Heatherly et al v. Malika et al
Filing
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Order by Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu granting 23 Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and denying as moot 25 Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment. (dmrlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/23/2013)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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DAREN HEATHERLY,
No. C-11-04125 DMR
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Plaintiff(s),
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v.
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QUEEN MALIKA,
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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’
MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
[DOCKET NO. 23] AND DENYING
PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR
SUMMARY JUDGMENT [DOCKET NO.
25]
Defendant(s).
___________________________________/
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Before the court is a motion for summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil
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Procedure 56 filed by Defendants Tammy Otsmane and Hamid Otsmane dba Queen Malika (the
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“Otsmanes”) and Neil Goodhue and Diane Goodhue, Trustees of the Sandringham Trust (the
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“Goodhues”). [Docket No. 23.] Also before the court is a motion for summary judgment filed by
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Plaintiffs Daren Heatherly and Irma Ramirez. [Docket No. 25.] The court finds that the matters are
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appropriate for resolution without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-1(b). For the
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reasons stated below, the court grants Defendants’ motion and denies Plaintiffs’ motion as moot.
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I. BACKGROUND AND UNDISPUTED FACTS
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On August 22, 2011, Plaintiffs filed a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of
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disability in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), California Civil Code § 54 et
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seq., and California Civil Code § 41 et seq. (the Unruh Act). See Complaint [Docket No. 1].
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Plaintiffs allege that they are persons with physical disabilities within the meaning of the ADA and
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applicable California laws. Id. at ¶ 5. They allege that Defendants are the owners and operators of a
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public accommodation in San Francisco known as Queen Malika, which Plaintiffs attempted to
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access for purposes of having food and drinks on April 14, 2011, May 12, 2011, and June 7, 2011,
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but could not do so because they encountered architectural barriers. Id. at ¶¶ 14-27.
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The following facts are undisputed: on November 14, 2011, the parties conducted a General
1. Pursuant to the inspection, the parties identified several architectural barriers and Plaintiffs
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identified the remedial work necessary to remove those barriers. JSMF 2-4. In early December
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2011, Defendants completed all of the remedial work. JSMF 8. At the times Plaintiffs allegedly
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For the Northern District of California
Order 56 inspection of the premises.1 Joint Statement of Material Facts (“JSMF”) [Docket No. 23-4]
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United States District Court
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visited the Queen Malika restaurant, it was owned and operated by the Otsmanes, and the building in
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which it was operated was owned by the Goodhues. JSMF 9-10. The Otsmanes have not owned or
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operated the Queen Malika since September 11, 2012. JSMF 9.
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II. DISCUSSION
It is undisputed that the ADA claim is moot as to all Defendants because Defendants have
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removed all of the architectural barriers identified in the General Order 56 inspection. Additionally,
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the ADA claim is moot as to the Otsmanes because they no longer own the restaurant and therefore
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cannot be subject to injunctive orders. See Pltfs.’ Opp. to Mot. Summ. J. [Docket No. 24] at 2
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(“[P]laintiffs[] concede that their ADA cause of action is moot”). Wander v. Kaus, 304 F.3d 856,
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858 (9th Cir. 2002) (the only remedy available for a violation of the ADA under a private right of
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action is injunctive relief; if no ADA violations exist at the time the court is asked to provide
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injunctive relief, the ADA claim is moot). Plaintiffs argue that although their only federal claim is
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admittedly moot, the court should not decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the
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remaining state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. Because the “jurisdictional questions ordinarily
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must precede merits determinations in dispositional order,” Sinochem Int’l Co. v. Malay. Int’l
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Shipping Corp., 549 U.S. 422, 431 (2007), the court considers first the issue of supplemental
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General Order No. 56 of the Northern District of California prescribes a procedure for actions
asserting denial of a right of access protected by the American Disabilities Act.
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jurisdiction over the state law claims before reaching Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on
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the merits of the Unruh Act claim.
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A. Legal Standard
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At the outset of this case, court had federal question jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ ADA claim
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pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Because Plaintiffs’ state law claims “were so related to claims in the
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action within such original jurisdiction that they form part of the same case or controversy under
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Article III of the United States Constitution,” this court exercised supplemental jurisdiction over
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those claims as well. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a).
matter jurisdiction over any supplemental state law claims. Carlsbad Tech., Inc. v. HIF Bio, Inc.,
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For the Northern District of California
The elimination of federal claims does not automatically deprive district courts of subject
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United States District Court
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556 U.S. 635 (2009). Rather, the district court retains discretion whether to exercise supplemental
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jurisdiction over state law claims even after all federal claims are resolved. 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c)(3)
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(“The district courts may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a claim . . . [if] the
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district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction.”); see also Lacey v.
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Maricopa Cnty., 649 F.3d 1118, 1137 (9th Cir. 2011) reh'g en banc granted, 663 F.3d 1032 (9th Cir.
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2011) and on reh'g en banc, 693 F.3d 896 (9th Cir. 2012). “A district court’s decision whether to
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exercise [supplemental] jurisdiction after dismissing every claim over which it had original
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jurisdiction is purely discretionary.” Carlsbad Tech., 556 U.S. at 639.
