Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 21STCV13225, Date: 2023-10-11 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV13225    Hearing Date: October 11, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion to enforce settlement is GRANTED.

            On 4/7/2021, Plaintiff Brandon Powell (Plaintiff) filed suit against Venice Development, Inc., the Cadillac Hotel, and Sris Sinnathamby, alleging: (1) unlawful discrimination; (2) adverse employment action; (3) unfair business practices; and (4) negligence.

            Now, Plaintiff moves to enforce settlement.

            The motion is unopposed.

Discussion

            Plaintiff seeks an order of entry of judgment and liquidated damages in the amount of $10,000 against Defendants Venice Development, Inc. and Sris Sinnathamby, pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement entered into between the parties on 2/21/2023.

            Per the terms of the Settlement Agreement, Defendant agreed to pay $25,000 in exchange for a release of all claims that Plaintiff held at the time.

            Plaintiff claims that despite having performed all the primary terms of the agreement—chief among them to dismiss this lawsuit and the DLSE Complaint with prejudice—Defendant has failed to make the $25,000 payment.

            Plaintiff notes that Paragraph 17 of the Settlement Agreement includes a liquidated damages provision which provides:

Liquidated Damages. In the event of a breach of any term of this Agreement, the Parties acknowledge and agree that it would be impractical or extremely difficult to ascertain the amount of actual damages. For this reason, the Parties agree that any breach shall result in the imposition of liquidated damages in the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), per each occurrence. The Parties acknowledge and agree that this amount is reasonable under the circumstances existing at the time this Agreement is being made and executed.

            After review, the Court finds that Plaintiff is owed $25,000 under the Agreement, plus $10,000 in liquidated damages for the failure to timely pay. Defendant did not oppose this motion and thus is considered to have conceded to the merits of the motion.

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion to enforce settlement is granted. 

It is so ordered.

Dated:  October    , 2023

   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.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.