Judge Salvatore Sirna, Case Number: 23PSCV04012, Date: 2024-05-20 Tentative Ruling

Judge: Salvatore Sirna, Case: 23PSCV04012, Date: 2024-05-20 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: 23PSCV04012 Hearing Date: May 20, 2024 Dept: G

Defendants Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Southern California Permanente Medical Center’s Demurrer to Plaintiffs’ Complaint

Respondent: Plaintiffs Desiree Montserrat Rodriguez Chavez, Jennifer Sofia Rodriguez Chavez, Sergio Jonathan Steve Rodriguez Chavez, and Adriana Leticia Chavez Haro

TENTATIVE RULING

Defendants Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Southern California Permanente Medical Center’s Demurrer to Plaintiffs’ Complaint is CONTINUED to a date to be determined at the hearing in Department G (Pomona).

Defendants’ counsel is also ordered to meet and confer with Plaintiffs’ counsel regarding the Demurrer and to file a supplemental declaration describing such meet and confer efforts at least nine (9) court days before the next scheduled hearing on the Demurrer.

BACKGROUND

This is a wrongful death action. On May 31, 2023, the Kaiser Permanente Ontario Medical Center (KPOMC) admitted Sergio Rodriguez Jimenez for severe anxiety and suicidal ideation. On June 1, 2023, KPOMC transferred Rodriguez Jimenez to Aurora Charter Oak Behavioral Health Center (Aurora) via an ambulance service that was owned and operated by Defendants American Medical Response Ambulance Service, Inc. (AMR Ambulance Service), American Medical Response of Inland Empire, Inc. (AMR Inland Empire), American Medical Response of Southern California, Inc. (AMR Southern California), American Medical Response West, Inc. (AMR West), American Medical Response, Inc. (AMR), and Global Medical Response, Inc. (GMR, collectively AMR Defendants). After arriving at Aurora, Rodriguez Jimenez committed suicide by stabbing himself with a pair of scissors allegedly obtained from the AMR Defendants’ ambulance.

On December 29, 2023, Plaintiffs Desiree Montserrat Rodriguez Chavez, Jennifer Sofia Rodriguez Chavez, Sergio Jonathan Steve Rodriguez Chavez, and Adriana Leticia Chavez Haro filed a complaint against Defendants Kaiser Foundation Hospitals (Kaiser), Southern California Permanente Medical Center (Permanente), the AMR Defendants, and Does 1-30, alleging the following causes of action: (1) wrongful death, (2) negligent infliction of emotional distress (NIED) by Chavez Haro, (3) NIED by Jennifer Rodriguez Chavez, and (4) survival by Chavez Haro.

On March 15, 2024, Kaiser and Permanente filed the present demurrer. A hearing on the present demurrer is set for May 20, 2024, along with a case management conference and OSC Re: Failure to File Proof of Service on May 30, 2024.

ANALYSIS

Kaiser and Permanente demur to Plaintiffs’ entire Complaint. For the following reasons, the Court finds parties did not adequately meet and confer.

Legal Standard

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (a), prior to filing a demurrer, “the demurring party shall meet and confer in person or by telephone with the party who filed the pleading that is subject to demurrer for the purpose of determining whether an agreement can be reached that would resolve the objections to be raised in the demurrer.” This section further provides that “the demurring party shall identify all of the specific causes of action that it believes are subject to demurrer and identify with legal support the basis of the deficiencies.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.41, subd. (a)(1).)

While Code of Civil Procedure section 430.41, subdivision (a)(4) makes clear failing to meet and confer is not grounds to overrule a demurrer, courts “are not required to ignore defects in the meet and confer process” and if the court determines “no meet and confer has taken place, or concludes further conferences between counsel would likely be productive, it retains discretion to order counsel to meaningfully discuss the pleadings with an eye toward reducing the number of issues or eliminating the need for a demurrer, and to continue the hearing date to facilitate that effort.” (Dumas v. Los Angeles County Bd. of Supervisors (2020) 45 Cal.App.5th 348, 355 & fn. 3.)

Discussion

In this case, Kaiser and Permanente’s counsel stated counsel attempted to meet and confer by sending an email to Plaintiffs’ counsel on March 7, 2024. (Birtja Decl., ¶ 2.) Because email communications are not code-compliant means of meeting and conferring, the Court finds Kaiser and Permanente have failed to adequately meet and confer. Thus, a continuance of the hearing on their demurrer is appropriate.

CONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, Kaiser and Permanente’s demurrer is CONTINUED to a date to be determined at the hearing in Department G (Pomona).

Kaiser and Permanente’s counsel is also ordered to meet and confer with Plaintiffs’ counsel regarding the demurrer and to file a supplemental declaration describing such meet and confer efforts at least nine (9) court days before the next scheduled hearing on the demurrer.