Sakai v. Massco Invs., LLC

229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 775, 20 Cal. App. 5th 1178
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedFebruary 8, 2018
DocketB279275
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 775 (Sakai v. Massco Invs., LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sakai v. Massco Invs., LLC, 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 775, 20 Cal. App. 5th 1178 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

*1181Travis Sakai (Sakai) sued Massco Investments, LLC, (Massco) for negligence and premises liability after he was struck and then dragged by a vehicle exiting Massco's parking lot. The trial court granted summary judgment to Massco on the ground that there was "no foreseeability and no duty." On appeal, Sakai argues that the trial court erred because the accident was reasonably foreseeable. We disagree and, accordingly, affirm.

BACKGROUND

I. The accident

Massco owned a Union 76 gas station in Los Angeles, which it leased to the owners of a taco truck from 4:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m., Monday through Sunday. The busiest *778nights for the taco truck were Friday and Saturday. *1182Although the lease did not expressly require the taco truck owners to provide security or parking lot attendants, Massco believed that an "outside security man" hired by the taco truck's owners would keep their customers' cars "organized on their part of the lot."

On Sunday, August 25, 2013, at approximately 2:00 a.m., Sakai, his wife (collectively with Sakai, Plaintiffs), and a friend drove into Massco's parking lot to get food from the taco truck. At that time, the parking lot was "crowded." Sakai pulled a couple of car lengths into the lot to try to park. Seeing no open spaces, and having no room to go further forward or to move left or right, Sakai backed up to exit the lot. As he backed up, Sakai hit the front of another car, one owned by Ana Avalos but at the time driven by someone else (the driver of the Avalos vehicle) (the first accident). While the first accident caused some property damage to Sakai's car, it did not cause Sakai any bodily injury.

Immediately after the first accident, Sakai and the driver of the Avalos vehicle exited their cars to inspect the damage. The driver of the Avalos vehicle appeared to Sakai to be "pretty pissed off." Sakai admitted to the other driver that the first accident was his fault and advised him that he had insurance. Although Sakai repeatedly asked the driver of the Avalos vehicle to exchange insurance information, the other man did not comply with Sakai's requests. Instead, the driver of the Avalos vehicle got back into his car and, without any warning, suddenly backed up into the street at a "high rate of speed," then drove away "real fast." In so doing, the driver of the Avalos vehicle struck Sakai and dragged him into the street, causing serious bodily injury to Sakai (the second accident).

II. The proceedings below

On October 21, 2014, Plaintiffs sued Massco and others for premises liability, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and loss of consortium arising out of the second accident. Plaintiffs claimed that Sakai's injuries were caused by "inadequate parking," the lack of "parking attendants or security personnel to direct traffic," the "fail[ure] to designate a parking area for the taco stand," and unspecified other "fail[ures] to take adequate safety precautions."

In January 2016, Massco moved for summary judgment on the ground that Plaintiffs could not establish causation because (1) any alleged negligence was not the proximate cause of Sakai's injuries; and (2) the driver of the Avalos vehicle was a superseding cause of Sakai's injuries.

In June 2016, the court initially denied Massco's motion, but solicited further briefing on the issue of "duty based on foreseeability." In August *11832016, after considering the parties' supplemental briefing, the trial court granted Massco's motion, finding that there was "no foreseeability and no duty." Sakai timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of review

We review an order granting summary judgment de novo, "considering all the evidence set forth in the moving and opposition papers except that to which objections have been made and sustained." ( Guz v. Bechtel National, Inc . (2000) 24 Cal.4th 317, 334, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 352, 8 P.3d 1089 ( Guz ).)

A defendant moving for summary judgment must show "that one or more elements of the cause of action ... cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action." ( Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (p)(2).) "In performing *779our de novo review, we must view the evidence in a light favorable to plaintiff as the losing party [citation], liberally construing [his or] her evidentiary submission while strictly scrutinizing defendants' own showing, and resolving any evidentiary doubts or ambiguities in plaintiff's favor." ( Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400 (2001) 25 Cal.4th 763, 768, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 617, 23 P.3d 1143.) We accept as true both the facts shown by the losing party's evidence and reasonable inferences from that evidence. ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co . (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 856, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493.)

Summary judgment is appropriate only when "all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." ( Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (c).) A triable issue of material fact exists if the evidence and inferences therefrom would allow a reasonable juror to find the underlying fact in favor of the party opposing summary judgment. ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co ., supra , 25 Cal.4th at pp. 850, 856, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493.)

II. Guiding principles regarding the duty of care

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lorenzo v. Calex Engineering, Inc.
California Court of Appeal, 2025
C.S. v. Gentry CA4/1
California Court of Appeal, 2023
Lee v. Starwood Retail Partners CA2/1
California Court of Appeal, 2022
Medical Acquisition v. Valero CA2/3
California Court of Appeal, 2021
Shipp v. Western Engineering, Inc.
California Court of Appeal, 2020
Williams v. Fremont Corners, Inc.
California Court of Appeal, 2019
Williams v. Fremont Corners, Inc.
250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 46 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2019)
Webster v. Claremont Yoga
California Court of Appeal, 2018
Webster v. Claremont Yoga
236 Cal. Rptr. 3d 802 (California Court of Appeals, 5th District, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 775, 20 Cal. App. 5th 1178, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sakai-v-massco-invs-llc-calctapp5d-2018.