YUN PENG VS. DIGNITY HEALTH

Matter on the LAW AND MOTION / DISCOVERY CALENDAR FOR THURSDAY, JUL-31-2025, LINE 10. PLAINTIFF YUN PENG'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO Amend Complaint.

Plaintiff Yun Peng's motion for leave to file an amended complaint is granted. Plaintiff is suing Defendant Dignity Health for "fraudulent actions related to medical billing and insurance claims." (Compl., line 9.) Basically, Plaintiff claims that Defendant misrepresented that MediCal paid Plaintiff's health insurance claims in full.

"The court may, in furtherance of justice, and on any terms as may be proper, allow a party to amend any pleading." (CCP, section 473(a)(1); see CCP, section 576.) Amendment is to be liberally granted. (Nestle v. City of Santa Monica (1972) 6 Cal.3d 920, 939.) It is so liberal that if there is no prejudice to the opposing party, it is error to refuse leave to amend. (Morgan v. Sup. Ct. (1959) 172 Cal.App.2d 527, 530.) Here, Defendant asserts no prejudice. Thus, Defendant's attacks on the proposed amendments are premature and better saved for a demurrer.

Further, denying leave to amend for pleading deficiencies is only a viable course of action when the defect cannot be cured by further appropriate amendment. (Foxborough v. Van Atta (1994) 26 CA4th 217, 230.) Here, especially where Plaintiff has conceded to withdrawing some claims that Defendant opposed adding, leave to amend is appropriate. Therefore, the motion is granted.

Plaintiff must file the First Amended Complaint forthwith, but no later than 10 days after entry of this order. Plaintiff must prepare a proposed order which repeats verbatim the above tentative ruling and email it to contestdept302tr@sftc.org prior to the time set for this hearing.

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Any party who contests a tentative ruling must send an email to contestdept302tr@sftc.org with a copy to all other parties by 4pm stating, without argument, the portion(s) of the tentative ruling that the party contests. The subject line of the email shall include the line number, case name and case number. The text of the email shall include the name and contact information, including email address, of the attorney or party who will appear at the hearing.

The court no longer provides a court reporter in the Law & Motion Department. Parties may retain their own reporter, who may appear in the courtroom or remotely. A retained reporter must be a California certified court reporter (CSR), for only a CSR's transcript may be used in California courts. If a CSR is being retained, include in your email all of the following: their name, CSR and telephone numbers, and their individual work email address. =(302/JMQ) | |