Judge: Steven J. Kleifield, Case: 22STSCV13957, Date: 2023-03-15 Tentative Ruling
Suzuki v. Eureka Restaurant Group LLC, 22STCV13957
Tentative Ruling on Defendants' Motion to Compel Arbitration
The Court's tentative ruling is to continue the hearing on Defendants' motion to compel arbitration and lift the current stay of discovery. The Court is taking this action so that the parties can conduct limited discovery over a relatively short period of time on whether, as Plaintiff contends, his signature on the arbitration agreement at issue here that was executed through the Docusign program reflects merely a test run of the operation of that program for his employer, Defendant Eureka Restaurant Group, LLC, rather than his own assent to be bound by the agreement. (Bouton v. USAA Casualty Ins. Co. (2007) 167 Cal.App.4th 412, 427-428 [trial courts have authority to permit discovery on issue of existence of agreement to arbitrate].) Following the completion of the discovery that is being authorized, the Court will resolve the motion to compel arbitration by conducting the type of hearing contemplated by Rosenthal v. Great Western Fin. Securities Group (1996) 14 Cal.4th 394, 402, 413, and Engalla v. Permanente Medical Group, Inc. (1997) 15 Cal.4th 951, 972 at which the Court will consider the evidence adduced during discovery and, if warranted, receive oral testimony from the Plaintiff and other witnesses.
