Excerpt: ...ard alleges that she was seriously injured in an accident caused by Austin Harris. Plaintiff alleges that Kimberly Harris is liable to her under a negligent entrustment theory. Although not explicitly stated, the parties have clearly conveyed to the Court the view of Defendants that Plaintiff is exaggerating the extent of her injuries and the limitations on her ability to work and engage in other life activities. In response to Plaintiff's form i...

Excerpt: ...430.30(a); and Cryolife, Inc. v. Superior Court (2003) 110 Cal.App.4th 1145, 1152 (facts subject to judicial notice may disclose existence of defense). The Court hereby takes judicial notice of Plaintiff's initial Complaint and its order sustaining Defendant's Demurrer to the Second, Third and Fourth Causes of Action in the initial Complaint with leave to amend. See Evidence Code §§ 452 and 453. Plaintiff Monterrosa alleges that he is a Hispani...

Excerpt: ...ural history and facts of this case. The Complaint was filed on April 17, 2017. This case was assigned to Department 517 for all purposes on April 18, 2017. The Court presided over the 23-day jury trial that began in late August 2018 and concluded with a verdict in favor of the People on November 5, 2018. As counsel for the prevailing party, the Attorney General's Office is statutorily entitled to recover its reasonably incurred attorney's fees a...

Excerpt: ...mplainants to perform improvements at the property located at 3525 Joaquin Miller Road, in Oakland. Cross-Defendant allegedly performed all or nearly all of the work before Cross-Complainants terminated him in December 2017 for failure to comply with the terms of the contract. Cross-Defendant submitted invoices to Cross-Complainants that total $276,808.87. Cross-Complainants paid Plaintiff $173,355.75. In their Fourth Cause of Action, Cross-Compl...

Excerpt: ...them to incur damages. Defendants failed to appear in the case. On 2/23/11, after a default prove-up, the court entered judgment for plaintiffs in the amount of $66,023.30. On 10/25/17, an abstract of judgment was issued. In 2017 and 2019, writs of execution were requested, and issued. Defendants seek to set aside the abstract of judgment and subsequent writs under CCP §473(d), on the ground that the 2011 judgment was void. CCP §473(d) provides...

Excerpt: ...th Cause of Action for Negligent Misrepresentation, pursuant to CCP § 430.10(e), is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff did not comply with its obligation to plead specific facts supporting each element of its fraud claims against Defendants. See Lazar v. Superior Court (1996) 12 Cal.4th 631, 645 (complaint must contain facts showing how, when, where, to whom, and by what means the representations were made); and Tarmann v. State Farm Mut. ...

Excerpt: ... persons similarly situated who have been employed by Defendant as non-exempt electricians in the State of California within the applicable class period [of July 16, 2015 through trial]." Plaintiff's claims of Defendant's policy and practice of failing to abide by applicable Labor laws during the class period are described generally in paragraph 3 of the First Amended Complaint. Defendant contends that this action should be abated because Plainti...

Excerpt: ...nd its non-profit subsidiary, The Institute for Medical Quality ("IMQ") as an Associate Administrator from February 22, 2017 to February 26, 2018. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant Julio Samper sexually harassed her throughout her employment with words and gestures. Plaintiff alleges that Defendants failed to take appropriate corrective action when she reported Defendant Samper's conduct. After taking a medical leave of absence due to her anxiety ...

Excerpt: ...hat Plaintiff's motion is an improperly filed Motion for Reconsideration. See CCP § 1008(a). Defendants' argument has some merit, though the Court holds that Plaintiff can seek sanctions a second or third time if the underlying factual record changes over time. In this case, however, Plaintiff has made his request based on essentially the same record. There is very little in the Declaration of Andrew Reisman, CEO of Elijah Ltd., that was not exp...

Excerpt: ...ighland Hospital to visit Naomi Schneider, the mother of Mira and Lia, on March 24, 2019. Plaintiffs do not allege that Germon was a patient or hospital employee. Instead, Plaintiffs simply allege on information and belief that Germon had been "in the hospital at some point prior to the attack." Plaintiffs claim that Defendant is liable for their injuries, including their severe emotional distress, because it did not take the measures necessary f...

Excerpt: ...mercial Code § 2725(2) is without basis. Judgment Debtor's argument is based on the answer given by the jury in response to question 6.g. of the Special Verdict. Judgment Debtor would have the Court draw an inference that the jury made a finding about when the claim for breach of express warranty arose based on its answer to question 6.g. There is no factual basis to draw this conclusion. The law states that the warranty claim accrued when it be...

