Judge: Elaine Lu, Case: 24STCV28513, Date: 2025-02-28 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 24STCV28513 Hearing Date: February 28, 2025 Dept: 9
The Court hereby
distributes a tentative ruling for the Case Management Order. The parties are welcome to provide input and
propose modification(s) to any aspect of the CMO at the Initial Status
Conference. If all parties submit on the
tentative CMO prior to the commencement of the February 28, 2025 ISC, the Court
will adopt the tentative CMO, and the parties need not appear.
SUPERIOR
COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOR
THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
Nancy
Nguyen v Chinatown Service Center
24STCV28513
[TENTATIVE]
CASE MANAGEMENT ORDER
This action has been designated as
complex pursuant to CRC 3.400(a), and thus requires exceptional judicial
management. All provisions of this CMO are deemed necessary to carry out the
purposes of Rule 3.400(a), and to promote effective decision-making by the
Court. They are based upon individual consideration of this complex action, including
the Status Conference Reports previously filed by the parties.
1.
Prior
to the commencement of the Initial Status Conference on February 28, 2025, the
Court distributed to the parties and posted the following disclosure on the
Court’s tentative ruling website: Judge Elaine Lu has been a member of the
Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA) since approximately
1997, and Judge Lu served on the Board of Governors of SCCLA from approximately
1997 through 2003, including a term as SCCLA President. Every winter
holiday season, SCCLA sponsors a Food Basket Program in conjunction with the
Chinatown Service Center (CSC) to provide over 200 families in the Chinatown
area with a basket of food so that they can prepare and enjoy a holiday feast
and have food to last for another week. SCCLA collects donations in kind
and monetary donations payable to CSC for the annual Food Basket Program, and
the actual assembly of Food Baskets by SCCLA volunteers takes place on a
Saturday morning in December at the Chinatown Service Center every year.
For more than twenty years, Judge Lu has been making an annual monetary
contribution to CSC earmarked for the SCCLA-CSC Food Basket Program. For
most years between 1997 and the present, Judge Lu and her family members have
also volunteered at CSC for the annual SCCLA-CSC Food Basket Program to help
sort food products into baskets for distribution to income-eligible families in
Chinatown. Judge Lu has never spoken with any CSC staff or anyone else
affiliated with CSC about any pending lawsuit, including the instant action. The Court makes this disclosure so that the
parties are aware of all facts reasonably related to the issue of
disqualification. The Court has no basis
to recuse itself. The Court can remain
fair and impartial to all parties. Upon
making this disclosure, the Court advised that the Court would grant any
request by any party for a continuance to file and serve a statement of
disqualification against Judge Lu and/or to determine whether to file and serve
such a statement of disqualification. Having
been so advised, Counsel for all parties each stated that their client waives
any right to file and serve a statement of disqualification based on this
disclosure. All parties waived any right
to file and serve a statement of disqualification, and all parties indicated
that they wished to proceed with the ISC today.
2.
The
Parties are unaware of any relevant arbitration agreements and/or class action
waiver clauses.
3.
All
Parties indicate that they are each amenable to private mediation after an
exchange of informal discovery. The
parties are ordered to file a Joint Status Report Re: Mediation Efforts,
including the identity of any mediator they have selected and the date of any
mediation they have scheduled, no later than July 7, 2025. A Non-Appearance Case Review Re Mediation Efforts
is set for July 14, 2025 at 8:30 AM, Department 9. If the parties agree to a voluntary, informal
exchange of discovery prior to mediating, the Court encourages (but does not
require or order) the parties to include a verification with each production of
discovery so that if the mediation is unsuccessful, the parties will not have
to duplicate or repeat this exchange of discovery.
4.
The
Court hereby lifts the stay to permit Defendant to file and serve a Responsive
Pleading to the Complaint. Defendant must file and serve a Responsive Pleading by
no later than April 2, 2025. Before
filing any demurrer or other motion, the moving party must contact the
Court Staff in Department 9 to obtain a hearing date and a briefing schedule. The Court sets a Non-Appearance Case Review
Re: Filing and Serving of Defendant’s Responsive Pleading for April 9, 2025,
8:30 AM, Department 9.
5.
Phased Discovery. Discovery
shall be phased. Discovery will be
phased with the stay lifted once Defendant files and serves an answer or, if
applicable, after the Court rules on any pleading challenge. At that time, the
Court will permit class certification discovery only. Informal discovery
is permitted. Merits-based discovery
will be allowed after a successful class certification motion. If there is a
dispute concerning whether a given discovery request is certification or
merits-based, the parties are to set up a telephonic conference with the court
pursuant to the instructions herein.
6.
Class list discovery.
