Albert v. Olivo CA4/3

Filed 1/4/16 Albert v. Olivo CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

LENORE ALBERT,

Plaintiff and Appellant, G051159

v. (Super. Ct. No. 30-2014-00734038)

GEORGE OLIVO, OPINION

Defendant and Respondent.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Margaret R. Anderson, Retired Judge. (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, § 21.) Reversed and remanded. Law Offices of Lenore L. Albert, and Lenore L. Albert, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. No appearance for Defendant and Respondent.

Appellant Lenore Albert filed two restraining order actions centered on the behavior of her erstwhile employee, George Olivo. These were Case No. 30-2014- 00734043 (the “43 case”), seeking relief under section 527.8 of the Code of Civil Procedure1, and Case No. 30-2014-00734038 (the “38 case”), asking for general restraining orders pursuant to section 527.6. When the two cases were called for trial on October 10, 2014, the trial judge announced she was not going to allow Albert to obtain two separate restraining orders, because the events and paperwork covering the two requests were identical: “You will not get two restraining orders for the same people with the same names for the same employees.” The judge then immediately put Albert to a forced election. Albert could have one of the two cases heard, but not both. Said Judge Anderson: “And those files [the two restraining order cases] are absolutely identical. So you can sit down and decide which one you want.” Judge Anderson added: “But at the moment, I think you [talking to Albert] should sit down and talk about this a minute and make an election as to which of the two you’re going to go with.” A few moments later, however, the judge appears to have changed her mind and said the two cases could be tried seriatim. In the process, however, the judge made it clear she would not entertain any idea of simply consolidating the two: “I’m not going to hear these together. We’re going to hear them separately. . . . Which one do you prefer to go first?” Albert chose the 43 case to go first. After two days of hearings, the trial judge denied the requested workplace violence restraining order. As we explain in our decision on the 43 case in the appeal of Case No. G051125 appeal, the trial judge erroneously excluded considerable evidence offered by Albert. Such evidence might