SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO HALL OF JUSTICE ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

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1 GERALD SINGLETON, State Bar No. 0 ERIKA L. VASQUEZ, State Bar No. 0 BRODY A. McBRIDE, State Bar No. 0 SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC West Plaza Street Solana Beach, CA 0 Tel: (0-10 Fax: (0-1 gerald@geraldsingleton.com erika@geraldsingleton.com brody@geraldsingleton.com DEMETRIOS A. SPARACINO, State Bar No. LAW OFFICES OF DEMETRIOS A. SPARACINO B Street, Suite 100 San Diego, CA 1 Tel: (1 - Fax: ( dsparacino@sparacinolaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiffs SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO HALL OF JUSTICE GREGORY E. SASKA, individually and as Successor Trustee of the ISABELLE R. SASKA TRUST; FRED MALDONADO and DYLAN MALDONADO; EUGENE J. MILLER, individually and as Trustee of the EUGENE MILLER TRUST; EUGENE MILLER, LUZ MEZA-MILLER, MATEO MILLER, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, and ISABELLA MILLER, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem; TIFFANY TAVAREZ and JONATHAN TAVAREZ, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, GINA LEFTWICH, RUSSELL SNEDEGER, BRANDON CHURCH, LYNDSIE CHURCH and MASON CHURCH, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, DANIEL MOLINAR, DANIELLE BAKER, ADRIANNA MOLINAR, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem, ALEXA MOLINAR, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem; Case No. COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND INJURIES UNLIMITED CIVIL CASE JURY TRIAL DEMANDED 1 COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

2 v. Plaintiffs, OMNI LA COSTA RESORT & SPA, LLC; and DOES 1-00, inclusive. Defendants Plaintiffs, by and through their attorneys of record, hereby make the following Complaint for injuries and damages against all Defendants. I. INTRODUCTION 1. Plaintiffs are individuals residing and/or doing business in the County of San Diego who suffered injuries and damages to their persons and/or property as a result of the Poinsettia Fire. The Poinsettia, which began on May 1, 01, and lasted for several days, caused extensive damage within the general area of Carlsbad, California, located within the County of San Diego. Each individual Plaintiff seeks just compensation and damages as more particularly described below.. The Poinsettia Fire originated within the geographical confines of the real property owned, operated, and/or maintained by Defendants, otherwise described as Omni La Costa Resort & Spa (hereinafter OMNI, in Carlsbad, California.. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege, that OMNI, and individual employees and/or agents of OMNI, whose identities are unknown to Plaintiffs at this time (and who, therefore, are sued herein as DOES, is responsible for causing the Poinsettia Fire due to (1 Defendants negligent and improper operation of equipment owned, operated, and/or maintained by OMNI, their employees, and/or other Defendants; ( the negligent and improper maintenance of real property owned by OMNI; and/or ( the negligent failure in policy to safeguard against causing a destructive fire and/or otherwise prevent the destructive fire from leaving its property and trespassing onto and destroying neighboring properties, as alleged herein. COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

3 II. JURISDICTION AND VENUE. The Plaintiffs are individuals and property owners who, at all times relevant to this Complaint, resided in, and/or owned property in, the County of San Diego, State of California. All of the individual claims set forth herein arise from events or occurrences within the County of San Diego, and the damages, losses, and injuries suffered by each Plaintiff occurred in the County of San Diego, State of California.. Defendant OMNI is a private limited liability corporation, duly organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, currently conducting business in the County of San Diego. Within San Diego County, OMNI conducts business at 0 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad, California 00.. Defendant OMNI operates the La Costa Resort and Spa, an exclusive luxury resort and golf destination. In 01, OMNI assumed controlling ownership of the La Costa resort, inclusive of its operations and real property.. Venue is proper in this Court pursuant to Sections, and. of the California Code of Civil Procedure because the Plaintiffs reside in San Diego County and/or Plaintiffs property and/or business is or was located in San Diego County, and the liability arose in San Diego County, where Defendant conducts business and where the source of the ignition occurred, on Defendants property. Accordingly, this Court has jurisdiction over this action pursuant to Section. of the California Code of Civil Procedure. III. THE PLAINTIFFS. The Plaintiffs are individuals and/or other legal entities who suffered varying types of damages, losses or harm as a result of the Poinsettia Fire. These individual Plaintiffs are GREGORY E. SASKA, individually and as Successor Trustee of the ISABELLE R. SASKA TRUST; FRED MALDONADO and DYLAN MALDONADO; EUGENE J. MILLER, individually and as Trustee of the EUGENE MILLER TRUST; EUGENE MILLER, LUZ MEZA-MILLER, MATEO MILLER, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, and COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

