2017-00220361-CU-BC

Sonny Aguilera vs. General Motors, LLC

Nature of Proceeding: Motion to Strike

Filed By: Arens, Mary Lynn

If requested, oral argument will take place on Monday January 22, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in Department 53. If that date is not convenient, the parties may meet and confer on a later date and inform the court clerk of the date no later than 4:00 p.m. on January 18, 2018.

Defendant General Motors, LLC’s motion to strike punitive damages from Sonny Aguilera’s complaint is denied.

Defendant argues that the fraud cause of action cannot support punitive damages because the fraud claim is insufficiently pled as argued in its demurrer. However, since the Court concluded that the fraud claim was sufficiently pled, the motion to strike punitive damages must be denied for the same reasons the demurrer was overruled. See, e.g. Johnson v. Ford Motor Co. (2005) 35 Cal. 4th 1191. Fraud is a

cause of action which provides a basis for punitive damages. Civil Code § 3294