Judge Jill Feeney, Case 18STCV09087 2022-10-14 Tentative Ruling

The parties are encouraged to meet and confer concerning this tentative ruling to determine if there is an agreement to submit.

Regardless of whether there is any such agreement, each party who wishes to submit must send an email to the Court at sscdept30@lacourt.org indicating the party's intention to submit.

Include the word "SUBMITS" in all caps and the case number in the subject line of the email and in the body provide the date and time of the hearing, your name, your contact information, the party you represent, whether that party is a plaintiff, defendant, cross-complainant, cross-defendant, claimant, or non-party.

If a party submits but still intends to appear at the hearing, include the words "SUBMITS BUT WILL APPEAR" in the subject line of the email.

If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.

Unless all the parties have submitted, the Court will hear argument from any party that appears at the hearing and wishes to argue. The Court may change its tentative as a result of the argument and adopt the changed tentative as the final order at the end of that hearing, even if all the parties are not present.

Be advised that after the Court has posted/issued a tentative ruling, the Court has the inherent authority to prohibit the withdrawal of said motion and may adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.

At least five court days in advance of the continued hearing date, Petition must file a fully completed Form MC-351. Petitioner must use the January 2021 version of the form.

Alan Mejia (“Plaintiff” or “Claimant”) was previously a student at Valerio Elementary School, an elementary school located at 15035 Valerio Street in Van Nuys, California, and which is owned and operated by Los Angeles Unified School District (“Defendant”). Plaintiff maintains that on January 15, 2018 and January 19, 2018, respectively, Plaintiff was subject to physical bullying by other students and suffered personal injuries. Plaintiff maintains that Defendant failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent physical bullying and protect Plaintiff, considering Defendant was aware Plaintiff was subject to a prior incident of physical bullying on May 4, 2017.

On December 20, 2018, Plaintiff, by and through his Guardian Ad Litem, Jackeline Umanzor Martinez, initiated the present action by filing a Complaint against Defendant and Does 1 through 100. Plaintiff’s Complaint alleges a single cause of action for Negligence/Negligent Hiring and Supervision.

On January 2, 2019, Plaintiff’s mother, Jackeline Umanzor Martinez, was appointed as Plaintiff’s Guardian Ad Litem, pursuant to Court Order.

On April 14, 2022, Plaintiff’s Guardian Ad Litem and mother, Jackeline Umanzor Martinez (“Petitioner”), filed the present Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim for Minor, Alan Mejia (Age 13).

On May 11, 2022, Petitioner’s Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim for Minor, Alan Mejia (Age 13) came before the Court for hearing. Ultimately, the Court found it was unable to approve Petitioner’s Petition due to a number of deficiencies identified therein. The Court continued the hearing upon Petitioner’s Petition to approximately June 24, 2022, in order to allow Petitioner to correct the deficiencies identified by the Court.

On May 26, 2022, Petitioner filed an amended Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim of Minor, which was intended to cure the deficiencies previously identified by this Court on May 11, 2022.

In the Court’s September 13, 2022 order, the Court identified further deficiencies with the petition as set forth in the remainder of this paragraph. Petitioner’s amended petition provided that out of the total $31,098.77 in medical expenses, $15,046.59 was reduced and $9,172.67 was covered by Medi-Cal. However, there remains a balance of $6,879.51 that has not been paid or negotiated. Medi-Cal agreed to accept reimbursement totaling $6,879.61. The Medi-Cal reimbursement would satisfy its $9,172.67 lien, not the outstanding balance. There is no evidence that the remaining $6,879.51 balance was paid by Medi-Cal or some other source.

As an initial matter, Plaintiff’s new MC-351 is the outdated 2010 version of the form. Plaintiff must file the most recent version of the form dated January 2021.

It appears Petitioner has corrected the cost of medical expenses to the negotiated amount of $6,879.51, Petitioner did not file an updated MC-350 reflecting the change. Given the difficulties in getting this petition completed, the Court will not order that a corrected MC-350 be filed, as long as the newly filed MC-351 contains all the correct information.

Plaintiff Alan Mejia suffered injuries to his groin, right leg, left ankle, and left foot. (Amended Petition for Approval of Compromise of Claim for Minor (“Petition”), at Section 6.) Plaintiff received treatment for his injuries at the following medical institutions—Children's Hospital Los Angeles, UCLA Medical Center, and Valley Presbyterian Hospital. (Id. at Section 7.) Plaintiff Alan Mejia has fully recovered from his injuries. (Id. at Section 8.)

Petitioner provides Plaintiff’s medical report from Children's Hospital Los Angeles, UCLA Medical Center, and Valley Presbyterian Hospital within Attachment 8. (Amended Petition, Attachment 8.)

Petitioner submits a Medi-Cal Demand Letter, confirming Medi-Cal has agreed to reimbursement of the outstanding Medi-Cal Lien in an amount of $6,879.51. (Amended Petition, Attachment 12b(4)(c) [Medi-Cal Demand Letter].)

Plaintiff’s Counsel has provided a declaration in support of the request for attorneys’ fees, as required by Section 13a of Petitioner’s Petition and Cal Rules of Court, Rule 7.955(c). (Amended Petition, Attachment 13a [Declaration of Soheil Bahari, Esq.].)