Hurd

Plaintiffs appeals from an adverse judgment in an action against defendants Paquin and Johnson for false imprisonment and assault and battery. He alleged that defendants wrongfully arrested him, confined him in the Long Beach jail and committed violent assaults and batteries upon him, and he sought recovery of damages for same. Defendants raised inter alia the affirmative defense that the action was barred by failure to file a claim as required by sections 2710-2710.6 of the Long Beach Municipal Code enacted on December 13, 1955.

At pretrial conference plaintiff’s complaint was amended by adding a prayer for punitive damages and it was stipulated that “issue No. 5 in the Joint Pre-Trial Statement shall be tried first by the court sitting without a jury.” Issue 5 was stated to be “ [W]hether plaintiff is barred by the provisions of sections 2710 and 2710.6, inclusive, of the Long Beach Municipal Code.”

The complaint did not aver that defendants were police officers or that they were any type of municipal employee engaged in the course and scope of such employment. It plainly was intended to come within the doctrine of Stewart v. McCollister, 37 Cal.2d 203 [ 231 P.2d 48 ], which…