Excerpt: ...ncidents of hostile, boorish and sexist behavior while employed by Defendant, and that the supervisors and members of the human resources department failed to take the problems seriously. Plaintiff alleges that when her co-workers and supervisors learned that she was reporting their behavior, she was subjected to increased harassment from them. Plaintiff filed her Complaint on July 2, 2020. Plaintiff served Defendant with the summons by notice an...

Excerpt: ...note for the balance. Plaintiff's action is not based on Defendant's failure to pay the acquisition price. Instead, Plaintiff claims that Defendant has taken positions in connection with the calculation and payment of the Closing Working Capital that it knows have no merit simply to delay payment of the $1,800,000 owed after the Post-Closing Adjustment was made. The Court notes at the outset that it is required to accept Plaintiff's well-pled all...

Excerpt: ...uraged from giving multiple extensions of time to file a motion to compel instead of dealing substantively with the dispute as early as possible. The Court will not grant Plaintiff's request for an award of discovery sanctions because her attorneys did not comply with their obligation to make a reasonable and good faith attempt to resolve each disputed issue prior to filing the motion on December 18, 2020. See CCP § 2016.040 (facts showing that ...

Excerpt: ...s' claims are based on their purchase of Defendants' property located at 6450 Oakwood Drive, in Oakland, on January 30, 2019. Plaintiffs were in the market for a house in the San Francisco Bay Area because Plaintiff Vessere had accepted a job offer in the area. Plaintiffs were living in Canada when they contacted local realtor Raymond Markarian. Mr. Markarian's agency is Marker Real Estate. Plaintiffs allege in the Complaint that Defendant Markar...

Excerpt: ... by Defendant to the First Amended Complaint and Second Amended Complaint. Plaintiff's daughter, 19-year-old Rusamie "Ashly" Phong Phoumy ("Ashly") was killed with a knife by Defendant's half-brother, Abdol Ali Omar, on the morning of November 30, 2014, at Defendant's business, Oakland Market. Defendant contends in his motion that the Court should grant summary judgment because he owed no duty to Ashly to protect her from an unforeseeable attack ...

Excerpt: ...hat the accident occurred well after sunset because Plaintiffs were on a post-dinner walk. Plaintiffs were walking within a crosswalk. Plaintiffs had activated the warning light to alert cars on Driscoll Road that someone was crossing the street within the crosswalk. Defendant Chang struck one or both Plaintiffs with her vehicle. Plaintiffs contend that Defendant was using her cell phone and not paying attention to her surroundings. Plaintiffs ha...

Excerpt: ...d's locked vehicle and stole camera equipment worth approximately $91,004.00. After Plaintiff paid its insured on the property loss claim, it became subrogated to its right to assert a claim against Defendant landlord. Plaintiff asserts two causes of action against Defendant in its Complaint. Plaintiff's First Cause of Action is for Negligence. The Second Cause of Action, entitled "Res Ipsa Loquitur," is not in fact a cause of action but is inste...

Excerpt: ...irst Amended Cross-Complaint was served by mail to counsel at an incorrect mailing address. See CCP §§ 425.16(f) and 1013. Counsel's correct mailing address is 11 Golden Shore, Suite 430, Long Beach, California 90802. Counsel has never used a different address since this action was filed in June 2020. Cross-Defendant has met his initial burden of establishing that Cross-Complainant's causes of action are based on his filing of his Complaint for...

Excerpt: ...aint and in her opposition that she identifies as Hispanic and Latino. Although Plaintiff was born in Mexico, she has lived in Lake County for many years and is fluent in Spanish and English. Defendant NUHW represents about 15,000 healthcare workers holding various positions in California. Defendant NUHW hired Plaintiff as an internal union organizer in September 2015. Plaintiff testified that her responsibility was to generate more enthusiasm fo...