4 ISABELLA MILLER, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem; TIFFANY TAVAREZ and JONATHAN TAVAREZ, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, GINA LEFTWICH, RUSSELL SNEDEGER, BRANDON CHURCH, LYNDSIE CHURCH and MASON CHURCH, a minor by and through his Guardian ad Litem, DANIEL MOLINAR, DANIELLE BAKER, ADRIANNA MOLINAR, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem, ALEXA MOLINAR, a minor by and through her Guardian ad Litem. The range of damages suffered by Plaintiffs includes, but is not limited to, personal injury; real property damage; personal property damage; damage to, or loss of, cherished possessions; out-of-pocket expenses; alternative living expenses; evacuation expenses; tree, vegetation, and landscape damages; habitat destruction; erosion damage; business losses; emotional distress; nuisance; annoyance, inconvenience, disturbance, and mental anguish; and loss of quiet enjoyment of property. IV. THE DEFENDANTS. Defendant OMNI is a major private corporation doing business in San Diego County. The sprawling La Costa resort includes championship golf courses that are owned, operated, and maintained by Defendants. Defendant OMNI s property borders several neighboring residential communities within Carlsbad, California, ranging from apartments, to condominiums and estate homes.. The true names of DOES 1 through 00, whether individual, corporate, associate, agency or otherwise, are unknown to Plaintiffs who, under California Code of Civil Procedure, sue these Defendants under fictitious names. Each of the fictitiously named Defendants is responsible in some manner for the conduct alleged herein, including, without limitation, by way of conspiracy, aiding, abetting, acting with actual or ostensible authority, furnishing the means and/or acting in capacities that create agency, respondeat superior, and/or predecessor or successor-in-interest relationships with Defendants. 1. DOES 1-0 are employees and/or agents of Defendant OMNI and are liable to Plaintiffs together with the OMNI under the doctrine of respondeat superior. COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

5 The remaining DOE Defendants are agents, employees, private individuals, associations, partnerships, corporations, subcontractors, or otherwise that actively assisted and participated in the negligent and wrongful conduct alleged herein in ways that are currently unknown to Plaintiffs. Some or all of the DOE Defendants may be residents or conduct business in the State of California. 1. Plaintiffs will amend this Complaint to allege the true names, capacities and responsibility of these DOE Defendants once they are ascertained, and to add additional facts and/or legal theories where appropriate. V. GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 1. Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereon allege that on May 1, 01, the Poinsettia Fire was started by Defendants at or near a golf course located on real property owned and/or maintained by Defendant OMNI, in the City of Carlsbad, County of San Diego, State of California. Over the next several days, the Poinsettia Fire burned through neighboring residential communities within Carlsbad, California. Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege, that the fire was negligently caused, and/or negligently allowed to spread, by Defendants. Defendant OMNI, by and through its employees and/or agents (sued herein as DOES 1-0, caused the fire, and allowed it to spread to neighboring properties, including those of Plaintiffs, by negligently and carelessly operating its equipment, failing to properly maintain its real property, and failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would act under the same or similar circumstances. 1. Defendants, inclusive of DOES 1-0 as employees and/or agents of OMNI, are and were aware of the danger from fires in San Diego County during the summer and fall months when environmental conditions are favourable for extensive conflagration and the absence of moisture, with the prevalence of dry timber and vegetation, renders the extinguishment of a burning fire difficult. Defendants, inclusive of DOES 1-0 as employees and/or agents of OMNI, are and were aware of OMNI s property condition on the day of the fires, and were aware that OMNI borders communities that have extensive vegetation. Defendants were, or COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

