Judge: Shirley K. Watkins, Case: 22VECV01641, Date: 2023-03-13 Tentative Ruling

If ALL parties submit on the tentative, then no appearance is necessary unless some other matter (i.e., Case Management Conference) is on calendar. It is not necessary to call the court to request oral argument. Oral argument is permitted on all tentative rulings.

Case Number: 22VECV01641    Hearing Date: March 13, 2023    Dept: T

            [TENTATIVE] ORDER:  Defendant Constellation Brands, Inc.’s Demurrer to the First Amended Complaint is SUSTAINED WITH 20 DAYS LEAVE TO AMEND.

            Defendant Constellation Brands, Inc. (Defendant) demurs to Plaintiff Isabel Campos’ (Plaintiff) First Amended Complaint filed on 12/27/2022.  Defendant placed into issue Plaintiff’s product liability causes of action: count one for strict liability, count two for negligence, and count three for breach of warranty.  It is clear she is claiming to have suffered gallbladder problems by drinking Corona Beer (in bottles), manufactured by Defendant.  The actual date of injury, however, remains unclear. 

            The original complaint was filed on 10/18/2022.  She has attached, re-signed, and filed additional copies of the complaint and her medical records to various pleadings since then. The Defendant contends that Plaintiff is continually changing the date of her injury; the court does not read her papers that way.  Each time Plaintiff files or attaches a version of the complaint, it is always the same: the dates on each page throughout the complaint are all the same dates; those dates are the date of signing, e.g., in the 10/18/2022 version, every date is 10/18/2022; in the 2/7/2023 version, the dates are all 2/7/2023; in the 2/6/2023 version, the same; in the 1/3/2023 version, the same; in the 12/26/2022 version, the same, etc. 

            Defendant argued that Plaintiff’s product liability Cause of action’s three counts are uncertain and failed to allege sufficient facts to support a Cause of action.  Looking at the First Amended Complaint on the Judicial Council form complaint and attachments as a whole, the court can discern that Plaintiff is claiming that by drinking Corona Beer, she developed problems with her gallbladder, that the Defendant knew the Corona Beer would be purchased and used without inspection for defects, that it was defective when it left the control of the Defendant, that the beer was being used in the manner that was reasonably foreseeable by Defendant as involving a substantial danger (of causing gallbladder damage) not readily apparent, that adequate warnings were not given, that Plaintiff was the purchaser and Defendant was the manufacturer of the beer, that Defendant is strictly liable, that Defendant was negligent, and that Defendant breached an implied warranty. Judicial Council form PLD-PI-001(5) does not require more. 

            In her Opposition, filed on 2/7/2023, Plaintiff attached her medical records from Valley Presbyterian Hospital’s Emergency Department which showed health care services being rendered on June 28, 2017. Half of the opposition is written in Spanish without translation. Plaintiff also filed a “Request for Amendment of Health Information” dated November 21, 2018 wherein Plaintiff added that she “was seen at Valley Presbyterian Hospital" due to consumption of an alcoholic beverage “Corona”. [sic] that it be stated that this was the cause of my medical issue in which I had surgical removal of my gallbladder.” It is unclear whether this event in June 2017 is what her current complaint is about or some other event since then.

            Again, without specific information as to when the injuries in this case occurred, the court cannot say on its face that the statute of limitations has expired.

For this reason, the court allows Plaintiff to file a Second Amended Complaint to specifically set forth the date of her injury that is the subject of her 12/27/2022 First Amended Complaint.

Alternatively, Plaintiff can file within 20 days an Amendment to the First Amended Complaint stating that the date of her injury is _______________.

The Demurrer to the First Amended Complaint is SUSTAINED WITH 20 DAYS LEAVE TO AMEND.