On 03/09/2018 a Personal Injury - Other Personal Injury case was filed by JANE AH DOE against TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT in the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County Superior Courts, Torrance Courthouse located in Los Angeles, California.
****7575
03/09/2018
Pending - Other Pending
Los Angeles County Superior Courts
Torrance Courthouse
Los Angeles, California
GEORGINA T. RIZK
DEIRDRE HILL
KRISTIN S. ESCALANTE
JG
DOES 1 TO 20
ASHIKAWA JAMES
MOSLEY DAVID
KEALY WILLIAM
TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
DOE JANE AH
RH AND INDIVIDUALLY
MCNAIR GREGORY L. ESQ.
MOTT JONATHAN JUDD
MCNAIR GREGORY LUMMAR ESQ.
11/27/2019: Declaration - DECLARATION AND EXHIBITS RE OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
10/21/2019: Minute Order - MINUTE ORDER (STATUS CONFERENCE RE MEDIATION COMPLETION)
9/25/2019: Motion for Summary Judgment
9/6/2019: Minute Order - MINUTE ORDER (HEARING ON MOTION TO COMPEL DISCOVERY (NOT "FURTHER DISCOVERY...)
8/23/2019: Notice - NOTICE OF NON-OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO COMPEL MENTAL EXAMINATION OF PLAINTIFF RH
8/23/2019: Opposition - OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT'S MOTION TO COMPEL MENTAL EXAMINATION OF PLAINTIFF AH
8/9/2019: Separate Statement - SEPARATE STATEMENT OF DISPUTED ISSUES IN SUPPORT OF MOTION TO COMPEL THE MENTAL EXAMINATION OF PLAINTIFF RH
10/22/2018: Opposition - Opposition to defendant's Special motion to strike portions of the complaint
11/2/2018: Notice of Case Reassignment and Order for Plaintiff to Give Notice
1/18/2019: Notice - Notice of Continuance of Hearing Date on Special Motion to Strike
1/18/2019: Minute Order - Minute Order (Hearing on Motion to Strike Anti SLAPP)
3/7/2019: Notice - Notice of Continuance of Hearing Date on Special Motion to Strike
3/8/2019: Minute Order - Minute Order (Hearing on Motion to Strike Anti SLAPP)
3/21/2019: Certificate of Mailing for - CERTIFICATE OF MAILING FOR MINUTE ORDER (HEARING ON MOTION TO STRIKE ANTI SLAPP) OF 03/21/2019
6/4/2019: Stipulation and Order - STIPULATION AND ORDER [PROPOSED] PROTECTIVE ORDER
6/5/2019: Notice - NOTICE OF ENTRY OF ORDER - PROTECTIVE ORDER
6/28/2018: SUMMONS -
3/9/2018: DECLARATION OF GREGORY L. MCNAIR IN SUPPORT OF REQUEST FOR USE OF FICTITIOUS NAMES
Hearing01/28/2020 at 08:30 AM in Department B at 825 Maple Ave., Torrance, CA 90503; Jury Trial
Hearing01/21/2020 at 08:30 AM in Department B at 825 Maple Ave., Torrance, CA 90503; Final Status Conference
Hearing12/12/2019 at 08:30 AM in Department B at 825 Maple Ave., Torrance, CA 90503; Hearing on Motion for Summary Judgment
DocketPLAINTIFFS? MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS? MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR ALTERNATIVELY SUMMARY ADJUDICATION; Filed by RH and individually (Legacy Party); Jane Ah Doe (Legacy Party); JG (Plaintiff)
DocketOpposition (to Defendants Separate Statement); Filed by RH and individually (Legacy Party); Jane Ah Doe (Legacy Party); JG (Plaintiff)
DocketDeclarations and Exhibits in Support of Opposition; Filed by RH and individually (Legacy Party); Jane Ah Doe (Legacy Party); JG (Plaintiff)
DocketPLAINTIFFS? MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS? MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT OR ALTERNATIVELY SUMMARY ADJUDICATION; Filed by RH and individually (Legacy Party); Jane Ah Doe (Legacy Party); JG (Plaintiff)
DocketDeclaration (and Exhibits Re Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment); Filed by RH and individually (Legacy Party); Jane Ah Doe (Legacy Party); JG (Plaintiff)
Docketat 08:30 AM in Department B; Hearing on Motion to Dismiss - Held - Motion Denied
DocketNotice of Ruling; Filed by Torrance Unified School District (Defendant); David Mosley (Defendant); James Ashikawa (Defendant) et al.
DocketSUMMONS
DocketSummons Issued; Filed by Clerk
DocketAPPLICATION AND ORDER FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM-CIVIL EX PARTE
DocketApplication ; Filed by Plaintiff/Petitioner
DocketNOTICE OF REJECTION - APPLICATION AND ORDER FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM
DocketApplication ; Filed by Plaintiff/Petitioner
DocketAPPLICATION AND ORDER FOR APPOINTMENT OF GUARDIAN AD LITEM-CIVIL
DocketDECLARATION OF GREGORY L. MCNAIR IN SUPPORT OF REQUEST FOR USE OF FICTITIOUS NAMES
DocketComplaint; Filed by JG (Plaintiff)
DocketCOMPLAINT FOR DAMAGGES 1. NEGLIGENCE ;ETC
Case Number: BC697575 Hearing Date: February 28, 2020 Dept: SWB
Superior Court
of Southwest District Torrance Dept. B |
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JANE AH DOE, et al., |
Plaintiffs, |
Case No.: |
BC697575 |
vs. |
[Tentative] RULING |
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TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., |
Defendants. |
||
Hearing Date: February 28, 2020
Moving Parties: Petitioner Rosario Holland
Responding Party: None
Petition to Approve Compromise of Pending Action of Minor
The court considered the moving papers.
