019. Plaintiff asserts a negligence claim and a premises liability claim against Defendant. Plaintiff alleges in the First Amended Complaint that he sustained personal injury and emotional distress as a result of taking the Holy Sacrament...

Excerpt: ... course and scope of their employment, would give rise to a claim against those employees for the tragic incident on July 22, 2018 if those employees were private persons. (See Government Code § 820.) A private person is normally not liable for failing to take affirmative steps to prevent an injury to another person. (See, e.g., Zelig v. City of Los Angeles (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1112, 1128-1129.) In addition, Plaintiffs have not alleged a reasonably...

Excerpt: ...plaint that Defendant breached the terms of the lease by failing to restore the premises to its original condition. Plaintiff filed its Complaint on August 7, 2017. Defendant Seagate filed a First Amended Cross-Complaint asserting damages that allegedly resulted from Plaintiff's failure to approve the specifications of Defendant's installation of a new roof or roofs. The Court set the trial date on June 11, 2018. Defendant's request for a trial c...

Excerpt: ...aneously with this motion. (Decl. of E.A. Grover ¶ 16; Decl. of R. Spence ¶ 2.) The LWDA has not appeared in this action to offer comments on, or objections to, the proposed settlement. In his First Amended Complaint, Picou also purports to state claims on behalf of an absent plaintiff class. Picou requests that the Court dismiss these causes of action without prejudice and consider this matter only as a claim for civil penalties under PAGA. Fo...

Excerpt: ...Plaintiffs' injuries caused by FastTrack Inc., because the single enterprise/alter ego doctrine dictates that the limited liability protections that usually insulate separate corporations from liability for the other corporation's debts do not apply under the circumstances of the case. Plaintiffs now move for summary adjudication, asking the Court to determine, as a matter of law, that DODG is liable for FastTrack Inc.'s debts under the single en...

Excerpt: ...." (Moses H. Cone Memorial Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp. (1983) 460 U.S. 1, 24.) "California law, like federal law, favors enforcement of valid arbitration agreements." Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (2000) 24 Cal.4th 83, 97. The California Arbitration Act requires courts to enforce arbitration clauses. (CCP §§ 1280 et seq.) California does not have a "policy compelling persons to accept arbitration of controversies w...

Excerpt: ... section 391(b)(3) defines a "vexatious litigant" as a persion who "[i]n any litigation while acting in propria persona, repeatedly files unmeritorious motions, pleadings, or other papers . . . ." Here, Plaintiff Lisa Renee Henderson meets the criteria for a vexatious litigant set forth in both subsection (b)(1) and (b)(3) of Code of Civil Procedure section 391. Presently, within the last two years, Plaintiff has filed at least five actions in th...

Excerpt: ...meda County Superior Court case no. RG16837943 (the "Quiet Title Case"), a suit that involved certain real property the parties generally refer to as "Chase Street." Specially, in this civil action, Plaintiffs alleges seven causes of action, as follows: (1) Adverse Possession, Prescriptive Easement, Implied Easement, Marginal Street Doctrine; (2) Violation of Subdivision Map Act; (3) Declaratory Relief; (4) Unfair Business Practices; (5) Conversi...

Excerpt: ...of California ("UC") demurs to the Third Amended Complaint. It demurs on its own behalf alone and not on behalf of the individual instructors named in the Complaint, because UC is immune from liability as a public entity and because the activities alleged in the TAC are, as a matter of law, not outrageous. For the reasons stated below, UC's demurrer to the TAC is SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. LEGAL STANDARDS The standard for construing a comp...

Excerpt: ...tion of the claims under PRC 4283(d) for charging customers with EBT cards and WIC vouchers for bags is reasonable. The case preliminarily settled for a total of $117.55. The settlement agreement states there will be attorneys' fees and cost of up to $85,000, a service award of $2,500 for the class representative. After these expenses, the class would get $30,000. The settlement was mediated with the assistance of Bonnie Sabraw. The court gives "...

Excerpt: ... the ongoing Cal-OSHA investigation into decedent's accident, and the stated intent of various percipient witnesses (including Donaciano Caswell, guardian ad litem for minor Plaintiffs Santiago Torres-Alvarez and Sebastian Torres-Alvarez) to assert the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refuse to testify about the accident. The interests of justice also require staying this action because Doanciano Caswell, the guardian ad litem...

Excerpt: ...tion relating to privilege) and otherwise respond fully, including producing responsive documents, as necessary, within 15 days from the date of service of notice of entry of this Order, as modified for method of service under Code of Civil Procedure section 1013. In regards to the request for monetary sanctions, when a motion to compel discovery is granted, a court shall order the party to whom discovery was directed to pay the reasonable expens...

Excerpt: ...calculation of the purchase price of Makenzie Kelly's shares of North Star Emergency Services, Inc., in 2018, including, but not limited to, all electronically stored information." Stegner & Associates produced over two hundred pages of documents in response to the subpoena, but did not produce all documents responsive to the request mentioned above, instead objecting, citing grounds of attorney-client privilege and attorney work product protecti...

Excerpt: ...agree that you will resolve all matters in dispute between you and TWG by binding arbitration, under the JAMS Employment Rules, then in effect, which are available at www.jamsadr.com or from Human Resources upon request." The claims that Plaintiff agreed to arbitrate included, but were not limited to, "violations of federal, state or local laws." Plaintiff's claims against Defendant in this action are matters in dispute between them, arising dire...

Excerpt: ...ction 25249.6; (C) the reimbursement for fees and costs to be paid to Plaintiff's counsel pursuant to the CJ is reasonable under California law; (D) the civil penalty of $2,500.00 to be paid pursuant to the CJ is reasonable based on the criteria set forth in Health and Safety Code section 25249.7(b); and (E) and the allocation of any additional settlement payments to Plaintiff is in the public interest as set forth in Code of Regulations, title 1...