Roy Rios v. New York and Company, Inc., et al

Filing 16

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFFS MOTION TO REMAND 11 by Judge Otis D. Wright, II (lc). Modified on 8/17/2017 .(lc).

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United States District Court
Central District of California

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ROY RIOS,

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Case No. 2:17-cv-04676-ODW(AGRx)
Plaintiff,

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ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION TO REMAND [11]

v.

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NEW YORK AND COMPANY, INC.;
and DOES 1–10, inclusive,

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Defendants.

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I.

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INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Roy Rios filed this case in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on

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May 24, 2017.

(See Am. Not. of Removal, ECF No. 15.)

On June 23, 2017,

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Defendant New York and Company, Inc. removed the action to this Court. (Id.)

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Plaintiff now moves to remand the case to state court on the basis that Defendant’s

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removal was improper. (ECF No. 11.)
For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion to

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Remand. (ECF No. 11.)1

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After considering the papers filed in connection with the Motion, the Court deemed it appropriate
for decision without oral argument. Fed. R. Civ. P. 78(b); C.D. Cal. L.R. 7-15.

II.

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BACKGROUND

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Plaintiff is blind and uses screen-reading software to access the Internet and

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read websites. (Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 15-1.) After attempting to visit Defendant’s

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website and being unable to do so because of barriers to screen-reading access,

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Plaintiff filed this case alleging a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (California

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Civil Code ¶ 51 et seq.). (Compl. ¶¶ 12, 13, 16.) Defendant based its removal of the

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case to federal court on two grounds: federal question jurisdiction and diversity

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jurisdiction. Plaintiff argues in his motion to remand that neither basis is proper,

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because there is no federal question at stake (as the Unruh Act is a California statute),

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and the amount in controversy does not exceed $75,000, precluding diversity

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jurisdiction. (See generally Mot.)

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III.

LEGAL STANDARD

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Federal courts have subject matter jurisdiction only as authorized by the

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Constitution and by Congress. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 1; Kokkonen v. Guardian

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Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994).

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jurisdiction where an action arises under federal law, or where each plaintiff’s

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citizenship is diverse from each defendant’s citizenship and the amount in controversy

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exceeds $75,000. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1332(a). A defendant may remove a case from

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state court to federal court only if the federal court would have had original

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jurisdiction over the suit. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). Courts should construe the removal

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statute strictly against removal, and “[f]ederal jurisdiction must be rejected if there is

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any doubt as to the right of removal in the first instance.” Gaus v. Miles, Inc., 980

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F.2d 564, 566 (9th Cir. 1992).

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establishing federal jurisdiction. Durham v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 445 F.3d 1247,

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1252 (9th Cir. 2006).

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Federal courts have original

The party seeking removal bears the burden of

IV.

DISCUSSION

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Plaintiff attacks both of Defendant’s bases for removal, arguing that there is not

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a federal question at stake and that there is not an amount in controversy exceeding

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$75,000. The Court agrees that there is not a federal question at stake but finds that

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the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, and therefore, the requirements for

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diversity jurisdiction are met.

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A.

Federal Question Jurisdiction

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Plaintiff argues that his partial reliance on the federal Americans with

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Disabilities Act (“ADA”) in stating his claim under the Unruh Act does not create a

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federal question. See 42 U.S.C. § 12188. The Court agrees.

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California’s Unruh Act incorporates the ADA, such that the ADA may serve as

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the “hook” for an alleged violation of state law. See, e.g., Lentini v. Cal. Ctr. for the

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Arts, Escondido, 370 F.3d 837, 846 (9th Cir. 2004). This is what Plaintiff has done,

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partially basing his Unruh Act claim on a violation of the ADA. (See Compl. ¶¶ 5, 21

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(“The New York & Co. store locations in California are public accommodations

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within the definition of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act” and

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“Defendant is also violating the Unruh Civil Rights Act . . . in that that conduct

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alleged herein likewise constitutes a violation of various provisions of the ADA . . .

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.”)). Plaintiff does not allege an ADA violation as an independent cause of action or

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seek relief under the ADA. Further, Plaintiff lists other “hooks” for his Unruh Act

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claim independent of the ADA. (See id. ¶¶ 18–20.)

