Judge: Marcella O. Mclaughlin, Case: 37-2023-00011728-CU-CO-CTL, Date: 2024-05-31 Tentative Ruling
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,
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EVENT DATE:
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HALL OF JUSTICE
TENTATIVE RULINGS - May 30, 2024
05/31/2024 09:00:00 AM C-72 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO
JUDICIAL OFFICER:Marcella O McLaughlin
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Civil - Unlimited Contract - Other Demurrer / Motion to Strike 37-2023-00011728-CU-CO-CTL JAY GILL TRUSTEE OF THE RJ GILL FAMILY 2021 NG DYNASTY TRUST VS MARX CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Demurrer, 02/23/2024
A. Defendants' demurrer to the FAC is SUSTAINED in part and OVERRULED in part.
As an initial matter, the court sustains defendants' objections to the Singleton declaration (ROA 118).
'[A] demurrer looks only to the face of the pleadings and to matters judicially noticeable and not to the evidence or other extrinsic matter.' Knickerbocker v. City of Stockton (1988) 199 Cal.App.3d 235, 239 fn. 2.
Turning to the merits, the demurrer to count 1 is sustained without leave to amend. Insufficient facts have pled with the required particularity to state a claim for fraud against defendant John Marx. See Lazar v. Superior Court (1996) 12 Cal.4th 631, 645; see also Dowling v. Spring Val. Water Co. (1917) 174 Cal. 218, 221 ('[I]t is not sufficient to allege fraud or its elements upon information and belief unless the facts upon which the belief is founded are stated in the pleading.'). Moreover, to the extent plaintiff's theory of liability is conspiracy to commit fraud, plaintiff has failed to plead specific facts showing that defendant agreed to both the objective and the course of action that resulted in the injury to plaintiff.
See Prakashpalan v. Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 1105, 1136; see also Spencer v. Mowat (2020) 46 Cal.App.5th 1024, 1037.
The demurrer to count 2 is overruled. Plaintiff alleges that defendant Oscar Marx 'breached his fiduciary duties by, among other things, concealing material facts from Plaintiff[.]' (FAC at ¶ 34.) Thus, as the court previously found, the gravamen of plaintiff's breach of fiduciary duty claim is injury to himself directly rather than to Quantum Automotive Intelligence. See Grosset v. Wenaas (2008) 42 Cal.4th 1100, 1008; see also Vega v. Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue (2004) 121 Cal.App.4th 282, 297 (holding that gravamen of injury was to shareholder who alleged that Jones Day deceived him into exchanging his valuable stock in Monsterbook for worthless stock in Transmedia); see also Sutter v. General Petroleum Corp. (1946) 28 Cal.2d 525 (shareholder could sue in his own right for being fraudulently induced to invest in a project which was used to form a corporation; fact that corporation was also harmed did not preclude his lawsuit).
B. Defendants' unopposed motion to strike portions of the FAC is DENIED.
The court has discretion to grant or deny a motion to strike and, even where an allegation may be unwarranted, the court is not required to strike the allegation at the pleading stage and may instead simply deny the request on the merits at a later stage of the case or ignore the allegation. See Clements v. T.R. Bechtel Co. (1954) 43 Cal.2d 227, 242. Here, the court declines to edit or re-write the FAC and will address possible unmeritorious allegations, if necessary, at a later stage of the case. See PH II, Inc.
Calendar No.: Event ID: TENTATIVE RULINGS
3094262 6 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE: JAY GILL TRUSTEE OF THE RJ GILL FAMILY 2021 NG DYNASTY TRUST 37-2023-00011728-CU-CO-CTL v. Superior Court (1995) 33 Cal.App.4th 1680, 1683 ('[U]se of the motion to strike should be cautious and sparing. We have no intention of creating a procedural 'line item veto' for the civil defendant.').
C. This ruling is dispositive as to defendant John Marx. Counsel for Mr. Marx is directed to submit a form of judgment consistent with the foregoing. Defendants Oscar Marx and Quantum Automotive Intelligence must file and serve an answer to the FAC by June 10, 2024.
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3094262 6