Judge: Eddie C. Sturgeon, Case: 37-2015-00021309-CU-WT-CTL, Date: 2023-09-29 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - September 28, 2023

09/29/2023  09:00:00 AM  C-67 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Eddie C Sturgeon

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Civil - Unlimited  Wrongful Termination Motion Hearing (Civil) 37-2015-00021309-CU-WT-CTL RICHARD HORNER JR. VS. ROBERT LEONE [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion to Strike or Tax Costs, 02/17/2023

Plaintiff Richard Horner Jr.'s Motion to Strike or Tax Defendants' Costs is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part. The court denies Plaintiff's request that costs be stricken in their entirety. While the court agrees that Defendants do not meet the high threshold required to recover costs on the FEHA and Labor Code claims, Plaintiff alleged many causes of action in this case that were not inseparably intertwined with the FEHA and Labor Code claims such that apportionment is impossible. The fraud, negligence, and privacy causes of action are all separable. These causes of action amount to six of the sixteen claims at issue in the case or approximately 37% of the costs being recoverable.

The court also taxes Defendants' costs in the following amounts: $47,587.75 for Section 998 expert fees, 4,655.07 for pre-trial transcripts that were not ordered by the court, $12,716.15 for exhibit photocopying costs that were done in 2020 and not presented to the court, and $604.97 for half of the exhibit costs at trial that Plaintiff states they already paid. With respect to the expert fees, the court agrees, and Defendants have not substantively rebutted, that the Section 998 offer was invalid for the purposes of cost recovery given that it required Plaintiff later enter into an unexplained 'long-form settlement agreement.' (ROA 642, Ex. 1, p. 2:5.) After applying these reductions, Defendants' request amounts to $117,531.76 for all causes of action. Because the FEHA and Labor Code claims must be excluded, the court further reduces recoverable costs to a total recoverable amount of $43,486.75.

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