Dawes

Michael C. Dawes, then 13 years old, suffered personal injuries when struck by an automobile driven by Robert C. Mardian, Jr. The minor and his parents (hereafter petitioners) filed suit in Orange County Superior Court against Mardian and a business entity allegedly principally owned by Mardian, Wind & Sea Restaurants, Inc. and Wind & Sea Restaurants, Inc., dba Harpoon Henry’s Seafood Restaurant, to recover damages for the minor’s personal injuries and the attendant medical and related expense to his parents. In the fifth count of the first amended complaint, petitioners attempted to allege facts that would support a recovery of punitive damages. On motion of the defendants, the court struck those allegations on the ground that petitioners would not be entitled to punitive damages on the facts alleged, thus removing the issue of punitive damages from the case. Petitioners sought review of the order by petitioning for a writ of mandate. An alternative writ issued, and we have concluded that the peremptory writ should be granted.

In essence, the stricken allegations were that defendant Mardian was the principal owner of and was employed in a managerial capacity by the…