Werker v. West Coast Smiles CA4/1

Filed 6/21/23 Werker v. West Coast Smiles CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

HERBERT WERKER, D080165

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. (Super. Ct. No. 37-2020- 00038737-CU-BC-NC) WEST COAST SMILES et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Blaine K. Bowman, Judge. Affirmed. Herbert Werker, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. Scheppach Bauer and Thorey M. Bauer for Defendants and Respondents.

I INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Herbert Werker appeals an order granting defendants Dr. Jovan Plamenac, D.D.S. and West Coast Smile’s special motion to strike Werker’s breach of contract cause of action pursuant to the anti-SLAPP

statute (Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16).1 However, Werker has failed to provide this court with an adequate record to conduct a meaningful review of the anti-SLAPP order. Further, he has not made any cogent argument in favor of reversal, supported by legal authorities and citations to the appellate record. Therefore, we affirm the order granting the anti-SLAPP motion. II BACKGROUND Generally, this court relies on the allegations of the operative complaint when setting forth the background section of an opinion involving an anti- SLAPP order. (Miller v. Zurich American Ins. Co. (2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 247, 250.) However, Werker has not included the operative complaint in the record and no party has augmented the record to include the complaint or otherwise presented us with the complaint. Because we do not have the operative complaint at our disposal, we draw the following background from the anti-SLAPP motion and the order granting the anti-SLAPP motion. Beginning in or about August 2017, Werker moved into the home of Dr. Plamenac and his wife, which they shared with Dr. Plamenac’s sister, an adult dependent who suffered from dementia. Dr. Plamenac provided Werker a room to live in, use of a vehicle, and, at times, monetary compensation. In exchange, Werker provided informal in-home care to Dr. Plamenac’s sister, he occasionally transported her to Dr. Plamenac’s dental practice office (West Coast Smile), and he managed certain short-term rental units for Dr. Plamenac. In fall of 2020, Dr. Plamenac purportedly came to believe Werker had perpetrated verbal and physical abuse against his sister. Therefore, he