Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: BC691142, Date: 2022-10-07 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: BC691142    Hearing Date: October 7, 2022    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Defendants’ demurrer is SUSTAINED, WITH 15 DAYS LEAVE TO AMEND. Defendants’ motion to strike is GRANTED, WITH 15 DAYS LEAVE TO AMEND.

            On 1/24/2018, Wayne Brent by and though his surviving spouse and successor in interest Najila K. Brent and Najila K. Brent individually filed this action asserting 30 causes of action.

            Despite entering into a stipulation on 9/21/2021 to file a FAC, Plaintiffs have yet to file a FAC.

            Now, Defendants Fairooz Kabbinavar, MD, Chinsuk Kim, NP, Jenny J. Kim, MD, the Regents of the University of California, Paul Watkins, Administrator, Manuel Eskildsen, M.D., and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and Foundation/UCLA (collectively, Defendants) demur to Plaintiffs’ Complaint. Defendants also move to strike portions of the Complaint.

            The motions are unopposed.

Discussion

            Defendants argue that Plaintiffs’ Complaint is fatally uncertain and fails to state a claim as to all causes of action.

            The Court agrees. Plaintiffs’ Complaint alleges the same extended paragraph to support each cause of action. This makes it nearly impossible to tell what specific acts are being alleged and by whom, and which allegations correspond to the 30 different causes of action. Moreover, many of the causes of action do not correspond to any underlying alleged act. For example, Plaintiffs assert a cause of action for defamation despite there being no indication in the Complaint as to whether a statement was published, what statement was published, and specifically by whom.

            Plaintiffs must file an updated Complaint which makes clear what conduct by which Defendants is being alleged to support which specific causes of action.

Motion to Strike

            Defendants argue that Plaintiffs have not alleged facts to support a punitive damages prayer against them, and even if they had, punitive damages are not recoverable from these Defendants pursuant to Government code section 818.

Pursuant to Government Code Section 818: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a public entity is not liable for damages awarded under Section 3294 of the Civil Code or other damages imposed primarily for the sake of example and by way of punishing the defendant.” The Regents of the University of California is a Constitutional corporation established under Article IX, Section 9 of the California Constitution and as such is a public entity

Plaintiffs filed no opposition, and thus are considered to have conceded to Defendants’ argument on the merits.

Defendants’ motion to strike is granted with 15 days leave to amend,

It is so ordered.

Dated:  October    , 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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