Excerpt: ...his disability. Plaintiff apparently has suffered from epilepsy for many years. Defendant discovered Plaintiff's condition when he asked for time off from work to deal with his symptoms. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant initially reduced his weekly hours from 40 to 24, and then later terminated his employment. The Court continued the hearing on Defendant's motion from October 1, 2019 to December 3, 2019 because the parties presented directly conf...

Excerpt: ...ther the amount sought is reasonable. See Ketchum v. Moses (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1122, 1132-1133 (manner of calculating fees); and Robertson v. Fleetwood Travel Trailers of California, Inc. (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 785, 817-818 (same). When the billing records were received in advance of the July 2019 hearing, the Court noted that Plaintiff made extensive redactions without seeking court approval under Rules of Court 2.550 and 2.551. Plaintiff now asks...

Excerpt: ...tion of Defendant's retained expert, Marco Schmidt, was scheduled to take place in Frankfurt, Germany, on November 22, 2019. Plaintiff's objection to the depositions of Kuhn and Eichhammer in Germany is sustained. Plaintiff argues that the notices are legally deficient because counsel for Defendant did not comply with the requirements for international discovery set forth in the Hague Convention or with German law. See CCP § 2027.010(c). The req...

Excerpt: ... merits of Moorpark's contentions. Also, the Court overrules Moorpark's procedural objections to Judgment Debtor Chunlei Leila Guo's opposition that he concedes he received eleven (11) court days before the hearing. See CCP § 1005(b) (opposition must be filed and served at least nine (9) court days before hearing). The Court has the discretion to consider late papers if the opposing party has not sustained undue prejudice. See Rule of Court 3.13...

Excerpt: ... cases raise essentially the same issues and assert the same claims. The earliest such case, Rittmann, et al. v. Amazon.com, Inc., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington as a putative class action. Based on the current definition of the putative class, Plaintiff Reynolds would be a member if such a class were certified at a later time. As of this date, the parties in Rittmann have completed their briefing on A...

Excerpt: ...t ASI Computer Technologies, Inc. and the company's Chief Executive Officer. Marcel Liang is identified as one of the founders of ASI Computer Technologies, Inc. Plaintiff claims that he sued them for fraud because they both controlled the activities of ASI Computer Technologies, Inc. Plaintiff dismissed Defendants just before the commencement of trial in November 2018. Plaintiff's Motion to Tax Defendants' expert fees is GRANTED. Defendants' req...

Excerpt: ...ded Complaint. Plaintiff Fuller began working for the County of Alameda in its Temporary Assignment Pool ("TAP") in 2006. She worked as a Food Service Worker in the kitchens of Juvenile facilities of the County Probation Department. Plaintiff and other workers in the TAP would fill in for employees who were on vacation or on a leave of absence. Plaintiff and other workers in the TAP also filled vacant positions while managers engaged in the recru...

Excerpt: ...iff filed her initial Complaint nearly three years ago. Plaintiff's motion is granted as to Plaintiff's request to supplement her paragraphs 13.1 and 15.1. The Court understands that Plaintiff claims that the District, and in particular Maggie Riddle, gave preference to white administrators within the District and violated the district policy regarding transfers and demotions of administrators. Plaintiff's proposed supplemental language merely su...

Excerpt: ...nt with leave to amend. Cross-Complainant filed its First Amended Cross-Complaint on September 3, 2019. Cross-Complainant substantially supplemented its factual allegations in support of its claim of delayed discovery. Cross-Complainant also added allegations that Clark Smith, the Managing Member of CrossLink Networks, LLC, made representations that led Cross-Complainant to believe that it did not need to file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed...

Excerpt: ...and the deposition notice in August 2019. The Court compared the five (5) subjects set forth in the subpoena and notice and compared them with the three (3) subjects in Plaintiff's subpoena served on May 13, 2019. The Court cannot agree with the City's assertion that the five (5) subjects are duplicative or that designating one or more of its employees to appear for deposition will be unduly burdensome in view of the issues in this high-value cas...

Excerpt: ...nt with leave to amend. Cross-Complainant filed its First Amended Cross-Complaint on September 3, 2019. Cross-Complainant substantially supplemented its factual allegations in support of its claim of delayed discovery. Cross-Complainant also added allegations that Clark Smith, the Managing Member of CrossLink Networks, LLC, made representations that led Cross-Complainant to believe that it did not need to file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed...

