ADRIANA SAROCCO VS. USERTESTING TECHNOLOGIES, INC. ET AL

Set for Law and Motion/Discovery Calendar on Thursday, July 23, 2026, Line 6. Defendant Usertesting Technologies, Inc.'s motion to compel arbitration is treated as a demurrer to the third cause of action for sexual harassment and, as so treated, the demurrer is sustained with leave to amend no later than August 10, 2026.

If plaintiff Adriana Sarocco does not file a first amended complaint with additional allegations as to her sexual harassment claim by August 10, the motion to compel will be granted. If Sarocco does file a first amended complaint with additional allegations as to her sexual harassment claim by August 10, Usertesting may file another motion to compel arbitration directed to the claims alleged in the first amended complaint. For purposes of determining whether Sarocco has alleged a sexual harassment claim per the EFAA, Sarocco will be given only one opportunity to allege additional allegations.

By analogy to the procedure that applies when a party files a motion for summary judgment or adjudication arguing that the other party's claim is insufficiently alleged (Brown and Weil, California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial (TRG 2025 Update) 10:52-10:52.5 (a party whose claim is determined to be insufficiently alleged on a summary motion may be granted leave to amend that claim)), this motion is treated as a demurrer to the sex harassment claim. The demurrer is sustained because Sarocco has not alleged sufficient ultimate facts to support a hostile environment sex harassment harassment claim.

Because there is a reasonable possibility that Sarocco may be able to allege a viable sex harassment claim, she is given leave to amend to attempt to do so. Instead of alleging ultimate facts to describe what she contends was a sex-based hostile work environment, Sarocco's complaint repeatedly uses conclusory language such as "sexist" and "aggressive." Whether a workplace is an illegal sex-based hostile environment is a heavily fact-based inquiry and thus in order to allege a claim for sex-based hostile environment a pleader must allege facts, not conclusions.

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