Case Number: GC051101    Hearing Date: August 28, 2014    Dept: NCB

August 28, 2014

GC051101
OLIVIA HUNTER et al vs. AHMC SAN GABRIEL VALLEY MED CTR et al
Motion to Strike

The Third Amended Complaint alleges that Olivia Hunter was a dependent adult under the care and custody of the Defendants. Olivia Hunter was admitted to San Gabriel Valley Medical Center on January 20, 2012 for custodial care related to her Alzheimer’s disease. Olivia Hunter was overmedicated and the Defendants did not monitor Olivia Hunter for malnutrition and dehydration. The Defendants failed to fill her water cup and did not open her beverage containers. The Defendants denied her physical activity, which resulted in deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Olivia Hunter died on March 21, 2012 from a pulmonary embolism.
The Plaintiff, Robert Hunter, is the son of Olivia Hunter, and brings an elder abuse and willful misconduct claim against the Defendants as survivor actions that Olivia Hunter could have brought. In addition, the Plaintiff brings a wrongful death claim.
The Defendants are the following:

1) AHMC San Gabriel Valley Medical Center LP, which operates the facility at which Olivia Hunter was a patient;
2) AHMC Healthcare Inc., which is the parent company of AHMC San Gabriel Valley Medical Center LP;
3) The Medical Staff of San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, which is a corporation that includes the individuals that provided care to Olivia Hunter; and
4) Pei-Huey Nie, M.D., who was the attending physician for Oliva Hunter.

The causes of action in the Third Amended Complaint are for:
1) Wrongful Death
2) Negligence/Willful Misconduct
3) Elder Abuse

On June 20, 2014, the Court heard the Defendant’s demurrer and motion to strike directed at the Second Amended Complaint. The Court took the matter under submission. The Court issued a ruling on July 30, 2014 that overruled the demurrer.
On August 14, 2014, the Defendant appeared with an ex parte application to request a ruling on its motion to strike the claim for punitive damages. The matter was continued to be heard on Thursday, August 28, 2014. In addition, the parties stipulated that the Defendant’s answer need not be filed until ten days after the Court’s ruling on the motion to strike.

The Defendants request that the Court strike the claim for punitive damages in the third cause of action for elder abuse.

A complaint including a request for punitive damages must include allegations showing that the plaintiff is entitled to an award of punitive damages. Clauson v. Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal. App. 4th 1253, 1255. When a motion to strike is made, the Court evaluates the pleadings by assuming the truth of all allegations. Id. Thus, for purposes of ruling on a motion to strike, the Court assumes the truth of all well-pleaded allegations of a complaint and reads the complaint as a whole. Courtesy Ambulance Serv. v. Superior Court (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 1504, 1519.
Under Civil Code section 3294, a plaintiff may recover an award of punitive damages on a showing that the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. Malice is defined to include conduct which is intended by the defendant to cause injury to the plaintiff or despicable conduct which is carried on by the defendant with a willful and conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others. Civil Code section 3294(b) provides that an employer shall not be liable for punitive damages based upon the acts of an employee unless

1) the employer had advance knowledge of the unfitness of the employee and employed him or her with a conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others;
2) authorized or ratified the wrongful conduct for which the damages are awarded; or
3) was personally guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice.

With respect to a corporate employer, the advance knowledge and conscious disregard, authorization, ratification or act of oppression, fraud, or malice must be on the part of an officer, director, or managing agent of the corporation.

On July 30, 2014, the Court overruled the Defendant’s demurrer to the third cause of action for elder abuse. This order was based on a finding that the Plaintiff had pleaded sufficient facts to support a claim for elder abuse under Welfare and Institutions Code section 16567, i.e., that the Defendants had neglected Olivia Hunter by denying her goods and services with knowledge that injury was substantially certain to befall Olivia Hunter and with a conscious disregard of the high probability of such injury. Further, since the Defendants are corporate employers, the pleadings also include facts to satisfy the standards under Civil Code section 3294(b) for imposing punitive damages on an employer for the acts of an employee, as required under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657(c).
These findings on the demurrer indicate that the pleadings include sufficient facts to support a claim for punitive damages. The allegations in the third cause of action include facts demonstrating that the Defendants acted with malice by engaging in the despicable conduct of withholding goods, services, and medical care from Olivia Hunter. Further, the allegations include facts demonstrating that the Defendants acted with a conscious disregard of the safety of Olivia Hunter because they knew that injury was substantially certain to befall Olivia Hunter from their withholding of goods, services, and medical care. This satisfies the definition of malice in Civil Code section 3294.
In addition, the allegations include facts demonstrating that a managing agent ratified the conduct because after the managing agent learned of the neglect, the managing agent did not take any action to protect Olivia Hunter from further injury and the managing agent adopted and approved of the neglect. This is sufficient to satisfy the requirement of Civil Code section 3294(b) to impose punitive damages on a corporate employer for the acts of the employees.

Therefore, the Court deniese the Defendants’ motion to strike punitive damages.