Case Number: BC545646    Hearing Date: August 22, 2014    Dept: 34

Moving Party: Defendants Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Kaiser Permanente Ventures LLC (“defendants”)

Resp. Party: Plaintiff Tamara Wise (“plaintiff”)

Defendants’ demurrer to the complaint is OVERRULED.

BACKGROUND:

Plaintiff commenced this action on 5/13/14 against defendants for: (1) disability discrimination; (2) failure to engage in interactive process; (3) failure to make reasonable accommodations; (4) medical and family care leave discrimination; (5) retaliation; (6) harassment; (7) failure to prevent harassment and discrimination; and (8) wrongful termination. Plaintiff alleges that she was employed by defendants Southern California Permanente Medical Group Inc. (“SCPMG”) from October 2002 until July 2013. (Compl., ¶ 13.) Plaintiff alleges that defendants discriminated against her because of her disabilities and her attempt to take disability/medical leave. (See id., ¶¶ 14-42.)

ANALYSIS:

Defendants demur to the complaint on the ground that plaintiff fails to allege sufficient facts against them. Specifically, defendants argue that the complaint only makes brief references to defendants and that the factual allegations are made against defendant SCPMG. Defendants are correct that the complaint merely alleges that defendants were business entities doing business in California and that all defendants were her “employer.” (See Compl., p. 2:1-4, ¶¶ 6-7.) Though the complaint does not allege many facts against these defendants, the Court declines to sustain the demurrer at this time. To the extent that defendants wish to learn more information as to plaintiff’s claims (if any) against them, they may do so during the discovery process.

Plaintiff argues that she is attempting, through the discovery process, to determine the identity of her employer. (See Opp., pp. 2-3.) In the event that discovery discloses that defendants were not plaintiff’s employer, the court would expect that the parties would meet and confer and that Plaintiff would dismiss those entities. If not, defendants can file the appropriate evidentiary and/or summary adjudication motions, or simply wait until trial and move to dismiss the non-employer entities.

Defendants’ demurrer is OVERRULED.