18-CIV-05424 PATRICIA SEID, ET AL. VS. STONEMOR CALIFORNIA, INC., ET AL.

PATRICIA SEID STONEMOR CALIFORNIA, INC.
FABRICE N. VINCENT

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO STRIKE TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiffs’ motion to strike is GRANTED, in part, and DENIED, in part. Plaintiffs are granted 14 days leave to amend the SAC to allege specific facts supporting an award of punitive damages.

Plaintiffs rely on the following allegations to support punitive damages:

3. Defendants returned to the Plaintiffs cremated remains and a dental bridge that were supposed to be from David Seid but which did not come from or belong to David Seid, a mix-up that Plaintiffs have repeatedly sought to be corrected and acknowledged by Defendants, so far to no avail.

27. Repeated demands that the defendants help correct the mixed up remains issues have failed to result in cooperation and failed, to date, to result in defendants working to correct the mix up.

[SAC, ¶¶ 3, 27] These allegations, however, do not set forth specific facts demonstrating malice or oppression. There is no indication as to how Plaintiffs notified Defendants of their alleged error, why Defendants did not respond to requests to remediate the alleged error, and whether the failure to respond was knowing or intentional.

Plaintiffs’ citation to Garner v Hull’s Walnut Creek, No. MSC16-01216, 2017 WL 1509941, at *2 (Cal.Super. Apr. 03, 2017), an unpublished tentative trial court ruling, is clearly contrary to CRC, Rule 8.1115. Further, the court notes that Plaintiffs’ counsel appears to have willfully violated the CRC, because the rule has previously been pointed out to counsel in this case by Defendants in their reply in support of the motion to strike portions of the FAC. In any case, however, even if the court considered that ruling, it is clearly distinguishable from the present case. In that case, the plaintiff alleged that Defendant “purposefully withheld information from Plaintiff about Defendant’s actions to try to minimize the scope of its wrongdoing[,]” and that the defendant “refused to give Plaintiff the names of the person who received her mother’s cremains, so she was not able to talk to them to find out what happened or the exact location of her final resting place.” Plaintiffs’ SAC contains no similar fact-based allegations.

Plaintiffs’ SAC fails to plead sufficient facts to support punitive damages for the additional reason that it does not allege, pursuant to Civil Code § 3294, that Defendant Quatuor Corporation had advance knowledge of the unfitness of an employee and employed him or her with a conscious disregard of the rights or safety of others or authorized or ratified the alleged wrongful conduct pursuant. Defendant’s motion to strike paragraphs 59 and 66 of the second amended complaint, as well as paragraph 5 of the prayer for relief, is therefore GRANTED with leave to amend.

With respect to motion as it relates to the request for attorney’s fees, the court cannot determine, at this point in the proceedings, that Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that this action has resulted in the enforcement of an important right affecting the public interest pursuant to CCP 1021.5. As a result, the motion to strike the request for attorney’s fees pursuant to CCP 1021.5, set forth in paragraph 4 of the prayer for relief, is DENIED.

Defendant’s evidentiary objections are OVERRULED. Nonetheless, the court notes that it has not relied on any matters extrinsic to the complaint in considering Defendant’s motion to strike.

Finally, the court notes that the parties appear to be under the impression that a demurrer has been filed concurrently with the motion to strike. However, no such demurrer has been filed or set for hearing by Defendant.

If the tentative ruling is uncontested, it shall become the order of the Court. Thereafter, counsel for Defendant shall prepare a written order consistent with the Court’s ruling for the Court’s signature, pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 3.1312, and provide written notice of the ruling to all parties who have appeared in the action, as required by law and the California Rules of Court.