I. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL POSTURE This action was filed on December 5, 2022. Five pseudonymous plaintiffs—John Roe 1, John Roe 2, John Roe 3, John Roe 4, and John Roe 5—proceed under a Courtauthorized pseudonym pursuant to an order dated February 3, 2023. Plaintiff John Roe 4 asserted claims arising from the misconduct alleged in the operative pleadings,

including claims sounding in sexual assault, negligence, and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. His claims were pending at the time of his death. On February 26, 2026, Plaintiff John Roe 4 died in Los Gatos, California. The death certificate identifies the decedent's legal name and immediate cause of death as combined crush injury of torso and mechanical asphyxia, with the manner of death listed as accident. The certificate further identifies decedent's surviving spouse. On March 5, 2026, counsel for Plaintiff John Roe 4 filed a Notice of Death of Plaintiff with this Court.

The Notice stated that Plaintiff John Roe 4 had passed away and that his claims survive pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.30. Counsel further stated they were in the process of determining the appropriate personal representative or successor in interest for purposes of substitution pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § § 377.30–377.32. On June 26, 2026, the Superior Court of California, County of Del Norte, issued an Order for Probate in Case No. PB267041 appointing Pamela M. Carmody as Executor of the Estate of John Roe 4.

The Order found that all notices required by law had been given, that the decedent died testate on February 26, 2026, and that Ms. Carmody was appointed executor with full authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. The Order further provided that no bond was required. Letters Testamentary issued to Ms. Carmody on June 26, 2026, certifying that she is authorized to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act with full authority.

The Del Norte County Clerk certified that the Letters issued to Ms. Carmody have not been revoked or annulled and remain in full force and effect. On July 10, 2026, Plaintiff filed the present motion seeking an order substituting Pamela M. Carmody, Executor and personal representative of the Estate of John Roe 4, as Plaintiff John Roe 4 in this action. The motion was served electronically on all parties and their counsel of record on July 10, 2026. No opposition appears in the record before the Court.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Survival and Continuation of Actions Except as otherwise provided by statute, a cause of action for or against a person is not lost by reason of the person's death. (

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provides that a pending action or proceeding does not abate by the death of a party if the cause of action survives. (

.) The reference in section 377.31 to an action that is not abated does not mean that a survival cause of action is subject to abatement because heirs are not named or related claims are abated; rather, the reference is to those certain causes of action that abate due to the death of a plaintiff, such as in a marital dissolution proceeding when the spouse dies before judgment of marriage dissolution. (Adams v.

Superior Court (2011) 196 Cal.App.4th 71, 79) Code Civ. Proc. § 377.30 provides that a cause of action that survives the death of the person entitled to commence an action passes to the decedent's successor in interest and may be commenced by the decedent's personal representative or, if none, by the decedent's successor in interest. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 377.30; Code Civ. Proc., § 377.30.) The statute establishes a standing hierarchy: the decedent's personal representative has priority, and if no personal representative exists, the decedent's successor in interest may act. (Code Civ.

Proc., §§ 377.30; Code Civ. Proc., § 377.30.)

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.31 provides that on motion after the death of a person who commenced an action or proceeding, the court shall allow a pending action or proceeding that does not abate to be continued by the decedent's personal representative or, if none, by the decedent's successor in interest. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.31; Adams v. Superior Court, supra,196 Cal.App.4th at p. 79.) The statute's use of "shall allow" indicates the court must grant the motion when statutory prerequisites are satisfied. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.31.) Courts have recognized that, under these survival statutes, "the personal representative or successor in interest has an absolute right to be substituted for the decedent." (Adams v. Superior Court, supra, 196 Cal.App.4th at p.79.)

B. Definition and Authority of Personal Representative California Probate Code section 58 defines "personal representative" to include an executor. (Prob. Code, § 58(a).) Prob. Code § 9820 authorizes the personal representative to commence and maintain actions and proceedings for the benefit of the estate, and to defend actions and proceedings against the decedent, the personal representative, or the estate. (Prob. Code, § 9820.) As a personal representative of the deceased, the executor may maintain the action on behalf of the heirs—that is, as "a statutory trustee to recover damages for the benefit of the heirs." (Adams v.

Superior Court, supra, 196 Cal.App.4th at p.78.) Unlike a wrongful death claim, the survival statutes do not create a cause of action but merely prevent the abatement of the decedent's cause of action and provide for its enforcement by the decedent's personal representative or successor in interest. (Ibid.) A survival action "is not a new cause of action that vests in the heirs on the death of the decedent. It is instead a separate and distinct cause of action which belonged to the decedent before death but, by statute, survives that event." (Ibid.)

C. Court's Discretionary Authority Code Civ. Proc. § 377.33 provides that the court in which an action is commenced or continued under this article may make any order concerning parties that is appropriate to ensure proper administration of justice in the case. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.33.) This statute authorizes the court to make "any order concerning parties that is appropriate to ensure proper administration of justice in the case," providing broad equitable discretion. (Ibid.)

D. Recoverable Damages Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34 (a), provides that in an action or proceeding by a decedent's personal representative or successor in interest on the decedent's cause of action, the damages recoverable are limited to the loss or damage that the decedent sustained or incurred before death, including any penalties or punitive or exemplary damages that the decedent would have been entitled to recover had the decedent lived, and do not include damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.34.) However, subdivision (b) of the same section provides an exception: notwithstanding subdivision (a), damages recoverable may include damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement if the action or proceeding was filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.34.)

