Judge: Matthew C. Braner, Case: 37-2023-00028501-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2024-02-16 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - February 15, 2024

02/16/2024  09:00:00 AM  C-60 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Matthew C. Braner

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Civil - Unlimited  PI/PD/WD - Other Demurrer / Motion to Strike 37-2023-00028501-CU-PO-CTL COCHLIN VS LA JOLLA RECOVERY INC [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED:

Defendants La Jolla Recovery, Inc. and Pacific Beach Recovery's demurrer is OVERRULED.

A demurrer may be sustained if the pleading 'does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.' (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.10, subd. (e).) To test the sufficiency of a cause of action, the court treats as true 'all material facts properly pleaded, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law.' (Centinela Freeman Emergency Medical Associates v. Health Net of California, Inc. (2016) 1 Cal.5th 994, 1010.) The court may also consider matters that have been judicially noticed. (Id.) It is not necessary to 'plead evidentiary facts supporting [an] allegation of ultimate fact,' and a pleading 'is adequate so long as it apprises the defendant of the factual basis for the claim.' (Birke v. Oakwood Worldwide (2009) 169 Cal.App.4th 1540, 1549.) In considering whether the complaint adequately states a claim, the court shall give the complaint a 'reasonable interpretation, reading it as a whole and its parts in their context.' (Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318.) Here, Defendants demur to the entire complaint on the basis that Plaintiff Shelly Cochlin's single cause of action for negligence/wrongful death is barred by the one-year statute of limitations for healthcare providers. Defendants argue that Plaintiff has intentionally left key healthcare provider defendants (who are central to Plaintiff's claims) as Doe Defendants in order to avoid application of MICRA, and has misplead her claims as general negligence when they in fact sound in professional medical negligence.

However, the complaint does not include such claims; there are no references to healthcare providers, and Defendants are expressly alleged to be non-healthcare providers. Put simply, the complaint alleges a general negligence claim, and neither the face of the complaint nor judicially noticed facts can rebut that framework at the pleading stage.

Larson v. UHS of Rancho Springs, Inc. (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 336 is distinguishable on its facts. In particular, the complaint in that case was directed specifically at a healthcare provider (an anesthesiologist), alleged the healthcare provider committed an intentional tort during the performance of healthcare services, and initially did include claims for professional medical negligence. (Id. at p. 341.) Here, the face of the complaint makes clear that Plaintiff is alleging Defendants are not healthcare providers, and otherwise includes insufficient facts upon which the court might infer that healthcare providers are the 'true' defendants in this case such that MICRA should apply. At this stage, it would be improper for the court to make the inferential leaps Defendants are asking for, and the court declines to do so. Defendants will have ample opportunity to make this same argument in connection with a fact-based motion.

Defendants' argument concerning the alter ego allegations are similarly premature. It is not uncommon Calendar No.: Event ID:  TENTATIVE RULINGS

3049555  19 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE:  COCHLIN VS LA JOLLA RECOVERY INC [IMAGED]  37-2023-00028501-CU-PO-CTL for plaintiffs to include entities they believe may be related early on in a lawsuit and to sort out that connection (or lack thereof) in discovery. The lack of specific allegations directed at Defendant Pacific Beach Recovery only lends further support to the notion that Plaintiff is presently unsure whether, or how deep, the connection between the two entities runs.

Accordingly, Defendants demurrer is overruled.

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