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VENARDI ZURADA, LLP
) 937-3905
5
Tel: (925) 937-3900
7
Orinda, CA 94563
Fax: (9:
25 Orinda Way, Suite 250
Mark L. Venardi (SBN 173140)
Martin Zurada (SBN 218235)
Jamie Retmier (SBN 308060)
VENARDI ZURADA LLP
25 Orinda Way, Suite 250
Orinda, CA 94563
Telephone: (925) 937-3900
Facsimile: (925) 937-3905
Attorneys for Plaintiff
RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA
ELECTRONICALLY
FILED
Superior Court of California,
County of San Francisco
09/13/2018
Clerk of the Court
BY: VANESSA WU
Deputy Clerk
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA,
an individual,
Plaintiff,
v.
HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a California
corporation; HOTEL SUNRISE, LLC, a
California limited liability company; KIRIT
KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT KUMAR PATEL
aka KIRITKUMAR PATEL aka KEN PATEL,
an individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL aka
SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka SHAKUNTLA
PATEL aka SKAKUNTA PATEL aka NINA
PATEL, an individual; and DOES 1-100,
inclusive,
Defendants.
I, Jamie V. Retmier, declare:
CASE NO.: CGC-16-553387
DECLARATION OF JAMIE V.
RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF
OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR
SUMMARY ADJUDICATION
Reservation No. 06280927-14
Date: September 27, 2018
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Dept.: 302
Judge: Hon. Harold E. Kahn
1. Tam an attorney with the law firm of Venardi Zurada LLP, counsel of record for
Plaintiff in this action. I make this declaration and the statements herein, based upon personal
knowledge and if called as a witness | could and would testify thereto.
DECLARATION OF JAMIE V. RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION
CASE No. CGC-16-553387a
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2. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 are true and correct copies of excerpts from Ray
Shrestha’s Deposition.
3. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Ken Patel’s
Deposition.
4. Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 are true and correct copies of Excerpts from Katherine
Amporias’ Deposition.
5. Attached hereto as Exhibit 4 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Ketan Patel’s
Deposition
6. Attached hereto as Exhibit 5 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Claudio
Bluer’s Deposition.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing
is true and correct, and that this declaration was executed on September 13, 2018, at Orinda,
California.
Jamie V. Retmier
DECLARATION OF JAMIE V. RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION
CASE No. CGC-16-553387EXHIBIT 1In The Matter Of:
RAMESH SHRESTHA v.
HOTEL SUNRISE, INC.
RAMESH SHRESTHA
February 28, 2017
Barkley Court Reporters
barkley.com
800.222.1231
Original File 420396.txtSUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY
SHRESTHA, an individual,
Plaintiff,
Case No.
v. CGC-16-553387
HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a
California corporation; HOTEL
SUNRISE, LLC, a California
limited liability company;
KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT
KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR
PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an
individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL
aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka
SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA
PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an
individual; and DOES 1-100,
inclusive,
Defendants.
DEPOSITION OF RAMESH SHRESTHA,
taken on behalf of the Defendants, at Hanson Bridgett,
LLP, 425 Market Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco,
California 94105, commencing at 9:35 a.m., on Tuesday,
February 28, 2017, before JUVILYNN T. ARBUTHNOT,
Certified Shorthand Reporter No. 13817.
BARKLEY
Court ReportersAPPEARANCES
FOR THE PLAINTIFF:
VENARDI ZURADA LLP
BY: MARTIN ZURADA
Attorney at Law
700 Ignacio Valley Road
Suite 300
Walnut Creek, California 94596
Tel: 925-937-3903
Fax: 925-937-3905
mzurada@vefirm.com
FOR THE DEFENDANTS:
HANSON BRIDGETT
BY: GILBERT J. TSAI
Attorney at Law
425 Market Street
26th Floor
San Francisco, California 94105
Tel: 415-777-3200
Fax: 415-995-3408
gtsai@hansonbridgett.com
ALSO PRESENT:
KIRIT PATEL
---000--
BARKLEY
Court ReportersINDEX
WITNESS: RAMESH SHRESTHA
EXAMINATION BY:
MR. TSAI
---000---
EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT NO. DESCRIPTION
1 Defendants' Amended Notice of Deposition
of Plaintiff Ramesh Shrestha and Request
for Production of Documents
2 American Translators Association
2013 ATA Membership Renewal Form
3 Lionbridge All Paid Cases Between
05/01/2012 and 06/16/2016
4 Color photos (17 pages)
5) Medi-Cal Annual Redetermination Form
6 Employment Agreement
7 Timecards Ray Shrestha and Katherine
Amporias
8 Timecard Katherine Amporias
INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO ANSWER
PAGE LINE
50 17
59 25
97 8
231 24
PAGE
PAGE
10
262
BARKLEY
Court ReportersSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA; TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017
9:35 A.M.
--000--
BE IT REMEMBERED that set on Tuesday, the
28th day of February, 2017, at Hanson Bridgett, 425
Market Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, California
94105, commencing at the hour of 9:35 a.m., before me,
Juvilynn T. Arbuthnot, CSR No. 13817, a Certified
Shorthand Reporter, personally appeared
RAMESH SHRESTHA,
having been called as a witness by the defendants, who
having been sworn in to tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth, was thereupon examined and
testified as hereinafter set forth.
---000---
EXAMINATION
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Can you state your name for the record, please.
A Ramesh, R-a-m-e-s-h, Ray Shrestha
S-h-r-e-s-t-h-a.
Q Have you gone by any other names?
A Ramesh Shrestha.
Q And may I call you "Ray"?
A Sure.
09:35
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Court ReportersA At the time, no, I was not.
0
Were you a student?
A No, I was not.
Q Were you earning any sort of income?
A At that particular time, no.
Q You had entered the country in 2005; correct?
A Yes.
Q And from 2005 until September 2007, were you
earning any income from any sources?
MR. ZURADA: Objection. That question is not
relevant. It also invades his right to privacy, so I'll
instruct the witness not to answer.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Harry informed you that there was
the Hotel Sunrise. What did you do next?
A So he gave me the location of the
then I just walked to the hotel.
Q You walked to the hotel, and then
A And I don't remember exactly what
a position at
hotel, and
what happened?
happened, but
I_think it was Ken who I talked to.
QO And what did you agree to?
A So I think he said that he had an
opening for a
night clerk, and I think he hired me for that position at
that time.
Q Okay. At the time he hired you as a night
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Court Reportersat night, you would not be able to push it open and walk
into the building. But at that time, there were so many
unruly and "cattic" people there, and they would keep
walking in and out of the building and leaving the door
ajar, so that anybody -- if you showed up at the door and
it was left ajar, then you could just walk in.
And other than that, it would be closed shut.
And then you have to press the buzzer and I would have to
buzz you in.
Q Was it part of the night clerk's job to make
sure that that door was closed?
A Yes. And I did that.
Q You mentioned that you were the night clerk for
about a week or two. What happened after that?
A After that, the best I can remember is that
Ken, I think, said, "You know what? I'm actually looking
for a full-time manager who would stay at the property
and work." And I think the conversation went along that
line.
Q A "full-time manager," meaning a resident
manager? Was that your understanding?
A Yes.
Q And that was about a week or two after you had
started working as a night clerk; correct?
A That's correct.
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Court ReportersQo Did you take that position?
A I_did.
QO What was the terms of the compensation?
A So I don't know whether that was determined at
that point or later into the month, but the terms and
conditions were that I would work 24 hours a da
QO My question right now is just compensation.
A Oh. 2,800 per month.
Q And how was that amount paid to you? Cash?
Check?
A Cash.
QO On_a_ monthly basis?
A Qn a monthly basis es.
QO Did it include an apartment that was included?
Did you get a free apartment as part of the compensation?
A So I was hired to be at the property and then
manage the hotel from the property itself. So, yes, I
was given those two rooms in the back for me and my wife
to stay in. But I don't know whether that was part of
the compensation or it was not. That didn't come to a
conversation.
Q If you had not accepted the resident manager
position, was there any sort of understanding that you
could still get that free apartment?
MR. ZURADA: I guess it misstates his testimony.
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Court ReportersMR. TSAI: Well, it's a question.
MR. ZURADA: It was whether or not it was free.
But you can answer the question as to whether or
not you could have stayed there if you hadn't started
working there.
THE WITNESS: I don't know that.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Okay. Your understanding was that
ou_could
only reside in that unit if you were the resident
manager; is that correct?
A My understanding was I could only work at the
hotel under the given terms and conditions if I stayed on
the property.
QO Gotcha. OQkay. So your testimony was that you
could only work there if you stayed there?
A That's right.
Q Because it was a resident manager position;
correct? Full-time?
A Because I was required to work 24/7, and then it
was -- I think one of the understanding was that I would
manage that hotel from the property itself. if I
were to work there under the given terms and conditions
I_would have to reside there.
MR. TSAI: Let's go off the record.
(A lunch recess was taken.)
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Court ReportersQ Could the same be said for 103?
A 103 could be a little smaller than 102, but
could be about the same size.
Q Did you have use of the kitchen in 101?
A Yes, I did.
Q Did you put your and your family's personal
belongings in 101?
A We put our food in the fridge that is in 101.
And of course our food and other food -- kitchen-related
items in the cabinetries, up and down.
Q Did you have exclusive use, along with your
family, of 102 and 103?
A 102 and 103, yes, I did. Except for the times
when Ken would go to the shower room in 103 and use that
shower room.
QO How many times did that happen?
A I_do not have the exact number, but that ma
have happened, like, at least once a week during
summertime.
Q Did you ask him not to do that?
A I did not.
Q Did you ask to install a lock, or did you seek
to install a lock between 101 and 102?
A No, I did not. But when I returned to the hotel
in May 2012, some renovation had been done to 101, 102
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Court ReportersBY MR.
Q
A
Q
the building unless you raised the attention to them;
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: Yes. Yes, I did.
TSAI:
Is that throughout the time that you were there?
Yes.
Meaning that Ken might not be aware of issues at
that correct?
Calls
MR. ZURADA: Objection. Vague and ambiguous
for speculation.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: So Ken would not go around the
property inspecting the condition of the property or go
into the rooms and inspect the situation of the rooms.
would
check
basements, and do that thing.
would
BY MR.
Q
BY MR.
Q
go around the property, walk around the hallways,
in the garbage rooms and laundry rooms and
spend more time doing those jobs than Ken did.
TSAI:
Would you consider Ken your supervisor?
MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: Yes. Ken was my supervisor, yes.
is
So it's fair to say that I
TSAI:
Did that ever change during the time from 2007
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Court Reportersto August 2016?
MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: Later in time, his son Ketan
Patel, K-e-t-a-n, got more involved in the business. And
it was my impression and understanding that he was one of
my supervisors too. And also, Ken's wife was also
involved in supervising my work.
BY MR. TSAI:
QO How frequently was Ketan at the Hotel Sunrise?
A Not_so frequent when it comes to his physical
presence, but he would maintain an ongoing communication
with me either over the phone or through text or e-mails.
Q You would keep him apprised of issues at the
hotel?
A Question once again, please.
Q Would you keep him apprised of issues at the
hotel?
A He would mostly have some specific questions
about the things that's going on at the hotel, and I
would respond to those questions and issues that he had.
Q Besides the night janitor and the housekeeper
were there any other employees at the Hotel Sunrise?
A From May 2012 when I came back to the hotel
there was one night audit.
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Court ReportersQ
A
Q
One night audit?
Yeah. Night clerk.
Let's pick up there
That's called night clerk.
ina little bit. At one
point ou_left employment at the Hotel Sunrise; is that
correct?
A That's correct.
Q When was that?
A I_think it was sometime around September 2011
Q And why did you leave?
A So until that time, I was the only employee to
perform the jobs that I -- and even before I was working
24/7 and I was doing all kinds of other jobs, and so it
was _a bur.
nout. JI_had two children by that time, and I
needed to give them time and attention, and just this
work of 2
4/7_was very stressful. It resulted in burnout,
so I left the job.
Q
May 2012?
A
And what did you do between September 2011 and
So I continued to work at the immigration court,
and also providing the translation services. And during
that time
, I was also retained by another company to
perform a translation job for a few months.
Q
How did you come to
return to the Hotel Sunrise
in May 2012?
A
So Ken and I talked,
and he mentioned to me that
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Court ReportersA Yes.
Q And from 2012 when you returned to the Hotel
Sunrise, to April 2016, did you make any complaints about
the way that you were paid?
A I_may have asked Ken a few times to raise m
salary -- raise my pay, I would say. And I may have even
complained with him that the amount of money that he was
paying me did not even meet the minimum wage threshold,
but I do not remember exactly what the communication was
like.
Q Did you complain to Ken in writing?
A I_may have sent either Ken or Ketan or both of
them, either text messages or may have spoken to them
verbally.
Q So we're restricting our conversation here to
May 2012 when you returned, up through April 2016. Okay?
A Okay.
Q And during this period of time, did your duties
change?
A In comparison with?
MR. ZURADA: That's vague and ambiguous.
You can answer.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Throughout that period of time, starting in May
of 2012, up until April 2016, did your duties change in
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Court Reportersemployment?
MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: I may have.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Did you?
MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: So --
BY MR. TSAI:
oO The question is: Did you complain to Ken about
any aspect of your employment?
MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous.
You can answer.
THE WITNESS: I think I did.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q What did you complain about?
A I_ think I complained about the amount of time I
was working and the amount of ways I was receiving. I
may have complained to Ken or to his son, Ketan, about
it.
Q What do you mean when you say the way that you
were being paid? Is that what you said?
A So I think there were a couple of issues that I
was talking about, that there was a huge disparit
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BARKLEY
Court Reportersbetween the amount of time I worked at the hotel and the
amount of money I was paid and the frequency of time I
was paid in. And I may have also complained about the
dichotomy of the mode of payment of cash and check.
Q You did not want to be paid in check; is that
right?
A No. I wanted to be paid in check.
Q You wanted to be paid in check. And eventually,
Ken paid you all in check; correct?
A That's right.
Q Was that in response to your request?
A I believe so.
Q You believed that you were entitled to more
money than you were being paid; is that right?
A Yes.
Q And that was based on the amount of time that
you believed you worked?
A Yes.
Q Did you specifically say that you believe you're
entitled to overtime payments?
A I do not recall the actual verbiage of our
conversation, but I may have complained something along
the line.
Q You do recall saying, "I should be paid more
money"; correct?
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Court Reportersreduced, but I was upset that the actual take-home pay
was reduced.
Q To clarify, you were not upset by your reduction
in hours; is that right?
A I was not upset by my reduction in hours, no.
Q You were upset that the net -- the overall
result was that there was less take-home pay; is that
right?
A That's right.
Q And did you complain to anybody at Hotel Sunrise
about that?
A Yes, I did.
Q Who did you explain to?
A I complained to Ken; I complained to his wife,
Meena, M-e-e-n-a -- could be M-i-n-a; and I complained to
his son, Ketan, K-e-t-a-n.
Qo At that point, did you consider pursuing other
employment?
A No.
Q Did you consider moving out of the Hotel
Sunrise?
A No, I did not. But there was one about a
communication or episode of communication with Ketan, who
presented himself in a very belligerent manner, accusing
me_of colluding with the night clerk and testifying to
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Court Reporters10
11
the Labor Enforcement to the effect that he and his
family lost a huge amount of money, and then -- and
then -- and he basically said, "We are doing this because
ou fucking went ahead and then talked to the Cit
Attorney" -- no -- "the Labor Enforcement. So this is
how it's going to happen, this is what it is, and this is
how it's going to happen from now on."
At that moment, I asked for a pay raise. I
said, "Well, for the amount of work I'm performing at the
hotel, why don't you consider giving me at least $15 an
hour?"
And_at that moment, he said something to the
effect that, "Well, we're giving you this apartment. If
ou're willing to move out of this place and come and
work from somewhere else, then I may think about that."
And we -- which he actually said against the spirit of
the contract that he and his father and the corporation
had me sign just a few weeks earlier, that my employment
at_the hotel was contingent upon the fact that I stayed
at the property.
And_at that moment, I said, "Let me think about
it. That sounds like a good idea." And -- but when I
assessed my situation and I responded to him saying, "No.
That's not a good idea. Just consider giving me some pay
raise."
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Court Reportersremember the exact date.
Q What made you go out and seek an attorney?
A I_had these several phases of talks with Ken and
Meena _ and Ketan about improving my wages, at least,
because I felt that the amount of work I was performing,
at_least before April '16, and then the seven hours
times -- seven hours after April 2016, I believed and I
felt that I deserved a better pay than the bare-bone
minimum wage, minus $835.49 deduced for so-called the
apartment rent.
So_my take-home pay went down, causing me some
financial stress. And when I spoke to Ken and Meena and
Ketan for several times, requesting them to -- to look at
me and what I've done over the course of time for them as
their loyal employee, their servant, and to give me
something -- a better deal, and they ignored my pleas.
Not only that, they were belligerent
disrespectful and started blaming me for the Labor
Commissioner boondogle they had with the night clerk. So
at that point, my thinking is, I had been loyal to this
family and the corporation for so many years, did so much
for them, increased the business almost 100 percent over
the course of time -- the revenue the hotel generated
over the course of time, and performed with different
kinds of hats, 90 percent of which was menial jobs I did
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Court ReportersQ And at that time, did you know that the lawsuit
was going to be filed or had been filed?
A I may heard -- may have not known. I can't
recall. I can't recall whether the lawsuit had been
filed by then.
Q Okay. So he came in at 3:00. What time did you
have a conversation with Ken about the lawsuit?
A Again, I can't -- I don't remember the -- recall
the exact time. It could be somewhere between 4:00 to
5:00 o'clock in the -- in the evening, or a little later.
Q But you recall that you were working during that
time?
A I think I handed the shift over to my wife about
4:00 o'clock, and then -- and then my wife was -- was on
duty. But I was still in the office area.
Q Okay. And what were you doing in the office
area?
A I don't remember exactly what I was doing. My
shift was, I think, over. I was discharged of the duty.
I may have gone to my living area to use the restroom.
But what I remember is Ken yelling and shouting at my
wife on top [sic] of his lungs. And at that moment, I
think I came to the office area to see what was going on.
And then Ken sees me and says, "Ra ou fucking filed a
lawsuit against me?"
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Court Reporters1 Q Did he swear?
2 A I think so, yes.
3 QO He said, "You fucking filed a lawsuit against
4| me?" Is that your testimony?
5 A That's right. 16:26
6 Q Okay. And he said it -- do you know what he
7| said to your wife?
8 A I do not know exactly what communication went on
9| between Ken and my wife at that moment.
10 Q Could you hear it? 16:26
11 MR. ZURADA: Are you talking about the time he
12} was in the bathroom, or in general that day?
13 THE WITNESS: I -- I think I heard him yelling
14} and shouting at a higher decibel of his voice, but I
15| could not -- I cannot recall the exact verbiage of the 16:27
16} communication that he had with my wife.
17| BY MR. TSAI:
18 Q Did you ask your wife afterwards what was he
19| saying?
20 MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous as to time. 16:27
21 Go ahead.
22 THE WITNESS: I may have asked her, and I think
23) my wife -- so, like, paraphrased that -- that Ken was
24) very upset, and, you know, he complained with my wife
25| that -- and he had filed -- that we had filed a 16:27
238
BARKLEY
Court ReportersQ But it's something related to "Yes"?
A Yes.
Q Okay. And then what happened?
MR. ZURADA: So just as I -- it's okay if you
don't remember the exact words, just say "Words to the
effect of" and then just say it, instead of doing this
preface. Just say, "Something to the effect of" and just
say it. If you remember exact words, then you say the
exact words. Okay?
THE WITNESS: And then -- so I don't remember
exact -- and then so at some point, he said to the effect
of, "Okay. Withdraw this lawsuit and give me in writing
what you want, and I will think about it."
And then my response was to the effect of
"Well, this process has already gone forward. You should
have thought about this once before. So just talk to m
attorney
And then he may have asked me again to confirm
my intention not to withdraw the lawsuit. And then at
that point, he said, "Then in that case, I'll have to
fire you."
And then I asked, "So Ken, will you fire us?"
And then he says, "Yes."
And I also asked, "Ken, will you also kick us
out of the apartment?"
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BARKLEY
Court ReportersAnd he says, "Yes."
That is the communication that I remember having
with Ken.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q You_ specifically asked him, "Will you fire us?"
A Yes.
Q Did you ask him when?
A I do not remember asking him when.
Q Did you tell him, "I need a couple of days to
move out"?
A I do not remember saying that. It was a very --
so like a hot situation, in layman's term.
Q But you remember these specific words?
A These specific words, I remember es.
Q You said, "Will you fire us?"
A Yes.
Q Did you ask, "Are you going to fire us?"
A I_ asked him, "So Ken, then will you fire us?"
And he says, "Yes."
Then I said, "Will you also kick us out of this
apartment?"
And he says, "Yes."
Q Was that meaning to ask, "In the future will you
fire us," or “Are you firing me right now?"
