Excerpt: ...ella v. Asset Management Consultants, Inc. (2017) 8 Cal.App.5th 181, 191.) Plaintiff alleged that he was seriously injured in an accident at the Everport marine cargo terminal "[o]n or about September 26, 2016." (Compl. ¶ 8 at 3.) The two-year personal injury statute of limitations of Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 (former section 340(3)) accrued and began running on that date. (Goldrich v. Natural Y Surgical Specialties, Inc. (1994) 25 C...

Excerpt: ...e in reply. (See Jay v. Mahaffey (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 1522, 1537.) Defendant also correctly pointed out that the evidence proffered by Plaintiff in support of the Motion papers was not competent evidence. First, the supporting declaration did not correctly track the language of Code of Civil Procedure section 2015.5. (Kulshrestha v. First Union Commercial Corp. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 601, 609- 618; accord Bombardier Recreational Products, Inc. v. Do...

Excerpt: ...rsion before the Court is an Amended Joint Stipulation of Class Action Settlement ("Settlement Agreement"). To protect the interests of absent class members, class action settlements must be reviewed and approved by the Court. (Duran v. Obesity Research Institute, LLC (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 635, 646 ["The [trial] court has a fiduciary responsibility as guardians of the rights of the absentee class members when deciding whether to approve a settleme...

Excerpt: ... Amended Complaint, not a First Amended Cross- Complaint. But, since both sides are referring to that pleading as a FACC, the Court will do the same. Cross-Defendants' general demurrers to the First, Second, and Third Causes of Action for failure to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action are SUSTAINED WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND. (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e).) Cross-Defendants' Request for Judicial Notice is GRANTED. The judicially no...

Excerpt: ...revent a November 28, 2017 sexual assault on Plaintiff at Encinal High School in Alameda. The operative SAC, filed June 28, 2019, alleges four counts against all defendants: failure to maintain safe environment, negligent supervision, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violation of California Civil Code section 51 et seq. Defendant has pleaded general demurrers to the first, third, and fourth counts. Defendant's Demurrer to the Fir...

Excerpt: ... "Uribe action") is GRANTED. Plaintiff's proposed trial plan would create a serious potential for conflicting rulings between this case and the Uribe action. The Orange County Superior Court granted final settlement approval of the class claims there, which overlap claims that had been pending in this case. Plaintiff's proposed trial plan would appear to circumvent the Orange County Superior Court's orders, the Court's April 18, 2019 order denyin...

Excerpt: ...acts sufficient to constitute a cause of action is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. (Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e).) Plaintiff must plead the first cause of action with more specificity. (Covenant Care, Inc. v. Superior Court (2004) 32 Cal.4th 771, 790.) Plaintiff "must plead every fact which is essential to the cause of action under the statute." (Baskin v. Hughes Realty, Inc. (2018) 25 Cal.App.5th 184, 207.) Again, Plaintiff has not adequately all...

Excerpt: ...efendant"). Plaintiff seek certification of two classes. The first is "[a]ll non-exempt employees of Payless Car Rental, Inc. in the State of California from July 17, 2013 to the time of final judgment" and the second is "[a]ll employees of Payless Car Rental, Inc. in the state of California who ended their employment with Payless Car Rental, Inc. from July 17, 2014 to the time of final judgment." Plaintiff also seeks certification of two meal br...

Excerpt: ...LC (2014) 59 Cal.4th 348, 382.) Any monetary penalties assessed against the defendant are split between the LWDA and aggrieved employees, with 75% going to the LWDA. (Labor Code § 2699(i).) Representative litigants must submit any settlement of a PAGA representative action for Court approval. (Labor Code § 2699(l)(2).) Unlike government entities represented in False Claims Act qui tam actions, the LWDA does not have a statutory right to interve...

Excerpt: ...endant did not comply with the informal discovery procedure required by Local Rule 3.31 and Code of Civil Procedure section 2016.080. The IDC process probably would have avoided or at least narrowed the scope of the instant Motion. Turning to the merits, the Court would have been forced to deny the motion because Defendant did not bear its threshold burden of proving its entitlement to relief by attaching direct evidence that it served a notice o...

Excerpt: ... The Court notes that Defendants did not comply with the informal discovery conference (IDC) procedure required by Local Rule 3.31 and Code of Civil Procedure section 2016.080. The IDC process probably would have avoided or at least narrowed the scope of the instant Motion. Defendants seek to quash business records deposition subpoenas served by plaintiffs Aries Simmons, Darryl Hadley, and Alden Ortega (collectively, "Plaintiffs") on nonparties I...

Excerpt: ... tailored; and [¶] (5) No less restrictive means exist to achieve the overriding interest." (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.550(d).) In particular, Defendant Payless Car Rental, Inc. ("Defendant") has designated certain documents produced in discovery as confidential pursuant to the parties' stipulated protective order. Defendant has an interest in protecting the confidentiality of its confidential business information, as do certain putative class...

Excerpt: ...fendants' Motion is GRANTED as to Plaintiff's request for punitive damages. Code of Civil Procedure section 425.13's applicability depends upon the gravamen of a plaintiff's claim. (Country Villa Claremont Healthcare Center, Inc. v. Superior Court (2004) 120 Cal.App.4th 426, 434.) If medical care was terminated for a reason that does not violate the Unruh Act, then liability based on that medical decision is subject to Code of Civil Procedure sec...

