Trustees on Behalf of General Employees Trust Fund v. Power Clean Enterprises
Trustees on Behalf of General Employees Trust Fund v. Power Clean Enterprises, Inc.
- Donna Ryu
- 4:25-cv-05422
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
Trustees v. Power Clean: Judge Ryu granted service through California’s Secretary of State and continued the initial case-management conference.
The Trust Fund may serve Power Clean through the California Secretary of State after unsuccessful ordinary service attempts. The order also changes the schedule for the initial case-management conference.
What happened
In Trustees on Behalf of General Employees Trust Fund v. Power Clean Enterprises, Inc., the Trust Fund asked to serve Power Clean through the California Secretary of State after repeated unsuccessful attempts to serve the company’s registered agent and officers.
The court found that the Trust Fund had made reasonable efforts to serve Power Clean at business and residential addresses identified in company filings, online directories, and public records. California law allows this alternative service when a corporation’s designated agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence.
Judge Donna Ryu granted the application. The Trust Fund must complete service by October 6, 2025, and must include the order with the summons and complaint; the court also continued the October 1, 2025 initial case-management conference, although the opinion text does not state the new date.
The detailed version
- Trustees on Behalf of General Employees Trust Fund v. Power Clean Enterprises · No. 4:25-cv-05422
- Donna Ryu
- Sept. 22, 2025
Background
The Trust Fund applied ex parte for permission to serve Power Clean through the California Secretary of State. The Trust Fund reported several unsuccessful attempts to serve David Aria, identified as Power Clean’s chief executive officer and registered agent for service of process, and Svetlana V. Aria, identified as the company’s secretary.
The attempts occurred at business and residential addresses identified through Power Clean’s filings with the California Secretary of State, online business directories, and other public records. The process server attempted service multiple times, conducted surveillance, and left the summons and complaint on a porch. The opinion states that these efforts did not result in service on Power Clean’s registered agent or officers.
Court’s Analysis
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 4 allows a corporation to be served under the law of the state where the federal court is located or where service is made. Under California Corporations Code section 1702(a), a court may permit service on a domestic corporation by hand delivery to the California Secretary of State if the corporation’s designated agent cannot be found at the designated address with reasonable diligence and an affidavit satisfies the court that ordinary service cannot be completed with reasonable diligence.
The court found that the Trust Fund had exercised reasonable diligence. It therefore concluded that Power Clean could be served through the California Secretary of State.
Ruling
The court granted the Trust Fund’s application. It ordered the Trust Fund to complete service no later than October 6, 2025, and to serve Power Clean with a copy of the order in addition to the summons and complaint. The court also continued the October 1, 2025 initial case-management conference. The provided opinion text does not state the new conference date. The order was issued by Donna Ryu, Chief Magistrate Judge.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.