1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Steven D. Atlee (SBN: 151025) satlee@winston.com Jason C. Hamilton (SBN: 267968) jhamilton@winston.com WINSTON & STRAWN LLP 333 S. Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 Telephone: (213) 615-1700 Facsimile: (213) 615-1750 Attorneys for Defendants, AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES L.L.C., and A R S AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES OF ALIFORNIA, INC. 8 SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 9 FOR THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA 10 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 Winston & Strawn LLP 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 VIRGINIA L. BARNES, individually and behalf of others similarly situated, ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES ) L.L.C., A R S AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL ) SERVICES OF CALIFORNIA, INC., HALO ) WATER SYSTEMS, LLC, GLEN BLAVET, ) as an individual, and DOES 1 through 100, ) ) Defendants. ) ) ) _______________________________________) Case No. 1-10-CV-183947 ASSIGNED FOR ALL PURPOSES TO: Hon. James P. Kleinberg Dept. 1 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT Date: November 9, 2012 Time: 9:00 a.m. Department: 1 Complaint Filed: September 30, 2010 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 [PROPOSED] ORDER 2 Having considered the motion of defendants American Residential Services, L.L.C. 3 and A R S American Residential Services of California, Inc. (collectively, “ARS”) to strike portions 4 of the Third Amended Complaint (“TAC”) of Plaintiff Virginal Barnes (“Plaintiff”), and all 5 supporting and opposing papers and oral argument, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 6 1. ARS’s Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiff’s TAC is GRANTED. 7 2. Specifically, the following portions of Plaintiff’s TAC are stricken: 8 “Plaintiff alleges that RESCUE ROOTER violates the California laws regulating contractors 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 9 Winston & Strawn LLP At Page 2, Paragraph 3, in its entirety: 10 by employing individuals who do not have plumbing licenses and who do not qualify for any 11 exemption from the licensing law, to perform services at consumers’ homes for which a plumbing 12 license is required by law.” 13 “RESCUE ROOTER” 14 15 At Page 3, line 1, in Paragraph 6: At Page 8, in Paragraph 43: 16 “under the law, a waiver of the three-day right to cancel is valid only as to emergency repairs 17 initiated by the consumer, and is invalid as to non-emergency repairs, and is also invalid as to repairs 18 suggested by the seller.” 19 “Under California law, a Class C-55 water conditioning license is required for the installation 20 21 22 of the HALO device that the RESCUE ROOTER personnel installed at Plaintiff’s house.” At Page 9, line 2, in Paragraph 48: “by unlicensed employees of Defendant,” 23 24 At Page 8, Paragraph 46 in its entirety: At Page 13, line 22-24, in Paragraph 75(b): 25 “who, during a home visit arranged as a result of that contact, entered into a ‘home 26 solicitation contract’ with RESCUE ROOTER on or after September 30, 2006 for ‘goods’ and/or 27 ‘services’ (as each of those terms is defined in Section 1689.5 of the Civil Code) beyond those 28 requested in the original service request.” 2 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 “or (2) the contract included the installation of a water treatment device” 2 3 10 Stage’ or” 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 Winston & Strawn LLP 13 Stage’ or” 16 Stage’ or” of magnets (including”; and “‘HALO Mini Series 3’ or ‘HALO Ion’)” 19 20 of magnets (including”; and “‘HALO Mini Series 3’ or ‘HALO Ion’)” 23 24 25 26 27 At Page 15, line 12-13, in Paragraph 75(d)(ii)(a): “HALO device claimed to affect the buildup of minerals in residential plumbing by the use 21 22 At Page 15, line 7-8, in Paragraph 75(d)(ii): “HALO device claimed to affect the buildup of minerals in residential plumbing by the use 17 18 At Page 15, line 4-5, in Paragraph 75(d)(i)(b): “HALO device for which health claims were made (including ‘HALO Pure,’ ‘HALO 3- 14 15 At Page 15, line 2, in Paragraph 75(d)(i)(a): “HALO device for which health claims were made (including ‘HALO Pure,’ ‘HALO 3- 11 12 At Page 14 line 24-25, in Paragraph 75(d)(i): “HALO device for which health claims were made (including ‘HALO Pure,’ ‘HALO 3- 8 9 At Page 14, line 22, in Paragraph 75(d): “water treatment device” 6 7 At Page 14, line 20, in Paragraph 75(c)(i): “or (2) the contract included the installation of a water treatment device” 4 5 At Page 14, line 13, in Paragraph 75(c): At Page 15, line 15-16, in Paragraph 75(d)(ii)(b): “HALO device claimed to affect the buildup of minerals in residential plumbing by the use of magnets (including”; and “‘HALO Mini Series 3’ or ‘HALO Ion’)” 28 3 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 “Defendants advertised goods or services with intent not to sell them as advertised in 2 3 violation of Civil Code Section 1770(a)(9), and represented that a transaction confers or involves 4 rights, remedies or obligations which are prohibited by law in violation of Civil Code Section 5 1770(a)(14), when they represented to the License 765155 Three-Year Subclass Members that they 6 were licensed, by displaying license number 765155 on the contracts, but omitted to state the 7 material fact that the plumbers who would perform the purported inspection and repairs were not 8 licensed, did not qualify for any exemption to the licensing law, and were not directly supervised and 9 controlled by a bona fide Responsible Managing Employee as required by the laws regulating 10 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 11 Winston & Strawn LLP At Pages 17-18, Paragraph 91 in its entirety: plumbing contractors.” At Page 18, Paragraph 92 in its entirety: “Defendants represented that a transaction confers or involves rights, remedies or obligations 12 13 which are prohibited by law, in violation of Civil Code Section 1770(a)(14), when they represented 14 to the HALO Health Claims Three-Year Sub-subclass and Magnetic Device Three-Year Sub- 15 subclass Members that they would install water conditioning equipment, when in reality they were 16 prohibited by law from doing so because they lacked a Class C-55 license.” 