Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 20STCV39520, Date: 2022-09-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 20STCV39520    Hearing Date: September 7, 2022    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend is MOOT IN PART, GRANTED IN PART. 

On 10/14/2020, Plaintiffs Miguel Alhuay Paucar and Maria Patino Aguirre (collectively, Plaintiffs) filed suit against American Honda Motor Co., Inc., alleging: (1) violation of Song-Beverly Act (breach of express warranty); (2) violation of Song-Beverly Act (breach of implied warranty); (3) violation of Song-Beverly Act section 1793.2; and (4) fraudulent concealment.

            On 4/9/2022, Defendant’s motion for summary adjudication of the fourth cause of action and Plaintiffs’ punitive damages prayer was granted.

            Now, Plaintiff moves for leave to amend to file a first amended complaint (FAC).

Discussion  

            Plaintiffs’ motion for leave was filed prior to the hearing on Defendant’s motion for summary adjudication. Plaintiffs’ motion sought leave to “to cure the incorrectly alleged transmission defect pursuant to Plaintiffs’’ Fraud Cause of Action.” (Motion, 1: 7-8.)

            Given that Defendant’s motion for summary adjudication was granted as to the fraud cause of action, Defendant contends Plaintiff’s motion is now moot.

            In reply, Plaintiffs argue that they would still like the opportunity to cure mistakes in the factual allegations of their Complaint separate and apart from the fraud cause of action:

Plaintiffs filed their MLA and their Proposed FAC on July 22, 2022, at which time the Court had not yet ruled on Defendant’s Motion for Summary Adjudication. As a result, Plaintiffs’ Proposed FAC still contains a fraud cause of action and request for punitive damages that are not in accord with the Court granting Defendant’s Motion for Summary Adjudication on August 9, 2022. In order to comply with the Court’s August 9, 2022 ruling, the Court could either strike Paragraphs 133 through 143 (Plaintiffs’ fraud cause of action) and Paragraph 7 of Plaintiffs’ Prayer for Relief (Plaintiffs’ request for punitive damages) from Plaintiffs’ FAC, or the Court could allow Plaintiffs the opportunity to revise and resubmit their Proposed FAC to incorporate the Court’s August 9, 2022 ruling into their Proposed FAC. In either event, the Court’s granting of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Adjudication should not prevent Plaintiffs from curing a mistake in the factual allegations of their Complaint.

            Plaintiff is to resubmit a proposed FAC that incorporates the Court’s 8/9/2022 ruling. To be clear, the scope of leave granted here is exclusively to allow Plaintiff to remove the fraud cause of action and request for punitive damages from the FAC, and to cure any mistake in the alleged transmission defect that remains. 

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend is moot in part, granted in part.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  September    , 2022

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar. 

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