Excerpt: ...meliness grounds. Plaintiff Martinez, however, has not responded to the motion. If Martinez objects to untimely service, the court will continue the hearing. If Martinez does not object, the hearing will proceed as scheduled. Defendant moves to stay the coordinated cases pending resolution of the Lopes case in Alameda County and the settlement in the Diaz case in Orange County. Defendants argue the claims are issue are largely subsumed by those t...

Excerpt: ... with merits discovery deferred to the second phase, after a ruling on class certification. Most of the discovery in the first phase will be directed to defendant's policies, procedures, and practices, which will encompass the extent of control defendant exercised over the putative class members, a primary issue for misclassification claims. The detailed discovery regarding damages, and the substantial expense involved in conducting that discover...

Excerpt: ... the history of difficulty in obtaining the deposition of Valeko, Valeko's demand to take the depositions of Defendants' employees prior to his deposition, Valeko's refusal to attend noticed depositions and objections, and the issues raised at the discovery conference. (Yang Decl. at ¶¶2‐14.) Yang's testimony regarding Valeko's refusal to answer simple questions regarding his ability to give competent testimony which could be later used at tr...

Excerpt: ...tly received favorable performance reviews. (¶¶ 9‐10.) In January 2020, Plaintiff notified human resources and his immediate supervisor of the need to take a two‐ week leave, under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), so he could care for his mother, who was scheduled to undergo hip replacement surgery on February 17, 2020. (¶¶ 11‐13.) While Plaintiff's leave request was granted, he was advised upon his return on March 2, 2020 that ...

Excerpt: ...) Statement of Law – Motion to Compel Arbitration 2 California Law Code of Civil Procedure sections 1280 et seq. provide a procedure for the summary determination of whether a valid agreement to arbitrate exists, and such summary procedure satisfies both state and federal law. (Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal.4th394, 413.) Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2, a party to an arbitration agreement may move t...

Excerpt: ...g inappropriate comments about his deceased mother, ridiculing his belief in God, calling him and co‐worker Robert lovers, and watching/leering at him and Robert while they changed in the locker room. Although he complained to his supervisor Ibarra, Murillo would deny them and then make false accusations against Mendoza. Ibarra would then write off Mendoza's complaints as silly and a waste of his time. Due to Murillo's false claims against him,...

Excerpt: ... allowed. Instead of addressing the prejudice issue, the opposition only focuses on Cabrera's purported prior knowledge of Nancy's identity and the purported time‐ barred nature of the claims. The Court has discretion to deny leave to amend where the proposed pleading is barred on its face (Kittredge Sports Co. v. Superior Ct. (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1048; California Casualty General Ins. Co. v. Sup.Ct. (Gorgei) (1985) 173 Cal.App.3d 274, 2...

Excerpt: ...e or summary listing all the key information would be helpful, rather than requiring the court to ferret out the information. Nevertheless, the settlement appears to be fair and reasonable for the class, for the LWDA, and for the aggrieved employees. The amounts to be deducted from the gross settlement amount for attorney fees, administration costs, incentive fees, and employer‐side payroll taxes are all reasonable and appropriate. Counsel, how...

Excerpt: ... 94.) For the purpose of testing the sufficiency of the cause of action, the demurrer admits the truth of all material facts properly pleaded, i.e., ultimate facts alleged, but not contentions, deductions, or conclusions of fact or law. (Adelman v. Associated Int'l. Ins. Co. (2001) 90 Cal.App.4th 352, 359.) The plaintiff's ability to prove the allegations is of no concern in ruling on a demurrer. (Alcorn v. Anbro Engineering, Inc. (1970) 2 Cal.3d...

Excerpt: ...ient to constitute a cause of action. (f) The pleading is uncertain. As used in this subdivision, ‘uncertain' includes ambiguous and unintelligible.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subds. (e) & (f)2 ; see § 430.50, subd. (a) [demurrer may be taken to whole pleading or to any of the causes of action stated therein].) “A person against whom a complaint or cross‐complaint has been filed may, within 30 days after service of the complaint or cr...

Excerpt: ...of oral contract or an implied in fact contract sufficient as against a general demurrer. Paragraph 83 specifically provides in exchange for payment of tuition, Director Lopez promised ALCS could handle Lucas4 , would not send him home during the day, and it does not expel students. The alleged agreement not to send Lucas home was definite, and Plaintiffs clearly allege breach. Consideration is also clearly pled—payment of tuition. Just because...

Excerpt: ...nd the records contained there so a formal request is unnecessary. (See Columbia Cas. Co. v. Northwestern Nat'l Ins. Co. (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 457, 473.) The Court has reviewed its file, Exhibits A 2 through D, as well as the Petitions for Guardian ad Litem and Orders for: Jane LLN Doe, entered September 6, 2019; Jane LSC Doe entered August 16, 2019; Jane LSK Doe entered September 25, 2019; Jane LHE Doe entered July 27, 2020, and Jane LGD Doe ent...