6 should have been, aware of the specific weather conditions that existed on May 1, 01, and were (or should have been aware of the need to exercise caution and to take any and all reasonable precautions to prevent the ignition and spread of fire as a result of these conditions. 1. Defendants OMNI and DOES 1-0 breached their duty of reasonably care, owed to Plaintiffs and to the general public, by failing to operate the equipment and property in a reasonably prudent manner in light of the circumstances known to them on May 1, The conditions and circumstances at the time of the ignition in the fire origin area, including the condition of OMNI property and instruments, drought, low humidity, and tinderlike dry vegetation were foreseeable to, and should have been expected by, a reasonably prudent person. Said conditions and circumstances were reasonably foreseeable and should have been expected by the Defendants, particularly given OMNI s (and the employees of OMNI, DOE Defendants 1-0 s heightened expectation of care as a major private corporation that is in the business of large-scale real property design, use, and maintenance. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION Negligence 1. Plaintiffs hereby re-allege and incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs as though the same were set forth herein in full. 0. Defendants, and each of them (including Defendant OMNI and its employees and/or agents, DOES 1-0, have a duty to maintain and operate OMNI property and equipment (including the La Costa Resort golf course in a reasonably safe and prudent manner. 1. Prior to the Poinsettia Fire, Defendant OMNI hired, retained, contracted, allowed and/or otherwise collaborated with the DOE Defendants, and/or other parties, to perform work at or near OMNI golf courses, including the golf courses located at the La Costa resort. The work for which the DOE Defendants were hired involved a risk of fire that arose either from the nature of the work and/or its location and/or its methods.. A reasonably prudent property owner or operator in OMNI s position knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known, the necessity of taking any and all reasonably prudent precautions to protect adjoining property owners against the risk of harm created by the COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

7 work to be performed on Defendant OMNI s property. This includes, but is not limited to, the risk that a fire started by maintenance equipment operated by Defendant OMNI, DOES 1-0, or any other individual or entity performing maintenance work on OMNI s property, would ignite and/or spread to adjacent properties.. Defendants, and each of them, knew or should have known that the activities of DOE Defendants, and/or other parties, involved a risk that was peculiar to the operation of Defendants business that was foreseeable and arose from the nature and/or location of the work to be performed on the resort s golf course. Notwithstanding the above, Defendants, and each of them, failed to conduct themselves in the manner that a reasonable prudent person would when faced with the same or similar conditions. This failure included, but is not limited to, Defendants failure to take reasonably prudent precautions to prevent the reasonably foreseeable risk of the ignition and/or spread of fire to adjoining properties as a result of Defendants activities in operating and maintaining the golf course.. Defendants, and each of them, negligently breached the duty of care they owed to the Plaintiffs, by, among other things: a. Failing to operate and maintain the real property (including, but not limited to, the resort s golf course in a reasonably prudent manner in order to avoid exposing neighboring communities to a risk of fire; b. Failing to operate and maintain their mechanized equipment, including, but not limited to, golf carts, lawnmowers, etc., in such a manner as to avoid exposing neighboring communities to an unnecessary and unreasonable risk of fire; c. Failing to conduct reasonably prompt, proper, and frequent inspections of its real property and equipment; d. Failing to conduct reasonably prompt, proper, and frequent inspections of instruments of its mechanized equipment; e. Failing to design, construct, monitor, and maintain its real property in a manner that avoids igniting fires during fire-prone weather conditions; COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

8 f. Failing to enact and implement maintenance policies that safeguard against igniting fires during fire-prone weather conditions; g. Failing to keep equipment in a safe condition at all times to prevent fires; h. Failing to take reasonable steps necessary to prevent the fire ignited on the resort s golf course from leaving Defendant OMNI s real property and spreading into the community; i. Failing to properly train and supervise Defendants employees and agents responsible for operations and maintenance at OMNI; and j. Failing to implement and follow regulations and reasonably prudent practices to avoid fire ignition and spread.. Defendants failure to comply with their duty of reasonable care actually and proximately caused damage and harm to Plaintiffs. Defendants negligence was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiffs damages.. As a further direct and proximate result of Defendants negligence, some Plaintiffs required medical care and treatment and therefore incurred medical and incidental expenses in an amount to be proven at the time of trial.. As a further direct and proximate result of Defendants negligence, some Plaintiffs will continue to incur future medical care and related expenses for future diagnostic procedures, therapy, care, treatment, modifications, training, assistance, and services to all Plaintiffs special damage in an amount to be proven at the time of trial.. As a further direct and proximate result of Defendants negligence, Plaintiffs suffered damages including, but not limited to, real property damage and loss, erosion damage, personal property damage and loss, loss of cherished possessions, loss of trees, landscape, and vegetation, emotional distress, annoyance, disturbance, inconvenience, and mental anguish, loss of quiet enjoyment of the their property, and costs related to Plaintiffs evacuation. // // // COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

