DEMURRER to Amended COMPLAINT
SF Superior Court - Law & Motion / Discovery Dept 301 - CGC23608773 - August 5, 2025 Hearing date: August 5, 2025 Case number: CGC23608773 Case title: HAIQING QIU VS. EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STATE OF Case Number: | | CGC23608773 | Case Title: | | HAIQING QIU VS. EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STATE OF | Court Date: | | 2025-08-05 09:00 AM | Calendar Matter: | | DEMURRER to Amended COMPLAINT | Rulings: | | Matter on Calendar for Tuesday, August 5, 2025, Line 5, 2. DEFENDANT EMPLOYMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT'S DEMURRER TO Amended COMPLAINT.
Defendant the Employment Development Department of the State of California (EDD)'s demurrer to plaintiff Hiaqing Qiu's Second Amended Complaint (SAC) is sustained without leave to amend.
This demurrer comes after the court sustained EDD's previous demurrer to the first amended complaint with leave to amend. The court granted plaintiff leave to amend on limited terms: "If he can amend in good faith to plead his compliance with the claims presentation and exhaustion requirements before bringing suit, he has leave to do so. His amendment must also cure the deficiency that he does not identify a statutory basis permitting him to recover damages from EDD."
On April 16, 2025, Qiu filed a document captioned "Second Amended Complaint." Although captioned as a complaint, the document is not a pleading but instead argument that the court's previous demurrer order was incorrect.
On May 29, 2025, after EDD filed its demurrer, Qiu filed a document captioned "Second Amended Complaint Part 2." The court has considered both documents along with Qiu's First Amended Complaint together to see whether Qiu has pleaded facts that, if true, would entitle him to relief.
Qiu has not cured the defects of the prior pleading. EDD is liable only as provided by statute. (Gov. Code 815(a).) Qiu identifies no statute under which he can recover in a civil action apart from through exhaustion of the administrative appeals process and then filing of a writ petition. Moreover, the Government Tort Claims Act requires a claimant to present a government claim before suing for money or damages. (Gov. Code 810.) Plaintiff does not plead that he submitted a government claim to EDD. Finally, Qiu does not plead or offer to plead that he exhausted his administrative remedies before filing this lawsuit.
Because the court identified the deficiencies in the prior pleading and Qiu has been unable to overcome them, it appears to this court that it would be futile to allow any further amendment. The court sustains the demurrer without leave to amend.
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