Judge: Randall J. Sherman, Case: 2021-01203549, Date: 2022-10-07 Tentative Ruling

Defendants Pacific West Maintenance, Inc., Northgate Gonzalez, LLC, Northgate Gonzalez Markets, Inc., and Super Center Concepts, Inc.’s (Amended) Petition for Order to Arbitrate is denied.

The court concludes that defendants have failed to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that there exists a valid agreement to arbitrate the claims asserted by plaintiff in this action.  CCP §1281.2.  The motion and the Amended Petition are not supported by any admissible evidence.  Defendants have not provided this court with any declaration under penalty of perjury.  The most that can be said is that the Amended Petition supposedly is verified.  However, the Verification is only “true and correct to the best of my ability”, which fails to satisfy CCP §2015.5’s requirement of “true and correct”.  Further, the affiant states, “The matters stated in the foregoing document are true of my own knowledge”, but ¶2 of the Amended Petition states, “On or about April 27, 2021, Plaintiff was notified of the Agreement via an email notification from Bambee, the human resources agency employed at that time by Pacific.”  The email is not attached, and in using the passive voice, the affiant fails to establish personal knowledge.  Moreover, the Employment, Confidential Information, and Arbitration Agreement With Pacific West Maintenance, Inc. attached as Exhibit 1 to the Amended Petition is blank as to the employee’s name, both in its first paragraph and in the signature block, and does not have plaintiff’s signature affixed.  Plaintiff’s opposition declaration denies having received the arbitration agreement, or being notified of it, but defendants’ reply papers fail to provide any evidence to rebut that assertion.  Thus, defendants have failed to meet their burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, requiring the denial of the Amended Petition and this motion.  Rosenthal v. Great Western Financial Securities Corp. (1996) 14 Cal. 4th 394, 413.

Defendants are ordered to give notice of the ruling unless notice is waived.