9 SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION Trespass. Plaintiffs hereby re-allege and incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs as though the same were set forth herein in full. 0. At all times relevant herein, Plaintiffs were the owners, tenants, and/or lawful occupiers of property damaged by the Poinsettia Fire. 1. Defendants, inclusive of OMNI agents and/or employees DOES 1-0, negligently allowed the Poinsettia Fire to ignite and/or spread out of control, and enter Plaintiffs property, which caused damage to Plaintiffs.. Plaintiffs did not grant permission to Defendants to cause the Poinsettia Fire to enter their properties.. As a direct, proximate and substantial cause of the trespass, Plaintiffs have suffered and will continue to suffer damages, including but not limited to damage to person, property, discomfort, annoyance, inconvenience, nuisance, loss of quiet enjoyment, mental anguish and emotional distress in an amount to be proven at trial.. Those Plaintiffs whose land was under cultivation or used for the raising of livestock have hired and retained counsel to recover compensation for their losses and damages and are entitled to recover all attorneys fees, expert fees, consultant fees, and litigation costs and expense, as allowed under California Code of Civil Procedure 1... Those Plaintiffs who suffered damage to timber, trees, or underwood as a result of Defendants trespass seek treble or double damages for wrongful injuries to their property inclusive of timber, trees, or underwood on their property, as permitted by California Civil Code. THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION Nuisance. Plaintiffs hereby re-allege and incorporate by reference each and every allegation contained in the preceding paragraphs as though the same were set forth herein in full. // COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

10 Defendants actions, conduct, omissions, negligence, trespass, and failure to act resulted in a fire hazard and a foreseeable obstruction to the free use of Plaintiffs property, invaded the right to use the Plaintiffs property and interfered with the enjoyment of Plaintiffs property, causing Plaintiffs to suffer unreasonable harm and substantial actual damages constituting a nuisance, pursuant to California Civil Code.. As a direct and proximate result of the conduct of Defendants, Plaintiffs sustained loss and damage including but not limited to damage to property, discomfort, annoyance, inconvenience, loss of quiet enjoyment, mental anguish and emotional distress, the amount of which will be proven at trial. PRAYER FOR RELIEF Plaintiffs seek the following damages in an amount according to proof at the time of trial: (1 General and/or special damages for all damages to property, including but not limited to, lost profits, diminution in value, and repair and/or replacement costs to structures, landscape, hardscape, vegetation, and/or any and all other forms of real property; ( Loss of the use, benefit, goodwill, and enjoyment of Plaintiffs real and/or personal property; ( Loss of wages, earning capacity, goodwill, and/or business profits or proceeds and/or any related displacement expenses; ( Evacuation expenses and alternate living expenses; ( Erosion damage to real property; ( Past and future medical expenses and incidental expenses; ( General and special damages for personal injury, emotional distress, fear, annoyance, disturbance, inconvenience, mental anguish, and loss of quiet enjoyment of property; ( Attorneys fees, expert fees, consultant fees and litigation costs and expense, as allowed under California Code of Civil Procedure 1.; ( Treble or double damages for wrongful injuries to timber, trees, or underwood on their property, as allowed under California Civil Code ; ( Costs of suit; COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE

11 ( Prejudgment interest as permitted by law; (1 Any and all other damages in law and/or equity that are available and/or appropriate under the facts and circumstances of this case; and (1 Any and all other and further such relief as the Court shall deem proper, all according to proof. JURY TRIAL DEMAND Plaintiffs hereby respectfully demand a jury trial on all causes of action for which a jury is permitted by law. SINGLETON LAW FIRM, APC LAW OFFICES OF DEMETRIOS A. SPARACINO Dated: October, 01 By: GERALD SINGLETON ERIKA L. VASQUEZ BRODY A. McBRIDE DEMETRIOS A. SPARACINO Attorneys for Plaintiffs COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES RELATING TO THE 01 POINSETTIA FIRE