Excerpt: ...or all purposes. The separate action is currently being prosecuted by Ms. Fisher's successor in interest. Plaintiff Morken alleges that the sales representatives of Vivint Solar, Inc. and Vivint Solar Developer, LLC prey upon individuals who do not know their legal rights. In this case, after Plaintiff's elderly mother expressed interest in having solar panels installed on her roof, Tyler Williams, Defendants' Regional Vice President of Sales Wes...

Excerpt: ...tained a traumatic brain injury as a result of the collision and currently has symptoms of a post-traumatic stress disorder. Counsel for Plaintiff and Defendant do not disagree about the necessity of a neuropsychological examination. Counsel simply disagree about the conditions that each side wants to impose on the examination. The Court met with counsel for an informal discovery conference on September 18, 2019. The Court begins by overruling th...

Excerpt: ...nt due on January 15, 2019. Defendant significantly does not dispute Plaintiff's assertion that it has made only six monthly payments and a $2,000 partial payment. The motion is granted in part because the Court does not agree with Plaintiff's apparent contention that it should enter a Judgment for only the payments that Defendant has missed to date. The Court will instead enter a Judgment in the sum of $125,000.00 with the payments made to date ...

Excerpt: ...sel for Plaintiff gave notice of the settlement to the Court on that same date. Defendant Wente Bros. agreed that it would pay Plaintiff and his attorneys the sum of $1,090,000 no later than twenty-one (21) days after September 6, 2019. Plaintiff Munoz agreed to dismiss his action against Defendant with prejudice within ten (10) days of his and his attorneys' receipt of the four separate checks. In paragraph 11 of the Term Sheet, the parties agre...

Excerpt: ...ment 517 on October 24, 2018. The Court declines to summarize the procedural history of the case as it has been described sufficiently in its prior orders. Plaintiff's operative Third Amended Complaint was filed on April 10, 2019. Defendants have moved for judgment on the pleadings as to the following causes of action: (1) First Cause of Action for Slander Per Se; (2) Second Cause of Action for Libel under California Law; (3) Third Cause of Actio...

Excerpt: ...ff alleges in her First Amended Complaint ("FAC") that she served as the Chief of Staff of Dr. John Stobo, Executive Vice President of UC Health, from 2015 until March 2018. Prior to that period, Plaintiff was the Budget Coordinator and Director of Finance for UC Health. UC Health is part of the Office of the President. Plaintiff claims that she was constructively discharged in when she elected early retirement, shortly after taking a medical lea...

Excerpt: ...ty from Tolia in 1998, and then decided not to record the Grant Deed with the County Recorder or notify the mortgage lender, Wells Fargo Bank. Cross-Complainant Rost twice amended his Cross-Complaint under threat of a Demurrer by counsel for Cross-Defendant. The Second Amended Cross- Complaint was filed on April 10, 2019. Cross-Complainant alleges in paragraph 2 of the Second Amended Cross-Complaint that he and Cross-Defendant created a de factor...

Excerpt: ...stee declined to execute the verifications for the defunct corporations. Counsel also advises that he recently executed the verifications himself and delivered them to Plaintiff's attorneys. See Melendrez v. Superior Court (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 1343, 1354. Plaintiff correctly points out that the Court is required to award reasonable attorney's fees as a discovery sanction even if the opposing party complies with its obligation late. See CCP § 2...

Excerpt: ...o office. Defendant was required by the Judgment to deliver letters to all of his "clients" by certified mail to inform them that they could request a refund of the fees they paid him. Defendant was required to make restitution within 90 days of receiving a request for a refund. The Court declines to grant the People's motion because the Judgment itself requires Defendant to comply. Defendant has elected not to comply. The Court concludes that it...

Excerpt: ... discretion when ruling on requests for a preliminary injunction. See King v. Meese (1987) 43 Cal.3d 1217, 1226-1228; and Smith v. Adventist Health System/West (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 729, 749. The Court should consider the evidence presented by plaintiff in support of his claim that he will likely prevail on the merits and balance the likely harm that the plaintiff will sustain if the injunction does not issue against the likely harm that the def...

Excerpt: ... is a quasi-contract claim entitled, "Goods and Services Rendered." Plaintiff Landman, doing business as The Intergan Technology Group, makes clear that his claims in the 2017 Complaint are based on essentially the same facts alleged in his earlier lawsuit against AkkuSer Oy and Jarmo Pudas (Case No. RG12645044). Plaintiff alleges that AkkuSer Oy received substantial financial benefit from work that he performed on its behalf from December 2008 t...

