Judge Teresa A. Beaudet, Case Number: 22STCV19257, Date: 2023-09-26 Tentative Ruling

HALLER, LLC, et al.,

Plaintiff,

vs.

THE CITY LOS ANGELES, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No.:

22STCV19257 [c/w 22STCV11937]

Hearing Date:

December 4, 2023

Hearing Time: 2:00 p.m.

TENTATIVE RULING RE:

DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFFS’ FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT

On June 13, 2022, Haller, LLC (“Haller”) and Shaun Tan (“Tan”) filed the instant action (the “Haller Action”) against a number of defendants.

Haller and Tan filed the operative First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) in the instant action on June 8, 2023 against Defendants City of Los Angeles (the “City”), Hollywood Arts Collective LP, Hollywood Arts Collective LLC, Thomas Safran and Associates Development, Inc., Thomas Safran and Associates. Inc., Morley Construction Company, and Benchmark Contractors Inc. (collectively, “Defendants”). The FAC in the Haller Action alleges causes of action for (1) inverse condemnation, (2) nuisance, (3) dangerous condition of public property, (4) trespass, and (5) negligence.

On April 7, 2022, Plaintiff Jayesh Kumar (“Kumar”) filed an action against a number of defendants in the matter Jayesh Kumar v. The City of Los Angeles, et al., Case No. 22STCV11937 (the “Kumar Action”). On June 8, 2023, Kumar filed the operative Third Amended Complaint (“TAC”) in the Kumar Action against the City and a number of other defendants. The TAC alleges causes of action for (1) breach of lease, (2) nuisance, (3) trespass, and (4) dangerous condition of public property.

The Court notes that on August 2, 2023, the Court issued an Order in the Kumar Action indicating that “IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Case Nos. 22STCV11937 (Kumar Action) and

22STCV19257 (Haller Action) be consolidated for all pretrial, discovery, and motion purposes only. Case No. 22STCV11937 (Kumar Action) will be the Lead Case. The operative pleadings filed in the Kumar Action and the Haller Action will remain separate. Defendants may file one (1) Joint Demurrer and/or Motion to Strike as to the Third Amended Complaint in the Kumar Action and the First Amended Complaint in the Haller Action to be noticed pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure § 1005 for and heard by the Court on September 26, 2023. If the issue of Haller being both a plaintiff and a defendant is resolved, the parties may submit a further stipulation to consolidate the cases for trial…”

After the Court issued the August 2, 2023 Order, Defendants filed a motion to strike portions of the FAC in the instant Haller Action on August 23, 2023. Defendants move to strike “Item 2 of Prayer on Page 11, Line 16, which reads: ‘2. Exemplary Damages…’” No opposition to this motion was filed.

As an initial matter, it is unclear why Defendants filed a motion to strike portions of the FAC in both the instant action and the Kumar Action. As set forth above, the Court’s August 2, 2023 Order provides, inter alia, that “Defendants may file one (1) Joint Demurrer and/or Motion to Strike as to the Third Amended Complaint in the Kumar Action and the First Amended Complaint in the Haller Action…” In any event, in light of the Court’s tentative ruling on “Defendants’ Joint Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs’ Haller LLC and Shaun Tan’s First Amended Complaint” filed in the Kumar Action, the instant motion is moot.

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

Department 50