RULING
The court is inclined to grant petitioner’s Petition to Approve Compromise of Pending Action on behalf of minor claimant Jane AH Doe.
Pursuant to California Rules of Court, Rule 7.952(a), petitioner and claimant are required to attend the hearing on the petition but the court finds good cause to dispense with claimant’s appearance based on the circumstances of the case.
BACKGROUND
On March 9, 2018, plaintiffs Jane AH Doe, a minor by and through her guardian ad litem, RH, RH, and JG filed a complaint for (1) negligence, (2) negligent hiring, supervision, training, and/or retention of employees, (3) negligence per se, (4) breach of mandatory duties, (5) IIED, and (6) NIED. Plaintiffs allege that on November 2, 2016 during lunch recess, AH was sexually harassed, battered, and molested by two male students on the school field at the middle school.
DISCUSSION
The court has reviewed the petition and finds the settlement amount to be fair and reasonable.
The parties settled for $300,000. The following amounts are to be deducted from the gross amount: $3,465 in medical expenses, $92,718 in attorney’s fees, and $21,564.62 in costs. The balance of proceeds is $182,252.38 to be deposited into a blocked account.
The court is inclined to grant the petition.
Case Number: BC697575 Hearing Date: November 22, 2019 Dept: SWB
Superior
Court of Southwest District Torrance Dept. B |
|||
JANE AH DOE, et al., |
Plaintiffs, |
Case No.: |
BC697575 |
vs. |
[Tentative] RULING |
||
TORRANCE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., |
Defendants. |
||
Hearing Date: November 22, 2019
Moving Parties: Defendants Torrance USD, David Mosley, James Ashikawa, and William Kealey
Responding Party: Plaintiffs Jane Ah Doe, et al.
Motion to Dismiss or, in the alternative, Bifurcate the Legal Issue of Standing
The court considered the moving, opposition, and reply papers.
RULING
The motion to dismiss is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. The request to bifurcate the issue of standing is continued to January 28, 2019, to be heard by the trial court.
BACKGROUND
On March 9, 2018, plaintiffs Jane AH Doe, a minor by and through her guardian ad litem, RH, RH, and JG filed a complaint for (1) negligence, (2) negligent hiring, supervision, training, and/or retention of employees, (3) negligence per se, (4) breach of mandatory duties, (5) IIED, and (6) NIED. Plaintiffs allege that on November 2, 2016 during lunch recess, AH was sexually harassed, battered, and molested by two male students on the school field at the middle school.
DISCUSSION
Defendants request that the court dismiss plaintiff JG for lack of standing or, in the alternative, to bifurcate the issue of JG’s standing pursuant to CCP §598 to be heard before the trial.
Defendants cite to CCP §367, which states that “Every action must be prosecuted in the name of the real party in interest, except as otherwise provided by statute.” Defendants contend that JG is not a relative or legal guardian of plaintiff AH and never has been, and therefore lacks standing to bring claims for IIED and NIED due to lack of special relationship between him and defendants. Defendants contend that although JG alleged he is Jane AH Doe’s stepfather, at his deposition, he testified that he is the ex-boyfriend of RH, and that RH and JG were never married.
Defendants cite to no statutory authority for the court to dismiss JG at the present time. Dismissal motions are expressly authorized only on specified grounds. Defendants cite to Cloud v. Northrop Grumman Corp. (1998) 67 Cal. App. 4th 995, 1004 but in that case the complaint was dismissed by way of a motion for judgment on the pleadings.
Accordingly, the motion to dismiss is DENIED.
As to whether to bifurcate the issue of JG’s standing, under CCP §598, “[t]he court may, when the convenience of witnesses, the ends of justice, or the economy and efficiency of handling the litigation would be promoted thereby, on motion of a party, after notice and hearing, make an order, . . . that the trial of any issue or any part thereof shall precede the trial of any other issue or any part thereof in the case.” “A litigant’s standing to sue is a ‘threshold issue to be resolved before the matter can be reached on the merits.’” Boorstein v. CBS Interactive, Inc. (2013) 222 Cal. App. 4th 456, 465 (citation omitted).
The court determines that this issue is more appropriate for the actual trial court to decide, and this court is not the trial court.
Defendants may refile this motion as a motion in limine for the trial court to hear and decide. The court understands that the motion is normally to be heard “no later than the close of the pretrial conference . . . or, in other cases, no later than 30 days before the trial date.” CCP §598. However, given the nature of transferred personal injury cases, the court will allow this motion to be heard as a motion in limine by the trial court immediately prior to the commencement of trial.
Defendants are ordered to give notice of the ruling.