Excerpt: ...This case involves a dispute between Defendant Huang and her former attorney, Linda Shao, of Shao Law Firm. Plaintiff represented Defendant in litigation involving a business dispute in this Court. That case was assigned case number RG16804034. Plaintiff caused Defendant to be personally served with the summons on July 10, 2020. Counsel for Defendant states that his client told him that she was served on July 15, 2020. Based on this information, ...

Excerpt: ...laintiff's compliance with its discovery obligations starting in July 2020. The parties should know that the Court did review their memoranda and the declarations of counsel. The Court agrees with Defendant's contention that it was more than accommodating to Plaintiff's counsel when repeated requests for additional time were made. The Court notes that Plaintiff waited until almost sixty (60) days had passed after Defendant served the motion to co...

Excerpt: ...he First Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that he resides at the property. On December 5, 2006, Plaintiff obtained a mortgage loan from Mortgageclose.com, Inc. in the sum of $139,000.00. The lender recorded a Deed of Trust in the Official Records of Alameda County on December 6, 2016. On August 19, 2019, an Assignment of the Deed of Trust was recorded that assigned the Deed of Trust from Mortgageclose.com, Inc. to U.S. Bank. On January 16, 20...

Excerpt: ...he month-to-month lease on June 1, 2014. Defendant Jordan purchased the property in 2016. Plaintiffs allege in their Complaint that Defendant has not complied with the myriad laws requiring her to maintain the premises in a safe and habitable condition since 2016. Plaintiff describes the problems with their unit and the common areas in paragraphs 12 and 13 of the Complaint. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant Jordan has known about the conditions fo...

Excerpt: ...ding to the First Amended Complaint, the original developer contracted with Lowney Architects, Inc. to provide the designs for the project. On or about September 24, 2014, the developer entered into a contract with Deacon Corp. to act as the general contractor for the construction of the property. Deacon Corp. then entered into several subcontracts, including a subcontract with High End Development, Inc. to serve as the waterproofing subcontracto...

Excerpt: ... Partners, Inc. Although not specifically referenced in the notice of demurrer, Defendant does indicate that the demurrer is directed to the entire First Amended Complaint. 2. Defendant's demurrer to Plaintiffs' Second Cause of Action for Intentional Misrepresentation, pursuant to CCP § 430.10(e), is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. The Court begins with the observation that it is required to accept Plaintiffs' factual allegations as true even if ...

Excerpt: ...his action after Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the remaining claims in the First Amended Complaint on October 2, 2020. Although the lease agreement does not include an express attorney's fee provision, Defendants contend that the Court can infer the existence of an agreement in paragraph 8, which is entitled, "Hold Harmless." The provision reads as follows: Tenant shall indemnify and hold Landlord harmless from and against any and all claims ar...

Excerpt: ... v. Raytheon Co., Inc. (2019) 33 Cal.App.5th 617, 636 (plaintiff's claims and allegations limit the scope of issues relevant to motion); and Hutton v. Fidelity Nat'l Tile Co. (2013) 213 Cal.App.4th 486, 493 (same). Plaintiff Le was employee of the UC Berkeley Center for Latino Policy Research from 2013 until June 30, 2014, also earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at UC Berkeley in 2010. Dr. Le is currently the CEO and President of the Institute...

Excerpt: ...er, SFO Airporter, Inc. After serving basic initial discovery requests and obtaining responses from Plaintiff, Defendants' attorneys served at least eight (8) subpoenas duces tecum on medical providers, a chiropractic office, and Plaintiff's employer, Helix Electric, Inc. The subpoenas were served on September 11, 2020. Plaintiff's counsel made a written objection to the subpoenas before the records were collected and delivered to Macro-Pro, Inc....

Excerpt: ...Ms. Darrow, a named Plaintiff, and the other Plaintiffs did not submit a verification with the original Complaint. The Complaint included the following causes of action: (1) breach of limited liability company's operating agreement; (2) conversion of corporate assets; (3) forcible detainer; (4) unfair business practice [sic]; (5) breach of fiduciary duty; (6) and negligence in manager's operations of limited liability corporation. On November 6, ...

