Loomis

Following the dismissal of his underlying complaint, Joseph Michael Murphy moved for judgment on the pleadings as to the first amended cross-complaint (hereinafter cross-complaint) filed by Andrew French Loomis and Chul Ki Kim. The trial court granted the motion and entered judgment on the cross-complaint in favor of Murphy. Loomis and Kim appeal.

I

A motion for judgment on the pleadings, analogous to a general demurrer, challenges the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s (here cross-complainant’s) cause of action. The motion is confined to the face of the pleading under attack. It admits all material and issuable facts pleaded and the issue is whether a cause of action has been stated. (Fosgate v. Gonzales (1980) 107 Cal.App.3d 951, 957 [ 166 Cal.Rptr. 233 ]; Tiffany v. Sierra Sands Unified School Dist. (1980) 103 Cal.App.3d 218, 225 [ 162 Cal.Rptr. 669 ].)

According to the cross-complaint, Murphy filed the complaint in this action without an honest belief in its validity and for an ulterior and improper purpose. The cross-complaint alleged that Murphy filed the complaint maliciously and with the intent to damage Loomis and Kim by gaining advantage in another lawsuit, Kim…