Noble

In this case alleging employment relationships gone awry, plaintiffs Joaquin Noble (Noble), Jose Antonio Hernandez, Manuel Moreno, and Maria de Lourdes Rios de Noble (Maria Noble) appeal from a judgment entered in favor of defendants Martha Draper and Velasco, Inc., doing business as Cha-Cha’s Cocina Mexicana, following the trial court’s granting of defense motions for separate trial of special defenses (Code Civ. Proc., § 597) and for judgment on the pleadings. We shall conclude the judgment must be reversed in part, because this civil action by some of the plaintiffs (Noble and Hernandez), alleging fraudulent inducement to enter employment, is not precluded by their prior pursuit of wage claims in an administrative forum before the Labor Commissioner pursuant to Labor Code section 98 et seq. We shall also conclude Moreno’s claims are precluded by the Labor Commissioner’s conclusion that he was not an employee, and we shall therefore affirm the judgment against Moreno. We shall also affirm judgment on the pleadings entered in favor of defendants as to a cause of action for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and we therefore affirm the judgment against Maria…