Smith v. Loya Casualty Insurance CA4/1

BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL FACTS

In January 2017, Smith sued Loya in small claims court for falsely reporting to C.L.U.E. in 2012 that Smith was at-fault for a fatal motor vehicle collision when Smith was not at-fault. Smith prevailed, and judgment was entered against Loya on December 21, 2017. The judgment awarded monetary damages and directed Loya to report to C.L.U.E. that Smith was not at-fault for the collision. Loya complied with the order, and the judgment was satisfied. Smith filed an acknowledgement of satisfaction of judgment on January 2, 2018. On December 9, 2019, Smith filed a complaint against Loya in superior court. On January 13, 2020, Smith filed a first amended complaint. The complaint alleged that the June 21, 2012 statement “ ‘was the subject of

2 several national new[s] broadcast[s]’ ” that Smith became aware of a year

later.1 Loya demurred, moved to strike the punitive damages allegations contained in the first amended complaint, and sought terminating sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7. Smith filed an ex parte application for leave to file a second amended complaint but did not file moving papers to support the request. The court granted…