Excerpt: ...017, wherein Plaintiff sustained severe injuries to his right hand while working on the deck of a vessel when a heavy metal crane block dropped from a loading crane and struck Plaintiff. Bulk Shipping seeks an order compelling Plaintiff to respond to deposition questions regarding his psychiatric history, which Bulk Shipping claims that Plaintiff has put at issue in this action. (Declaration of Andrew I. Port ["Port Dec."], Ex. D at p. 33:16- 17 ...

Excerpt: ...hough the case was filed on July 1, 2019, this is the first time that the Court has had to review the details of the parties' dispute. The only other motion filed by the parties prior to the motion for summary adjudication is Plaintiffs' motion for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint, and that motion was dropped prior to the hearing based on the parties' stipulation. Plaintiffs have sued Defendants because they issued primary and excess insu...

Excerpt: ...se of Action for Fraudulent Concealment. Defendant filed its motion for summary judgment on May 5, 2020. Defendant requests the entry of judgment in its favor as to Plaintiff's First, Second and Third Causes of Action, as well as Plaintiffs' request for a civil penalty pursuant to Civil Code § 1794(c). On June 11, 2020, the case was reassigned from Department 521 to Department 518 for all purposes. Defendant's motion is denied because it has not...

Excerpt: ...t attach a copy of the Settlement Agreement referenced in paragraph 38 of the First Amended Complaint. Plaintiff should have attached the Settlement Agreement because its provisions are the basis of Plaintiff's claims against Builders Protection Group, LLC. The Court understands that the Homeowners Association ("HOA") of Sierra at Jack London Square ("the HOA"), Richard Avelar & Associates Reconstruction Services, Inc. ("Richard Avelar & Associat...

Excerpt: ...ng's Complaint and Plaintiff's Application for a Writ of Attachment against Defendant. Plaintiff King sold his business to Defendant in 2019 for the total sum of $35,000,000. Defendant paid $25,000,000 to King and gave him a promissory note for the balance. The terms and conditions of the transaction are set forth in the Amended and Restated Asset Purchase Agreement, dated on or about July 12, 2019. Plaintiff filed his Complaint against Defendant...

Excerpt: ...ignored all attempts to meet and confer prior to the filing of the demurrer on July 21, 2020. Counsel for Cross-Complainant was ordered to retain a court reporter to make a record of counsel's meet-and-confer discussions. There is no apparent justification for counsel's failure to comply with the earlier order. Cross-Defendant's demurrer to the entire Cross-Complaint based on its contention that Cross-Complainant is the same individual as Paul Si...

Excerpt: ...t ordered Defendants to retain an attorney and to file an Answer to the Complaint. The Court noted that Defendants could file a motion for judgment on the pleadings after retaining an attorney. The motion is denied for two reasons. First, counsel did not comply with his statutory obligation to make a reasonable and good faith attempt to resolve the issues raised in his motion before its filing. See CCP § 439(a). Counsel proceeded to file the mot...

Excerpt: ...nt, filed on June 25, 2019, should be stricken because Plaintiffs are not genuinely ignorant of its identity or the fact that it sold the trailer hitch to them that allegedly malfunctioned. Defendant's motion is denied because it requires the Court to consider numerous facts outside the scope of Plaintiff's Complaint and outside the scope of facts that the Court must judicially notice. See CCP § 437(a). The Court is required to accept Plaintiffs...

Excerpt: ...usiness on April 15, 2020, the hearing was reset to July 16, 2020. When the matter came before the Court on July 16, 2020, the Court continued the hearing to September 2, 2020, and ordered the parties to comply with their meet-and-confer obligations. See CCP § 2016.040 (required contents of meet-and-confer declaration); See Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431, 1439 (sending letters with an articulation of your position not suff...

