Johnson v. Kumar et al
Filing
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ORDER signed by District Judge John A. Mendez on 11/9/17, GRANTING plaintiff's 26 Motion for Summary Judgment. Defendants are enjoined to "alter facilities to make such facilities readily accessible to and useable by individuals with disabilities" to the extent required by the ADA. 42 U.S.C. § 12188(a)(2). The Court also AWARDS plaintiff statutory damages in the amount of $8,000. CASE CLOSED (Kastilahn, A)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SCOTT JOHNSON,
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2:16-cv-00978-JAM-DB
Plaintiff,
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No.
v.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
KRISHNA G. KUMAR and
NALINI K. KUMAR,
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Defendants.
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Plaintiff Scott Johnson (“Plaintiff”) sued Defendants
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Krishna G. Kumar and Nalini K. Kumar (“Defendants”), alleging
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that their business, the Economy Inn, does not comply with the
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Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Unruh Civil
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Rights Act.
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judgment.
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Plaintiff’s motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Court
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GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion.
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Compl., ECF No. 1.
Mot., ECF No. 26.
Plaintiff moved for summary
Defendants did not oppose
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This motion was determined to be suitable for decision without
oral argument. E.D. Cal. L.R. 230(g).
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I.
OPINION
Plaintiff, a quadriplegic, visited the Economy Inn, located
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at 528 E. Pacheco Blvd., Los Banos, California, on February 23,
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2015, March 9, 2015, April 20, 2015, May 27, 2015, September 6,
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2015, October 6, 2015, October 7, 2015 and December 7, 2015.
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Johnson Decl. ¶ 4, ECF No. 26-5.
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found that the entrance ramp to the office door lacked a landing;
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the door hardware was hard to operate; and the transaction
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counter was too high for him to use.
During his visits, Plaintiff
Id. at ¶¶ 7–12.
Traveling
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to a guestroom, Plaintiff found the path to his guestroom
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obstructed by air conditioning units.
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Id. at ¶¶ 13–15.
Plaintiff plans to return and patronize the Economy Inn once
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barriers are removed.
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relief and statutory damages under the Unruh Civil Rights Act
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corresponding to two (2) obstructed visits to the Economy Inn
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($4,000.00 minimum statutory damages per visit, for a total
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amount of $8,000.00).
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Id. at ¶¶ 19–20.
He seeks injunctive
Mot. at 11.
Here, Plaintiff provided factual evidence that Defendants’
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business did not comply with the ADA and Unruh Civil Rights Act.
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Defendants did not oppose or provide evidence demonstrating an
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issue of material fact as to those violations.
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dispute of fact as to Plaintiff’s visits to the Economy Inn and
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Defendants’ statutory noncompliance, making relief appropriate.
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Although a plaintiff may recover statutory damages for
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several visits to a non-compliant facility, making multiple
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visits to a non-complaint facility in a short amount of time may
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constitute a failure to mitigate.
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Supp. 3d 1096, 1103 (E.D. Cal. 2016).
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Thus, there is no
See Johnson v. Guedoir, 218 F.
Here, Plaintiff visited
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the Economy Inn eight times in ten months.
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seeks statutory damages for two of his eight visits and there is
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no showing of failure to mitigate, the Court will grant Plaintiff
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$8,000 in statutory damages.
Since Plaintiff only
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II.
ORDER
For the reasons provided, Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary
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Judgment, ECF No. 26, is GRANTED.
Defendants are enjoined to
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“alter facilities to make such facilities readily accessible to
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and useable by individuals with disabilities” to the extent
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required by the ADA.
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awards Plaintiff statutory damages in the amount of $8,000.
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42 U.S.C. § 12188(a)(2).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: November 9, 2017
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The Court also
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