Valero v. Spread Your Wings, LLC

• Decision Date: 11 January 2023
• Docket Number: H049119
• Parties: LYNDA VALERO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. SPREAD YOUR WINGS, LLC et al., Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

LYNDA VALERO, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. SPREAD YOUR WINGS, LLC et al., Defendants and Respondents.

H049119

California Court of Appeals, Sixth District

January 11, 2023

Modified and Certified for Pub. 2/9/23

Santa Clara County Superior Court Superior Court No.: 18CV338394 The Honorable Thang Nguyen Barrett Judge.

Attorneys for Plaintiff and Appellant Lynda Valero: Law Offices of Joseph S. May Joseph S. May, Law Offices of Sanjay S. Schmidt Sanjay S. Schmidt.

Attorneys for Defendants and Respondents Spread Your Wings LLC et al.: Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, Jeffry A. Miller Tracy D.Forbath Reuben B. Jacobson Ciara M. Dineen.

WILLIAMS, J. ^[*]

Plaintiff and appellant Lynda Valero appeals from a judgment of dismissal after the trial court sustained a demurrer to her first amended complaint in favor of defendants and respondents Sabrina Dellard, Spread Your Wings, LLC, and Spread Your Wings, Inc.^[1] The pleading, in a single cause of action for malicious prosecution, alleged that Dellard was a care custodian, employed by Spread Your Wings, and that she provided in-home services to a dependent adult, Michael Barton. Valero also provided such services to Barton, and the two caregivers worked different shifts in his home. Valero alleged that Dellard, a mandatory reporter under the elder-abuse laws, made a knowingly false report to law enforcement that she had seen Valero try to kill Barton by smothering him with a pillow. Dellard is further alleged to have later coerced Barton to confirm the false report about Valero having tried to smother him. Valero was arrested and charged with attempted murder, and spent some 28 days in custody, unable to post bail. Ultimately, as alleged, evidence surfaced that revealed the reports about Valero having tried to kill Barton to be untrue, and the criminal charges against her were dismissed.

Valero sued Dellard and Spread Your Wings, as Dellard's alleged employer, for malicious prosecution. The cause of action was factually based on both Dellard's allegedly false report of Valero's abuse of Barton as a dependent adult, and Dellard's later alleged coercion of Barton to corroborate the false report. These defendants ultimately demurred to the first amended complaint, asserting statutory immunity under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15634, subdivision (a) (section 15634(a)), which provides absolute immunity from civil and criminal liability to mandatory reporters under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (the Act; Welf. &Inst. Code, § 15600 et seq.).^[2]

Rejecting Valero's attempts to exclude intentionally false reports from the absolute immunity afforded to mandatory reporters under section 15643(a), the trial court sustained respondents' demurrer without leave to amend. Judgment of dismissal for respondents followed.

On appeal, Valero reprises her claim that a mandatory reporter of elder or dependent-adult abuse does not enjoy immunity from civil liability for a fabricated and knowingly false report of abuse. She contends that absolute immunity under section 15634(a) protects only reports by mandatory reporters that the reporter has observed, or of which the reporter has knowledge, or which have been communicated to the reporter by the elder or dependent adult (§ 15630, subd. (b)(1) [duties of mandatory reporters]), and that these descriptors limit the absolute immunity of mandated reporters to "known or suspected" incidents of abuse (§ 15634(a)) and exclude knowingly false reports from protection.

We conclude that the clear legislative aim of absolute immunity in section 15634(a) for mandated reporters was to serve and facilitate the policy goals of the Act-by increasing the reporting of elder abuse and minimizing the chilling disincentives to that reporting, including the fear of getting sued. We further conclude that the carve-out to immunity for a knowingly false report by a mandated reporter as urged by Valero is not dictated by the statutory language of the Act as a whole and is counter to these legislative policy goals, which are not ours to undo or undermine. Finally, we reject Valero's effort to couch Dellard's alleged post-reporting coercion of Barton as later conduct outside the broad contours of immunity for acts of reporting. We accordingly affirm the judgment of dismissal.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

I. Valero's First Amended Complaint^[3]

The first amended complaint alleged a single cause of action for malicious prosecution. As relevant to our inquiry, it alleges that Valero "worked for the Stanislaus County Department of In-Home Supportive Services . . . and was selected by Defendant Michael Barton to provide in-home care for him.