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Plaintiff cites to Wander v. Kaus, 304 F.3d 856 (9th Cir. 2002), which is

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instructive as to one portion of Plaintiff’s claim. Plaintiff argues that because the

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Wander court ruled that a state-law damages suit premised on a violation of the ADA

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does not give rise to a federal cause of action for damages, his case likewise does not

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give rise to a federal cause of action. See id. at 859. While this reasoning applies to

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Plaintiff’s prayer for damages, Plaintiff also seeks injunctive relief, which is outside

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the scope of the holding in Wander. The court in Pickern v. Best Western Timber

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Cove Lodge Mariana Resort addressed a similar issue, finding that:

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State law provides for injunctive relief as well as damages, see Cal.
Civ. Code 52.1(b), and it is possible for a state law claim for

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injunctive relief to be premised solely on a violation of the ADA.
Such a claim would be no different from a federal ADA claim.
Federal question jurisdiction must exist in these circumstances.

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194 F. Supp. 2d 1128, 1132 n.5 (E.D. Cal. 2002). Unlike the situation referenced in

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Pickern, however, Plaintiff’s Unruh Act claim for injunctive relief is not based solely

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on a violation of the ADA; he also alleges that Defendant’s conduct violates the

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Unruh Act based on that act’s own provisions. (See, e.g., Compl. ¶ 20.) Therefore,

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the Court finds that Plaintiff’s Unruh Act claim does not necessarily require resolving

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Defendant’s liability under the ADA and does not create a federal question. See

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Wander, 304 F.3d at 859; Pickern, 194 F. Supp. 2d at 1132.

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B.

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Diversity Jurisdiction—Amount in Controversy
The parties do not contest that complete diversity exists in this action.

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(Compare Mot., with Opp’n.)

However, Plaintiff argues that the amount in

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controversy is below $75,000, while Defendants claim that it is actually much higher.

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The Court agrees that the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000.

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In general, “the sum demanded in good faith in the initial pleading shall be

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deemed to be the amount in controversy.” 28 U.S.C. § 1442(c)(2). When a plaintiff

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seeks injunctive as well as monetary relief, the value of the injunction for purposes of

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the amount in controversy can be assessed from “either viewpoint”—the plaintiff’s

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benefit or the defendant’s cost. Ridder Bros. Inc. v. Blethen, 142 F.2d 395, 399 (9th

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Cir. 1944).

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Plaintiff argues that he is the “master of his own complaint” and has specifically

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limited the recovery he can receive to below $75,000. (Reply 6, ECF No. 13; Mot. 3.)

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Nonetheless, the Court determines that the amount in controversy is actually higher.

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The wording of Plaintiff’s complaint plainly allows his combined monetary and

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injunctive recovery to be valued above $75,000. He states, “Plaintiff is entitled to

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injunctive relief . . . However, Plaintiff expressly limits the injunctive relief he seeks

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to $50,000 or less,” and, “Plaintiff is also entitled to statutory minimum damages . . .

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[and] reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs; however, Plaintiff expressly limits the

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amount of money that Plaintiff presently seeks to recover in this action to less than

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$75,000.”

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Complaint, “that the maximum amount of any total recovery shall not exceed

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$74,999.” (Id. ¶ 24.) That conclusory limitation appears slapdash and contradicts

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Plaintiff’s other statements in his prayer for relief. He asks for injunctive relief up to

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$50,000 and monetary relief up to $75,000, and then he states that the total recovery

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shall not exceed $74,999. The Court will not allow Plaintiff to request injunctive and

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monetary recovery far exceeding the jurisdictional minimum in once sentence and

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artificially limit the total recovery in the next. As such, the Court determines that the

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actual amount in controversy is at least $125,000. Therefore, diversity jurisdiction

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exists in this action, and it may remain in federal court.

(Compl. ¶¶ 22–24 (emphasis added)).

V.

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Plaintiff then states in his

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Plaintiff’s Motion to Remand.
(ECF No. 11.)

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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August 17, 2017

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____________________________________
OTIS D. WRIGHT, II
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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