Excerpt: ...lity, negligent misrepresentation, fraud by nondisclosure, vicarious liability based on respondeat superior, premise owner/contractor liability, and loss of consortium. Defendant is named under all causes of action. The Complaint also demands "exemplary or punitive damages according to proof." (Compl. at 27:15.) UNDISPUTED MOTIONS Defendant's Motion is GRANTED as to Plaintiffs' Third Cause of Action for Negligent Misrepresentation and Fourth Caus...

Excerpt: ...n support of the Cross-Defendants' Reply. The Court acknowledges the procedural objections raised by plaintiff Ronald Eichman ("Plaintiff"), but the Court is also reluctant to further delay reaching the merits, unless there is a truly colorable dispute over the existence of an agreement to arbitrate. In other words, the Court needs to know what dispute, if any, might be raised in the form of supplemental briefing or in an opposition to a renewed ...

Excerpt: ...isrepresentation, fraud by nondisclosure, vicarious liability based on respondeat superior, premise owner/contractor liability, and loss of consortium. Defendant is named only under the first through fourth and the seventh causes of action. The Complaint also demands "exemplary or punitive damages according to proof." (Compl. at 27:15.) UNDISPUTED MOTIONS Defendant's Motion is GRANTED as to Plaintiffs' Third Cause of Action for Negligent Misrepre...

Excerpt: ... burden of proof. (Benach v. County of Los Angeles (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 836, 856.) The general rule is that "[i]f the items appearing in a cost bill appear to be proper charges, the burden is on the party seeking to tax costs to show that [they] were not reasonable or necessary." (Ladas v. California State Auto. Assn. (1993) 19 Cal.App.4th 761, 774.) Thus, the trial court must first determine whether costs are allowable at all under the relevan...

Excerpt: ...fendants' Motion is GRANTED as to Plaintiff's request for punitive damages. Code of Civil Procedure section 425.13's applicability depends upon the gravamen of a plaintiff's claim. (Country Villa Claremont Healthcare Center, Inc. v. Superior Court (2004) 120 Cal.App.4th 426, 434.) If medical care was terminated for a reason that does not violate the Unruh Act, then liability based on that medical decision is subject to Code of Civil Procedure sec...

Excerpt: ...d impose a considerable burden on them to travel to Oakland for a single hearing. (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 7.952(a).) Only Plaintiff's counsel is required to appear in person at the hearing in Department 16. Counsel for the defendants are welcome to observe but are not required to appear in person. The foregoing ruling is predicated upon the following conditions: First, the Petition as filed and lodged omitted Attachment 18a. Plaintiff's counse...

Excerpt: ... for settlement purposes. The Court has a "fiduciary responsibility as guardian[] of the rights of the absentee class members when deciding whether to approve a settlement agreement." (Duran v. Obesity Research Institute, LLC (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 635, 646.) The Court is obligated to ensure that the "agreement is not the product of fraud or overreaching by, or collusion between, the negotiating parties, and that the settlement, taken as a whole, i...

Excerpt: ...04.3, 211-4-211.3, 214.1, and 216.1; Special Interrogatories Nos. 5-10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24, 26-109; and Requests for Production of Documents, Set One, Nos. 2-5, 10, 12, 13-15, 17, 18- 23, 25-40, 44-49, and 54-103. (Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2030.300(a), 2031.310(a).) Plaintiff's Motion to Compel is also treated as a Motion to Compel Compliance and as such is GRANTED as to all of the foregoing Requests for Production of Documents. (Code Civ. Proc. ...

Excerpt: ...Bilt, Inc. v. Woodward-Clyde & Assocs. (1985) 38 Cal.3d 488, 499 is not a pro forma exercise. Without sufficient evidence and analysis of the settlement by the settling parties, the Court is left primarily to draw inferences and speculate concerning more than one of the Tech- Bilt factors. "[W]ithout the facts . . . it is impossible for a court to exercise its discretion in an appropriate fashion." (Grand Terrace, 192 Cal.App.3d at 1263.) It is a...

Excerpt: ...or the trial court to allow a plaintiff to serve the Secretary of State without having made that mandatory showing. (See Bakersfield Hacienda, Inc. v. Superior Court (1962) 199 Cal.App.2d 798, 803-805.) Plaintiff's Motion only showed that he had been unable to serve Defendant's designated agent. Corporations Code section 1702(a) differs from its ancestor, former section 3303 (as quoted in Bakersfield Hacienda), in that it uses the word "or" to di...

Excerpt: ... is treated as Motion for a Protective Order as to both deponents and is GRANTED. The parameters of the protective order, which will govern the conduct of the Atkinson deposition, are set out below. These motions are directed to Petitioners' notices for the depositions of two former Presidents of the University of California: Richard C. Atkinson (1995-2003) and Robert C. Dynes (2003-2007) (collectively, the "deponents" or "witnesses"). Neither de...

Excerpt: ... Although Defendant did not expressly tender this issue in his notice of motion, the supporting papers gave ample notice of the relief sought. (Luri v. Greenwald (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 1119, 1125.) In this instance, Plaintiff merely alleged that Defendant "negligently maintained a premises on which the plaintiff lived and allowed her to be beaten and abused as alleged herein." But such mere negligence and inaction is not enough. Plaintiff did not...