DOUGLAS vs VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHERN NEVADA

23CV010857: DOUGLAS vs VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHERN NEVADA 10/13/2025 Hearing on Demurrer to Second Amended Complaint in Department 53

signed by each party, the private court reporter, and the Judge prior to the hearing, if not using a reporter from the Court’s Approved Official Reporter Pro Tempore list. Once the form is signed it must be filed with the clerk. If a litigant has been granted a fee waiver and requests a court reporter, the party must submit a Request for Court Reporter by a Party with a Fee Waiver (CV/E-211) and it must be filed with the clerk at least 10 days prior to the hearing or at the time the proceeding is scheduled if less than 10 days away. Once approved, the clerk will be forward the form to the Court Reporter’s Office and an official reporter will be provided. ___________________________________________________________________________

The Court rules on the demurrer to the Second Amended Complaint (SAC), filed by Defendant Volunteers of America Norther California and Northern Nevada (“Defendant”), as follows.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In July 2016, plaintiff Raymond Douglas (“Plaintiff”) filed a civil action against Defendant VOA. (SAC ¶ 13.) In April 2022, this action was dismissed due to Plaintiff’s failure to bring the matter to trial within five years; a judgment of dismissal was entered on April 7, 2022. (See 3/5/25 Order.)

On October 31, 2023, Plaintiff commenced the present action against Defendant VOA. He alleges that in 2015 and 2016 he experienced various forms of battery, theft, harassment by defendant VOA staff and other shelter residents, and other interference with his rights, including restricting his movement around the VOA shelter where he resided and ultimately was evicted.

On April 8, 2024, Defendant VOA filed a motion to set aside the default which had been entered and for leave to file a demurrer to the complaint. Defendant VOA’s motion to set aside the default was granted on August 1, 2024, and, pursuant to the Court’s order, Defendant VOA filed its demurrer to the complaint on August 7, 2024. In response, Plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint on August 27, 2024.

On September 10, 2024, Defendant filed a demurrer to the First Amended Complaint, which this Court sustained with leave to amend on March 5, 2025, finding that Plaintiff’s claims were time-barred by the statute of limitations and that the doctrines of delayed

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO

23CV010857: DOUGLAS vs VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHERN NEVADA 10/13/2025 Hearing on Demurrer to Second Amended Complaint in Department 53

discovery and equitable tolling were inapplicable.

On February 14, 2025, Plaintiff filed a motion to vacate the August 1, 2024, Order that granted relief from entry of default and permitted Defendant to file the demurrer to the original complaint. The Court denied Plaintiff’s motion to vacate on June 26, 2025, took the matter under submission following oral argument, and affirmed its decision on June 27, 2025.

In the interim, Plaintiff filed the SAC on March 19, 2025, and Defendant promptly filed the instant demurrer on March 21, 2025.

On July 2, 2025, Plaintiff filed a Notice of Appeal pertaining to the June 27, 2024 order that denied Plaintiff’s request to vacate the August 1, 2024 order that granted Defendant relief from entry of default and permitted Defendant to file the demurrer to the original Complaint.

DISCUSSION

Code of Civil Procedure section 916 stays trial court proceedings on matters embraced in or affected by the appeal and vests jurisdiction in the appellate court. Indeed, the notice of appeal “suspends the trial court's jurisdiction.” (In re Marriage of Varner (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 932, 936.) Only when a remittitur issues does jurisdiction return to the trial court. (Adrisani v. Sagus Colony Limited (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 517, 523.) “[U]nder [Code of Civil Procedure] section 916, ‘the trial court is divested of' subject matter jurisdiction over any matter embraced in or affected by the appeal during the pendency of that appeal. 'The effect of the appeal is to remove the subject matter of the order from the jurisdiction of the lower court.’ Thus, ‘that court is without power to proceed further as to any matter embraced therein until the appeal is determined.’” (Estate of Reed (2017) 16 Cal.App.5th 1122, 1128.)

A proceeding “affects the effectiveness of the appeal if the very purpose of the appeal is to avoid the need for that proceeding.” (Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino (2005) 35 Cal.4th 180, 190.) To that end, an appeal of an order granting relief from entry of default and permitting the filing of a demurrer that ultimately was sustained inarguably “affects the entire case.” (See Prudential-Bach Securities, Inc. v. Superior Court (1988) 201 Cal.App.3d 924, 925.)

In this case, Defendant’s instant demurrer – which is predicated upon all the procedural history that came before it, including the relief from entry of default and the demurrer to

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SACRAMENTO

23CV010857: DOUGLAS vs VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AND NORTHERN NEVADA 10/13/2025 Hearing on Demurrer to Second Amended Complaint in Department 53

the original complaint – is embraced in or affected by Plaintiff’s appeal of the Court's order denying his motion to vacate. Accordingly, the Court is without jurisdiction to consider the demurrer.

For the foregoing reasons, the motion is DROPPED from the Court’s calendar.

The minute order is effective immediately. No formal order pursuant to CRC rule 3.1312 or further notice is required.