Shtofman v. Mercedes-Benz
In January 1997, Robert Shtofman, a lawyer, purchased a new Mercedes-Benz S420 from Calstar Motors, Inc. (a Mercedes-Benz dealership) for roughly $78,000. In August 2004, after Shtofman had driven his S420 for more than 132,000 miles, he sued Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, Calstar, and Decio Atkinson, a worker in Calstar’s service department. Shtofman’s complaint alleged five causes of action, listed respectively: breach of contract (against Calstar) for failing to repair problems with his vehicle as promised; breach of warranty (against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz); fraud (against all defendants) based upon alleged misrepresentations about the nature of the problems with the vehicle; negligent repair (against all defendants); and negligent hiring and training of service employees (against Calstar). Shtofman’s complaint prayed for compensatory damages, emotional distress damages, and punitive damages.
In late 2005, Mercedes-Benz, Calstar and Atkinson filed three separate motions for summary judgment or, in the alternative, summary adjudication of issues (MSAI) of each of Shtofman’s causes of action. At the same time, Shtofman filed a MSAI on his cause of action for breach of warranty against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz. The parties argued the motions to the trial court and the court took the matters under submission. In March 2006, the trial court signed and entered a formal order granting Shtofman’s MSAI of his cause of action for breach of warranty against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz, and denying the motions filed by Mercedes-Benz, Calstar and Atkinson.
After the trial court entered the MSAI order on Shtofman’s breach of warranty cause against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz, Shtofman agreed to dismiss his remaining causes of action, and requested judgment be entered in his favor based on the MSAI order. Shtofman also filed a motion for attorney fees, which the trial court granted. In October 2006, the court signed and entered a final judgment which provided that Shtofman was to recover $87,246.63 in compensatory damages, plus attorney fees in the amount of $136,800, with the total award payable by Mercedes-Benz and Calstar, jointly and severally.[2] The judgment ordered Shtofman to return his S420 to Calstar, and to execute all documents necessary to transfer title and ownership of the vehicle to Mercedes-Benz.
On a prior appeal, we reversed the judgment. (See Shtofman v. Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. (Aug. 29, 2008, B195677) [nonpub. opn.].) We remanded the case to the trial court with directions to enter a new and different order denying Shtofman’s MSAI of his breach of warranty cause of action against Calstar and Mercedes-Benz, and to enter a different order granting Mercedes-Benz’s MSAI of the same, and Calstar’s MSAI of the same. Further, because Shtofman had dismissed his remaining causes of action in reliance on the MSAI orders vacated, we also directed the trial court to relieve Shtofman from his dismissal of those causes of action. The clerk of our court issued the remittitur on November 24, 2008; the clerk of the superior court filed the remittitur on November 26, 2008.
On August 25, 2009, the trial court granted a motion for summary judgment filed by Mercedes-Benz. At a status conference in February 2011, the court set the cause for trial on September 19, 2011. The parties at the status conference were Shtofman, Calstar and Atkinson.
On August 25, 2011, Calstar and Atkinson filed a document entitled “motion in limine†in which they argued that Shtofman’s action was subject to mandatory dismissal pursuant to section 583.310 for failure to bring it to trial within five years. At a hearing on September 21, 2011, the trial court ruled that it was granting Calstar and Atkinson’s motion to dismiss. On November 2, 2011, the trial court entered a judgment of dismissal in favor of Calstar and Atkinson, and, on November 21, 2011, Calstar and Atkinson served notice of entry of the judgment of dismissal.
On January 3, 2012, Shtofman filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of dismissal as to Calstar and Atkinson.
Comments on Shtofman v. Mercedes-Benz