Mr. Barton needed care due to physical disabilities and limited mental capacity." Defendants Spread Your Wings, LLC and Spread Your Wings, Inc. are alleged to be California entities owned and operated by defendant Andrew Serry Dumbuya, and there is alleged a unity of interest between him and these companies for purposes of alter ego liability.^[4] In October 2017, Spread Your Wings was "hired to provide additional in-home care for . . . Barton. Spread Your Wings' employee, Defendant Sabrina Dellard, provided this care, staying with Mr. Barton in his home overnight, while [Valero] would provide care for Mr. Barton mornings, afternoons[,] and evenings, except for Thursdays, when [Valero] would finish her shift at 2:00 p.m."

According to the pleading, "During the time period [in which Valero] and Dellard both provided care for Mr. Barton, their personal and professional relationship deteriorated and became contentious. [Valero] is informed and believes ... that Dellard developed a strong dislike for [Valero]."

On "January 11, 2018, shortly after 2:00 p.m., [Valero] finished her shift at Mr. Barton's residence. After [Valero] had left the premises, . . . Dellard arrived late for her shift, which was supposed to start at 2:00 p.m. Ms. Dellard, without any information, evidence or suspicion that Mr. Barton had been the victim of abuse, called law enforcement and falsely reported that she [had] witnessed [Valero] attempting to smother Mr. Barton to death with a pillow when she arrived at Mr. Barton's residence to start her shift. Ms. Dellard's statements to the police were untrue. Indeed, Ms. Dellard never observed any interaction between [Valero] and Barton that day because when she arrived at Barton's residence, [Valero] was no longer there. Ms. Dellard's report to law enforcement was not a report of any instance of actual, known, communicated, or suspected abuse, but a fabrication from whole cloth of a scenario created in Ms. Dellard's imagination, maliciously, and with the sole purpose of having [Valero] arrested and prosecuted for a serious felony. Therefore, Ms. Dellard's report is not subject to any immunity conferred on mandated reporters. (. . . § 15630, subd. (b).)" (Italics added.)

"After making the fabricated report to law enforcement, Ms. Dellard took advantage of Barton's limited mental capacity and physical disabilities by influencing, intimidating, and coercing him into falsely confirming to law enforcement the fabricated report that Dellard had made, namely that [Valero] [had] attempted to smother Mr. Barton with a pillow. Mr. Barton would not have made this false report in the absence of the coercion and influence of Ms. Dellard. Ms. Dellard's actions in influencing and coercing Mr. Barton to falsely identify [Valero] as the perpetrator of an attempted murder were not done as part of any reporting obligations, but instead as a 'private citizen[] [who became] deeply enmeshed in investigatory or prosecutorial activities and [took] on functions of the police.' (James W. v. Superior Court (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 246, 257 [(James W.)].) As such, Ms. Dellard's coercion of Mr. Barton following Dellard's report to law enforcement [is] not subject to any immunities conferred on mandated reporters." (Italics added.)

"Based on the false report by Dellard and the coerced false report of Barton, the police arrested [Valero], and the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office charged and prosecuted [her for] attempted murder. The report of either Dellard or Barton, standing alone, would have been sufficient to move the authorities to arrest and prosecute [Valero]. [Valero] was incarcerated for approximately 28 days, during which time [she] did not have the means to post bail. Evidence proving [Valero]'s innocence came to light, resulting in her release from jail and the dismissal of all charges against her. This evidence also conclusively establishes that the statements made by Dellard and Barton in order to have [Valero] arrested and criminally charged were unequivocally false."

"[Valero] suffered, and will likely continue to suffer for the rest of her life, tremendous physical, mental, emotional, and economic injuries and damages due to the prolonged incarceration for a very serious crime that Dellard and Barton falsely accused her of committing. [¶] [¶] In doing the things here alleged, Dellard and Barton were actively involved in causing [Valero] to be arrested charged, and prosecuted with the crime of attempted murder. [¶] The charges were all dropped as soon as evidence surfaced showing that [Valero] was innocent of all charges and that Dellard and Barton [had] made deliberately false allegations to the police and/or prosecuting authorities. [¶] Dellard and Barton made the false report with malice and for the sole purpose of having [Valero] arrested and prosecuted for a crime she did not commit. [¶] The actions of Dellard and Barton were malicious in that they intended to cause harm to [Valero], or were done in a despicable manner and with willful and reckless disregard for [Valero]'s rights...