Johnson v. 5530 Monterey Road LLC et al
Filing
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ORDER DENYING 13 MOTION TO DISMISS by Judge William H. Orrick. Plaintiff will have 20 days leave to amend his Complaint. (jmdS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 11/16/2020)
Case 3:20-cv-04740-WHO Document 25 Filed 11/16/20 Page 1 of 8
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SCOTT JOHNSON,
Plaintiff,
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Case No. 20-cv-04740-WHO
ORDER DENYING MOTION TO
DISMISS
v.
5530 MONTEREY ROAD LLC, et al.,
Dkt. No. 13
Defendants.
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INTRODUCTION
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Plaintiff Scott Johnson is a California resident with physical disabilities. Dkt. No. 1
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Complaint (“Compl.”) ¶ 1. He is a level C-5 quadriplegic, cannot walk, and has significant
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manual dexterity impairments. Id. He uses a wheelchair for mobility and a specially equipped
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van. Id. Defendants 5530 Monterey Road LLC and Travel Inn Gilroy LLC own the real property
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and a motel located at 5530 Monterey Road in Gilroy, California (the “Property”), which is a place
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of public accommodation and business establishment open to the public. Id. ¶¶ 2-5, 11. Plaintiff
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alleges that the Property has various physical barriers that do not comply with disability access
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laws. Based on these alleged physical barriers, on July 15, 2020, plaintiff filed this action,
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asserting claims against the defendants under (1) the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”);
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and (2) California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. See Compl. ¶¶ 27-44.
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On August 14, 2020, defendants moved to dismiss this action under Rule 12(b)(1), arguing
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that the alleged physical barriers identified in plaintiff’s Complaint have been resolved, as
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indicated in their concurrently filed expert declaration, and that plaintiff’s claims are moot. Dkt.
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No. 13-1, Motion to Dismiss (“Motion”) at 7-8. Defendants also argued that, given the mootness
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of the ADA claims, this Court should exercise its discretion to decline to hear plaintiff’s
Case 3:20-cv-04740-WHO Document 25 Filed 11/16/20 Page 2 of 8
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supplemental state claims. Id. at 10. On August 28, 2020, plaintiff opposed defendant’s motion to
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dismiss, arguing that the motion improperly asks this Court to determine the merits of plaintiff’s
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claims in order to assess jurisdiction. Dkt. No. 14, Opposition (“Opp.”) at 1-4. Plaintiff also
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argued that defendants’ expert declaration was insufficient to establish that the physical barriers
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described in plaintiff’s Complaint were fully resolved. Id. at 4-8.
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On September 14, 2020, I issued an Order stating, in part, that plaintiff could file a
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supplemental substantive response to defendants’ motion to dismiss, by October 28, 2020,
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following the parties’ joint on-site inspection of the Property, and that defendants could file a
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supplemental reply by November 4, 2020. Dkt. No. 16-1. On October 27, 2020, plaintiff filed a
supplemental opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss along with the declaration of Tim
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Wegman, which identifies several remaining physical barriers still present at the Property. See
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Dkt. No. 19, Supplemental Opposition (“Supp. Opp.”); Dkt. No. 19-1, Wegman Decl. On
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November 4, 2020, defendants filed a supplemental reply, arguing that these alleged remaining
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barriers either do not exist, or have now been remedied. See Dkt. No. 20, Supplemental Reply
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(“Supp. Reply”). On November 5, 2020, defendants submitted a supplemental Lobnow
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declaration in support of this supplemental reply. See Dkt. No. 21 Supp. Lobnow Decl.
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For the reasons outlined below, I conclude that there are facts in dispute regarding whether
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the alleged physical barriers at the Property have been resolved. Accordingly, defendants’ motion
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to dismiss on mootness grounds is DENIED. Further, I decline to use my discretion to dismiss
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plaintiff’s state claims and defendants’ motion to dismiss these claims is also DENIED. Because
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some of the alleged barriers plaintiff describes in his briefing are not clearly alleged in the
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Complaint, plaintiff will have 20 days leave to amend his Complaint to allege facts regarding
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these barriers.
BACKGROUND
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I.