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“[A]ctually exercising discretion and deciding whether to decline, or to retain, supplemental
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jurisdiction over state law claims when any factor in [Section 1367(c)] is implicated is a
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responsibility that district courts are duty-bound to take seriously.” Acri v. Varian Associates, Inc.,
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114 F.3d 999, 1001 supplemented, 121 F.3d 714 (9th Cir. 1997). The district court’s exercise of
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discretion to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims is “informed by . . .
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values of economy, convenience, fairness, and comity.” Id. (quotations omitted). The party
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asserting federal jurisdiction bears the burden of showing that jurisdiction exists. California ex rel.
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Younger v. Andrus, 608 F.2d 1247, 1249 (9th Cir. 1979).
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B. Discretionary Factors
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Comity and precedent in this circuit strongly disfavors exercising supplemental jurisdiction.
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“The Supreme Court has stated, and we have often repeated, that ‘in the usual case in which all
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federal-law claims are eliminated before trial, the balance of factors . . . will point toward declining
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to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims.’” Acri, 114 F.3d at 1001 (quoting
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Carnegie-Mellon Univ. v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 350 n. 7 (1988)). See also Oliver v. Ralphs Grocery
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Co., 654 F.3d 903, 911 (9th Cir.2011) (upholding district court’s decision to decline to exercise
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supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims after granting the defendants summary judgment on
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the plaintiff’s ADA accessibility claim); Wander v. Kaus, 304 F.3d 856, 858 (9th Cir. 2002)
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(upholding district court’s decision to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law
claims after dismissing ADA claim as moot because defendants no longer owned public
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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accommodation); Yates v. Delano Retail Partners, LLC, No. C-10-3073-CW, 2012 WL 4944269 at
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*3 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 17, 2012) (“All federal matters have been resolved and only state matters remain,
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so comity strongly favors dismissal”; declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state law
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claims after ADA claim dismissed as moot because the public accommodation was closed).
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Judicial economy also counsels against the court’s exercise of supplemental jurisdiction.
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The case is at an early stage. The parties have not yet engaged in any discovery. See Joint Case
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Management Statement [Docket No. 25] at 6. Aside from an initial case management conference,
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this court has not intervened in these proceedings. In similar circumstances, other courts in this
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district have declined supplemental jurisdiction. See, e.g. Pickern, 2002 WL 143817 at *3
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(declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over California state law claims after parties settled
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ADA claims and claims for injunctive relief and discovery deadline was still nine months away);
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Kerner v. Mendez, No. 08-C-4528-EDL, 2009 WL 2424298 at *1 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2009)
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(declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over California state law claims after court
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dismissed ADA claim without leave to amend, no discovery had occurred, and parties had not yet
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appeared for an initial case management conference).
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Plaintiffs argue that litigating the state law claims in state court will cause inconvenience and
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expense to the parties. However, these considerations do not weigh strongly in favor of exercising
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supplemental jurisdiction, especially when considered against the above factors, which strongly
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weigh against. Furthermore, although Plaintiffs may incur additional attorneys’ fees to prosecute the
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remaining claims in state court, if they prevail, they may be able to recover these fees from
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Defendants. See e.g. Pickern v. Stanton’s Restaurant, No. C-01-2112-SI, 2002 WL 143817 at *3
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(N.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2002) (noting that additional costs in re-litigating state law claims in state court
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is not a great inconvenience because plaintiffs may be entitled to recovery attorneys’ fees if they
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prevail).
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The facts in this case differ significantly from those in which courts have exercised
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supplemental jurisdiction over state law claims related to an ADA denial of access claim. In all of
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the cases cited by Plaintiffs, the federal claims were still pending. Connally v. Bayport Marina
Plaza, LLC, No. C-07-3032-BZ (N.D. Cal. Oct. 2, 2007) (exercising supplemental jurisdiction over
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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state law claims when ADA claim is still at issue); Johnson v. Barlow, Npo. 06-CV-1150-WBS,
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2007 WL 1723617 (E.D. Cal. June 11, 2007) (same). In fact, in two of the cases cited by Plaintiffs,
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the court exercised supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims because the ADA claim was
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still at issue, but explicitly noted that “[i]f, at a future date, the ADA claim is resolved, Defendant
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may make another motion to dismiss the state law claims.” Chavez v. Suzuki, No. 05-C-1569-BTM,
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2005 WL 3477848 at *3 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 30, 2005). See also Yates v. Belli Deli, No. 07-C-1405-
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WHA, 2007 WL 2318923 at *8 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 13, 2007) (exercising jurisdiction over state law
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claims while ADA claim is still pending, but noting that defendants could present evidence that the
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action is moot because they have made all requested remedial measures in an “early summary
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judgment motion”). See also Lerma v. NTT McKee Retail Center LLC, No. 11-C-2161-LHK, 2011
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WL 4948667 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2011) (court retains supplemental jurisdiction after related ADA
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claim had been eliminated against a defendant, where the ADA claims were still pending against
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other defendants).
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While the court recognizes the inconvenience and costs that may attend litigation in state
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court, the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims in
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light of the balance of discretionary factors and the language and purpose of 28 U.S.C. § 1367(c).
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III. CONCLUSION
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For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted. Because
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the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims, Plaintiffs’ motion
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for summary judgment on the Unruh Act claim is denied as moot.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: October 23, 2013
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DONNA M. RYU
United States Magistrate Judge
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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