A I -- could you ask the question again?
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A I can't remember exactly how long after that
conversation I left. Ken may have -- after his rant was
over, he may have stayed quiet. And then there may have
been, you know, "death silence" in the office space, my
wife doing her own -- performing her duties as the front
desk clerk, and Ken being -- minding his own thing.
So I went downtown. I don't remember whether I
took the BART or bus, but I think I went downtown. Yes.
Q Okay. So your earlier testimony is that right
after you said, "Will you kick us out of the apartment?"
I thought your testimony was that right after that, you
said, "Talk to my attorney," and then you left.
Is that what you said?
A No.
Q Okay.
A I did not say that.
Q Okay. So you said, "Will you kick us out of the
apartment?"
"yes,"
And then exactly what happened after that?
(p
So after that --
MR. ZURADA: Asked and answered.
But you can answer again.
THE WITNESS: So to the best of my remembrance,
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there may have been some -- some silence, you know, an
awkward situation. JI was -- you know, I had finished m:
shift for the day. My wife was working. And then I ma
have left after some time, but I can't tell you exactl
how long after that conversation.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q But Ken ou, your wife and your two children
were there for a period of time after this conversation?
A I_think so.
9 And your kids remained in there after you left?
A Yes.
QO And you left and you went downtown; is that
right?
A Yes, I did. I don't remember whether m
daughter, Rachel, went out with me. I can't remember. I
can't recall now. But when I left, at least Raymond was
at the hotel. Maybe Rachel was there as well.
oO And_ at some point our wife told you that Ketan
came to the apartment; is that right?
A Yes.
Q And you weren't there when Ketan arrived?
A No.
Q You were there -- out possibly with Rachel?
A Yes.
Q Okay. And did your wife tell you that Ketan was
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Court Reportersthere after you returned?
A After I came back to the hotel, my wife told me
to the effect that Ketan was here. And Ken and Ketan
were both shouting -- yelling and shouting at her
complaining about all kinds of things, and definitel
about the Labor Enforcement lawsuit. And at a certain
point, my wife told me that Ken told her, “You are gone
Q That's from your wife?
A That's what my wife told me, yes
Q To your knowledge, did your wife have the
understanding of when your employment would end?
A So my wife reported to me that Ken said, "You
are gone from today," and she understood that -- that we
were fired. My wife and I were fired, effective
immediately.
Q You said Ken said that or Ketan said that,
according to your wife?
A I think my wife said that it was Ken who said
that.
Q And what time did that conversation take place,
according to your wife?
A I can't tell exactly when, but that may have
been sometime between 5:00 to 7:00 o'clock.
Q What time did you return to the apartment?
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A
Q
A
I do not recall. But
Where
did you go?
Downtown.
What were you doing downtown?
I_don'
t_recall exactly what I was doing. Maybe
I_was just taking my daughter out for a little walk, or I
was just walking out to take fresh air myself, now that I
have just been told by my boss that he would fire me.
Q
A
Q
A
Q
You have a cell phone; correct?
Yes.
Your wife has a cell phone?
Yes.
Did you call your wife between 5:00 and 7:00
o'clock when you were on this walk?
A
Q
I may
have called. I do not remember.
You had been working at the Hotel Sunrise --
except for that one gap, you had been working at Hotel
Sunrise for nine years; correct?
A
Q
A
course.
Q
Which
gap are you talking about?
Between 2011 and 2012, you had a gap; right?
Yes.
Right.
That would -- except for the vacations, of
But from May of 2007 or approximately
September of 2007 to August, 2016, you had been working
continuously at Hotel Sunrise, except for that one gap;
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Court Reportersfired?
A
So I did believe I was fired at that moment when
he said that he would fire us.
Q
Okay. So you didn't need your wife's
confirmation, did you?
A
So I did not need, per se, my wife's
confirmation. But Ken did confirm with my wife, a third
time, that we were fired.
Q
you left.
So following this conversation you had with Ken,
Did you talk to your wife about what your next
plans were going to be?
to time.
MR. ZURADA: Objection. Vague and ambiguous as
BY MR. TSAI:
Q
A
is going
Between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m.
I do not recall talking about what our next move
to be, what are we going to do in terms of
employment -- all those things, in an elaborate manner.
So I believe my immediate response was, "Okay. We are
fired, but we have to complete this shift, because there
was nobody to take over right then and there."
So Ken and Ketan did not sa "Okay. So here
was the guy." So we understood that we would have to
complete that shift, which we did.
Q So you said that to Ken before you left?
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Court ReportersMR. ZURADA: Objection. Misstates his
testimony.
You can answer.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q It's a question.
A I did not say that.
Q Okay. When did you say that to Ken?
MR. ZURADA: Objection. Misstates his
testimony. He never said he said it to Ken.
But you can answer.
THE WITNESS: I did not say that to Ken.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q Did you say that to anybody?
A Would you repeat the question? What did I say
to who?
Q You just testified that you said -- I thought
that you said, "Well, we're going to have to finish this
shift," and that Ken and Ketan did not say anything.
Can you clarify what you meant?
A Okay. LT will clarify. So when I came back to
the hotel and my wife said, "Ken fired us. He said that
we're gone from today" -- so my immediate response was,
"Okay. Then he fired us, but we have to complete this
shift." That was something that I thought within my own
head. And I may have talked to my wife about this, but I
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that we had been fired.
0
Okay.
A End of story.
Q When did you move out?
A On 3rd of August, 2016.
QO What -- I mean, how long was that process?
A So after I came back from outside and my wife
told me that we were fired from today, so I may have
started to, like, gather my things. I don't remember
exactly what happened, but I remember that when the night
clerk came and I reported of -- I passed the baton down
to him, reporting all the things that happened over the
course of time, and then also that we had been fired.
And then after submitting him the keys and
showing him the report for the day and counting all the
money that was in the till to make sure that the numbers
matched with the record -- so after all those things were
done, I think we left, packing up just a few belongings.
2 Okay. You counted up the till and,
quote/unquote, "passed the baton" to the night clerk; is
that right?
A Yes.
Q But your wife was working the shift, I thought.
A No. Let me say it was -- my wife did those
things. When I say "I," I'm saying my wife did those
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A That's right.
Q Was she at the front desk?
A She was at the front desk in the office area.
Q And the front desk has a camera, doesn't it?
A Front desk --
Q Has a video camera trained on that front desk
area?
A There was a video camera that feeds the video
record of whatever's happening at the front desk. Yes.
MR. ZURADA: Let's take a really short break
THE WITNESS: Okay.
MR. ZURADA: And I know we've got a 5:00 o'clock
limitation, so I'll be very short.
MR. TSAI: Okay.
(A short recess was taken.)
MR, TSAI: Back on the record.
THE WITNESS: So I want to clarify something
here. So after Om came and then my wife passed the baton
to him, reporting whatever happened during her shift and
informing -- either I informed or my wife; I can't recall
exactly who did -- but that we had been fired, we
gathered a few of our belongings, and we went.
But we came back again on numerous occasions,
because we did not pack everything. It took us a few
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more days, I think, until just the 4th of August, to
completely pack up and remove our things from the hotel.
And this all happened under Ken's watch, because when we
came back --
BY MR. TSAI:
Q I'm sorry. Can you clarify "this all happened
under Ken's watch"? What does that mean?
A So Ken was there while we were moving things
out. We came back, I think, around noon or so on
August 3rd. And when we -- when I walked through the
front desk, Ken was there. And I said, "Hi, Ken" to him
and he just didn't respond. And -- and we just -- my
wife and I went into the 102 and 103 and gathered a few
more belongings that we had. And we went and we came
back again and --
Q Where were your in-laws at that time?
A My -- I can't recall exactly where they were.
They may have been with us to help us pack things up, or
they may have stayed back in the house in Vallejo.
Q What about your children?
A My children -- again, I can't recall whether --
if my parents-in-law were staying back in Vallejo, they
may have stayed back with them. Or maybe that they
were -- they went with us to San Francisco.
Q When you left the Hotel Sunrise after midnight
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Court ReportersSTATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss.
COUNTY OF MARIN )
I, Juvilynn Benasfre, hereby certify:
I ama duly qualified Certified Shorthand
Reporter, in the State of California, holder of
Certificate Number CSR 13817 issued by the Court
Reporters Board of California and which is in full force
and effect. (Bus. & Prof. § 8016)
I am not financially interested in this action
and am not a relative or employee of any attorney of the
parties, or of any of the parties. (Civ. Proc. §
2025.320(a))
I am authorized to administer oaths or
affirmations pursuant to California Code of Civil
Procedure, Section 2093(b) and prior to being examined,
the deponent was first placed under oath or affirmation
by me. (Civ. Proc. $§ 2025.320, 2025.540(a))
I am the deposition officer that
stenographically recorded the testimony in the foregoing
deposition and the foregoing transcript is a true
record of the testimony given. (Civ. Proc. §
2025.540 (a) )
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Court ReportersI have not, and shall not, offer or provide
any services or products to any party's attorney or
third party who is financing all or part of the action
without first offering same to all parties or their
attorneys attending the deposition and making same
available at the same time to all parties or their
attorneys. (Civ. Proc. § 2025.320(b))
I shall not provide any service or product
consisting of the deposition officer's notations or
comments regarding the demeanor of any witness,
attorney, or party present at the deposition to any
party or any party's attorney or third party who is
financing all or part of the action, nor shall I collect
any personal identifying information about the witness
as a service or product to be provided to any party or
third party who is financing all or part of the action.
(Civ. Proc. § 2025.320(c)
Dated: March 10, 2017
269
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Court ReportersDEPOSITION OFFICER'S CERTIFICATE
(Civ. Proc. 2025.520(e)
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
) ss.
COUNTY OF MARIN )
I, Juvilynn Benasfre, hereby certify:
I am the deposition officer that I
stenographically recorded the testimony in the foregoing.
deposition.
Written notice pursuant to Code of Civil
Procedure, Section 2025.520(A), having been sent, the
deponent took the following action within the allotted
period with respect to the transcript of the deposition:
(_) In person, at the office of the deposition
officer, made the changes set forth on the original of the
transcript. (The parties attending the deposition have
been notified of said changes.)
(_) Approved the transcript by signing it.
(_) Refused to approve the transcript by not
signing it.
(_) By means of a signed letter, made the
changes and approved or refused to approve the transcript
as set forth therein. (Said letter has been attached to
the original transcript and copies thereof mailed to all
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oO
parties attending the deposition.)
(_) Failed to approve the transcript with the
allotted time period.
