Pena

DISCUSSION

I. Applicable Standards of Review

A motion for judgment on the pleadings serves essentially the same function as a

general demurrer, testing the sufficiency of a complaint to state a cause of action.

(Sprague v. County of San Diego (2003) 106 Cal.App.4th 119, 127 (Sprague).) Thus, an

appeal from a judgment on the pleadings, as with an appeal from a demurrer dismissal, is

reviewed de novo. (See, e.g., Pardee Construction Co. v. Insurance Co. of the West

All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise indicated. 3 (2000) 77 Cal.App.4th 1340, 1361, fn. 25.) We accept as true all properly pleaded

factual allegations, but not contentions, deductions or conclusions of fact or law, and we

must determine whether those alleged facts "support any valid cause of action against

[the] defendant, or if not, whether the complaint could be reasonably amended to do so."

(Kempton v. City of Los Angeles (2008) 165 Cal.App.4th 1344, 1347, citing Zelig v.

County of Los Angeles (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1112, 1126; accord, Sprague, supra, at p. 127.)

The trial court's dismissal of a complaint without leave to amend is reviewed for abuse…