Excerpt: ...st Defendant for Intentional Misrepresentation is based on her claim that the premises were not fit for human occupancy. The Court advised Plaintiff in its order of May 14, 2019 that the Eighth Cause of Action was not sufficiency pled because she did not identify any statements uttered by Defendant Ratti at any time. Plaintiff was given an opportunity to supplement her allegations. The Court agrees with Defendant's contention that Plaintiff faile...

Excerpt: ...f's vehicle is referred to in the First Amended Complaint as "the Subject Vehicle." Plaintiff also makes allegations regarding so-called "Class Vehicles" in the First Amended Complaint. The Court could not find a special definition for that term in the First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff identified a total of 51 alleged defects with his vehicle in paragraph 8 of the First Amended Complaint. The majority of the defects concern defects with Kia's GD...

Excerpt: ... Complaint filed on August 28, 2019. Plaintiff purchased her property in the Oakland hills in 2015. Defendant Yu purchased the property known commonly as 80 Roble Road and 90 Roble Road in December 2015 or January 2016. The parties have not indicated that any structures existed on the Yu property at the time that he acquired it. Defendant Yu and his business partner Balbir Singh intend to construct single-family homes on the property for sale. Pl...

Excerpt: ...Estate Solutions, LLC are engaged in the business of acquiring properties and then selling them after performing some improvements and remedial work. Defendants Laura Blair and Carlos Plazola are the principals of Defendants. Plaintiff alleges in the Second Amended Complaint that the entity Defendants are all previous owners of the subject property located at 3000 Sheffield Avenue, in Oakland. Plaintiff and Defendants closed on the transaction ($...

Excerpt: ...ing from the original date due to the absence of evidence presented by the parties. See City of Grand Terrace v. Superior Court (1987) 192 Cal.App.3d 1251, 1264-1265 (court must have some evidence to support its decision on a motion for determination of good faith settlement). The Court appreciates the supplemental memoranda filed by Defendants Gerlyn Neau and George Neau and the County of Alameda. The parties' supplemental papers attached the re...

Excerpt: ...x Property Trust, Inc., et al. (Case No. RG13689355). The Court is familiar with the procedural history and the facts in the prior lawsuit. The Court granted Defendants' unopposed Motion for Summary Judgment on September 13, 2018. On February 26, 2016, the Court denied Plaintiff's Motion to Set Aside the Summary Judgment Order. Plaintiff's claims against Defendants fail to state a cause of action because Defendants did not owe Plaintiff a duty of...

Excerpt: ...nformally. Plaintiff has agreed to limit the scope of Request No. 7 to the period from 2013 to 2018. Defendant has agreed to produce those warranty manuals for the Chevy Cruze after Plaintiff agrees to the terms of a Protective Order. The Court refers to pages 8, 9 and 12 of the May 20, 2019 transcript. 2. The Motion to Compel Defendant to Serve a Further Response to Request No. 10 is GRANTED. Plaintiff has agreed to limit the scope of Request No...

Excerpt: ...s counsel should not have combined three separate sets of discovery requests in a single motion. This rule applies in particular to cases where the alleged transgression is the failure to provide an adequate response or a failure to comply with a discovery request as agreed. In addition, although the parties apparently believe that the Court should have a complete understanding of all of the discovery issues in the case, including prior violation...

Excerpt: ...assertion that they need not answer Form Interrogatory 216.1 for their denials of Plaintiff's material allegations because they filed a General Denial has merit. Defendants agreed to provide verified responses for their affirmative defenses. Defendants indicate that Plaintiff should have simply served specific contention interrogatories. The motion is granted because Defendants' legal position is without merit. Defendants stated in their Answer, ...

Excerpt: ...el for the parties. The Trial Setting Order states specifically that requests to continue the trial are disfavored and that the Court grants such requests only when exceptional circumstances exist. Defendants have not established the existence of any exceptional circumstances in this case. Defendants' request is based on Plaintiff's failure to provide verified responses to their initial discovery requests served on October 23, 2018. Plaintiffs we...

Excerpt: ...e First Amended Complaint. Defendant County answered the First Amended Complaint on September 2, 2015. On February 2, 2016, the Court granted the County's unopposed Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings without leave to amend. The County asserted that Plaintiff could not proceed because it had not complied with its obligation to present a government tort claim pursuant to Govt. Code § 911.2. The Court declined to consider Plaintiff's opposition f...

Excerpt: ...nal Infliction of Emotional Distress dated December 20, 2018. The original hearing dates was August 23, 2018. The hearing date was continued to October 30, 2018, after the Court granted Cross- Defendant's Ex Parte Application for Relief pursuant to CCP § 473(b). On October 30, 2018, the Court continued the hearing to December 13, 2018 due to the parties' failure to comply with their procedural obligations. The Court takes notice of its order of ...