Dated:
271
BARKLEY
Court ReportersCERTIFIED COPY
|
SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
-o00-
RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY
SHRESTHA, an individual,
Plaintiff,
~vs-
HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a
California corporation; HOTEL
SUNRISE, LLC, a California
limited liability company;
KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT
KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR
PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an
individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL
aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka
SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA
PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an
individual; and DOES 1-100,
inclusive,
Defendants.
Volume II
No. CGC-16-553387
VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION of RAMESH SHRESTHA
NOVEMBER 1, 2017
REPORTED BY: Karen Scott, CSR
430482
SINCE
1972) ®
{810} 207-8000 Los Angeles (415) 433-5777 San Francisco
{910} 207-8000 Gentury City (408) 886-0550 San Josa
(916) 922-5777 Sacramento (800) 222-1281 Martinez
(951) 686-0606 Riverside (818) 702-0202 Woodland Hills.
(212) 808-8500 New York Gity (347) 821-4611 Brooklyn
(G12) 379-5566 Chicano 00414800 222 1231 Paris
No. 4027
(949) 955-0400 Irvine
(760) 322-2940 Palm Springs
(702) 360-0500 Las Vegas
(702) 366-0500 Henderson
(618) 490-1910 Albany
00+1+800 222 1231 Dubai
BARKLEY
Court Reporters
barkley.com
(858) 455-5444 San Diego
(G00) 222-4231 Carlsbad
(800) 222-1231 Monterey
(616) 277-9494 Garden City
(014) 510-9110 White Plains
001+1+800 222 1231 Hong KongSUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
-o00-
RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY
SHRESTHA, an individual,
Plaintiff,
-vs- No. CGC-16-553387
HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a
California corporation; HOTEL
SUNRISE, LLC, a California
limited liability company;
KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT
KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR
PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an
individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL
aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka
SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA
PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an
individual; and DOES 1-100,
inclusive,
Defendants.
Videotaped deposition of RAMESH SHRESTHA,
Volume II, taken on behalf of defendants, at Hanson
Bridgett LLP, 425 Market Street, 26th Floor,
San Francisco, California, commencing at 10:12 a.m.,
Wednesday, November 1, 2017, before Karen Scott, CSR
No. 4027.
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A Uh-huh. Fewer people stayed at the hotel,
then maybe the hotel owed less amount of tax.
Q Were you involved in paying taxes, the
TOT?
A Could you clarify the question?
Q Were you involved in calculating the
amount of TOT that the hotel owed?
A It was a computer-generated report on
basis of which I believe the hotel paid the tax.
Q The daily -- the monthly report sent to
the city, was it --
(Court reporter interrupts for clarity
of the record.)
BY MR. TSAI:
9 The monthly TOT report to the city was
generated by the hotel, and that was a
computer-generated report?
A Again, it's very vague in terms of what
time frame we're talking about, because later during
my work at the hotel the Patel family started doing
the work which I was doing before. So what I am
saying is they would ask me to print out the month]
report from the computer, which I did, and hand it
to Ken or Meena, and I do not know what they did
with that report afterwards.
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QO You do not know how the city calculated
the tax based on those reports, correct?
A I think the city had a set percentage of
tax on the transient. There are three types of
taxes, TOT, TID and MED, and they had their own
percentage share which totaled to 15.06 percent, I
believe.
Q Let's just talk about the TOT, and the TOT
report is the one that we have been talking about,
correct?
A Yes.
QO Okay. So on the TOT there would be a
monthly report generated. You would print it out
and present it to Ketan or someone else that was
part of the Patel family; is that correct?
MR. VENARDI: Vague and ambiguous as to
time.
(Court reporter interrupts for clarit
of the record.
THE WITNESS: Do I_ do it again?
MR. VENARDI: You can answer.
THE WITNESS: Okay. So I mostly handed
the report to Meena, sometimes to Ken, and sometimes
to Ketan.
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many of those cash-paying guests to the city
document, and Ken was very upset about that, because
I_remember this conversation where Ken and, I
believe, even Ketan were upset why the TOT taxes
went so high on some months. And when I told him
that I was reporting those cash-paying guests to the
cit then Ken and, I believe, even Ketan were upset
about it.
QO When was that?
A I don't remember exactly when that was.
Q Can you estimate?
A It could be sometime in --
MR. VENARDI: Not "it could be." So
here's the thing: An estimate is appropriate if you
can give him a range based upon your recollection.
So it would be -- what you do is give yourself
enough room so that you feel comfortable that that
range is accurate.
THE WITNESS: Sometime around 2013.
MR. VENARDI: He's not going to hold you
strictly to that.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q From that point on, did you continue to
omit cash-paying tenants from the TOT report?
A So could you clarify your question?
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San Francisco, and many times the guests would bring
a doctor's note, and then when they brought a
doctor's note saying that a dog or a cat was that
person's service animal, I permitted them to have a
service animal.
Q Did you tell Ken that you were permitting
animals on the premises without certification?
A I don't remember.
Q Did you provide the doctor's note to Ken?
A For each guest that checked in?
QO On any occasion where a tenant had a pet
and a doctor's note related to having that pet, did
you provide that doctor's note to Ken?
A I don't remember.
9 Did you do it by email or any sort of
text?
A I think this was an ongoing issue. I
informed the hotel policy, and then Ken and I
conferred on several occasions and discussed about
allowing the guests who had pets or animals with the
service animal documentation.
Q I am just asking if you did that over
email or text.
A I don't remember.
Q You_ testified about issues with your
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window having a panel that was not secure on the
frame. Do you recall that?
MR. VENARDI: I recall it. What are you
going to ask him about it?
THE WITNESS: I think so.
MR. TSAI: I am asking him if he's
recalled it.
Q And then there was one window in the
office area as well, is that correct, that had the
same condition with the window?
MR. VENARDI: So I am going to instruct
him not to answer. He's already testified about
that.
BY MR. TSAI:
Q When did you tell Ken about this?
A I_don't remember exactly when, but it was
an_ongoing issue, and I remember talking to Ken on
several occasions.
Q Do you remember the first time you
mentioned it to him?
A I do not.
Q Do you recall if this issue existed before
you moved back into the apartment?
A I do not remember.
Q Do you recall what his response was?
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A Any time we talked about issues related to
the apartment --
Q I am asking specifically about this, if
you recall.
MR. VENARDI: Don't interrupt him, please.
THE WITNESS: So any time I --
BY MR. TSAI:
QO He is not answering the question.
A Any time I talked about the issues in and
around the apartment, the condition it was, Ken's
answer was, oh, we'll do it last or don't worr
about it.
Qo Do you remember that specificall
occurring in response to raising the issue with the
window?
A Could you repeat the question?
Q Do you remember Ken specificall
responding in that fashion with respect to you
raising an issue about the window?
A Yes, Ido. But I don't remember when.
Q Can you describe how it interfered with
our use of the apartment?
A When you say "it," you mean --
oO The window with the lower panel that was
not secure on the frame.
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A So when you say "interfere,"
how would you
explain that?
Q How did it affect the way that you used
that apartment?
A So I remember this, that when the window
wasn't secure and there was no cooling system in
place during summer to have some cool air in, we
would have to lift that broken panel up and prop it
with some object, mostly with a Clorox wipe
container, and then when that happened I remember
feeling very insecure in the unit.
I_ feared the violation of my privacy. L
had fear about -- because it overlooked the alley,
which is mostly dark during the nighttime, and I
feared that somebody could hurt us, throw an object
inside or just, you know, invade our privac
That's all I remember now.
QO The concern that you're expressing here
about feeling insecure, that was a result of you
holding the window open; is that right?
A Could you clarify the question?
QO You're describing feeling insecure that
someone could come into the apartment; is that
correct?
A Yes.
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QO And that insecurity stemmed from you
propping the window open; is that correct?
A Not only from propping the window open.
Even when the window was closed, it was not secure
so _ anybody could knock it down and bring the whole
frame down.
° Did you ever attempt to repair the window?
A Myself?
Q Let's start with yourself.
A I am not an expert in repairing the
windows, so when Ken ignored the issue or did not
make an effort to call the guys to repair it, the
best I could is just securely put it up, put it
down. There are the things I remember doing.
0 Did you ever call a contractor or
maintenance worker to repair the window?
A So it would have to be Ken who would have
to order somebody to go in, and my go-to person was
Ken.
Qo You_had the list of contractors that you
could have called, correct, to repair the window?
A Yes. But unless authorized by Ken, I
would not be able to do that because that would
involve payment, and I would not be able to pay the
cost of repairs to those windows.
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Q Did you ever try calling the contractor or
maintenance person?
A I don't remember. Probably not.
Q Did you ever contact anybody about the
lack of heating installation in your unit?
A Are you asking if I called a contractor to
come and install a heating system?
QO Anyone.
A Well, again, my person to talk about and
complain with was Ken, and I don't know when, but I
remember talking to Ken about not having a heating
system in the apartment, that there was a -- there
was _a rectangular holding place, and I think that
was for a heating machine to put in. And again, it
was Ken's call to instruct somebody to go in there
and install a machine.
QO Did you ever call a contractor or
maintenance person to replace or install a heating
unit?
A I don't remember.
Q Did you ever send emails inquiring to any
of these contractors or maintenance people to come
in and install the unit?
A I don't remember.
Q Did you ever bring in a portable heating
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A Yes.
Q When did you bring that in?
A I don't remember.
oO Did the unit have a heating system when
ou_left in September 2011?
A I_think no.
QO Did it have a heating system when you
returned in 2012?
A No.
Oo Were you aware that it did not have a
heating system when you returned in 2012?