Excerpt: ...hese motions were filed, even with a courtesy meet and confer letter. In opposition, Plaintiff's counsel, Edward Shkolnikov provides a declaration claiming that a recent move to a new office caused them to fall behind on work and that the discovery was mistakenly not calendared for a response. Counsel blames himself (and his paralegal) for the failure. He also claims he missed the meet and confer letter due to the volume of emails he receives. Th...

Excerpt: ...er compelling the parties to arbitrate a dispute covered by the agreement. California Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2 provides in pertinent part that: [T]he court shall order the petitioner and the respondent to arbitrate the controversy if it determines that an agreement to arbitrate the controversy exists, unless it determines that: (a) The right to compel arbitration has been waived by the petitioner; or (b) Grounds exist for rescission...

Excerpt: ...upport of the motion on February 24, 2021. MOTION: 1. Law to Be Applied in A Summary Judgment Motion: “The purpose of the law of summary judgment is to provide courts with a mechanism to cut through the parties' pleadings in order to determine whether, despite 2 their allegations, trial is in fact necessary to resolve their dispute.” (Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 843 (Aguilar).) Summary judgment is proper where the...

Excerpt: ...7c, subdivision (c), summary judgment is proper where there is no material fact in dispute as to any essential element of a cause of action. Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (p)(1), provides that a plaintiff has met his/her burden of showing there is no defense to a cause of action if he/she has shown each and every element of the cause of action entitling the party to judgment on that cause of action. A defendant has met its bur...

Excerpt: ...y one or more of the following grounds: … (e) The pleading does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (f) The pleading is uncertain. As used in this subdivision, ‘uncertain' includes ambiguous and unintelligible.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subds. (e) & (f)1 ; see § 430.50, subd. (a) [demurrer may be taken to whole pleading or to any of the causes of action stated therein].) “A person against whom a complaint or c...

Excerpt: ...erson Most Qualified (PMQ). The fact that Defendant asserts in its Opposition that it agrees to all but one of the categories yet argues the other categories is also telling. Finally, this Court would never require a party to re‐produce documents already produced in other discovery. 2 Both counsel are experienced in this area of law and by now should know of and cooperate with each other as to each's discovery needs and save only the real dispu...

Excerpt: ...asions, and laceration and permanent scarring to MacPherson's nose. (Compl. ¶¶ 5‐12.) Page 2 of 13 On July 23, 2019, MacPherson filed a Complaint against Rodriguez, alleging causes of action for: (1) negligence; (2) strict liability; (3) negligence per se; and (4) premises liability. MacPherson alleges that after the attack, she had to plead with Rodriguez to get help at the hospital. While waiting for medical care, Rodriguez insisted, harass...

Excerpt: ...iance tiers, based on a ten‐year retrospective assessment of operations: Acceptable, Conditionally Acceptable, or Unacceptable. DTSC assigned Hazmat to the Unacceptable tier for 2019 and the Conditionally Acceptable for 2020. The assignments have consequences, although the parties disagree about the immediate consequences. According to Hazmat, the 2019 assignment requires DTSC to initiate permit denial, suspension, or revocation proceedings, an...

Excerpt: ...the accrual is on a regular basis so that an employee has no less than 24 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12‐month period.” Subdivision (l) allows the employer to calculate paid sick leave for nonexempt employees in one of two different ways. Subdivision (l)(1) allows paid sick time to “be calculated in the same matter as the regular rate of pay for the w...

Excerpt: ...y Act— Breach of Express Warranty; (2) Violation of Song‐Beverly Act—Breach of Implied Warranty; and (3) Violation of the Song‐Beverly Act, section 1793.2. Page 2 of 12 On March 11, 2021, Defendant filed its “pretrial motion to determine the scope of Plaintiff's recoverable damages.” Plaintiff filed a timely opposition. At that time, trial was set for April 12, 2021. On March 19, 2021, Plaintiff filed his motion to compel the depositi...

Excerpt: ...nts requested judicial notice of are attached to the Declaration of Moses S. Bardavid, Esq.1 and Plaintiff does not object on this ground so the Court will entertain this Request. Plaintiff objects to Defendants' request on the ground that the interrogatory responses are not proper subjects of judicial notice for purposes of ruling on this demurrer. The objection based on hearsay is easily resolved as there is an exception to the hearsay rule whe...

Excerpt: ...t Cause of Action – Breach of Contract The elements of a breach of contract cause of action are the existence of the contract, performance by the plaintiff or excuse for nonperformance, breach by the defendant, and damages. (First Commercial Mortgage Co. v. Reece (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 731.) In the first cause of action, Plaintiff alleges that a copy of the subject written Purchase Agreement is attached to the Complaint as Exhibit 1 “and incor...

Excerpt: ...eeding, the District and CSEA failed to mutually agree on the selection of a hearing officer under the relevant provisions of Article 17 of the collective bargaining agreement, and that CSEA objected to the selection of H.O. Macklin. [Writ Page 2 of 13 Petition, ¶ 9.] As a result, when Williams was advised that the District had unilaterally selected H.O. Macklin, Williams objected to the selection and asked to participate in the selection of a n...