Brunston v. Gaughan South LLC

District Court, D. Nevada·Decided December 6, 2022·No. 2:21-cv-01947·Unknown

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 Kevin Brunston, Case No.: 2:21-cv-01947-JAD-NJK

4 Plaintiff v. Order Granting in Part Defendants’ 5 Motion to Dismiss and Denying Plaintiff’s Gaughan South, LLC, et al., Motion for Reconsideration 6 Defendants [ECF Nos. 16, 21] 7

8 Plaintiff Kevin Brunston filed this disability-discrimination suit after he was told he 9 could not wear shaded glasses at blackjack tables run by Gaughan South LLC dba South Point 10 Casino. He sues South Point and Chris Bianchi, one of the casino’s pit bosses.1 Defendants 11 move to dismiss, contending that Brunston fails to state any claim for relief. I grant the motion 12 as to Brunston’s state-law claims for breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of 13 good faith and fair dealing, but this case moves forward on Brunston’s disability-discrimination 14 and negligent-training claims. 15 Background2 16 Brunston is legally blind and suffers from “severe dry eye.”3 He wears shaded glasses at 17 all times so that he can see and to avoid “extreme eye pain and photophobia.”4 On July 19, 2021, 18 Brunston went to the South Point Casino to play blackjack.5 For “approximately one-and-a-half 19 20 1 I refer to both defendants collectively as South Point throughout this order. 21 2 These facts are taken from Brunston’s amended complaint and are not intended as findings of fact. 22 3 ECF No. 11 at 1. 23 4 Id. at 1–2. 5 Id. at 2. 1 days,” Brunston played blackjack while wearing shaded glasses “without incident.”6 On July 2 20th, Brunston booked a hotel room at South Point and he returned to the blackjack tables after 3 checking in.7 But an employee stopped him, informed him that he could not sit at the tables with 4 his glasses on, and told him to “vacate the area.”8 Brunston returned to his room, called the hotel 5 switchboard to complain, and was connected to pit-boss manager Chris Bianchi.9 Bianchi said

6 that “he could not take a complaint” and told Brunston to wait to speak to another employee 7 whose shift started the next day and after Brunston had planned to leave the hotel.10 8 Brunston brings this suit against South Point and Bianchi for violations of Title III of the 9 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Nevada’s state-law equivalent, as well as for 10 negligence, breach of contract, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair 11 dealing.11 He also invokes the theories of respondeat superior and negligent entrustment to show 12 that the actions of South Point employees may be imputed to South Point itself.12 Brunston 13 seeks declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief.13 South Point and Bianchi move to dismiss all 14 of Brunston’s claims.14

15 16 17 6 Id. at ¶ 16. 18 7 Id. at ¶¶ 18–19. 19 8 Id. at ¶¶ 19–20. 9 Id. at ¶¶ 21–22. Brunston names a “Chris Bianca” in his amended complaint. Defendants note 20 in their motion to dismiss that the correct spelling is Bianchi. ECF No. 21 at 1. 21 10 ECF No. 11 at ¶¶ 22–24. 11 Id. at ¶¶ 26–66. 22 12 Id. at ¶¶ 67–78. 23 13 Id. at 15–17. 14 ECF No. 21. 1 Discussion 2 A. Brunston’s disability-discrimination claims 3 To plead a claim under Title III of the ADA, a plaintiff must allege that: “(1) he is 4 disabled within the meaning of the ADA; (2) the defendant is a private entity that owns, leases, 5 or operates a place of public accommodation; and (3) the plaintiff was denied public

6 accommodations by the defendant because of his disability.”15 South Point contends that 7 Brunston’s disability does not meet the ADA’s definition and that he was offered reasonable 8 accommodations for his disability. 9 1. Brunston’s allegations of disability are sufficient at this stage. 10 The ADA defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits 11 one or more major life activities of such individual.”16 Major life activities include “caring for 12 oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, 13 bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and 14 working.”17 South Point contends that Brunston’s allegations that he suffers from dry eye and

15 photophobia do not establish a substantial limitation and that gambling is not a major life 16 activity.18 But South Point severely misconstrues Brunston’s allegations and the ADA’s 17 definition of disability. Brunston alleges that he is legally blind and that he wears shaded glasses 18 “in order for him to see” and to avoid “extreme eye pain and photophobia.”19 And the relevant 19 major life activity Brunston identifies is his ability to see, not his ability to engage in a 20

21 15 Arizona ex rel. Goddard v. Harkins Amusement Enter., Inc., 603 F.3d 666, 670 (9th Cir. 2010). 16 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1). 22 17 Id. at § 12102(2)(A). 23 18 ECF No. 21 at 6–9. 19 ECF No. 11 at 2. 1 recreational activity like playing blackjack. At this stage, these allegations are sufficient to show 2 that his impairment—legal blindness—substantially limits major life activities—seeing—without 3 accommodations. So I do not credit South Point’s argument that Brunston hasn’t sufficiently 4 alleged a qualifying disability to bring an ADA claim. 5 2. South Point’s argument that Brunston received reasonable accommodations for his disability presents a factual dispute that cannot be resolved at this 6 motion-to-dismiss stage.

7 South Point argues that Brunston cannot “set forth a meritorious claim because he does 8 not require mirrored sunglasses to play table games in the casino and that he had non-mirrored 9 sunglasses that he could have used . . . .”20 To make this argument South Point relies on the 10 affidavit of Chris Bianchi, who states that casino policy prohibits all blackjack players from 11 wearing mirrored sunglasses but allows them to wear non-mirrored sunglasses.21 Bianchi also 12 avers that Brunston was wearing mirrored sunglasses when he was asked to leave, Bianchi told 13 him he was permitted to wear non-mirrored ones, and Brunston replied that he had non-mirrored 14 glasses he could use instead.22 15 “In ruling on a 12(b)(6) motion, a court may generally consider only allegations 16 contained in the pleadings, exhibits attached to the complaint, and matters properly subject to 17 judicial notice.”23 Otherwise, the motion must be converted into one for summary judgment. 18 There are two narrow exceptions to this rule: a court may consider additional evidence if (1) “the 19 complaint necessarily relies upon the document” or (2) “the contents of the document are alleged 20 in the complaint, the document’s authenticity is not in question,” and the document’s relevance is 21 20 ECF No. 21 at 10. 22 21 Id. at 24. 23 22 Id. 23 Swartz v. KPMG LLP, 476 F.3d 756, 763 (9th Cir. 2007). 1 not in dispute.”24 South Point fails to show that either of these exceptions applies and I find that 2 neither does. Brunston’s complaint does not rely on Bianchi’s affidavit, nor are the affidavit’s 3 contents alleged in the complaint. And I decline to convert this motion to one for summary 4 judgment to consider Bianchi’s affidavit at this nascent stage of this litigation. Brunston 5 contends that whether he requires mirrored—not merely shaded—glasses and whether he had

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