On April 05, 2017 a
Motion,Ex Parte
was filed
involving a dispute between
All Others Similarly Situated,
Arana, Tomas R.,
On Behalf Of Herself And On Behalf Of All Persons Similarly Situated,
Spears, Andrea,
and
Does 1-50,
Health Net Of California Inc,
for (Other Employment Complaint Case)
in the District Court of Sacramento County.
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SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,
COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO
GORDON D SCHABER COURTHOUSE
MINUTE ORDER
DATE: 04/16/2018 TIME: 09:00:00 AM DEPT: 54
JUDICIAL OFFICER PRESIDING: Christopher Krueger
CLERK: M. Greco
REPORTER/ERM: T. Huffman CSR# 13789
BAILIFF/COURT ATTENDANT: R. Mays, M. Oreschak
CASE NO: 34-2017-00210560-CU-OE-GDS CASE INIT.DATE: 04/05/2017
CASE TITLE: Spears vs. Health Net of California Inc
CASE CATEGORY: Civil - Unlimited
EVENT TYPE: Motion for Sanctions - Civil Law and Motion
ASSOCIATED CASES: 34-2017-00216685-CU-OE-GDS
APPEARANCES
H. Scott Leviant, specially appearing for Shaun Setareh, Assignee.
Victoria Rivapalacio, counsel, present for Plaintiff(s) telephonically.
Timothy J Long, counsel, present for Defendant(s).
Nicholas Horton, co-counsel for defendant
Nature of Proceeding: Motion for Sanctions
TENTATIVE RULING
Defendant Health Net of California, Inc.'s motion for monetary sanctions against plaintiff Spears' counsel
for their abuses of discovery is DENIED, as follows.
Factual Background
This is a putative class action relating to defendant Health Net of California, Inc.'s alleged violation of the
wage-and-hour laws. It was recently consolidated with another similar action brought by plaintiff Arana
and a consolidated complaint for both actions was filed on 12/21/2017. These consolidated actions
have already spawned an inordinate amount of law & motion proceedings.
Defendant now seeks an award of $5,000 in monetary sanctions from plaintiff Spears' counsel for the
latter's filing of five (5) separate discovery motions, claimed to have been without substantial justification
and filed without sufficient meet-and-confer. Defendant points out that four of the five motions were
voluntarily dropped by plaintiff prior to hearing.
Plaintiff opposes.
Analysis
Although this court reiterates the unremarkable principle that all counsel must engage in legitimate,
reasonable and good faith meet-and-confer efforts before filing any discovery motion, the court is not
persuaded that plaintiff's counsel failed to comply with this standard prior to filing any of the five earlier
discovery motions. Indeed, it appears plaintiff's counsel went to great lengths to seek to resolve
informally a variety of discovery issues but was unable to secure a definitive agreement from defendant
DATE: 04/16/2018 MINUTE ORDER Page 1
DEPT: 54 Calendar No.
CASE TITLE: Spears vs. Health Net of California Inc CASE NO: 34-2017-00210560-CU-OE-GDS
which would have obviated the need for most, if not all, of the prior motions.
Similarly, while plaintiff did withdraw four of the five prior motions before their scheduled hearing dates,
the reasons for this remain unclear and thus, this court is on the present record unable to conclude that
any of these four motions was filed without substantial justification so as to warrant the imposition of
sanctions. Moreover, the court notes that plaintiff withdrew two of these four motions before defendant
filed any opposition papers, something which further militates against the imposition of sanctions here.
Notwithstanding the denial of the present motion for sanctions, all counsel are advised that monetary
sanctions may well be imposed in the future for any failure to comply with the meet-and-confer
requirements, filing or opposing a motion without substantial justification and/or for engaging in any other
discovery abuses.
This minute order is effective immediately. No formal order or other notice is required. (Code Civ. Proc.
§1019.5; CRC Rule 3.1312.)
COURT RULING
The matter was argued and submitted.
The Court affirmed the tentative ruling.
DATE: 04/16/2018 MINUTE ORDER Page 2
DEPT: 54 Calendar No.
Document Filed Date
April 16, 2018
Case Filing Date
April 05, 2017
Category
(Other Employment Complaint Case)
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SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO GORDON D SCHABER COURTHOUSE MINUTE ORDER DATE: 04/16/2018 TIME: 09:00:00 AM DEPT: 54 JUDICIAL OFFICER PRESIDING: Christopher Krueger CLERK: M. Greco REPORTER/ERM: T. Huffman CSR# 13789 BAILIFF/COURT ATTENDANT: R. Mays, M. Oreschak CASE NO: 34-2017-00210560-CU-OE-GDS CASE INIT.DATE: 04/05/2017 CASE TITLE: Spears vs. Health Net of California Inc CASE CATEGORY: Civil - Unlimited EVENT TYPE: Motion for Sanctions - Civil Law and Motion ASSOCIATED CASES: 34-2017-00216685-CU-OE-GDS APPEARANCES H. Scott Leviant, specially appearing for Shaun Setareh, Assignee. Victoria Rivapalacio, counsel, present for Plaintiff(s) telephonically. Timothy J Long, counsel, present for Defendant(s). Nicholas Horton, co-counsel for defendant Nature of Proceeding: Motion for Sanctions TENTATIVE RULING Defendant Health Net of California, Inc.'s motion for monetary sanctions against plaintiff Spears' counsel for their abuses of discovery is DENIED, as follows. Factual Background This is a putative class action relating to defendant Health Net of California, Inc.'s alleged violation of the wage-and-hour laws. It was recently consolidated with another similar action brought by plaintiff Arana and a consolidated complaint for both actions was filed on 12/21/2017. These consolidated actions have already spawned an inordinate amount of law & motion proceedings. Defendant now seeks an award of $5,000 in monetary sanctions from plaintiff Spears' counsel for the latter's filing of five (5) separate discovery motions, claimed to have been without substantial justification and filed without sufficient meet-and-confer. Defendant points out that four of the five motions were voluntarily dropped by plaintiff prior to hearing. Plaintiff opposes. Analysis Although this court reiterates the unremarkable principle that all counsel must engage in legitimate, reasonable and good faith meet-and-confer efforts before filing any discovery motion, the court is not persuaded that plaintiff's counsel failed to comply with this standard prior to filing any of the five earlier discovery motions. Indeed, it appears plaintiff's counsel went to great lengths to seek to resolve informally a variety of discovery issues but was unable to secure a definitive agreement from defendant DATE: 04/16/2018 MINUTE ORDER Page 1 DEPT: 54 Calendar No. CASE TITLE: Spears vs. Health Net of California Inc CASE NO: 34-2017-00210560-CU-OE-GDS which would have obviated the need for most, if not all, of the prior motions. Similarly, while plaintiff did withdraw four of the five prior motions before their scheduled hearing dates, the reasons for this remain unclear and thus, this court is on the present record unable to conclude that any of these four motions was filed without substantial justification so as to warrant the imposition of sanctions. Moreover, the court notes that plaintiff withdrew two of these four motions before defendant filed any opposition papers, something which further militates against the imposition of sanctions here. Notwithstanding the denial of the present motion for sanctions, all counsel are advised that monetary sanctions may well be imposed in the future for any failure to comply with the meet-and-confer requirements, filing or opposing a motion without substantial justification and/or for engaging in any other discovery abuses. This minute order is effective immediately. No formal order or other notice is required. (Code Civ. Proc. §1019.5; CRC Rule 3.1312.) COURT RULING The matter was argued and submitted. The Court affirmed the tentative ruling. DATE: 04/16/2018 MINUTE ORDER Page 2 DEPT: 54 Calendar No.