FARAHMAND, et al. vs CHANEL, INC., et al.

25CV162519: FARAHMAND, et al. vs CHANEL, INC., et al. 07/23/2026 Hearing on Motion for Trial Preference filed by MEHRAK FARAHMAND (Plaintiff) CRS# 538767485324 in Department 18

Tentative Ruling - 07/22/2026 Patrick McKinney

On Plaintiffs Mehrak Farahmand’s (“Mrs. Farahmand”) and Johnathan Farahmand’s (collectively “Plaintiffs”) Motion for Trial Preference pursuant to CCP § 36(d) and (e), the Court ORDERS THE PARTIES TO APPEAR at the hearing on Thursday, 7/23/2026.

Plaintiffs’ Complaint was filed on 12/31/2025. Their operative First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) filed 4/24/2026 names approximately fifty-five (55) defendants.

Plaintiffs present the declarations of their counsel, Mrs. Farahmand’s treating oncologist, Joel Neal, M.D. and Mrs. Farahmand. The Neal Declaration states that Mrs. Farahmand is currently age 51, apparently based on Mrs. Farahmand’s medical records. (Neal Dec. ¶ 4.)

Plaintiffs’ counsel declares that as of the filing of the Motion for Preference, all remaining active defendants named in the FAC have been served with process or have appeared; that Plaintiffs have served 89 sets of written discovery responses including further responses; that in March 2026 Plaintiffs provided Designated Defense Counsel (“DDC”) with a link to Mrs. Farahmand’s medical and billing records with respect to which DDC’s provider RecordTrak has made 29 records orders as of 6/22/2026; and that Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition is set to commence on 6/24/2026, after the filing date of the motion. (Bartlett Dec. ¶¶ 4-8.) Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition apparently did not proceed and is currently scheduled to start on 7/21/2026. (Plaintiffs’ 7/16/26 Case Management Conference Statement.)

Dr. Neal declares that Mrs. Farahmand first reported shortness of breath and right-sided chest pain in early 2020. A March 2020 chest CT showed a trace right pleural effusion. The size of the pleural effusion increased steadily through October 2021, and pleural nodularity had developed by June 2022. (Neal Dec. ¶ 5. Note that the Court has only reviewed pp. 0043, 0052-58, 0089- 151 and 0216-225 of the more than 1,400 pages of medical records attached to the Neal Declaration, as the only records identified with reasonably particularity in the declaration.

It is a misuse of the Court’s limited resources for a party seeking trial preference to submit more than a thousand (1,000) pages of medical records not reasonably necessary to support a medical expert witness declaration.) Her symptoms worsened in the first half of 2023 and on 9/14/2023, she underwent right thoracentesis, which removed 0.65 liters of fluid. (Id. at ¶ 6.)

On 10/19/2023, Mrs. Farahmand underwent right video-assisted thoracosopic surgery with pleural biopsy, resulting in a 10/27/2023 diagnosis of Stage II malignant pleural mesothelioma, epithelioid type. (Id. at ¶ 7 and Exh. A at p. 0043.) Dr. Neal met with Mrs. Farahmand for the first time on 11/10/2023, at which time she elected to proceed with four cycles of cisplatin/pemetrexed, which commenced on 12/7/2023 with the fourth cycle on 2/15/2024. She experienced some side effects from this chemotherapy. (Id. at ¶ 8.) 25CV162519: FARAHMAND, et al. vs CHANEL, INC., et al. 07/23/2026 Hearing on Motion for Trial Preference filed by MEHRAK FARAHMAND (Plaintiff) CRS# 538767485324 in Department 18 Although the chemotherapy appears to have arrested disease progression for a time, a 10/25/2024 CT scan showed pleural thickening “raising concern for progression of mesothelioma.” (Id. at ¶ 9.)

A 2/5/2025 CT scan confirmed disease progression, and she commenced immunotherapy (ipilimumab/nivolumab) on 2/15/2025. However, after her second cycle of immunotherapy on 3/29/2025, she experienced numerous side effects. (Id. at ¶ 10.)