COMPLAINT ALLEGATIONS
In October 2019, January 2020, and February 2020, plaintiff traveled to the Property with
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the intention of using the Property’s services and, in part, to determine whether the Property
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complies with disability access laws. Compl. ¶ 10. He alleges that when he visited the Property,
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the defendants “failed to provide wheelchair accessible parking in conformance with the ADA
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Standards as it relates to wheelchair users like the plaintiff” and that the Property still does not
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have wheelchair accessible parking. Id. ¶¶ 12-13. He further alleges, on information and belief,
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that at the times he visited, and presently, the Property did not and does not have (1) a wheelchair
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accessible guestroom; (2) wheelchair accessible door hardware at the lobby entrance; and (3)
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wheelchair accessible transaction counters. Id. ¶¶ 14-19.
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II.
In support of their motion to dismiss, defendants submitted a declaration from Craig
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DEFENDANTS’ LOWNOW DECLARATION
Lobnow. Dkt. No. 13-2, Lobnow Decl. Lobnow declares that he visited the Property on August
10, 2020, inspected the alleged physical barriers described in plaintiff’s Complaint, and prepared a
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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report of his findings. Id. ¶ 4. Based on his inspection, Lobnow declares that the Property’s
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accessible parking is ADA compliant because (1) the accessible parking space is 108 inches wide;
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(2) the access aisle is 96 inches wide; (3) the parking space and access aisle are the same length;
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(4) the parking space and aisle have correct painted markings; and (5) the running slopes of the
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parking space and access aisle are not greater than 2.0%. Id. ¶¶ 5-6. Further, Lobnow declares
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that the Property’s guestrooms are ADA compliant because the Property has one accessible
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guestroom out of 24, and the accessible guestroom interior, toilet, and bathroom meet ADA
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requirements for entrances, doors, and doorways. Id. ¶¶ 7-8. Finally, Lobnow declares that the
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lobby entrance door hardware complies with the ADA, noting that it can be operated with one
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hand; is within 15-48 inches from a front or side approach; does not require tight grasping,
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pinching, or twisting of the wrist, and does not require a force to activate of more than five
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pounds. Id. ¶¶ 9-11.
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III.
PLAINTIFF’S WEGMAN DECLARATION
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In support of his supplemental opposition, plaintiff submitted the declaration of Tim
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Wegman. In his declaration, Wegman declares that he participated in a joint site inspection of the
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Property on October 21, 2020. Wegman Decl. ¶ 21. Wegman declares that, using a digital level,
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he determined the slope of the parking space at the Property was 2.4% and 2.3% at various points.
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Id. ¶ 3. He further declares that he took multiple measurements and made various observations
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regarding the accessible guestroom shower noting that: (1) the shower measured 60 inches wide
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by 30 inches deep; (2) the shower contains a grab bar that can be moved up and down from a
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maximum low point of 52 inches to a high of 71 inches; (3) the shower seat is bolted and affixed
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to the wall and cannot be folded up; and (4) the shower seat is rectangular in design and measures
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13.5 inches from the side wall to the front edge of the seat. Id. ¶¶ 3-6.
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IV.
DEFENDANTS’ SUPPLEMENTAL LOBNOW DECLARATION
On November 5, 2020, defendants submitted a supplemental declaration of Craig Lobnow
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addressing the barriers described in the Wegman declaration. See Supp. Lobnow Decl. In this
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declaration, Lobnow explains that (1) he measured the slope of the parking space at various points
and that all points now have less than a 2% slope; (2) the guestroom bathroom shower seat
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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measures 15 inches from the side wall to the front edge of the seat; (3) the shower grab bar is now
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48 inches from the shower floor; and (4) the shower seat can be folded up. Supp. Lobnow Decl.
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¶¶ 5, 7, 9-10.
LEGAL STANDARD
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I.
RULE 12(b)(1)
A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is a
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challenge to the court’s subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). “Federal courts
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are courts of limited jurisdiction,’ and it is “presumed that a cause of action lies outside this
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limited jurisdiction.” Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 377 (1994). The
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party invoking the jurisdiction of the federal court bears the burden of establishing that the court
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has the authority to grant the relief requested. Id.
