Lafferty

BACKGROUND

In 2006, the Laffertys filed a complaint alleging various causes of action arising out of a defective motor home that was manufactured by “defendant Fleetwood Motor Homes,” which the complaint alleged “was doing business in Riverside, California.” A business called “Fleetwood Motor Homes of California, Inc.” (Fleetwood of California) contacted the Laffertys. As the trial court would later find, Fleetwood of California “provided [the Laffertys] with overwhelming evidence that it was not the manufacturer of the subject motor home in this case, and, as such, was not a party to this action at all. Further, [Fleetwood of California] made every reasonable effort to notify [the Laffertys] of their improper inclusion of a wrong legal entity, by sending written correspondence to [them] on or about March 28, 2007, June 5, 2007, June 20, 2007, July 19, 2007, and January 3, 2008. Based on [the Laffertys’] refusal to dismiss Defendant [Fleetwood of California] from their action, [Fleetwood of California] was forced to expend resources, which included preparing a Motion for Summary Judgment.” On February 4, 2008, Fleetwood of California brought a motion for sanctions solely under…