A You me
Preview
VENARDI ZURADA, LLP ) 937-3905 5 Tel: (925) 937-3900 7 Orinda, CA 94563 Fax: (9: 25 Orinda Way, Suite 250 Mark L. Venardi (SBN 173140) Martin Zurada (SBN 218235) Jamie Retmier (SBN 308060) VENARDI ZURADA LLP 25 Orinda Way, Suite 250 Orinda, CA 94563 Telephone: (925) 937-3900 Facsimile: (925) 937-3905 Attorneys for Plaintiff RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA ELECTRONICALLY FILED Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco 09/13/2018 Clerk of the Court BY: VANESSA WU Deputy Clerk SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA, an individual, Plaintiff, v. HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a California corporation; HOTEL SUNRISE, LLC, a California limited liability company; KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an individual; and DOES 1-100, inclusive, Defendants. I, Jamie V. Retmier, declare: CASE NO.: CGC-16-553387 DECLARATION OF JAMIE V. RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION Reservation No. 06280927-14 Date: September 27, 2018 Time: 9:30 a.m. Dept.: 302 Judge: Hon. Harold E. Kahn 1. Tam an attorney with the law firm of Venardi Zurada LLP, counsel of record for Plaintiff in this action. I make this declaration and the statements herein, based upon personal knowledge and if called as a witness | could and would testify thereto. DECLARATION OF JAMIE V. RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION CASE No. CGC-16-553387a 5 3 < 3 2 N 5 oS < Zz a > z 4 2s £3 AZ 2S ea Tel: (925) 937-3900 25 Orin 25) 937-3905 Fax: (9: SO mI DAH BW NY 2. Attached hereto as Exhibit 1 are true and correct copies of excerpts from Ray Shrestha’s Deposition. 3. Attached hereto as Exhibit 2 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Ken Patel’s Deposition. 4. Attached hereto as Exhibit 3 are true and correct copies of Excerpts from Katherine Amporias’ Deposition. 5. Attached hereto as Exhibit 4 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Ketan Patel’s Deposition 6. Attached hereto as Exhibit 5 are true and correct copies of Excerpts of Claudio Bluer’s Deposition. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct, and that this declaration was executed on September 13, 2018, at Orinda, California. Jamie V. Retmier DECLARATION OF JAMIE V. RETMIER IN SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO MOTION FOR SUMMARY ADJUDICATION CASE No. CGC-16-553387EXHIBIT 1In The Matter Of: RAMESH SHRESTHA v. HOTEL SUNRISE, INC. RAMESH SHRESTHA February 28, 2017 Barkley Court Reporters barkley.com 800.222.1231 Original File 420396.txtSUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA, an individual, Plaintiff, Case No. v. CGC-16-553387 HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a California corporation; HOTEL SUNRISE, LLC, a California limited liability company; KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an individual; and DOES 1-100, inclusive, Defendants. DEPOSITION OF RAMESH SHRESTHA, taken on behalf of the Defendants, at Hanson Bridgett, LLP, 425 Market Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, commencing at 9:35 a.m., on Tuesday, February 28, 2017, before JUVILYNN T. ARBUTHNOT, Certified Shorthand Reporter No. 13817. BARKLEY Court ReportersAPPEARANCES FOR THE PLAINTIFF: VENARDI ZURADA LLP BY: MARTIN ZURADA Attorney at Law 700 Ignacio Valley Road Suite 300 Walnut Creek, California 94596 Tel: 925-937-3903 Fax: 925-937-3905 mzurada@vefirm.com FOR THE DEFENDANTS: HANSON BRIDGETT BY: GILBERT J. TSAI Attorney at Law 425 Market Street 26th Floor San Francisco, California 94105 Tel: 415-777-3200 Fax: 415-995-3408 gtsai@hansonbridgett.com ALSO PRESENT: KIRIT PATEL ---000-- BARKLEY Court ReportersINDEX WITNESS: RAMESH SHRESTHA EXAMINATION BY: MR. TSAI ---000--- EXHIBITS EXHIBIT NO. DESCRIPTION 1 Defendants' Amended Notice of Deposition of Plaintiff Ramesh Shrestha and Request for Production of Documents 2 American Translators Association 2013 ATA Membership Renewal Form 3 Lionbridge All Paid Cases Between 05/01/2012 and 06/16/2016 4 Color photos (17 pages) 5) Medi-Cal Annual Redetermination Form 6 Employment Agreement 7 Timecards Ray Shrestha and Katherine Amporias 8 Timecard Katherine Amporias INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO ANSWER PAGE LINE 50 17 59 25 97 8 231 24 PAGE PAGE 10 262 BARKLEY Court ReportersSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA; TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2017 9:35 A.M. --000-- BE IT REMEMBERED that set on Tuesday, the 28th day of February, 2017, at Hanson Bridgett, 425 Market Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, California 94105, commencing at the hour of 9:35 a.m., before me, Juvilynn T. Arbuthnot, CSR No. 13817, a Certified Shorthand Reporter, personally appeared RAMESH SHRESTHA, having been called as a witness by the defendants, who having been sworn in to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, was thereupon examined and testified as hereinafter set forth. ---000--- EXAMINATION BY MR. TSAI: Q Can you state your name for the record, please. A Ramesh, R-a-m-e-s-h, Ray Shrestha S-h-r-e-s-t-h-a. Q Have you gone by any other names? A Ramesh Shrestha. Q And may I call you "Ray"? A Sure. 09:35 09:35 BARKLEY Court ReportersA At the time, no, I was not. 0 Were you a student? A No, I was not. Q Were you earning any sort of income? A At that particular time, no. Q You had entered the country in 2005; correct? A Yes. Q And from 2005 until September 2007, were you earning any income from any sources? MR. ZURADA: Objection. That question is not relevant. It also invades his right to privacy, so I'll instruct the witness not to answer. BY MR. TSAI: Q Harry informed you that there was the Hotel Sunrise. What did you do next? A So he gave me the location of the then I just walked to the hotel. Q You walked to the hotel, and then A And I don't remember exactly what a position at hotel, and what happened? happened, but I_think it was Ken who I talked to. QO And what did you agree to? A So I think he said that he had an opening for a night clerk, and I think he hired me for that position at that time. Q Okay. At the time he hired you as a night 97 11:55 11:55 11:55 11:56 11:56 BARKLEY Court Reportersat night, you would not be able to push it open and walk into the building. But at that time, there were so many unruly and "cattic" people there, and they would keep walking in and out of the building and leaving the door ajar, so that anybody -- if you showed up at the door and it was left ajar, then you could just walk in. And other than that, it would be closed shut. And then you have to press the buzzer and I would have to buzz you in. Q Was it part of the night clerk's job to make sure that that door was closed? A Yes. And I did that. Q You mentioned that you were the night clerk for about a week or two. What happened after that? A After that, the best I can remember is that Ken, I think, said, "You know what? I'm actually looking for a full-time manager who would stay at the property and work." And I think the conversation went along that line. Q A "full-time manager," meaning a resident manager? Was that your understanding? A Yes. Q And that was about a week or two after you had started working as a night clerk; correct? A That's correct. 100 12:00 12:00 12:01 12:01 12:01 BARKLEY Court ReportersQo Did you take that position? A I_did. QO What was the terms of the compensation? A So I don't know whether that was determined at that point or later into the month, but the terms and conditions were that I would work 24 hours a da QO My question right now is just compensation. A Oh. 2,800 per month. Q And how was that amount paid to you? Cash? Check? A Cash. QO On_a_ monthly basis? A Qn a monthly basis es. QO Did it include an apartment that was included? Did you get a free apartment as part of the compensation? A So I was hired to be at the property and then manage the hotel from the property itself. So, yes, I was given those two rooms in the back for me and my wife to stay in. But I don't know whether that was part of the compensation or it was not. That didn't come to a conversation. Q If you had not accepted the resident manager position, was there any sort of understanding that you could still get that free apartment? MR. ZURADA: I guess it misstates his testimony. 101 12:02 12:02 12:02 12:03 12:03 BARKLEY Court ReportersMR. TSAI: Well, it's a question. MR. ZURADA: It was whether or not it was free. But you can answer the question as to whether or not you could have stayed there if you hadn't started working there. THE WITNESS: I don't know that. BY MR. TSAI: Q Okay. Your understanding was that ou_could only reside in that unit if you were the resident manager; is that correct? A My understanding was I could only work at the hotel under the given terms and conditions if I stayed on the property. QO Gotcha. OQkay. So your testimony was that you could only work there if you stayed there? A That's right. Q Because it was a resident manager position; correct? Full-time? A Because I was required to work 24/7, and then it was -- I think one of the understanding was that I would manage that hotel from the property itself. if I were to work there under the given terms and conditions I_would have to reside there. MR. TSAI: Let's go off the record. (A lunch recess was taken.) 102 12:03 12:03 12:03 12:04 12:04 BARKLEY Court ReportersQ Could the same be said for 103? A 103 could be a little smaller than 102, but could be about the same size. Q Did you have use of the kitchen in 101? A Yes, I did. Q Did you put your and your family's personal belongings in 101? A We put our food in the fridge that is in 101. And of course our food and other food -- kitchen-related items in the cabinetries, up and down. Q Did you have exclusive use, along with your family, of 102 and 103? A 102 and 103, yes, I did. Except for the times when Ken would go to the shower room in 103 and use that shower room. QO How many times did that happen? A I_do not have the exact number, but that ma have happened, like, at least once a week during summertime. Q Did you ask him not to do that? A I did not. Q Did you ask to install a lock, or did you seek to install a lock between 101 and 102? A No, I did not. But when I returned to the hotel in May 2012, some renovation had been done to 101, 102 109 13:12 13:12 13:12 13:13 13:13 BARKLEY Court ReportersBY MR. Q A Q the building unless you raised the attention to them; You can answer. THE WITNESS: Yes. Yes, I did. TSAI: Is that throughout the time that you were there? Yes. Meaning that Ken might not be aware of issues at that correct? Calls MR. ZURADA: Objection. Vague and ambiguous for speculation. You can answer. THE WITNESS: So Ken would not go around the property inspecting the condition of the property or go into the rooms and inspect the situation of the rooms. would check basements, and do that thing. would BY MR. Q BY MR. Q go around the property, walk around the hallways, in the garbage rooms and laundry rooms and spend more time doing those jobs than Ken did. TSAI: Would you consider Ken your supervisor? MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous You can answer. THE WITNESS: Yes. Ken was my supervisor, yes. is So it's fair to say that I TSAI: Did that ever change during the time from 2007 140 13:57 13:57 13:58 13:58 13:58 BARKLEY Court Reportersto August 2016? MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous. You can answer. THE WITNESS: Later in time, his son Ketan Patel, K-e-t-a-n, got more involved in the business. And it was my impression and understanding that he was one of my supervisors too. And also, Ken's wife was also involved in supervising my work. BY MR. TSAI: QO How frequently was Ketan at the Hotel Sunrise? A Not_so frequent when it comes to his physical presence, but he would maintain an ongoing communication with me either over the phone or through text or e-mails. Q You would keep him apprised of issues at the hotel? A Question once again, please. Q Would you keep him apprised of issues at the hotel? A He would mostly have some specific questions about the things that's going on at the hotel, and I would respond to those questions and issues that he had. Q Besides the night janitor and the housekeeper were there any other employees at the Hotel Sunrise? A From May 2012 when I came back to the hotel there was one night audit. 