Excerpt: ... of The Olson Children Irrevocable Trust dated June 17, 2017. The operative Verified First Amended Complaint was filed on April 18, 2019. The First Amended Complaint includes the following causes of action: (1) Foreclosure of Nonpossessory Lien over Personal Property; (2) Conversion; and (3) Fraudulent Conveyance (Civil Code § 3439 et seq.). Defendant Weekes served as the Trustee of the Children's Trust from 2017 until he purportedly resigned in...

Excerpt: ...e an Answer to the Complaint. The Court noted that Defendants could file a motion for judgment on the pleadings after retaining an attorney. The Trust retained attorney Gary Sherrer on August 20, 2020, but Defendant Colbert did not. Defendant Colbert filed this demurrer on August 27, 2020. The demurrer is overruled for several reasons. First, the demurrer is untimely. See CCP § 430.40(a). Second, the filing of the demurrer violates the terms of ...

Excerpt: ...he hearing was then continued at the request of the parties to October 8, 2020 on June 12, 2020. Defendant 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. filed a notice of bankruptcy stay in June 2020. Plaintiff therefore does not proceed against 24 Hour Fitness USA, Inc. at this time. The Court begins by admonishing Plaintiff's counsel that they must file separate motions for summary adjudication if they request rulings against separate parties represented by separa...

Excerpt: ...� 2016.040 and 2030.300(b)(1). Counsel are advised that their meet-and-confer efforts should go beyond merely sending letters stating their respective positions. See Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431, 1439; and Obregon v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 424, 428. In the future, the Court will require the parties to limit the number of meet-and-confer letters and to discuss the issues in person or by telephone prior to the...

Excerpt: ...ant owes the sum of $1,800,000 pursuant to the terms of the Amended Asset Purchase Agreement, dated July 12, 2019. Plaintiff contends that Defendant owes the additional sum pursuant to a post-closing adjustment of the purchase price. Defendant paid Plaintiff the sum of $35,000,000 at the time of the sale. Defendant gave Plaintiff a promissory note in the sum of $10,000,000 as part of the purchase price. The application is denied because Plaintiff...

Excerpt: ...tnership bank if any; (3) initiating any contact with any vendor or potential vendor of the partnership; and (4) interfering with the business of the SAAK Partnership in any manner. The Court takes notice of its August 28, 2020 order granting in part Defendant's ex parte application for a temporary restraining order and its July 2, 2020 order granting in part Defendant Spanier's prior motion for preliminary injunction. Defendants' motion is proce...

Excerpt: ...facts that go beyond those facts supporting his first cause of action for breach of contract. See CACI No. 325; and Digerati Holdings, LLC v. Young Money Entertainment, LLC (2011) 194 Cal.App.4th 873, 885 (gravamen of breach of implied covenant is different than gravamen for breach of contract). Defendant's demurrer to Plaintiff's third cause of action for conversion is SUSTAINED WITH LEAVE TO AMEND. Plaintiff's statement of a cause of action for...

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: ...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: ...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: ...issues raised by the demurrer. See Aubry v. Tri-City Hosp. Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 966-967. In this case, the Court concludes that Plaintiff pled sufficient facts to support his Seventh Cause of Action for Defamation in paragraphs 11, 12, 13, 14, 59, 60 and 61 of the Complaint to state a cause of action. Defendant's contention that the statements attributed to Moore were mere expressions of opinion is without merit. Defendant's contention tha...

Excerpt: ...ly after the deal to acquire Bright Pattern, Inc. dissolved. Defendant believes it is likely that the requested records will contradict or at least call into question Plaintiff's allegations in the Complaint and support its allegations in the Cross-Complaint. Defendant's motion is denied because the Court agrees with Plaintiff's assertion that the cost and burden of searching for all records within the company related to Dimelo, S.A. is outweighe...

Excerpt: ...d for all purposes to the Honorable Delbert C. Gee. There has been a substantial number of motions filed by both sides in this case, including challenges to the pleadings. For the purposes of this motion, the parties ask the Court to review Judge Gee's order of August 14, 2015 granting the Motion of Defendants Sipi Metals Corp. and Marion Cameron ("the Chicago Defendants") to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction. Judge Gee determined that Pl...