Excerpt: ...019. The Motion to Compel is denied because Plaintiffs failed to file the motion within forty five (45) days of the response date. See CCP § 2030.300(c); and Vidal Sassoon, Inc. v. Superior Court (1983) 147 Cal.App.3d 681, 685. Plaintiffs' Motion to Compel was filed on May 21, 2019. Plaintiffs did not provide any evidence to show that Defendant granted counsel an extension of the 45-day deadline. Defendant's request that the Court order Plaintif...

Excerpt: ... his claims in the Third Amended Complaint. See CCP § 391.3(a); and Golin v. Allenby (2010) 190 Cal.App.4th 616, 640-641. The declarations of attorney C. Hay-Mie Cho and Defendant Smith, which contain numerous hearsay statements, are not sufficient to authenticate the many documents Defendants ask the Court to consider. The two-paragraph letter of Ann Stallcup, Parole Case Records Administrator, dated May 7, 2019, does not sufficiently buttress ...

Excerpt: ... capacity to sue for damages in California. See CCP § 430.10(b). The Demurrer is overruled because the Court is restricted to the facts set forth in the Complaint and facts that are the proper subject of judicial notice. See CCP § 430.30(a). The Court is required to accept Plaintiffs' well-pled factual allegations as true at the pleading stage, but not their contentions, deductions or conclusions of law or fact. See Aubry v. Tri-City Hosp. Dist...

Excerpt: ...nt Merrill were guests at The Claremont at the time. Plaintiff's husband was allegedly in the couple's hotel room when the incident occurred. Plaintiff's Catalan Sheepdog suffered serious injuries. Plaintiff's own injuries were relatively minor. Plaintiff has estimated that she has incurred special damages in the sum of $7,462.65. On August 9, 2018, the Court denied Defendant's Motion for Good Faith Settlement without prejudice due to the lack of...

Excerpt: ...eventh Cause of Action for Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy and an Eighth Cause of Action for Unfair Business Practices. The EFI Dispute Resolution Process Agreement ("the Agreement") attached as Exhibit C to the Declaration of Beverly Rubin, EFI's Vice President of Human Resources, states clearly that neither side has the right to compel arbitration until they have attempted to resolve the dispute through mediation. The parties...

Excerpt: ...t 3:00 p.m., in Department 517. On March 26, 2019, the Court continued the hearing on Plaintiff's Motion to Compel and ordered the parties to comply with their statutory obligation to make a reasonable and good faith attempt to resolve all of the disputed issues. See CCP §§ 2031.310(b)(2) and 2016.040 (facts disclosing that a reasonable and good faith attempt at an informal resolution was made must appear in the meet-and-confer declaration). Th...

Excerpt: ...h in the text of Section 430.41(a)(1). Counsel does not comply simply by calling Plaintiffs and telling them that their First Amended Complaint fails to state any cause of action. The Court expects parties to comply strictly with the meet-and-confer obligation enacted by the Legislature. The Court is not surprised that Plaintiffs reflexively disagreed with counsel's evaluation of the First Amended Complaint. Defendants may file a second Demurrer ...

Excerpt: ...ber 19, 2016. Plaintiff Lai dismissed his claims without prejudice on August 11, 2017. In April 2017, Plaintiffs substituted Defendant Kam Hung Fong, Lisa Fong's former spouse, in the place of DOE 1. Plaintiffs then added Defendants Angela Fong and Bobby Fong in the place of DOE 2 and DOE 3, respectively, on December 26, 2017. Defendants have met their initial burden of making a prima facie showing that no triable issues of material fact exist an...

Excerpt: ...See CCP § 395(a). However, if there is more than one correct venue, Plaintiffs are entitled to select the one they prefer. Defendant's motion is denied because it did not rebut Plaintiffs' claim that it is a foreign corporation and that it has not designated a principal office in California in documents filed with the California Secretary of State. According to Easton v. Superior Court (1970) 12 Cal.App.3d 243, 246-247, cited by Plaintiffs, the ...

Excerpt: ...re had until August 30, 2018 to file and serve the First Amended Complaint. On November 13, 2018, Plaintiff filed an Application for an Extension of Time to File the First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff mentioned in the application that Defendant had previously granted him extensions on an informal basis. The Court denied the application on November 16, 2018. Plaintiff's late First Amended Complaint filed more than six months after the Court grante...