Court Opinion

ID: 9722228
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 09:21:27.054064+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:32.411773
License: Public Domain

BROWN (G. A.), J.*
I respectfully dissent.
It appears to me that the lead opinion overlooks the elemental but fundamental principle that in passing upon a general demurrer to the complaint on the ground that the complaint does not state a cause of action the court must take the material allegations of the complaint at face value, assume they are true and resolve any doubt or ambiguity that may exist in the pleading in favor of the plaintiffs. A demurrer raises only issues of law, issues of fact properly pleaded being admitted by the demurrer, however improbable they may be. (5 Witkin, Cal. Procedure (3d ed. 1985) Pleading, §§ 895, 902, pp. 334, 342.)
It is undisputed that the master account was delinquent on November 14 when Southern California Edison Company (SoCal) gave its four-day notice of termination, that on that date SoCal had the duty to give the ten-day notice required by Public Utilities Code section 777 and that by failing to give the section 777 notice at that time SoCal breached the duty. The fifth cause of action of the complaint against SoCal alone thereupon alleges: “As a direct and proximate result of defendant, Southern California Edison Company’s failure to comply with Public Utilities Code section 111 and in violation of defendant Southern California’s statutory duty, plaintiffs suffered actual damages in an amount according to proof.
“As a direct and proximate result of defendant Southern California Edison’s actions, plaintiffs individually have suffered general damages in an amount according to proof.”
*617It appears to me that these allegations are sufficient to state a cause of action against SoCal.
The lead opinion, however, points to allegations in the fourth cause of action and concludes that the only reasonable interpretation of the pleading is that the master landlord, not SoCal, terminated the service and therefore the failure of SoCal to give the notice was not the proximate cause of any damage plaintiffs may have suffered.
It is to be noted that the allegations of the fourth cause of action are incorporated by reference into the fifth cause of action and therefore the allegations of the fourth and fifth causes of action should be read together as if all were stated in sequence in the fifth cause of action.
The lead opinion asserts that the facts as alleged in the fourth cause of action are inconsistent with those alleged in the fifth cause of action and then proceeds to select those in the fourth cause of action rather than the fifth cause of action to believe, observing that the plaintiffs cannot allege contradictory or antagonistic facts in two separate causes of action. (Faulkner v. Cal. Toll Bridge Authority (1953) 40 Cal.2d 317, 328 [253 P.2d 659].) Assuming the facts between the two causes of action are inconsistent, the reasons for selecting those alleged in the fourth over those in the fifth do not readily appear.
However, I fail to see the inconsistency. Referring to the precise allegations in the fourth cause of action (see lead opinion, ante, at p. 612), all of the allegations through the sentence, “[plaintiffs’ electricity service was turned on again on or about November 7, 1985” have nothing to do with SoCal. Up to that point, the allegations are that defendant landlords turned the electricity and gas off on November 7 and turned it back on on November 7 and that the defendant landlords turned the water off on November 15. (SoCal does not supply the water.) The two last sentences allege: “. . . On or about November 15, 1985, the above named defendants, with the assistance of the Southern California Edison Company, did willfully and maliciously, cause the re-termination and interruption of plaintiffs’ electricity service. All plaintiffs were without utility service as a result of these actions until they individually vacated the premises.” (Italics added.)
There is nothing factually inconsistent between these allegations and those in the fifth cause of action which, in substance, state that SoCal turned off the electricity on November 15 [as is also alleged in the fourth cause of action] without giving the required 10-day notice.
The only conflict between the two paragraphs is in the statement of causation. Proximate causation is in part a question of fact and it is settled *618that at the pleading stage, having stated the facts, a pleader may state that several different defendants proximately caused plaintiffs’ damages and leave it to the evidence to establish whether some or all of the defendants proximately caused the damages. (Guilliams v. Hollywood Hospital (1941) 18 Cal.2d 97, 103 [114 P.2d 1]; Osborn v. Wittier (1951) 103 Cal.App.2d 609, 616 [230 P.2d 132]; see Summers v. Tice (1948) 33 Cal.2d 80, 84 et seq. [199 P.2d 1, 5 A.L.R. 2d 91].) It is not up to the trial court or this court on general demurrer to pick and choose which one or ones of the defendants caused a termination of the electrical and gas service. Indeed, when the proofs are in it may turn out that both SoCal and the landlord caused the termination.
On general demurrer, the allegations of the complaint are to be construed liberally in favor of the pleader in order to do justice between the parties. (Code Civ. Proc., § 452; Buxbom v. Smith (1944) 23 Cal.2d 535, 542 [145 P.2d 305].)
From reading the allegations of the complaint and listening to the arguments, it is apparent that there is considerable confusion as to what the precise factual situation is and whether one or more of the defendants caused the utilities to be turned off. It is my judgment that it is more likely that we would reach a just result in this case if we leave the determination of these unresolved issues for resolution by either a motion for summary judgment or trial.
I would reverse the judgment of dismissal based on the order of the trial court sustaining the general demurrer without leave to amend.

 Retired Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal sitting under assignment by the Chairperson of the Judicial Council.