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Kobzoff v. Los Angeles County Harbor/ Ucla Medical Center12/28/1998
Code of Civil Procedure section 1038 allows certain defendants, including public entities, to recover the costs of defending frivolous civil actions under the California Tort Claims Act (Tort Claims Act) if the court determines the proceeding was not brought "with reasonable cause and in the good faith belief that there was a justifiable controversy under the facts and law. . . ." (Code Civ. Proc., ยง 1038, subd. (a).) Here we resolve a conflict in the Courts of Appeal over whether a lack of either reasonable cause or good faith alone is sufficient to sustain a section 1038, subdivision (a), award, or whether both elements must be lacking. After reviewing the statute and pertinent case law, we conclude applicable defendants may recover defense costs under section 1038 if the trial court finds the plaintiffs lacked either reasonable cause or good faith in filing or maintaining the lawsuit.
Factual and Procedural History
The facts are essentially uncontested. On October 31, 1993, emergency personnel prevented David Peter Kobzoff from jumping off a cliff. They took him to Los Angeles County Harbor/UCLA Medical Center, operated by the defendant County of Los Angeles and its Department of Health Services (collectively, the County). He was to be held for 72 hours under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150. At 2:30 p.m., hospital staff allowed him to use the bathroom in an area that was neither secured nor supervised. Kobzoff left the hospital and dove in front of a truck, which struck and killed him.
Mary and Peter Kobzoff and David Peter Kobzoff's estate (plaintiffs) filed this action against the County, alleging medical malpractice, lack of informed consent, and negligence. The County answered the complaint, asserting its immunity under several Government Code sections, including section 856.2, subdivision (a)(2), providing immunity for the injury or death of an escaping mental patient.
The County then moved for summary judgment on statutory immunity grounds after plaintiffs refused its request to dismiss the case voluntarily. The County also filed a section 1038 motion and a memorandum of costs requesting $9,129.89 in attorney fees and costs, claiming that plaintiffs had maintained the action without reasonable cause because they knew early in the litigation that the County was immune from liability under the Tort Claims Act.
Plaintiffs opposed both motions but failed to cite adequate authority to support their case or to refute the County's immunity claim. The trial court granted summary judgment for the County, ruling that in light of the County's statutory immunity and cases interpreting that immunity, plaintiffs lacked reasonable cause to maintain the action. In granting the section 1038 motion, the court specifically noted that plaintiffs knew of and never disputed any of the facts serving as the basis for the County's immunity. The court also observed that plaintiffs repeatedly discussed the immunity with the County's counsel, but chose to ignore its effect on the action. The County never claimed, and the trial court never ruled, that plaintiffs filed or maintained the action in bad faith.
On appeal, plaintiffs challenged only the section 1038 award. The Court of Appeal noted that the sole issue was whether section 1038 costs were properly awarded to the County. The court observed that the issue's resolution depended on "whether, in order to be charged with defense costs under section 1038, a plaintiff must proceed without reasonable cause and in bad faith, or if the absence of one or the other of these two factors will suffice."
The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's judgment awarding costs to the County
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