The following blog entry is written to illustrate a common motion filed during civil litigation. Reviewing this kind of filing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this elder abuse lawsuit and its proceedings.)
Plaintiffs’ CLRA Claim
The CLRA prohibits unfair practices in transactions involving consumers, including representing that defendants’ services have characteristics which they do not have or are of a particular standard or quality when they are of another. (Civil Code § 1770(a)(5) and (7).) While the CLRA requires proof of actual damages to recover, that element is easily met for all class members who paid money for services. (The specific number of private pay class members will be confirmed in deposition discovery later this month.) Even if a class member did not pay money, evidence of transactional or lost opportunity costs will suffice. (Meyer v. Sprint Spectrum L.P. (2009) 45 Cal.4th 634, 640-41, n.1.).
Non-disclosures are actionable under the CLRA. (Falk v. General Motors Corp. (N.D. Cal. 2007) 496 F.Supp.2d 1088, 1094; see Daugherty v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 824, 834-35.) Here, defendants both failed to disclose and actively concealed their understaffing, as evidenced by their manipulation of time records, failure to posting actual staffing numbers, and submittal of inflated nursing PPD numbers to the State of California.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Also, ABC destroyed Key Factor Reports covering over two years of the heaviest violation months (September 2004 to December 2006) and then blocked plaintiffs’ discovery efforts to obtain replacement reports.
The remedies under the CLRA include injunction, restitution, actual damages, and punitive damages. (Civil Code § 1780(a).) Additionally, the CLRA authorizes an enhanced remedy of up to $5,000 for senior citizens and disabled persons, upon a showing of substantial physical, emotional or economic harm. (Civil Code § 1780(b).) Plaintiffs’ monetary recovery under the CLRA, including the enhanced remedy for senior citizens and disabled persons, is also subject to trebling under Civil Code section 3345. (Hood, 567 F.Supp.2d at pp. 1127-28.) (See Part 6 of 7.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.