Excerpt: ...o the complaint ("CUSD Complaint") filed December 10, 2019 by Plaintiffs Compton Unified School District and Micah Ali in case number RG19046343, which is consolidated with this action for pretrial proceedings. (See Order of Feb. 7, 2020.) For the reasons discussed below, the demurrer is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND as to the causes of action asserted by Plaintiffs Smith, Steven C., Ali, Chinese for Affirmative Action, College Access Plan, Colle...

Excerpt: ... 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, and treats the demurrer as admitting all material facts properly pleaded. (Aubry v. Tri-Ci...

Excerpt: ...e court is to maintain the status quo until the arbitration is resolved. (Brock v. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1790, [during arbitration "the action at law sits in the twilight zone of abatement with the trial court retaining merely a vestigial jurisdiction over matters submitted to arbitration"].) "In the absence of a stay, the continuation of the proceedings in the trial court disrupts the arbitration proceedings and can r...

Excerpt: ...ant McClure. On 7/31/18, McClure served Wiles with an unlawful detainer complaint based on a three-day notice citing nuisance conditions caused or maintained by Wiles. In response, Wiles raised affirmative defenses citing habitability violations, discrimination, and retaliation. On or about 9/26/18, the parties settled the unlawful detainer action by entering into a Stipulation for Entry of Judgment or Dismissal ("Stipulation"). The Stipulation r...

Excerpt: ...on 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 improbable they may be." (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 12...

Excerpt: ...on 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 improbable they may be." (Del E. Webb Corp. v. Structural Materials Co. (1981) 12...

Excerpt: ...ervice of notice of entry of this Order, or 20 days after the date the Court begins accepting filings of like documents via fax filing or other method, whichever date is later. At the time of this writing, the Court, generally speaking, is accepting some, but not all types of civil filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parties are instructed to look to the Emergency Local Rules for guidance. On December 4, 2019, this Court granted Defendant F...

Excerpt: ...ss-Defendants' demurrer to the First and Second Causes of Action because they improperly request that the Court take judicial notice of four agreements executed by RingCentral and Bright Pattern in 2018. The Court overruled the demurrer to Cross-Complainant's fraud claims because Cross-Defendants failed to identify the allegations that undermine Cross-Complainant's claim of reasonable reliance. Cross-Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice pursua...

Excerpt: ...Hospital and Marshall Medical Center. Plaintiff has now moved to quash those subpoenas, arguing Defendants is violating Plaintiff's privacy rights, is seeking to go on a discovery "fishing expedition," and is attempting to misuse after-acquired evidence. The present motion involves subpoenas issued on or around February 20, 2020. (See Exh. K to Dec. J. Rager.) In her Complaint, Plaintiff alleges she was terminated by Defendant from a position as ...

Excerpt: ...o comply with their obligation to plead their claims in a concise manner. See CCP § 425.10(a)(1). The Court refers counsel to its order of November 22, 2019 denying the parties' motion to seal the Complaint and Cross-Complaint. If counsel had made a motion to strike the First Amended Cross-Complaint for its excessive length, the Court would have been inclined to grant it. Counsel for Cross-Defendants instead use the inclusion of evidentiary fact...

Excerpt: ...aintiff's Complaint, filed on February 5, 2020, does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action and is uncertain, including for the following reasons: The Complaint fails to identify a statutory basis for Defendant's alleged liability and facts essential to the existence of such statutory liability. (See, e.g., Eastburn v. Regional Fir Protection Authority (2003) 31 Cal. 4th 1175, 1179-1180; Lopez v. So. Cal. Rapid Transit Dist. (...

Excerpt: ...COVID-19 pandemic. The parties are to consult the Emergency Local Rules. After service of a further amended complaint, Defendant will have 15 days after service to respond to the amended pleading by a method permitted by the Code of Civil Procedure. Defendant's time to respond shall be modified pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1013, based on the method of service of the further amended complaint. DISCUSSION Before filing a complaint un...

Excerpt: ...nded complaint at this time. Defendant, to the extent it has not already answered, is ORDERED to answer the remaining causes of action in the FAC no later than 20 days after the Court begins accepting filings of like documents via fax filing or other method. At the time of this writing the Court, generally speaking, is not accepting all standard civil filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant provide written notic...

Excerpt: ...sed in getting Plaintiff's relevant business records, Plaintiff requests that she be provided 60 days from the date of the order to provide any further responses ordered by the court."].) Accordingly, the Court GRANTS Defendants' motion to the following extent: Plaintiff, to the extent she has not already done so, is ORDERED to serve responsive documents to Defendant Quest Diagnostics' Request for Production of Documents to Plaintiff, Set One, No...

