Johnson v. Bourbeau, et al.

Filing 31

ORDER signed by District Judge John A. Mendez on 9/27/2017 ORDERING 29 Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is GRANTED. (Reader, L)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 SCOTT JOHNSON, 11 2:14-cv-01730-JAM-EFB Plaintiff, 12 13 No. v. 14 JOHN PAUL BOURBEAU; TAQUERIA YVETTE, INC., a California Corporation, 15 ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT Defendants. 16 17 Plaintiff Scott Johnson (“Plaintiff”) sued Defendants John 18 Paul Bourbeau and Taqueria Yvette, Inc. (“Defendants”), alleging 19 that two businesses, Taqueria Yvette and the Rusty Hook, did not 20 comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and 21 California law. 22 summary judgment. 23 Plaintiff’s motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Court 24 GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion. 1 25 /// 26 1 27 Compl., ECF No. 1. Mot., ECF No. 29. Plaintiff moved for partial Defendants did not oppose This motion was determined to be suitable for decision without oral argument. E.D. Cal. L.R. 230(g). The hearing was scheduled for September 19, 2017. 28 1 1 2 I. OPINION Plaintiff, a quadriplegic, visited Taqueria Yvette several 3 times between May 2012 and February 2014 and found that the 4 restaurant did not have a van accessible parking spot. 5 Decl. ¶¶ 2, 4-6, ECF No. 29-5. 6 difficulty with opening the door of the Taqueria, seeing over the 7 top of the transaction counter, and accessing the restroom. 8 ¶¶ 7–9. 9 mirror because it was placed too high and he worried about Johnson Plaintiff also encountered Id. Inside the restroom, Plaintiff was unable to use the 10 burning his legs on an unwrapped hot water pipe below the sink. 11 Id. ¶¶ 10–11. 12 Plaintiff visited the Rusty Hook at least three times in 13 February and March 2014. Id. ¶ 16. Similar to the Taqueria, 14 Plaintiff found that the bar did not have a van accessible 15 parking spot and he struggled with the door handle because of his 16 manual dexterity impairments. 17 Hook’s bathroom, Plaintiff was unable to utilize the mirror 18 because of its high placement, struggled with the sink’s 19 hardware, and could not reach the paper towel dispenser. 20 ¶¶ 20–22. 21 water pipes below the sink. Id. ¶¶ 17–19. Within the Rusty Id. Again, he feared burning his legs on the unwrapped hot Id. ¶ 21. 22 Plaintiff regularly visits businesses in the area, but was 23 deterred from patronizing either the Taqueria or the Rusty Hook 24 because of the businesses’ barriers to access. 25 Id. ¶¶ 25–26. Plaintiff seeks statutory damages of $8,000: $4,000 for his 26 first visit and $4,000 “for all the many times he was deterred 27 from visiting.” 28 Mot. at 14–15. The Eastern District has held that the same Plaintiff was 2 1 entitled to statutory damages for one encounter and a separate 2 award for deterrence. Johnson v. Guedoir, 218 F. Supp. 3d 1096, 3 1100 (E.D. Cal. 2016). There is no genuine dispute of material 4 fact that Defendants’ businesses did not comply with the ADA and 5 Unruh Act, that Plaintiff visited both businesses on several 6 occasions, and that Plaintiff was deterred from patronizing the 7 businesses thereafter. 8 judgment and $8,000 in statutory damages. Plaintiff is entitled to partial summary 9 10 11 12 13 14 II. ORDER For the reasons set forth above, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion for partial summary judgment. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: September 27, 2017 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 3

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