Judge: Salvatore Sirna, Case: 22PSCV00060, Date: 2024-07-15 Tentative Ruling

The Court may change tentative rulings at any time. Therefore, counsel are advised to check this website periodically to determine whether any changes or updates have been made to the tentative ruling. Counsel may submit on a tentative ruling by calling the clerk in Department G at (909) 802-1104 prior to 8:30 a.m. the morning of the hearing.

Case Number: 22PSCV00060    Hearing Date: July 15, 2024    Dept: G

Plaintiff Sharine Forbes’s Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement

Respondent: NO OPPOSITION

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff Sharine Forbes’s Motion to Enforce Settlement Agreement is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

BACKGROUND

This is a wrongful termination action. In November 2020, Plaintiff Sharine Forbes reached out to Defendant Shehzad Ahmed, the chief officer and administrator for Defendant Pomona Valley Home Care, Inc. (PVHC), and inquired about employment in the healthcare industry. After discussing a potential position with Forbes, Ahmed reached out to Forbes on December 7, 2020, and asked whether Forbes had thought about the position and salary offered. On December 8, 2020, Forbes accepted Ahmed’s offer and started in the new position on January 22, 2021.

On February 18, 2021, Forbes decided to resign from employment with PVHC but was convinced by PVHC’s employees to stay. A few days later, Forbes’s employment was terminated by PVHC’s management after Forbes had a disagreement with a fellow employee. Forbes was subsequently rehired and a contract memorializing the terms of Forbes’s employment was executed on March 1, 2021. On April 1, 2021, Forbes’s employment was terminated after allegedly informing Ahmed that PVHC had been persistently violating HIPAA laws.

On January 19, 2022, Forbes filed a complaint against PVHC and Does 1-10, alleging the following causes of action: (1) breach of employment contract, (2) breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, (3) wrongful termination in violation of public policy, (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress, (5) false promise, and (6) intentional misrepresentation.

On October 17, 2022, Forbes amended the Complaint to replace Doe 1 with Ahmed.

On April 10, 2203, PVHC filed a notice of bankruptcy filing and entry of automatic stay.

On September 7, 2023, Forbes dismissed the first, second and third causes of action against Ahmed.

On September 20, 2023, Forbes filed a notice of settlement.

On April 10, 2023, Forbes dismissed Ahmed from the present action.

On June 20, 2024, Forbes filed the present motion. A hearing on the motion is set for July 15, 2024, with a status conference re: bankruptcy set for July 23, 2024.

ANALYSIS

Forbes seeks to have judgment entered against Ahmed pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement. For the following reasons, the court DENIES the motion.

Legal Standard

Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provides a summary procedure that enables courts to enforce a settlement agreement by entering a judgment pursuant to the terms of the parties’ settlement. In relevant part, it provides as follows:

If parties to pending litigation stipulate, in a writing signed by the parties outside of the presence of the court or orally before the court, for settlement of the case, or part thereof, the court, upon motion, may enter judgment pursuant to the terms of the settlement. If requested by the parties, the court may retain jurisdiction over the parties to enforce the settlement until performance in full of the terms of the settlement. (Code Civ. Proc., § 664.6, subd. (a).)

A writing is considered signed if signed by the party or an attorney who represents the party. (Code Civ. Proc., § 664.6, subd. (b).)

Discussion

In this case, Forbes provides a copy of a written settlement agreement signed by Forbes and Ahmed in September 2023 along with an amendment signed in April 2024. (Alaric-Lorenzo Decl., Ex. A.) According to the agreement, Ahmed agreed to pay Forbes a total of $150,000 in monthly payments of at least $10,000 that commenced on October 25, 2023. (Alaric-Lorenzo Decl., Ex. A, § 2(a).) On May 30, 2024, Forbes’s counsel received an email from the United States Trustee that demanded Forbes repay $80,000 that Forbes received from PVHC on Ahmed’s behalf. (Alaric-Lorenzo Decl., ¶ 7.) On June 19, 2024, PVHC filed an adversarial proceeding in bankruptcy court against Forbes and Forbes’s counsel, seeking reimbursement of the $80,000. (Alaric-Lorenzo Decl., ¶ 8.)

Forbes now argues Ahmed breached the settlement agreement by making payments with funds from PVHC. But Forbes fails to establish damages as the declaration of Forbes’s counsel does not state (1) if Forbes has actually repaid the funds from PVHC or (2) if the bankruptcy court has ordered Forbes to repay the funds in PVHC’s bankruptcy proceedings. While Forbes may be entitled to enforce the settlement agreement if the funds already paid are lost, Forbes has yet to establish that has occurred.

Accordingly, Forbes’s motion is DENIED without prejudice.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, the Court DENIES Forbes’s motion to enforce the settlement agreement between Forbes and Ahmed.