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A challenge pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) may be facial or factual. See White v. Lee, 227 F.3d
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1214, 1242 (9th Cir. 2000). In a facial attack, the jurisdictional challenge is confined to the
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allegations pled in the complaint. See Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 362 (9th Cir. 2004).
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The challenger asserts that the allegations in the complaint are insufficient “on their face” to
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invoke federal jurisdiction. See Safe Air for Everyone v. Meyer, 373 F.3d 1035, 1039 (9th Cir.
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2004). To resolve a facial challenge, the court assumes that the allegations in the complaint are
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true and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of the party opposing dismissal. In contrast, with
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a factual attack, a court may “look beyond the complaint to matters of public record without
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having to convert the motion into one for summary judgment” and “need not presume the
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truthfulness of the plaintiffs’ allegations.” White, 227 F.3d at 1242. “Once the moving party has
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converted the motion to dismiss into a factual motion by presenting affidavits or other evidence
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properly brought before the court, the party opposing the motion must furnish affidavits or other
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evidence necessary to satisfy its burden of establishing subject matter jurisdiction.” Savage v.
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Glendale Union High Sch., 343 F.3d 1036, 1039 n.2 (9th Cir. 2003).
“Jurisdictional finding of genuinely disputed facts is inappropriate when ‘the jurisdictional
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issue and substantive issues are so intertwined that the question of jurisdiction is dependent on the
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resolution of factual issues going to the merits’ of an action.” Safe Air for Everyone, 373 F.3d at
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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1039 (quoting Sun Valley Gas., Inc. v. Ernst Enters., 711 F.2d 138, 140 (9th Cir. 1983).
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II.
SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION
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Under 29 U.S.C. §1367(a), a district court has supplemental jurisdiction over claims that
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“are so related to claims in the action within such original jurisdiction that they form part of the
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same case or controversy under Article III.” 29 U.S.C. §1367(a). A district court may decline to
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exercise supplemental jurisdiction where “(1) the claim raises a novel or complex issue of State
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law, (2) the claim substantially predominates over the claim or claims over which the district court
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has original jurisdiction, (3) the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original
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jurisdiction, or (4) in exceptional circumstances, there are other compelling reasons for declining
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jurisdiction.” Id. (c)(4).
DISCUSSION
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I.
MOOTNESS
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Defendants move to dismiss plaintiff’s claims under 12(b)(1), arguing that all the
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complained of barriers have been remedied. See Motion. Defendants rely on the declaration of
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their expert, Craig Lobnow, to establish that the Property is now ADA compliant. See generally,
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Lobnow Decl. A district court is “ordinarily free to hear evidence regarding jurisdiction and to
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rule on that issue prior to trial,” Augustine v. United States, 704 F.2d 1074, 1077 (9th Cir. 1983),
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including on a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss. However, the Ninth Circuit has cautioned that it
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is inappropriate to resolve factual disputes on a motion to dismiss where “the jurisdictional issue
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and substantive issues are so intertwined that the question of jurisdiction is dependent on the
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resolution of factual issues going to the merits of an action.” Safe Air for Everyone, 373 F.3d at
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1039 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).
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In ADA cases, the continuing existence of physical barriers is both a jurisdictional and
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substantive issue and accordingly, courts generally decline to dismiss ADA claims on mootness
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grounds unless there is no factual dispute that the alleged barriers have been remedied. See,
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e.g. Ngoc Lam Che v. San Jose/Evergreen Cmty. Coll. Dist. Found., Case No. 17-cv-00381-BLF,
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2017 WL 2954647, at *3 (N.D. Cal. July 11, 2017) (denying Rule 12(b)(1) motion where the
parties submitted competing expert declarations); Alcazar v. Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Restaurants, Inc., Case No. 20-cv-02771-DMR, 2020 WL 4601364, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 11,
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2020) (denying motion to dismiss ADA claims for mootness where parties submitted competing
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declarations regarding remedial measures); Powers v. Mad Vapatory LLC, Case No. 19-cv-05642-
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VKD, 2020 WL 3402245, at *6 (N.D. Cal. June 19, 2020) (“the Court will not dismiss the action
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at this juncture because the jurisdictional analysis is coextensive with the merits of Mr. Powers’s
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ADA claim”); Johnson v. Case Ventures, LLC, Case No. 5:19-cv-02876-EJD, 2020 WL 4747908
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(N.D. Cal. Aug. 17, 2020) (applying summary judgment standard to evidence re mootness of ADA
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claims); see also Langer v. Nenow, Case No. 18-cv-01670-GPC-PGS, 2020 WL 708144, at *4
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(S.D. Cal. Feb. 12, 2020) (finding that a plaintiff's ADA claim was moot where a defendant
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submitted evidence and an expert report that the alleged violations had been cured and plaintiff did
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not submit competing evidence).