141 13:59 13:59 13:59 13:59 14:00 BARKLEY Court ReportersQ A Q One night audit? Yeah. Night clerk. Let's pick up there That's called night clerk. ina little bit. At one point ou_left employment at the Hotel Sunrise; is that correct? A That's correct. Q When was that? A I_think it was sometime around September 2011 Q And why did you leave? A So until that time, I was the only employee to perform the jobs that I -- and even before I was working 24/7 and I was doing all kinds of other jobs, and so it was _a bur. nout. JI_had two children by that time, and I needed to give them time and attention, and just this work of 2 4/7_was very stressful. It resulted in burnout, so I left the job. Q May 2012? A And what did you do between September 2011 and So I continued to work at the immigration court, and also providing the translation services. And during that time , I was also retained by another company to perform a translation job for a few months. Q How did you come to return to the Hotel Sunrise in May 2012? A So Ken and I talked, and he mentioned to me that 142 14:00 14:00 14:01 14:01 14:02 BARKLEY Court ReportersA Yes. Q And from 2012 when you returned to the Hotel Sunrise, to April 2016, did you make any complaints about the way that you were paid? A I_may have asked Ken a few times to raise m salary -- raise my pay, I would say. And I may have even complained with him that the amount of money that he was paying me did not even meet the minimum wage threshold, but I do not remember exactly what the communication was like. Q Did you complain to Ken in writing? A I_may have sent either Ken or Ketan or both of them, either text messages or may have spoken to them verbally. Q So we're restricting our conversation here to May 2012 when you returned, up through April 2016. Okay? A Okay. Q And during this period of time, did your duties change? A In comparison with? MR. ZURADA: That's vague and ambiguous. You can answer. BY MR. TSAI: Q Throughout that period of time, starting in May of 2012, up until April 2016, did your duties change in 171 14:53 14:53 14:54 14:54 14:54 BARKLEY Court Reportersemployment? MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous. You can answer. THE WITNESS: I may have. BY MR. TSAI: Q Did you? MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous. You can answer. THE WITNESS: So -- BY MR. TSAI: oO The question is: Did you complain to Ken about any aspect of your employment? MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous. You can answer. THE WITNESS: I think I did. BY MR. TSAI: Q What did you complain about? A I_ think I complained about the amount of time I was working and the amount of ways I was receiving. I may have complained to Ken or to his son, Ketan, about it. Q What do you mean when you say the way that you were being paid? Is that what you said? A So I think there were a couple of issues that I was talking about, that there was a huge disparit 211 15:52 15:52 15:52 15:52 15:52 BARKLEY Court Reportersbetween the amount of time I worked at the hotel and the amount of money I was paid and the frequency of time I was paid in. And I may have also complained about the dichotomy of the mode of payment of cash and check. Q You did not want to be paid in check; is that right? A No. I wanted to be paid in check. Q You wanted to be paid in check. And eventually, Ken paid you all in check; correct? A That's right. Q Was that in response to your request? A I believe so. Q You believed that you were entitled to more money than you were being paid; is that right? A Yes. Q And that was based on the amount of time that you believed you worked? A Yes. Q Did you specifically say that you believe you're entitled to overtime payments? A I do not recall the actual verbiage of our conversation, but I may have complained something along the line. Q You do recall saying, "I should be paid more money"; correct? 212 15:53 15:53 15:53 15:53 15:53 BARKLEY Court Reportersreduced, but I was upset that the actual take-home pay was reduced. Q To clarify, you were not upset by your reduction in hours; is that right? A I was not upset by my reduction in hours, no. Q You were upset that the net -- the overall result was that there was less take-home pay; is that right? A That's right. Q And did you complain to anybody at Hotel Sunrise about that? A Yes, I did. Q Who did you explain to? A I complained to Ken; I complained to his wife, Meena, M-e-e-n-a -- could be M-i-n-a; and I complained to his son, Ketan, K-e-t-a-n. Qo At that point, did you consider pursuing other employment? A No. Q Did you consider moving out of the Hotel Sunrise? A No, I did not. But there was one about a communication or episode of communication with Ketan, who presented himself in a very belligerent manner, accusing me_of colluding with the night clerk and testifying to 217 15:58 15:59 15:59 15:59 15:59 BARKLEY Court Reporters10 11 the Labor Enforcement to the effect that he and his family lost a huge amount of money, and then -- and then -- and he basically said, "We are doing this because ou fucking went ahead and then talked to the Cit Attorney" -- no -- "the Labor Enforcement. So this is how it's going to happen, this is what it is, and this is how it's going to happen from now on." At that moment, I asked for a pay raise. I said, "Well, for the amount of work I'm performing at the hotel, why don't you consider giving me at least $15 an hour?" And_at that moment, he said something to the effect that, "Well, we're giving you this apartment. If ou're willing to move out of this place and come and work from somewhere else, then I may think about that." And we -- which he actually said against the spirit of the contract that he and his father and the corporation had me sign just a few weeks earlier, that my employment at_the hotel was contingent upon the fact that I stayed at the property. And_at that moment, I said, "Let me think about it. That sounds like a good idea." And -- but when I assessed my situation and I responded to him saying, "No. That's not a good idea. Just consider giving me some pay raise." 218 16:00 16:00 16:00 16:01 16:01 BARKLEY Court Reportersremember the exact date. Q What made you go out and seek an attorney? A I_had these several phases of talks with Ken and Meena _ and Ketan about improving my wages, at least, because I felt that the amount of work I was performing, at_least before April '16, and then the seven hours times -- seven hours after April 2016, I believed and I felt that I deserved a better pay than the bare-bone minimum wage, minus $835.49 deduced for so-called the apartment rent. So_my take-home pay went down, causing me some financial stress. And when I spoke to Ken and Meena and Ketan for several times, requesting them to -- to look at me and what I've done over the course of time for them as their loyal employee, their servant, and to give me something -- a better deal, and they ignored my pleas. Not only that, they were belligerent disrespectful and started blaming me for the Labor Commissioner boondogle they had with the night clerk. So at that point, my thinking is, I had been loyal to this family and the corporation for so many years, did so much for them, increased the business almost 100 percent over the course of time -- the revenue the hotel generated over the course of time, and performed with different kinds of hats, 90 percent of which was menial jobs I did 224 16:07 16:08 16:08 16:09 16:09 BARKLEY Court ReportersQ And at that time, did you know that the lawsuit was going to be filed or had been filed? A I may heard -- may have not known. I can't recall. I can't recall whether the lawsuit had been filed by then. Q Okay. So he came in at 3:00. What time did you have a conversation with Ken about the lawsuit? A Again, I can't -- I don't remember the -- recall the exact time. It could be somewhere between 4:00 to 5:00 o'clock in the -- in the evening, or a little later. Q But you recall that you were working during that time? A I think I handed the shift over to my wife about 4:00 o'clock, and then -- and then my wife was -- was on duty. But I was still in the office area. Q Okay. And what were you doing in the office area? A I don't remember exactly what I was doing. My shift was, I think, over. I was discharged of the duty. I may have gone to my living area to use the restroom. But what I remember is Ken yelling and shouting at my wife on top [sic] of his lungs. And at that moment, I think I came to the office area to see what was going on. And then Ken sees me and says, "Ra ou fucking filed a lawsuit against me?" 237 16:24 16:25 16:25 16:25 16:26 BARKLEY Court Reporters1 Q Did he swear? 2 A I think so, yes. 3 QO He said, "You fucking filed a lawsuit against 4| me?" Is that your testimony? 5 A That's right. 16:26 6 Q Okay. And he said it -- do you know what he 7| said to your wife? 8 A I do not know exactly what communication went on 9| between Ken and my wife at that moment. 10 Q Could you hear it? 16:26 11 MR. ZURADA: Are you talking about the time he 12} was in the bathroom, or in general that day? 13 THE WITNESS: I -- I think I heard him yelling 14} and shouting at a higher decibel of his voice, but I 15| could not -- I cannot recall the exact verbiage of the 16:27 16} communication that he had with my wife. 17| BY MR. TSAI: 18 Q Did you ask your wife afterwards what was he 19| saying? 20 MR. ZURADA: Vague and ambiguous as to time. 16:27 21 Go ahead. 22 THE WITNESS: I may have asked her, and I think 23) my wife -- so, like, paraphrased that -- that Ken was 24) very upset, and, you know, he complained with my wife 25| that -- and he had filed -- that we had filed a 16:27 238 BARKLEY Court ReportersQ But it's something related to "Yes"? A Yes. Q Okay. And then what happened? MR. ZURADA: So just as I -- it's okay if you don't remember the exact words, just say "Words to the effect of" and then just say it, instead of doing this preface. Just say, "Something to the effect of" and just say it. If you remember exact words, then you say the exact words. Okay? THE WITNESS: And then -- so I don't remember exact -- and then so at some point, he said to the effect of, "Okay. Withdraw this lawsuit and give me in writing what you want, and I will think about it." And then my response was to the effect of "Well, this process has already gone forward. You should have thought about this once before. So just talk to m attorney And then he may have asked me again to confirm my intention not to withdraw the lawsuit. And then at that point, he said, "Then in that case, I'll have to fire you." And then I asked, "So Ken, will you fire us?" And then he says, "Yes." And I also asked, "Ken, will you also kick us out of the apartment?" 240 16:28 16:29 16:29 16:29 16:30 BARKLEY Court ReportersAnd he says, "Yes." That is the communication that I remember having with Ken. BY MR. TSAI: Q You_ specifically asked him, "Will you fire us?" A Yes. Q Did you ask him when? A I do not remember asking him when. Q Did you tell him, "I need a couple of days to move out"? A I do not remember saying that. It was a very -- so like a hot situation, in layman's term. Q But you remember these specific words? A These specific words, I remember es. Q You said, "Will you fire us?" A Yes. Q Did you ask, "Are you going to fire us?" A I_ asked him, "So Ken, then will you fire us?" And he says, "Yes." Then I said, "Will you also kick us out of this apartment?" And he says, "Yes." Q Was that meaning to ask, "In the future will you fire us," or “Are you firing me right now?" A I -- could you ask the question again? 