Northern California judges persuaded by Shaggy defense to rule for two corporations

The cover of Shaggy's single
It Wasn't Me

This blog has previously chronicled the success of the Shaggy defense in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  Last week, two corporations pleaded in this manner one winning summary judgment and the other winning dismissal.

As previously noted:

In his ballad, 'It Wasn't Me' Shaggy is confronted by a series of allegations of infidelity including eyewitnesses who caught him 'on the bathroom floor' 'on the counter' 'on the sofa' 'in the shower' and with evidence on camera. Shaggy's friend advises that he say it was someone else, 'it wasn't me'.

In Velarde v. Wells Fargo Bank, Mr. and Mrs. Velarde alleged Wells Fargo foreclosed on their house with an invalid notice of foreclosure.  In addition, the Velardes sued First American First American stating it was not authorized to file the notice prior to its substitution as foreclosing trustee. The judge noted that pursuant to California Civil Code § 2924, however, “[t]he trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary, or any of their authorized agents” may file “a notice of a default.” First American filed the notice of default “as agent for the current beneficiary,” which was Wells Fargo.  The judge found that First American could not be liable for this notice and dismissed the claim against it with prejudice.

In SEIU Local 1877 v. Citiscape Property Management Group, Citiscape changed its maintenance contractor for one of its buildings.  The new contractor did not hire union workers who submitted grievances which Citiscape ignored.  The union stated that this was a violation of three combined collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), although the one covering the building with the new contractors was between the union and a separate company, Genesis.  Citiscape argued that it had nothing to do with the other agreement and the separate company could not bind it.  The Court agreed:

Appendix F does not state that Citiscape—who is neither a party nor signatory to Appendix F—also became an Employer under the CBA.  Nor would such an interpretation make any logical sense, given that there is no evidence that Genesis had the requisite authority to bind Citiscape to the CBA in any event.

Judge Armstrong granted Citiscape's motion for summary judgment.