Judge Mark E. Windham, Case 21STLC02694 2023-02-08 Tentative Ruling

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Plaintiff Cynthia Meza’s Motion to Reclassify Action is GRANTED. THIS CASE IS RECLASSIFIED AS AN UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE AND TRANSFERRED TO THE RECLASSIFICATION/TRANSFER DESK FOR COLLECTION OF FEES AND REASSIGNMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT CALENDAR COURT. PLAINTIFF IS TO PAY THE RECLASSIFICATION FEE WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS OF THIS ORDER.

On April 5, 2021, Plaintiff Cynthia Meza (“Plaintiff”) filed this action against Defendants Alfonso Ramirez and Margarita Ramirez (“Defendants”) for premises liability. Defendants filed an Answer on February 16, 2022.

Plaintiff filed the instant Motion to Reclassify the Action to a Court of Unlimited Jurisdiction on January 12, 2023. To date, no opposition has been filed to the Motion to Reclassify.

Code of Civil Procedure section 403.040 allows a plaintiff to file a motion for reclassification of an action within the time allowed for that party to amend the initial pleading. (Code Civ. Proc., § 403.040, subd. (a).) If the motion is made after the time for the plaintiff to amend the pleading, the motion may only be granted if (1) the case is incorrectly classified; and (2) the plaintiff shows good cause for not seeking reclassification earlier. (Code Civ. Proc., § 403.040, subd. (b).)

The initial time for Plaintiff to amend the pleadings having passed, the Motion must show both that the case is incorrectly classified and that Plaintiff has good cause for not moving to reclassify earlier. In Walker v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 257, 262, the California Supreme Court held that a matter may be reclassified from unlimited to limited only if it appears to a legal certainty that the plaintiff's damages will necessarily be less than $25,000. (Walker v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 257.) In Ytuarte v. Superior Court (2005) 129 Cal.App.4th 266, 278, the Court of Appeals examined the principles it set forth in Walker and held that “the court should reject the plaintiff's effort to reclassify the action as unlimited only when the lack of jurisdiction as an “unlimited” case is certain and clear.” (Id. at 279.) Nevertheless, the plaintiff must present evidence to demonstrate a possibility that the damages will exceed $25,000.00 and the trial court must review the record to determine “whether a judgment in excess of $25,000.00 is obtainable.” (Ibid.)

Plaintiff presents evidence that when this action was filed the amount of damages, specifically medical specials, were not known. (Motion, Kay Decl., ¶4.) Plaintiff was injured in the course of their employment with the United States Postal Service and upon retaining counsel in March 2020, was unable to obtain information regarding the medical treatment provided because the COVID-19 pandemic effectively closed the Department of Labor during that time. (Ibid.) It took numerous requests of the Department of Labor to provide the information regarding the treatment, which was not received by Plaintiff’s counsel until December 2022. (Id. at ¶5 and Exhs. A-B.) Plaintiff now understands that medical specials were incurred in the amount of $19,706.95. (Ibid.) In seeking recovery of the medical specials plus general damages for pain and suffering, Plaintiff has demonstrated that the possibility that damages awarded in this action will exceed the amount in controversy allowed in the limited jurisdiction Court.

Therefore, Plaintiff Cynthia Meza’s Motion to Reclassify Action is GRANTED. THIS CASE IS RECLASSIFIED AS AN UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE AND TRANSFERRED TO THE RECLASSIFICATION/TRANSFER DESK FOR COLLECTION OF FEES AND REASSIGNMENT TO AN INDEPENDENT CALENDAR COURT. PLAINTIFF IS TO PAY THE RECLASSIFICATION FEE WITHIN TEN (10) DAYS OF THIS ORDER.