17 At Page 18, Paragraph 93 in its entirety: 18 “Defendants represented that a transaction confers or involves obligations which are 19 prohibited by law, in violation of Civil Code Section 1770(a)(14), when they purported to obtain a 20 waiver of the Civil Code Section 1689.6 right to cancel from the Waiver Three-Year Subclass 21 Members, but failed to disclose that a waiver of that right where the seller does not obtain a separate 22 statement that is dated and signed that describes the situation that requires immediate remedy, and 23 expressly acknowledges and waives the right to cancel, or a waiver of that right as to a water 24 treatment device, is prohibited by law.” 25 At Page 19, Paragraph 100 in its entirety: 26 “Defendants violated Civil Code Section 1689.5 et seq., made applicable to sales of water 27 treatment devices by Business & Professions Code Section 17577.3, by installing water treatment 28 devices before midnight of the third day after the buyer signed the contract.” 4 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 “Defendants violated Section 17577.2(a) by making untrue and misleading statements in 2 3 4 connection with sales of water treatment devices.” 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 At Page 20, Paragraph 110 in its entirety: “Defendants violated Section 17577.2(c) by making health benefit claims regarding the 5 Winston & Strawn LLP At Page 20, Paragraph 106 in its entirety: 6 HALO device when the device had not been certified by the California Department of Public Health 7 (CDPH).” 8 At Page 21, Paragraph 111 in its entirety: 9 “Defendants violated Section 17577.3 by delivering and installing water treatment devices at 10 consumers’ homes before the end of the three-day rescission period of Civil Code Section 1689.5 et 11 seq.” 12 At Page 21, Paragraph 112 in its entirety: 13 “Defendants violated Section 17577.6(d) by purporting to procure a waiver of consumers’ 14 rescission rights for purchases of water treatment devices, when under the statute such a waiver is 15 void and unenforceable as contrary to public policy.” 16 At Pages 21-22, Paragraph 117 in its entirety: “Plaintiff and Members of the HALO Class were induced to contract for the purchase and 17 18 installation of water treatment devices by Defendants’ false representations that the HALO devices 19 may legally be sold and installed as advertised in California, while failing to disclose the material 20 facts that the device had not been certified in California and that Defendants lacked the Class C-55 21 license required for installation of water conditioning equipment.” 22 “lacked the licensure required to perform legitimate safety inspections and water treatment 23 24 device installation, that said employees”; and “and did not qualify for any exemption from the licensing law” 25 26 27 At Page 22, line 6-9, in Paragraph 119: At Page 22, line 15-16, in Paragraph 120: “HALO Health Claims One- Year Sub-subclass and” 28 5 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 “delivered by salespersons lacking the licensure required by law for a plumber exercising 2 3 4 discretion so as to make recommendations regarding work to be performed.” 6 not licensed as plumbers and who do not qualify for any exemption from the licensing law may not 7 legally perform safety inspections and recommend work to be done.” 8 10 At Page 24, line 11, in Paragraph 129: “, HALO Mini Series 3 and HALO Ion” 9 At Page 25, Paragraph 136 in its entirety: “Defendants engaged in unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices in violation of the 11 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 At Page 23, line 14-17, in Paragraph 125: “and knew or by exercise of reasonable care should have known that salespersons who are 5 Winston & Strawn LLP At Page 23, line 8-9, in Paragraph 124: 12 UCL by selling consumers a water treatment device in violation of state law, in that Defendants 13 made health benefit claims regarding the HALO device, and Business and Professions Code Section 14 17577.2(c) prohibits the making of health benefit claims regarding a water treatment device unless 15 the device is certified by the California Department of Health, and yet the HALO device was not so 16 certified.” 17 “, HALO Mini Series 3 and HALO Ion” 18 19 20 21 At Page 26, line 5, in Paragraph 141: At Page 27, Paragraph 150 in its entirety: “Defendants’ employees lacked the required licensure and did not qualify for any exemption from the licensing laws.” 22 23 IT IS SO ORDERED. 24 25 26 Dated: __________________ By: _________________________________________ THE HONORABLE JAMES P. KLEINBERG Santa Clara Superior Court Judge 27 28 6 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 Submitted by: 2 WINSTON & STRAWN LLP 3 4 5 6 7 By: Steven D. Atlee Jason C. Hamilton Attorneys for Defendants, AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES L.L.C. and A R S AMERICAN RESIDENTIAL SERVICES OF CALIFORNIA, INC. 8 9 10 333 333 South S. Grand Grand Avenue Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071-1543 Winston & Strawn LLP 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 7 [PROPOSED] ORDER GRANTING ARS’S MOTION TO STRIKE PORTIONS OF PLAINTIFF’S THIRD AMENDED COMPLAINT