Excerpt: ...2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 1371, 1377-1378; and Roy Supply, Inc. v. Wells Fargo Bank (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1051, 1057-1058. Defendant also correctly contends that Plaintiff has not alleged facts sufficient to establish that it owed Plaintiff a duty of care when it accepted for deposit unendorsed checks made payable to Plaintiff's principals. See Chazen v. Centennial Bank (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 532, 543 (number of situations were a bank would owe a non-...

Excerpt: ...and that she advised employees of the university about her problems "at all times relevant herein." In particular, Plaintiff informed the university's Vice President, Dr. Craig Elliot. Plaintiff complains that Defendant violated her right to medical privacy by sharing the information with those without a need to know about her history of mental illness. Furthermore, Plaintiff alleges that she endured continuous abuse at the hands of one of her in...

Excerpt: ...United States subsidiary, which then sold the machine to 24 Hours Fitness, which then had the machine at a fitness center in Walnut Creek, California, where it injured plaintiff. Technogym S.p.A, does not own property or operate directly in California. (Casoni Dec.) The United States subsidiary buys exercise equipment in bulk, maintains inventory, and then sells it to customers. (Cool Dec.) OVERVIEW OF LAW The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes two ty...

Excerpt: ...because the court finds the settlement offer to be reasonable. A party is responsible for making her or his own decision to prosecute or defend a case. Substantively, defendant argues that plaintiff Kalah should accept an insurance policy limits offer of $15,000 because defendant filed for bankruptcy and the bankruptcy judge's order of 5/9/19 states "[Plaintiff Salah] may not enforce any judgment personally against the debtor [defendant Del Toro]...

Excerpt: .... Kramer is a general partner with access to the partnership accounts, but the partnership agreement requires a majority vote before a disbursement of over $1,000. (Kramer Dec., Exh A, Partnership Agt section 4.5(e)(ii) Three of the four partners returned the $47,500 distributions. Spanier seeks an injunction (1) requiring Kramer to return his $47,500 distribution and (2) enjoining Kramer from making any further withdrawals of funds. STANDARD "[T...

Excerpt: ...unts. BANK RECORDS OMC served subpoenas on Wells Fargo seeking bank records of Albietz and Managed Cloud Technologies, a company that he appears to own testified at deposition that he Company seeks bank records. The bank records are relevant to the $27,000 withdrawal. Albietz has a right of privacy in his financial information. The court balances direct relevance with the privacy interests. (Valley Bank of Nevada v. Superior Court (1975) 15 Cal.3...

Excerpt: ...ud claims against Volkswagen. The demurrer to the Fourth Cause of Action for "Fraudulent Inducement - Concealment" is OVERRULED. A claim for fraudulent concealment requires the plaintiff to plead and prove that the defendant was under a duty to disclose the fact to the plaintiff. (Blickman Turkus, LP v. MF Downtown Sunnyvale, LLC (2008) 162 Cal.App.4th 858, 868-869.) A duty to disclose can arise when the information at issue concerns safety. (Jon...

Excerpt: ...ivided 50% interest in the property. The parties negotiated a written settlement agreement. All parties and their lawyers signed the written agreement on or about 5/23/19. The court retains jurisdiction to enforce the agreement. (CCP 664.6.) The central part of the settlement is the division of the property. (Agt para 1, Exh A.) The property is 3.4 acres (Agt, para 8(a).) In June 2019 Civic Justice prepared to divide the property with a lot line ...

Excerpt: ...reason for the termination is a pretext. Plaintiff filed his action against Tesla on January 7, 2020. Plaintiff has also named Tesla employee Caleb Moore in the Seventh Cause of Action for Defamation. The Court reviews the parties' evidence to determine whether a valid agreement to arbitrate exists and whether there are reasons why the agreement is unenforceable. See Ramos v. Westlake Services LLC (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 674, 685 (court must begin...