241 16:30 16:30 16:30 16:30 16:31 BARKLEY Court Reportersconversation, and did you take BART downtown? A I can't remember exactly how long after that conversation I left. Ken may have -- after his rant was over, he may have stayed quiet. And then there may have been, you know, "death silence" in the office space, my wife doing her own -- performing her duties as the front desk clerk, and Ken being -- minding his own thing. So I went downtown. I don't remember whether I took the BART or bus, but I think I went downtown. Yes. Q Okay. So your earlier testimony is that right after you said, "Will you kick us out of the apartment?" I thought your testimony was that right after that, you said, "Talk to my attorney," and then you left. Is that what you said? A No. Q Okay. A I did not say that. Q Okay. So you said, "Will you kick us out of the apartment?" "yes," And then exactly what happened after that? (p So after that -- MR. ZURADA: Asked and answered. But you can answer again. THE WITNESS: So to the best of my remembrance, 245 16:35 16:35 16:35 16:35 16:36 BARKLEY Court Reportersfo ho there may have been some -- some silence, you know, an awkward situation. JI was -- you know, I had finished m: shift for the day. My wife was working. And then I ma have left after some time, but I can't tell you exactl how long after that conversation. BY MR. TSAI: Q But Ken ou, your wife and your two children were there for a period of time after this conversation? A I_think so. 9 And your kids remained in there after you left? A Yes. QO And you left and you went downtown; is that right? A Yes, I did. I don't remember whether m daughter, Rachel, went out with me. I can't remember. I can't recall now. But when I left, at least Raymond was at the hotel. Maybe Rachel was there as well. oO And_ at some point our wife told you that Ketan came to the apartment; is that right? A Yes. Q And you weren't there when Ketan arrived? A No. Q You were there -- out possibly with Rachel? A Yes. Q Okay. And did your wife tell you that Ketan was 246 16:36 16:36 16:36 16:37 16:37 BARKLEY Court Reportersthere after you returned? A After I came back to the hotel, my wife told me to the effect that Ketan was here. And Ken and Ketan were both shouting -- yelling and shouting at her complaining about all kinds of things, and definitel about the Labor Enforcement lawsuit. And at a certain point, my wife told me that Ken told her, “You are gone Q That's from your wife? A That's what my wife told me, yes Q To your knowledge, did your wife have the understanding of when your employment would end? A So my wife reported to me that Ken said, "You are gone from today," and she understood that -- that we were fired. My wife and I were fired, effective immediately. Q You said Ken said that or Ketan said that, according to your wife? A I think my wife said that it was Ken who said that. Q And what time did that conversation take place, according to your wife? A I can't tell exactly when, but that may have been sometime between 5:00 to 7:00 o'clock. Q What time did you return to the apartment? 247 16:37 16:37 16:38 16:38 16:39 BARKLEY Court Reporters0 A Q A I do not recall. But Where did you go? Downtown. What were you doing downtown? I_don' t_recall exactly what I was doing. Maybe I_was just taking my daughter out for a little walk, or I was just walking out to take fresh air myself, now that I have just been told by my boss that he would fire me. Q A Q A Q You have a cell phone; correct? Yes. Your wife has a cell phone? Yes. Did you call your wife between 5:00 and 7:00 o'clock when you were on this walk? A Q I may have called. I do not remember. You had been working at the Hotel Sunrise -- except for that one gap, you had been working at Hotel Sunrise for nine years; correct? A Q A course. Q Which gap are you talking about? Between 2011 and 2012, you had a gap; right? Yes. Right. That would -- except for the vacations, of But from May of 2007 or approximately September of 2007 to August, 2016, you had been working continuously at Hotel Sunrise, except for that one gap; 248 16:39 16:39 16:39 16:39 16:40 BARKLEY Court Reportersfired? A So I did believe I was fired at that moment when he said that he would fire us. Q Okay. So you didn't need your wife's confirmation, did you? A So I did not need, per se, my wife's confirmation. But Ken did confirm with my wife, a third time, that we were fired. Q you left. So following this conversation you had with Ken, Did you talk to your wife about what your next plans were going to be? to time. MR. ZURADA: Objection. Vague and ambiguous as BY MR. TSAI: Q A is going Between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. I do not recall talking about what our next move to be, what are we going to do in terms of employment -- all those things, in an elaborate manner. So I believe my immediate response was, "Okay. We are fired, but we have to complete this shift, because there was nobody to take over right then and there." So Ken and Ketan did not sa "Okay. So here was the guy." So we understood that we would have to complete that shift, which we did. Q So you said that to Ken before you left? 255 16:45 16:46 16:46 16:46 16:46 BARKLEY Court ReportersMR. ZURADA: Objection. Misstates his testimony. You can answer. BY MR. TSAI: Q It's a question. A I did not say that. Q Okay. When did you say that to Ken? MR. ZURADA: Objection. Misstates his testimony. He never said he said it to Ken. But you can answer. THE WITNESS: I did not say that to Ken. BY MR. TSAI: Q Did you say that to anybody? A Would you repeat the question? What did I say to who? Q You just testified that you said -- I thought that you said, "Well, we're going to have to finish this shift," and that Ken and Ketan did not say anything. Can you clarify what you meant? A Okay. LT will clarify. So when I came back to the hotel and my wife said, "Ken fired us. He said that we're gone from today" -- so my immediate response was, "Okay. Then he fired us, but we have to complete this shift." That was something that I thought within my own head. And I may have talked to my wife about this, but I 256 16:46 16:47 16:47 16:47 16:47 BARKLEY Court Reportersho that we had been fired. 0 Okay. A End of story. Q When did you move out? A On 3rd of August, 2016. QO What -- I mean, how long was that process? A So after I came back from outside and my wife told me that we were fired from today, so I may have started to, like, gather my things. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I remember that when the night clerk came and I reported of -- I passed the baton down to him, reporting all the things that happened over the course of time, and then also that we had been fired. And then after submitting him the keys and showing him the report for the day and counting all the money that was in the till to make sure that the numbers matched with the record -- so after all those things were done, I think we left, packing up just a few belongings. 2 Okay. You counted up the till and, quote/unquote, "passed the baton" to the night clerk; is that right? A Yes. Q But your wife was working the shift, I thought. A No. Let me say it was -- my wife did those things. When I say "I," I'm saying my wife did those 258 16:49 16:49 16:49 16:50 16:50 BARKLEY Court Reportersthat shift? A That's right. Q Was she at the front desk? A She was at the front desk in the office area. Q And the front desk has a camera, doesn't it? A Front desk -- Q Has a video camera trained on that front desk area? A There was a video camera that feeds the video record of whatever's happening at the front desk. Yes. MR. ZURADA: Let's take a really short break THE WITNESS: Okay. MR. ZURADA: And I know we've got a 5:00 o'clock limitation, so I'll be very short. MR. TSAI: Okay. (A short recess was taken.) MR, TSAI: Back on the record. THE WITNESS: So I want to clarify something here. So after Om came and then my wife passed the baton to him, reporting whatever happened during her shift and informing -- either I informed or my wife; I can't recall exactly who did -- but that we had been fired, we gathered a few of our belongings, and we went. But we came back again on numerous occasions, because we did not pack everything. It took us a few 260 16:51 16:51 16:52 16:55 16:55 BARKLEY Court Reportersfo ho more days, I think, until just the 4th of August, to completely pack up and remove our things from the hotel. And this all happened under Ken's watch, because when we came back -- BY MR. TSAI: Q I'm sorry. Can you clarify "this all happened under Ken's watch"? What does that mean? A So Ken was there while we were moving things out. We came back, I think, around noon or so on August 3rd. And when we -- when I walked through the front desk, Ken was there. And I said, "Hi, Ken" to him and he just didn't respond. And -- and we just -- my wife and I went into the 102 and 103 and gathered a few more belongings that we had. And we went and we came back again and -- Q Where were your in-laws at that time? A My -- I can't recall exactly where they were. They may have been with us to help us pack things up, or they may have stayed back in the house in Vallejo. Q What about your children? A My children -- again, I can't recall whether -- if my parents-in-law were staying back in Vallejo, they may have stayed back with them. Or maybe that they were -- they went with us to San Francisco. Q When you left the Hotel Sunrise after midnight 261 16:55 16:56 16:56 16:56 16:57 BARKLEY Court ReportersSTATE OF CALIFORNIA ) ) ss. COUNTY OF MARIN ) I, Juvilynn Benasfre, hereby certify: I ama duly qualified Certified Shorthand Reporter, in the State of California, holder of Certificate Number CSR 13817 issued by the Court Reporters Board of California and which is in full force and effect. (Bus. & Prof. § 8016) I am not financially interested in this action and am not a relative or employee of any attorney of the parties, or of any of the parties. (Civ. Proc. § 2025.320(a)) I am authorized to administer oaths or affirmations pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 2093(b) and prior to being examined, the deponent was first placed under oath or affirmation by me. (Civ. Proc. $§ 2025.320, 2025.540(a)) I am the deposition officer that stenographically recorded the testimony in the foregoing deposition and the foregoing transcript is a true record of the testimony given. (Civ. Proc. § 2025.540 (a) ) 268 BARKLEY Court ReportersI have not, and shall not, offer or provide any services or products to any party's attorney or third party who is financing all or part of the action without first offering same to all parties or their attorneys attending the deposition and making same available at the same time to all parties or their attorneys. (Civ. Proc. § 2025.320(b)) I shall not provide any service or product consisting of the deposition officer's notations or comments regarding the demeanor of any witness, attorney, or party present at the deposition to any party or any party's attorney or third party who is financing all or part of the action, nor shall I collect any personal identifying information about the witness as a service or product to be provided to any party or third party who is financing all or part of the action. (Civ. Proc. § 2025.320(c) Dated: March 10, 2017 269 BARKLEY Court ReportersDEPOSITION OFFICER'S CERTIFICATE (Civ. Proc. 2025.520(e) STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) ) ss. COUNTY OF MARIN ) I, Juvilynn Benasfre, hereby certify: I am the deposition officer that I stenographically recorded the testimony in the foregoing. deposition. Written notice pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure, Section 2025.520(A), having been sent, the deponent took the following action within the allotted period with respect to the transcript of the deposition: (_) In person, at the office of the deposition officer, made the changes set forth on the original of the transcript. (The parties attending the deposition have been notified of said changes.) (_) Approved the transcript by signing it. (_) Refused to approve the transcript by not signing it. (_) By means of a signed letter, made the changes and approved or refused to approve the transcript as set forth therein. (Said letter has been attached to the original transcript and copies thereof mailed to all 270 BARKLEY Court Reportersw oO parties attending the deposition.) (_) Failed to approve the transcript with the allotted time period. Dated: 271 BARKLEY Court ReportersCERTIFIED COPY | SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO -o00- RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA, an individual, Plaintiff, ~vs- HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a California corporation; HOTEL SUNRISE, LLC, a California limited liability company; KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an individual; and DOES 1-100, inclusive, Defendants. Volume II No. CGC-16-553387 VIDEOTAPED DEPOSITION of RAMESH SHRESTHA NOVEMBER 1, 2017 REPORTED BY: Karen Scott, CSR 430482 SINCE 1972) ® {810} 207-8000 Los Angeles (415) 433-5777 San Francisco {910} 207-8000 Gentury City (408) 886-0550 San Josa (916) 922-5777 Sacramento (800) 222-1281 Martinez (951) 686-0606 Riverside (818) 702-0202 Woodland Hills. (212) 808-8500 New York Gity (347) 821-4611 Brooklyn (G12) 379-5566 Chicano 00414800 222 1231 Paris No. 4027 (949) 955-0400 Irvine (760) 322-2940 Palm Springs (702) 360-0500 Las Vegas (702) 366-0500 Henderson (618) 490-1910 Albany 00+1+800 222 1231 Dubai BARKLEY Court Reporters barkley.com (858) 455-5444 San Diego (G00) 222-4231 Carlsbad (800) 222-1231 Monterey (616) 277-9494 Garden City (014) 510-9110 White Plains 001+1+800 222 1231 Hong KongSUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO -o00- RAMESH SHRESTHA aka RAY SHRESTHA, an individual, Plaintiff, -vs- No. CGC-16-553387 HOTEL SUNRISE, INC., a California corporation; HOTEL SUNRISE, LLC, a California limited liability company; KIRIT KUMAL PATEL aka KIRIT KUMAR PATEL aka KIRITKUMAR PATEL aka KEN PATEL, an individual; SHAKUNTALAL PATEL aka SHAKUNTIA PATEL aka SHAKUNTLA PATEL aka SKAKUNTA PATEL aka NINA PATEL, an individual; and DOES 1-100, inclusive, Defendants. Videotaped deposition of RAMESH SHRESTHA, Volume II, taken on behalf of defendants, at Hanson Bridgett LLP, 425 Market Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, California, commencing at 10:12 a.m., Wednesday, November 1, 2017, before Karen Scott, CSR No. 4027. 273 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters10:44:09 10:44:18 10:44:22 10:44:23 10:44:33 10:44:46 10:44:49 10:44:49 10:44:52 10:45:00 A Uh-huh. Fewer people stayed at the hotel, then maybe the hotel owed less amount of tax. Q Were you involved in paying taxes, the TOT? A Could you clarify the question? Q Were you involved in calculating the amount of TOT that the hotel owed? A It was a computer-generated report on basis of which I believe the hotel paid the tax. Q The daily -- the monthly report sent to the city, was it -- (Court reporter interrupts for clarity of the record.) BY MR. TSAI: 9 The monthly TOT report to the city was generated by the hotel, and that was a computer-generated report? A Again, it's very vague in terms of what time frame we're talking about, because later during my work at the hotel the Patel family started doing the work which I was doing before. So what I am saying is they would ask me to print out the month] report from the computer, which I did, and hand it to Ken or Meena, and I do not know what they did with that report afterwards. 309 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters10:45:31 10:45:39 10:46:03 10:46:07 10:46:08 1 2 10:46:26 20 10:46:28 21 10:46:29 22 QO You do not know how the city calculated the tax based on those reports, correct? A I think the city had a set percentage of tax on the transient. There are three types of taxes, TOT, TID and MED, and they had their own percentage share which totaled to 15.06 percent, I believe. Q Let's just talk about the TOT, and the TOT report is the one that we have been talking about, correct? A Yes. QO Okay. So on the TOT there would be a monthly report generated. You would print it out and present it to Ketan or someone else that was part of the Patel family; is that correct? MR. VENARDI: Vague and ambiguous as to time. (Court reporter interrupts for clarit of the record. THE WITNESS: Do I_ do it again? MR. VENARDI: You can answer. THE WITNESS: Okay. So I mostly handed the report to Meena, sometimes to Ken, and sometimes to Ketan. 310 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporterslo IN 10:54:14 9 10:54:14 10 10:54:17 11 10:54:19 12 10:54:22 13 10:54:37 19 10:54:42 20 21 10:54:45 22 10:54:45 23 24 10:54:53 25 many of those cash-paying guests to the city document, and Ken was very upset about that, because I_remember this conversation where Ken and, I believe, even Ketan were upset why the TOT taxes went so high on some months. And when I told him that I was reporting those cash-paying guests to the cit then Ken and, I believe, even Ketan were upset about it. QO When was that? A I don't remember exactly when that was. Q Can you estimate? A It could be sometime in -- MR. VENARDI: Not "it could be." So here's the thing: An estimate is appropriate if you can give him a range based upon your recollection. So it would be -- what you do is give yourself enough room so that you feel comfortable that that range is accurate. THE WITNESS: Sometime around 2013. MR. VENARDI: He's not going to hold you strictly to that. BY MR. TSAI: Q From that point on, did you continue to omit cash-paying tenants from the TOT report? A So could you clarify your question? 316 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters11:49:58, 11:50:03 11:50:04 11:50:10 11:50:12 11:50:20 11:50:21 11:50:27 11:50:43 11:50:47 11:50:49 22 23 24 25 San Francisco, and many times the guests would bring a doctor's note, and then when they brought a doctor's note saying that a dog or a cat was that person's service animal, I permitted them to have a service animal. Q Did you tell Ken that you were permitting animals on the premises without certification? A I don't remember. Q Did you provide the doctor's note to Ken? A For each guest that checked in? QO On any occasion where a tenant had a pet and a doctor's note related to having that pet, did you provide that doctor's note to Ken? A I don't remember. 9 Did you do it by email or any sort of text? A I think this was an ongoing issue. I informed the hotel policy, and then Ken and I conferred on several occasions and discussed about allowing the guests who had pets or animals with the service animal documentation. Q I am just asking if you did that over email or text. A I don't remember. Q You_ testified about issues with your 351 RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II BARKLEY Court ReportersIho 14:61:02 3 11:51:05 5 11:51:06 6 11:51:10 8 14:51:16 11 14:51:19 14 11:51:20 15 44:51:24 16 11:51:33 19 20 14:61:35 21 11:51:37 22 23 11:51:42 24 14:51:44 25 window having a panel that was not secure on the frame. Do you recall that? MR. VENARDI: I recall it. What are you going to ask him about it? THE WITNESS: I think so. MR. TSAI: I am asking him if he's recalled it. Q And then there was one window in the office area as well, is that correct, that had the same condition with the window? MR. VENARDI: So I am going to instruct him not to answer. He's already testified about that. BY MR. TSAI: Q When did you tell Ken about this? A I_don't remember exactly when, but it was an_ongoing issue, and I remember talking to Ken on several occasions. Q Do you remember the first time you mentioned it to him? A I do not. Q Do you recall if this issue existed before you moved back into the apartment? A I do not remember. Q Do you recall what his response was? 352 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters11:51:48 1 14:51:55 3 11:51:57 5 11:51:58 6 11:51:59 7 11:52:00 8 11:52:01 9 44:52:21 17 A Any time we talked about issues related to the apartment -- Q I am asking specifically about this, if you recall. MR. VENARDI: Don't interrupt him, please. THE WITNESS: So any time I -- BY MR. TSAI: QO He is not answering the question. A Any time I talked about the issues in and around the apartment, the condition it was, Ken's answer was, oh, we'll do it last or don't worr about it. Qo Do you remember that specificall occurring in response to raising the issue with the window? A Could you repeat the question? Q Do you remember Ken specificall responding in that fashion with respect to you raising an issue about the window? A Yes, Ido. But I don't remember when. Q Can you describe how it interfered with our use of the apartment? A When you say "it," you mean -- oO The window with the lower panel that was not secure on the frame. 353 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters11:52:45, 11:52:48 11:52:52 11:53:28 12 14:54:05 21 14:54:07 22 11:54:13 29 A So when you say "interfere," how would you explain that? Q How did it affect the way that you used that apartment? A So I remember this, that when the window wasn't secure and there was no cooling system in place during summer to have some cool air in, we would have to lift that broken panel up and prop it with some object, mostly with a Clorox wipe container, and then when that happened I remember feeling very insecure in the unit. I_ feared the violation of my privacy. L had fear about -- because it overlooked the alley, which is mostly dark during the nighttime, and I feared that somebody could hurt us, throw an object inside or just, you know, invade our privac That's all I remember now. QO The concern that you're expressing here about feeling insecure, that was a result of you holding the window open; is that right? A Could you clarify the question? QO You're describing feeling insecure that someone could come into the apartment; is that correct? A Yes. 354 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters11:54:14 11:54:29 11:54:31 11:54:33 11:54:36 11:54:56 11:55:01 14:55:12 22 QO And that insecurity stemmed from you propping the window open; is that correct? A Not only from propping the window open. Even when the window was closed, it was not secure so _ anybody could knock it down and bring the whole frame down. ° Did you ever attempt to repair the window? A Myself? Q Let's start with yourself. A I am not an expert in repairing the windows, so when Ken ignored the issue or did not make an effort to call the guys to repair it, the best I could is just securely put it up, put it down. There are the things I remember doing. 0 Did you ever call a contractor or maintenance worker to repair the window? A So it would have to be Ken who would have to order somebody to go in, and my go-to person was Ken. Qo You_had the list of contractors that you could have called, correct, to repair the window? A Yes. But unless authorized by Ken, I would not be able to do that because that would involve payment, and I would not be able to pay the cost of repairs to those windows. 355 BARKLEY RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II Court Reporters11:55:24 1 14:55:27 3 11:55:41 4 11:55:49 6 11:55:54 8 11:55:55 9 11:56:28 17 11:56:35 20 11:56:37 21 22 23 11:56:45 24 11:56:48 25 Q Did you ever try calling the contractor or maintenance person? A I don't remember. Probably not. Q Did you ever contact anybody about the lack of heating installation in your unit? A Are you asking if I called a contractor to come and install a heating system? QO Anyone. A Well, again, my person to talk about and complain with was Ken, and I don't know when, but I remember talking to Ken about not having a heating system in the apartment, that there was a -- there was _a rectangular holding place, and I think that was for a heating machine to put in. And again, it was Ken's call to instruct somebody to go in there and install a machine. QO Did you ever call a contractor or maintenance person to replace or install a heating unit? A I don't remember. Q Did you ever send emails inquiring to any of these contractors or maintenance people to come in and install the unit? A I don't remember. Q Did you ever bring in a portable heating 356 RAMESH SHRESTHA-VOLUME II BARKLEY Court Reporters11:56:53 11:56:55, 11:56:57 11:56:59 41:57:07 11:57:08 415712 LO 11:57:13 11:57:23 1 11:57:27 17 11:57:39 11:57:43 11:57:44 21 23 24 25 A Yes. Q When did you bring that in? A I don't remember. oO Did the unit have a heating system when ou_left in September 2011? A I_think no. QO Did it have a heating system when you returned in 2012? A No. Oo Were you aware that it did not have a heating system when you returned in 2012? A You me