Excerpt: ... Friday 9/4/2020 hearing contesting party must email [email protected] and provide notice to all counsel via File&ServeXpress of the intent to contest the tentative order. IF CONTESTED, the matter will be heard via COURTCALL at the time and date of the scheduled hearing. If not timely contested, and the tentative ruling will become the final order of the Court. LEGAL STANDARDS "[A] civil litigant's right to discovery is broad." (Yelp ...

Excerpt: ... April 15, 2020, Plaintiffs served a notice of deposition and request for production of documents for the deposition of Republic's person-most-qualified ("PMQ") and custodian of records ("COR") to commence on May 12, 2020. Republic served objections on May 6, 2020. The parties dispute whether a dissolved corporation must provide a witness to sit for deposition in defending lawsuits. Republic was a California corporation that was dissolved in Apri...

Excerpt: .... (People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665, 675-686.) (Tamblin Dec., paras 28-37 and Exhs 6-14.) The parties are to be prepared to discuss whether Templin can rely on the discovery responses of manufacturers of joint compound to form an expert opinion because they are verified discovery responses and therefore presumptively reliable information. (Tamblin Dec., paras 28-37 and Exhs 6-14.) The parties are to be prepared to discuss whether Templin h...

Excerpt: ...shall grant if the court makes both of the following findings: (1) [t]he party has a substantial interest in the action as a whole[, and] (2) [t]he health of the party is such that a preference is necessary to prevent prejudicing the party's interest in the litigation." (CCP § 36(a).) "The standard under subdivision (a), unlike under subdivision (d), which is more specific and more rigorous, includes no requirement of a doctor's declaration." (F...

Excerpt: ...ce, which the court shall grant if the court makes both of the following findings: (1) [t]he party has a substantial interest in the action as a whole[, and] (2) [t]he health of the party is such that a preference is necessary to prevent prejudicing the party's interest in the litigation." (CCP § 36(a).) "The standard under subdivision (a), unlike under subdivision (d), which is more specific and more rigorous, includes no requirement of a docto...

Excerpt: ...reference is necessary to prevent prejudicing the party's interest in the litigation. Fox v. Superior Court (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 529, 533-536, makes clear that if the court makes three findings, then the court must grant the motion. The first finding is whether the moving party is over 70 years of age. The requirement reflects a legislatively acknowledged risk of death or incapacity due to age. (Kline v. Superior Court (1991) 227 Cal.App.3d 512,...

Excerpt: ...e standard for construing a complaint on demurrer is long-settled: "We treat the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law. [Citation.] We also consider matters which may be judicially noticed. [Citation.] Further, we give the complaint a reasonable interpretation, reading it as a whole and its parts in their context. [Citation.]" (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311,...

Excerpt: ...s, Special Interrogatories, Demand for Documents and Requests for Admissions that were served on October 29, 2019. Plaintiff's Motion for Sanctions is GRANTED IN PART. STANDARD OF LAW "[A] civil litigant's right to discovery is broad." (Yelp Inc. v. Superior Court (2017) 17 Cal. App. 5th 1, 15.) "[A]ny party may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action . . . if th...

Excerpt: ...has no merit, that there is no affirmative defense to the cause of action, that there is no merit to an affirmative defense as to any cause of action, that there is no merit to a claim for damages . . . , or that one or more defendants either owed or did not owe a duty to the plaintiff or plaintiffs." (CCP § 437c(f)(1).) "A motion for summary adjudication shall be granted only if it completely disposes of a cause of action, an affirmative defens...

Excerpt: ...crow. The FACC alleges the following causes of action against Moving Defendants: 1) Implied and Equitable Indemnity; 2) Partial Implied and Equitable Indemnity; 3) Comparative Fault; and 4) Declaratory Relief. LEGAL STANDARD "A demurrer tests 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 st...

Excerpt: ... Set One, Request for Production, Set One, and Request for Admissions, Set One. (Declaration of Emily K. Andrews ["Andrews Dec."] ¶ 2, Exs. 1-4.) Responses were due January 19, 2020. (Id. ¶ 3.) No responses were provided, and Plaintiff sent a meet and confer letter on January 24, 2020. (Id. ¶ 4.) Defendant responded by phone but no discovery responses were provided. (Id. ¶ 5.) This action was filed by Plaintiff homeowners' association against...

Excerpt: ...with a public issue. (See Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16(b)(1).) Second, if such a showing is made, the Court determines whether Plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim. Plaintiff demonstrates this by showing the Complaint is legally sufficient and supported by a sufficient prima facie showing of facts to sustain a favorable judgment if the evidence submitted by Plaintiff is credited. (Vogel v. Felice (2005) 127 Cal...

