Gibble

Don Gibble and Ravi Malhotra (collectively, appellants) timely appeal from an order by which the San Francisco Superior Court set aside a default judgment it had previously entered against respondent CarLene Research, Inc. We conclude the trial court abused its discretion in granting Car-Lene’s motion for relief because undisputed evidence in this record shows it had adequate notice of the action and was properly served with the summons, complaint and statement of damages, but simply failed to respond until long after a sizable judgment was entered against it. There is, moreover, no evidence of extrinsic fraud or mistake which would justify an exercise of the trial court’s inherent equitable jurisdiction to set aside the judgment. Accordingly, we will reverse.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Respondent Car-Lene Research, Inc., is a corporation engaged in the business of consumer research, and Jean Coddington was the manager of its Stonestown Galleria Shopping Center office. On June 2, 1995, appellants filed a complaint alleging that Coddington had hired appellant Gibble to conduct marketing research out of Car-Lene’s Stonestown Galleria office, and had terminated…