Excerpt: ...ther amended complaint at this time. Defendant, to the extent it has not already answered, is ORDERED to answer the remaining allegations of the FAC no later than 20 days after the Court begins accepting filings of like documents via fax filing or other method. At the time of this writing the Court, generally speaking, is not accepting all standard civil filings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendant provide written no...

Excerpt: ...merous provisions of the California Labor Code and Industrial Wage Orders. Plaintiff's list of violations is set forth in paragraph 7 of the Complaint. The parties agree that the Court should refer to Section 393(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure to determine whether Alameda County is an appropriate venue for Plaintiff's action. Section 393(a) applies to actions for the recovery of penalties imposed by statute. The parties also agree that there i...

Excerpt: ...against Defendants Compass Transportation, Inc., SFO Airporter, Inc., Transdev Services, Inc., Transdev Bus On Demand, LLC, and Michael Johns. Defendants Michael Johns, Transdev Services, Inc., SFO Airporter, Inc., and Transdev Bus On Demand, LLC (collectively, "Moving Defendants") now seek an order compelling Plaintiffs to provide verified responses to certain discovery requests they propounded on Plaintiffs in October of 2019. As of the filing ...

Excerpt: ...pite requests during the meet and confer process on other motions, responses did not appear to Pena to be forthcoming, and he requested an informal discovery conference ("IDC") before the Court. The Court held an IDC on January 30, 2020. At the close of the IDC, the Court warned the parties that it would issue an order. On February 10, 2020, the Court ordered that KPS must serve discovery responses no later than February 20, 2020. (See Order of F...

Excerpt: ...04 ("PAGA") (Lab. Code §§ 2698 et seq.). KPS also separately moves to strike each of the individual allegations of Labor Code violations from the same cause of action. Pena opposes these motions. For the reasons discussed below, the demurrer is OVERRULED. The motion to strike is GRANTED IN PART WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND and otherwise DENIED. LEGAL STANDARDS The standard for construing a complaint on demurrer is long-settled: "We treat the demurrer...

Excerpt: ...s case is now one of 13 overlapping cases. On 12/17/19, Defendant filed a notice of submission of petition for coordination. On 1/31/20, Defendant filed notice that the Judicial Council has assigned Amazon Logistics Wage and Hour Cases, JCCP 5078, to the Superior Court of the State of California, Los Angeles, for assignment of a Coordination Motion Judge. In staying this case, the court is guided by the statement in Schneider v. Vennard (1986) 18...

Excerpt: ...lass. The case preliminarily settled for a maximum total of $1,500,000. The settlement agreement states there will be attorneys' fees of up to $570,000, costs of up to $25,000, a service award of $7,500 to each class representative, and settlement administration costs of up to $13,500, and a net PAGA payment of $18,750. After these expenses, the amount available to be distributed to the Class (i.e., the Net Fund Value) would be $857,750. Assuming...

Excerpt: ...ms, of his injuries. Therefore, Plaintiff's claim against Piedmont Gardens is subject to Code of Civil Procedure § 425.13. (See Davis v. Superior Court (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 623, 629.) Plaintiff's failure to comply with § 425.13 bars his claim for punitive damages. The Court observes that it already struck Plaintiff's claim for punitive damages from his Second Amended Complaint, without leave to amend, on November 18, 2019. Paragraph 14(a)(2) o...

Excerpt: ...ion 685.070(b). Second, none of the costs claimed in the cost memorandum are the types of recoverable costs specified in Code of Civil Procedure section 685.070(a). The Court observes that the $199.50 amount of costs sought in the cost memorandum was dwarfed by the amount of fees both counsel presumably incurred arguing over the validity of the $199.50 cost request. Parties must notify opposing counsel and email the Court at [email protected]...

Excerpt: ...rneys' fees only where the action confers a significant benefit on the general public or a large class of persons. Here, Plaintiff is suing to recover monetary damages for injuries she suffered when her foot slipped between the BART platform and a train. If successful, this action would benefit Plaintiff only; it would not confer any benefit on the general public or a large class of persons. Plaintiff's request for sanctions for opposing this mot...

Excerpt: ...s of Action are based on a garage that Defendants allegedly maintain over a portion of the parties' shared easement, which Plaintiffs allege impedes their use of the easement. Those facts, if true, support Plaintiffs' Second, Third, Fourth, and Seventh Causes of Action. There are no facts pled in the First Amended Complaint, and no facts appearing in the documents for which Defendants request judicial notice, establishing that Defendant Kumiko Uy...