A CT scan on 5/2/2025 demonstrated increased nodularity in the pleural space and she had also developed hepatitis for which she received high-dose prednisone. (Id. at ¶ 11.) On 5/23/2025, Mrs. Farahmand began a third-line treatment (gemcitabine/ramucirumab), including implantation of medi-port to facilitate ongoing infusions, and she again reported side effects from this third course of treatment. (Id. at ¶ 12.)

A 7/17/2025 CT scan showed a decrease in multifocal right pleural thickening and nodularity. However, on 12/11/2025, at which time she received her tenth cycle of the third-line therapy, her lab work showed persistent anemia and neutropenia, likely increasing Mrs. Farahmand’s risk of infections. (Id. at ¶ 13.) A medical record dated 12/11/2025 states that while Mrs. Farahmand’s right pleural mesothelioma remained at Stage II, she was “now with stage IA NSCLC of the left upper lobe.” (Neal Dec. Exh. A at p. 0223.) The Neal Declaration does not state what additional treatment or CT scan results she has had between 12/11/2025 and the 6/11/2026 date of his declaration.

Finally, Dr. Neal opines that, based on the amount of time that has passed since her October 2023 diagnosis and that she is on her third course of treatment, there is substantial medical doubt of her survival for more than six months from the 6/11/2026 date of his declaration. (Id. at ¶ 19.)

Mrs. Farahmand’s Declaration dated 6/18/2026 declares that she is in constant pain due to her disease and her treatment of the disease. (Farahmand Dec. ¶ 3.) She declares that her chemotherapy/immunotherapy port became infected in January 2026, which she describes as life-threatening. She describes the negative effects of chemotherapy and her liver. She declares that her eyes have hemorrhaged and she gets frequent styes. (Ibid.) She believes her time is short, she’s having trouble sleeping, and she declares that she learned in the first week of June that her most recent CT scan showed further disease progression. (Id. at ¶ 4.)

Eight defendants filed a total of two Oppositions in which four other defendants timely joined. The first Opposition primarily argues that Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition did not commence on 6/24/2026 or as of the 7/9/2026 date of the Opposition, and that although Plaintiffs may have served 89 sets of written discovery responses, none of those responses is verified. The retailer defendants’ Opposition makes these same arguments and also makes some arguments that the Court did not find persuasive, for example, because Mrs. Farahmand felt well enough to take what will likely be her last trip to Paris in December 2025, she is not entitled to have a trial preference motion granted in July 2026.

The retailer defendants also present the medical expert witness declaration of Phillip Beron,

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

25CV162519: FARAHMAND, et al. vs CHANEL, INC., et al. 07/23/2026 Hearing on Motion for Trial Preference filed by MEHRAK FARAHMAND (Plaintiff) CRS# 538767485324 in Department 18 M.D., a paid medical expert witness who is a radiation oncologist. However, the Beron Declaration is silent with respect to Dr. Beron’s experience treating patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma. The Court found Dr. Neal’s detailed declaration far more persuasive.

In Reply, Plaintiffs’ present an updated medical record indicating that Mrs. Farahmand had a CT scan on 3/2/2026 that showed “interval development of right posterior pleural nodular thickening,” which “could represent recurrent pleural disease or focal atelectasis” (i.e., a small collapse of lung tissue). The records also confirm that Plaintiff had a serious infection at the sight of the installed medi-port (Clancy Dec. Exh. A at p. 0015.)

The Clancy Reply Declaration ¶ 2 also admits that as of 7/16/2026, Plaintiffs had only verified their Responses to Joint Defense Standard Interrogatories and had not served verifications to any special discovery. Further, the Clancy Declaration declares that Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition has been noticed for 7/21/2026. (Id. at ¶ 3.) The Clancy Declaration declares no facts why Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition has not previously commenced in this action, where the Opp. Gilmore Declaration presents evidence suggesting that Mrs. Farahmand was still working as an optometrist as of 7/10/2026. Plaintiff’s Reply does not respond to this evidence.