A. The Action Does Not Abate and the Causes of Action Survive Plaintiff John Roe 4 died on February 26, 2026, after filing this action on December 5, 2022. His claims were pending at the time of his death. His death does not abate his surviving causes of action. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.21 provides that a pending action or proceeding does not abate by the death of a party if the cause of action survives. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.21.) The claims asserted by Plaintiff John Roe 4, including sexual assault, negligence, and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision are causes of action that survive the death of the plaintiff. The action therefore does not abate.

B. Ms. Carmody Is the Duly Appointed Personal Representative with Priority to Continue the Action Pamela M. Carmody has been appointed Executor of the Estate of John Roe 4 by order of the Superior Court of California, County of Del Norte, dated June 26, 2026. Letters Testamentary have issued to her and remain in full force and effect.. Under Prob. Code § 58, she is the decedent's "personal representative." (Prob. Code, § 58(a).) Code Civ. Proc. § 377.30 establishes a standing hierarchy under which the decedent's personal representative has priority to continue an action, and if none exists, the decedent's successor in interest may act. (Code Civ.

Proc., §§ 377.30; Code Civ. Proc., § 377.30.) Because Ms. Carmody is the court-appointed Executor, she has priority under the statute. Ms. Carmody declares that she is authorized to act on behalf of the Estate of John Roe 4 with respect to this pending action and that no other person has a superior right to be substituted as personal representative. The record contains no evidence to the contrary. Under Prob. Code § 9820, Ms. Carmody, as personal representative, is authorized to maintain actions and proceedings for the benefit of the estate and to defend actions against the decedent, the personal representative, or the estate. (Prob.

Code, § 9820.) She is therefore the proper party to continue this action on behalf of the Estate of John Roe 4.

C. Substitution Is Mandatory Under Section 377.31 Code Civ. Proc. § 377.31 provides that on motion after the death of a person who commenced an action, the court shall allow the pending action to be continued by the decedent's personal representative. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.31; Adams v. Superior Court, supra, 196 Cal.App.4th at p.72.) The statute's use of "shall allow" is mandatory; the court must grant the motion when the statutory prerequisites are satisfied. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.31.) The statutory prerequisites for substitution have been satisfied.

Plaintiff John Roe 4 commenced this action before his death, and the present motion was filed thereafter. Because the causes of action survive Plaintiff's death, the action has not abated. The motion further establishes that substitution is sought by the decedent's duly appointed personal representative. Accordingly, the requirements for substitution have been met.

D. Preservation of Pseudonym Is Appropriate Plaintiff John Roe 4 proceeds in this action under a Court-authorized pseudonym pursuant to an order dated February 3, 2023. The probate records necessary to establish Ms. Carmody's appointment as Executor identify John Roe 4 by his legal name. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.33 authorizes the Court to make any order concerning parties that is appropriate to ensure proper administration of justice in the case. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.33.) Maintaining the existing pseudonym protections and referring to the decedent as John Roe 4 in the Court's order is consistent with the Court's prior orders and with the confidentiality interests already recognized in this case. The requested substitution does not require any change to the public caption beyond identifying Pamela M. Carmody as Executor and personal representative of the Estate of John Roe 4.

E. Recoverable Damages Include Pre-Death Pain, Suffering, and Emotional Distress This action was filed on December 5, 2022. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34, (b), permits recovery of damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement in actions filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. (Code Civ. Proc., § 377.34.) Because this action was filed within that window, Plaintiff John Roe 4's pre-death pain, suffering, and emotional distress damages remain recoverable in this survival action, in addition to all other recoverable damages, penalties, costs, attorney's fees, and other relief permitted by law.

The recoverability of these damages does not depend on any connection between John Roe 4's cause of death and the underlying claims. A survival action carries forward the decedent's own pre-existing personal injury claim; his death determines who now prosecutes the claim but does not require that the cause of death relate to the underlying injury. IV. ORDER Good cause appearing, the Court ORDERS as follows:

1. Plaintiff's Motion to Substitute is GRANTED.

2. Pamela M. Carmody, Executor and personal representative of the Estate of John Roe 4, is hereby substituted as Plaintiff in place of John Roe 4, deceased.

3. The Court-authorized pseudonym "John Roe 4" is preserved. All future filings and orders shall refer to the decedent as "John Roe 4" and maintain the confidentiality protections previously ordered by the Court.

4. The caption shall be amended to reflect that Pamela M. Carmody, Executor and personal representative of the Estate of John Roe 4, is now the party plaintiff with respect to the claims previously asserted by John Roe 4. No other change to the public caption is required.

5. Pamela M. Carmody, as Executor and personal representative of the Estate of John Roe 4, is authorized to continue this action with respect to all claims previously asserted by decedent John Roe 4, including claims sounding in sexual assault, negligence, and negligent hiring, retention, and supervision.

6. The Estate of John Roe 4 may recover all damages that decedent sustained or incurred before his death, including pre-death pain, suffering, and

emotional distress, as well as any other recoverable damages, penalties, costs, attorney's fees, and other relief permitted by law.

7. No further motion or order is required to effectuate this substitution. The action shall proceed in all respects as to the Estate of John Roe 4 through its Executor and personal representative, Pamela M. Carmody.

Hon. Panteha E. Saban Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara