Judge: Curtis A. Kin, Case: 23STCV14200, Date: 2023-09-21 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCV14200    Hearing Date: September 21, 2023    Dept: 82

APPLICATION FOR RIGHT TO ATTACH ORDER

Date:               9/21/23 (1:30 PM)                                         

Case:              Afifa Soliman v. Santa Maria Pharmacy, Inc. et al. (23STCV14200) 

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiff Afifa Soliman’s UNOPPOSED application for right to attach order is GRANTED IN PART.

Pursuant to CCP §484.090, the Court finds:

1) the claim is one upon which attachment may be issued;

2) plaintiff has established the probable validity of the claim;

3) attachment is not sought for any purpose other than recovery on the claim; and

4) the amount to be attached is greater than zero.

Plaintiff Afifa Soliman demonstrates that she is owed wages under a “Partnership and Non-Exempt Employment Agreement,” dated November 5, 2013, between plaintiff Afifa Soliman and defendant Santa Maria Pharmacy, Inc. (A. Soliman Decl. ¶ 5 & Ex. 2.) Plaintiff agreed to work as a Pharmacist, Pharmacy Manager and/or Pharmacist in Charge in exchange for a bi-weekly salary of $6,250, plus an annual increase of 7% of the basis salary. (Id. at ¶ 5 of Ex. 2.)

Defendant has not paid the compensation owed to plaintiff under the agreement. (A. Soliman Decl. ¶ 9.) On December 20, 2018, defendant’s sole shareholder and Chief Executive Officer, co-defendant Marcos Soliman, affirmed the wages owed under the agreement. (A. Soliman Decl. ¶ 15 & Ex. 4.) Plaintiff seeks wages from December 2014 (four years from the December 2018 letter) to May 2023 (the last full month before the Complaint was filed). (Galliver Decl. ¶ 21.)

However, plaintiff also seeks attorney fees pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code § 15657.5(a) for the financial elder abuse cause of action. (Galliver Decl. ¶ 25.) This claim for fees is not a claim based on a contract. (CCP § 483.010(a) [“Except as otherwise provided by statute, an attachment may be issued only in an action on a claim or claims for money, each of which is based upon a contract, express or implied….”].) The claimed $44,144.08 in fees is struck from the amount attached.

The application will be granted in the amount of $1,943,764.20, comprised of $1,943,704.20 in unpaid wages (Galliver Decl. ¶ 21.) and $60.00 in costs.

Writ will issue upon the posting of a bond in the amount of $10,000.  (CCP §489.220.)  The Court will sign the proposed order, modified to comport with the Court’s ruling herein.