Excerpt: ...n with a public issue. (See Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16(b)(1).) Second, if such a showing is made, the Court determines whether Plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim. Plaintiff demonstrates this by showing the Complaint is legally sufficient and supported by a sufficient prima facie showing of facts to sustain a favorable judgment if the evidence submitted by Plaintiff is credited. (Vogel v. Felice (2005) 127 C...

Excerpt: ...intiff's handwritten account attached to that report is dated January 20, 2018, i.e., ten months before the accident occurred.) The resulting police report (which is dated February 19, 2019, by reviewer Michael Munoz) concludes that the police are "unable to determine fault; recommend both parties work with their insurance carrier." In his Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that the City's police officer "J. Breden" engaged in a negligent or intentiona...

Excerpt: ... connection with a public issue. (See Code of Civil Procedure § 425.16(b)(1).) Second, if such a showing is made, the Court determines whether Plaintiff has demonstrated a probability of prevailing on the claim. Plaintiff demonstrates this by showing the Complaint is legally sufficient and supported by a sufficient prima facie showing of facts to sustain a favorable judgment if the evidence submitted by Plaintiff is credited. (Vogel v. Felice (2...

Excerpt: ...ransp. Los Angeles, LLC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, 381.) (See also ZB, N.A. v. Superior Court of San Diego County (2019) 8 Cal.5th 175, 185.) In federal court plaintiff Frias filed a parallel class action asserting this case on behalf of a putative class seeking damages. The court does not stay the case under CCP 597, which states the court may stay a case if "the answer pleads ... that another action is pending upon the same cause of action." The tw...

Excerpt: ...d to employees that worked the same shifts as Plaintiff in the San Jose (10/15/17-1/7/18), Sacramento (4/18/19-5/6/19), and Antioch Emergency Departments (5/26/19-7/15/19). MOTION TO COMPEL Plaintiff seeks to compel a further response from Defendant as to one interrogatory asking for the "names, addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses of all employees of [Defendant's] that worked with Plaintiff, limited to those employees that were in t...

Excerpt: ...heir papers to Department 518. Counsel were ordered to mail their courtesy copies to Department 518. Counsel for Defendant inexplicably failed to comply with this very simple order. The Court is familiar with the allegations and claims in this fraud and elder abuse case. Defendant's main contention in opposition to the motion is that the interrogatories and requests for production are overbroad and seek information that is not relevant to the sub...

Excerpt: ...cused Plaintiff "mishandling" two incidents (a sexual battery report by a student, and a disciplinary meeting with a special education student), and as a result Defendants placed Plaintiff on paid administrative leave from his job as principal at Newark Memorial High School. (See First Amended Complaint, paragraphs 14 and 28.) Defendants subsequently sought Plaintiff's termination due to various other incidents identified in First Amended Complai...

Excerpt: ...tate 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) 123 Cal.App.3d 593, 604.) Courts "give the complaint a reasonable interpretation, reading it as a whole and its parts in their context." (Goncharov v. Uber Techs., Inc. (2018) 19 Cal.App.5th 1157, 1165.) This ...

Excerpt: ...located at 46665 Fremont Blvd., in Fremont, on or about July 9, 2019. Applied Spectra had apparently been a tenant at the location since 2012. From 2007 to 2012, Applied Spectra occupied commercial space located at 46661 Fremont Blvd. The application is denied because Plaintiffs have not met their burden of establishing that their damages are measurable by reference to the contract. See CCP § 483.010(a) (money claim must be fixed or readily asce...

Excerpt: ...g party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted, as well as for a monetary sanction[.]" (CCP § 2033.280(b).) "The court shall make this order, unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial complian...

Excerpt: ...ds a cause of action to recover civil penalties under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 ("PAGA") (Lab. Code §§ 2698 et seq.), which NYSEB does not seek to compel to arbitration but instead seeks to stay. The motion is GRANTED IN PART. The request for a stay of proceedings is DENIED. LEGAL STANDARDS The Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") (9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq.) embodies a "liberal federal policy favoring arbitration agreements,...

Excerpt: ...agreement states there will be attorneys' fees of up to $875,000 (35%), costs of up to $75,000, a service award of $7,500 for class representative Quijas and $5,000 for Clark, a net PAGA payment of $75,000, and settlement administration costs of $45,000. After these expenses, the class would get $1,417,500. The average payout per class members would be $429. The settlement was mediated with the assistance of Jeffrey Krivis. The court gives "consi...

Excerpt: ...ne "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 demurrer the facts alleged in the pleading are deemed to be true, however improb...