TIFFANY CABRALES VS. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO ET AL

Matter on Calendar for Monday, August 11, 2025, Line 3, Defendant Aspiranet's Motion To Strike Amended Complaint.

Defendant Aspiranet's motion to strike portions of Plaintiff Tiffany Cabrales's First Amended Complaint is granted. Plaintiff has leave to amend the complaint within 20 days of this order to include factual allegations-rather than legal conclusions-that would support awarding punitive damages.

Treble Damages: Cabrales concedes that treble damages are not available here. The motion to strike is granted as to any reference to Aspiranet's liability for treble damages.

Punitive Damages: A motion to strike punitive damages may be granted when the facts alleged do not rise to the level of "malice, fraud or oppression" required to support a punitive damages award. (Turman v. Turning Point of Central Calif., Inc. (2010) 191 Cal.App.4th 53, 63.) The Plaintiff must plead "the ultimate facts showing an entitlement to such relief," and "judges read allegations of a pleading subject to a motion strike as a whole, all parts in their context, and assume their truth." (Clauson v.

Superior Court (1998) 67 Cal.App.4th 1253, 1255.) "In order to state a prima facie claim for punitive damages, a complaint must set forth the elements as stated in the general punitive damage statute." (Turman, 191 Cal.App.4th at p. 63.) Cabrales pleads no specific facts in her complaint, merely stating that Aspiranet had a duty to protect her from sexual abuse, failed to do so, and was on constructive or actual notice of the abuse. Cabrales's Doe pleading allegations essentially amount to reciting legal conclusions.

This is insufficient; Cabrales need not allege evidentiary facts but must allege ultimate facts supporting her entitlement to punitive damages. (See Doe v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 42 Cal.4th 531, 550.)

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