The Court is inclined to find that Plaintiffs have presented sufficient evidence for the Court to find that there is substantial medical doubt of Mrs. Farahmand’s survival for more than six months. However, the Court has some question regarding whether granting Plaintiff’s Motion and setting a preference trial for Monday, 11/16/2026 would be in the interests of justice within the meaning of CCP §§ 36(d) and (e) where Plaintiffs have named 55 defendants to this action and have not adequately explained why they have not acted with reasonable alacrity to provide verified discovery responses or to produce Mrs. Farahmand for deposition.

Therefore, the Court ORDERS THE PARTIES TO APPEAR at the 7/23/2026 hearing. The parties should be prepared to discuss how many defendants remain in the action, whether Mrs. Farahmand’s deposition commenced on 7/21/2026, how much progress has been made toward completing her deposition, the status of Plaintiffs’ verifications of the 89 sets of discovery responses Plaintiffs declare they have served as of 6/22/2026, and the status of the pending pathology stipulation in this action. The Court advises Plaintiffs that if the Court is not satisfied with the information it receives at the hearing, the Court will be inclined to continue the hearing on the Motion for Preference at least long enough to set a preference trial no earlier than Monday, 11/30/2026, because the Court will not be conducting jury trials the week of Thanksgiving 2026.

In the event that the Court finds the information it receives at the hearing satisfactory, it will be inclined to set a preference trial date of Monday, 11/16/2026 at 10:00 a.m. and make the following additional orders:

• Plaintiff shall provide defendants with all claim forms submitted by or on behalf of Plaintiffs to all bankruptcy trusts within seven (7) days of this Order, and Plaintiff shall provide all

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF ALAMEDA

25CV162519: FARAHMAND, et al. vs CHANEL, INC., et al. 07/23/2026 Hearing on Motion for Trial Preference filed by MEHRAK FARAHMAND (Plaintiff) CRS# 538767485324 in Department 18 defendants within five (5) court days any future bankruptcy trust submissions. • Plaintiff shall provide all medical, employment and Social Security records of Mrs. Farahmand in Plaintiffs’ possession, custody or control within seven (7) days of this Order, to the extent not already produced, and shall produce any later received medical, employment and Social Security records within seven (7) days of receipt by Plaintiff. • Plaintiff shall serve their expert economist’s report no later than fifty (50) days before the preferentially set trial date above. • Plaintiff shall serve any settlement demands on defendants at least forty (40) days prior to the preference trial date ordered above. • The parties are DEEMED to have served expert witness disclosure demands pursuant to CCP § 2034.210 et seq. as of the date of this Order. • Fact discovery shall remain open until Monday, November 2, 2026. • Expert discovery shall remain open until Monday, November 9, 2026. • Any Motions for Summary Judgment or Adjudication brought by any party may be noticed for hearing within 30 days of trial but no later than Thursday, November 6, 2026.

Dispositive motions brought by any party may be heard on shortened fifty-five (55) days’ Notice, and all Opposition papers to any dispositive motion shall be filed and served no later than sixteen (16) days before the hearing and any Reply papers shall be filed and served no later than seven (7) days before the hearing. Parties shall provide Dept. 18 with paper courtesy copies of any Opposition papers by 12:00 noon the day after service/filing and any Reply papers on the date of service/filing, pursuant to Local Rule 3.30(c). • Time to respond to pending discovery shall be per the CCP.

Responses to any written discovery served after the date on which the final Order on this Motion enters the record shall be due twenty-eight (28) days after service through File & ServeXpress. • Any party seeking to make a discovery motion with a shortened notice period shall seek such relief through an ex parte application. Discovery motions shall be subject to Dept. 18’s informal discovery conference requirements. • Electronic service through File & ServeXpress shall be deemed personal service to the extent not already so ordered by the Stipulated E-Service Order in this action, if any. • Plaintiffs’ claims against any defendant not served with process prior to 6/22/2026 shall be severed from the Preference trial Ordered above.