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Here, there are facts in dispute regarding the current state of the Property. Defendants’
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expert Lobnow states in his declaration that the cross and running slopes of the Property’s
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accessible parking space and access aisle are not greater than 2.0%, as required by the ADA.
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Lobnow Decl. ¶¶ 5-6. In contrast, plaintiff’s investigator, Wegman, declares that the space’s slope
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reaches 2.4% and 2.3%. Wegman Decl. ¶ 3. In his supplemental declaration, Lobnow again
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disputes this finding, declaring that the parking space and access aisle slopes do not exceed 2.0%.
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Supp. Lobnow Decl. ¶ 5. This is a direct factual dispute regarding the slope of the Property’s
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parking space. In addition, in his declaration Lobnow declares that the Property’s accessible
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guestroom and bathroom “meet[] the requirements for entrances, doors, and doorways” and are
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compliant with accessibility codes. Lobnow Decl. ¶¶ 7-8. But the Wegman declaration submitted
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by plaintiff identifies three remaining issues with the guestroom’s shower: (1) the shower spray
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unit reaches a maximum low point of 52 inches – but ADA standards require such units to be no
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higher than 48 inches above the shower floor; (2) the shower seat is bolted and fixed to the wall
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and cannot be folded up – but ADA standards require roll-in shower seats to fold; and (3) the
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shower seat measures 13.5 inches from the side wall to the front edge of the seat – but ADA
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standards require such seats to measure between 15 and 16 inches from the seat wall. Wegman
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Decl. ¶¶ 3-6; Supp. Opp. at 3-4. The supplemental Lobnow declaration disputes these findings,
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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instead concluding that (1) the shower spray unit has been lowered so that it reaches the required
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48 inches above the shower floor height; (2) the shower seat is foldable; and (3) the shower seat is
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15 inches, not 13.5 inches, from the shower wall. Supp. Lobnow Decl. ¶¶ 7, 9-10. Again, there is
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a direct factual dispute between the parties’ submitted declarations regarding the shower’s
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compliance with ADA standards.
In addition, defendants’ declarations and briefing do not address or rebut plaintiff’s
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allegation that the Property does not have accessible transaction counters. See Compl. ¶ 19.
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Defendants have not attempted to argue or put forth facts demonstrating that this alleged barrier
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has been cured and thus, even absent the factual disputes described above, I cannot conclude that
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plaintiff’s claims are moot.
Because there appears to be a legitimate factual dispute as to whether the Property is
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currently ADA compliant, and because defendants have not rebutted plaintiff’s allegation that the
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Property does not have accessible transaction counters, defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s
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ADA claim for mootness is denied.
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II.
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SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION
As defendants acknowledge, this Court has discretion to decline to exercise supplemental
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jurisdiction over plaintiff’s state law claims under various circumstances. However, because I
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conclude that plaintiff’s ADA claim is not moot, I decline to dismiss the state law claims.
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Plaintiff’s claims will be most efficiently litigated together in one forum and defendants do not
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identify any strong justification for declining jurisdiction of the state claims.
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CONCLUSION
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For the reasons outline above, defendants’ motion to dismiss is DENIED. Because
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plaintiff’s briefing and submitted expert declaration discuss physical barriers that are not clearly
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alleged in the Complaint, plaintiff will have 20 days leave to amend his Complaint to add factual
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allegations regarding these barriers.
The parties are reminded of their responsibilities under General Order 56. If they have not
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held their in person settlement meeting, they should do so (at the site or virtually) within the next .
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20 days. Within 35 days, they shall file the Notice of Need for Mediation as required by General
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
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Order 56 if the case has not resolved.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: November 16, 2020
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William H. Orrick
United States District Judge
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