Facts

Phu Van Nguyen went to Surf City Nissan car dealership in Huntington Beach to view his newly purchased vehicle. He was arrested for vandalism after he mistakenly put his foot on the accelerator instead of the break, causing damage to the dealership's gate. Nguyen and his wife sued the dealership, the Huntington Police Department, the County of Orange, and others, asserting the following causes of action in their first amended complaint: negligence; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligent infliction of emotional distress; loss of consortium; breach of duty; respondeat superior; and malpractice.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs contended that Mr. Nguyen was wrongfully and aggressively detained despite the incident being a minor accident. Defendants wrongfully denied him his brain tumor medication while he was in jail for three days. As a result, Mr. Nguyen collapsed from dehydration and lack of medication while walking home after his release from jail.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The County of Orange contended in its demurrer that the complaint was uncertain because the individual causes of action failed to indicate to whom they were being asserted and because plaintiffs failed to identify the statute which allowed liability against it, a government entity.

Result

The court sustained the demurrer with 10 days leave to amend.

Other Information

FILING DATE: June 1, 2016.