The decision in In Re Insurance Installment Fee cases (2012) 211
Cal.App.4th 1395, 1426-1429, held that the notice procedure prescribed by the
trial court and followed by the defendant was necessary to protect privacy
rights under the California Constitution.
Therefore, upon the Court’s lifting of the stay on class certification
discovery, the parties shall use the procedure described in Belaire-West
Landscape v Superior Court (2008) 149 Cal.App.4th 554 to notify putative
class members, as described in the applicable paragraph of the currently
operative complaint, giving them the opportunity to opt out. The parties must share the cost of the
procedure equally.
a. Plaintiff
is to take the lead and prepare a proposed letter to be sent out by the
agreed-upon third party administrator.
The parties must discuss and settle upon a final version.
b. The
letter must be written using the administrator’s letterhead, not that of any
party.
c. The
defense must turn over the contact information consisting of name, address,
phone number, and email address (if available) to the third-party
administrator.
d. In the
event the putative class list is greater than 400 people, the administrator
must randomly select a sample of no more than 400. The contact information for those persons
who did not opt out must be turned over to the plaintiff.
7.
Payroll Records Discovery. Responses to any
payroll record discovery requests must be uniquely numbered and redacted so
that putative class member’s identifying information, i.e., name, social
security numbers, etc. are not revealed.
8.
Protective Order.
Parties are alerted that model protective orders may be found at Los
Angeles Superior Court website at http://www.lacourt.org/division/civil/CI0043.aspx. The parties are encouraged to use these model
orders as shown, or if modified, as a template for the modified order. A redlined courtesy copy must be posted on
the e-service bulletin board and lodged with the court at the time of filing.
The parties must use the redlined version to identify any changes proposed to
the model order.
9.
E-service & E-filing. Electronic service is not the same as
electronic filing. The parties have
agreed, and the Court has signed an order authorizing Case Anywhere as the
e-service to be used in this case.
Argument must not be posted on the bulletin board. For information on electronic filing in the
Complex Courts, please refer to https://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/efiling2.aspx
and http://www.lacourt.org/division/efiling/pdf/ComplexefilingFAQs.pdf.
10.
Class Certification Motion. Class
Certification Motion filing and serving deadline is March 2, 2026. The
plaintiff is reminded that the plaintiff’s brief must contain a trial
plan. The trial plan MUST be
filed as a separate brief. As with all
other motions, Counsel must call the Court to obtain a hearing date and
briefing schedule PRIOR to filing and serving the motion for Class
Certification. The Court sets a Non-Appearance
Case Review for March 9, 2026, 8:30 AM, Department 9.
11.
Telephonic conferences. The Court handles discovery motions
informally, using telephonic conferences and LA CourtConnect. Counsel must post
a message via their Electronic Service Provider to request any informal
discovery conference or other conference. The Court will either reply to the
message or issue a Minute Order setting the conference. The telephonic conference will automatically
be taken off calendar if all relevant parties have not scheduled the telephonic
conference with LA CourtConnect. Parties
must file and serve a 5-page joint brief two days before the conference. Since
these conferences are informal, no court reporter or audio recording is
permitted.
12.
Potential Related Cases. Counsel are ordered to file and serve a
Notice of Related Case for any potentially related cases pursuant California
Rule of court Rule 3.300, including any PAGA case involving the same
representative plaintiff. This is a
continuing obligation on both plaintiffs and defendants while this case is
pending.
13.
Settlement.
File a Notice of Settlement on Judicial Council form CM-200, a mandatory
form.
a. Consider using the form wage and hour
settlement agreements now available on the court’s website at https://www.lacourt.org/forms/all – “Civil Forms” section. With input and unanimous consensus from an Ad
Hoc Wage and Hour Committee, the court posted: (1) a form class action
settlement agreement, (2) a form class action/PAGA
settlement agreement, (3)
and a form PAGA
settlement agreement. Using these forms should cut down on attorney
negotiation time and reduce the lag time between a successful mediation and
execution of a long form agreement.
Filing a motion that is based on a form agreement and includes a
redlined copy identifying modifications will also expedite the court’s review
process and help reduce the current backlog on hearings.
b. If settlement includes dismissal of
class action claims (such as a PAGA only settlement or an individual settlement), then Plaintiff
must comply with CRC 3.769 and 3.770 in order to obtain dismissal of class
claims. Do NOT use Judicial
Council Form Civ-110, Request for Dismissal.
Plaintiff
is ordered to download the instant signed order from the Court’s website,
to give formal notice to all other parties, and to file proof of service of
such within five (5) days.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: February 28, 2025
__________________________
ELAINE
LU
Judge
of the Superior Court