Qi v. Zhang CA2/4

Filed 3/15/21 Qi v. Zhang CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

JIANG QI, B303309

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. KC068561) v.

YIDAN ZHANG,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court for Los Angeles County, Gloria White-Brown, Judge. Affirmed. Law Offices of Steve Qi & Associates, Steve Qi and Steven L. Sugars for Defendant and Appellant. Law Offices of Dilip Vithlani and Dilip Vithlani for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Defendant Yidan Zhang appeals from a judgment following a bench trial awarding plaintiff Jiang Qi $137,179.12 in damages on his complaint alleging wage and hour violations; the judgment is payable jointly and severally by her and codefendants Bluestar Express Group Inc. (Bluestar), New Diamond Trucking Inc. (New Diamond), and Tom Zhang, a.k.a. Tao Zhang.1 Yidan contends there was no evidence introduced at trial to support the trial court’s finding that she is liable under an alter ego theory. She has forfeited this contention, however, due to the inadequacy of her appellant’s opening brief. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

BACKGROUND In light of our finding that Yidan has forfeited the only issue she raises on appeal, our discussion of the background, which is based upon the complaint and the trial court’s “order of judgment” (the court did not issue a statement of decision, as none of the parties requested one) will be brief. Bluestar, a trucking company incorporated in California, employed Qi as a warehouse worker from December 2013 to June 2014 and March 2015 to January 2016. Yidan is the sole shareholder and chief executive officer of Bluestar.