Daubert v. City of Lindsay

37 F. Supp. 3d 1168, 2014 WL 3938762, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111435
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 11, 2014
DocketCase No. 1:14-CV-00068
StatusPublished

This text of 37 F. Supp. 3d 1168 (Daubert v. City of Lindsay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Daubert v. City of Lindsay, 37 F. Supp. 3d 1168, 2014 WL 3938762, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111435 (E.D. Cal. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING IN PART AND GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS AND DENYING APPLICATION FOR STAY AND EARLY EVALUATION CONFERENCE (Docs. No. 4 and 6)

ANTHONY W. ISHII, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiffs Timothy Daubert (“Daubert”) and Roger Cortez (“Cortez”) (“Plaintiffs,” collectively) bring this action against the City of Lindsay (“City”). Plaintiffs allege disability-related causes of action under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Rehabilitation Act (“RA”), and the California Disabled Persons Act (“DPA”). The City filed this Rule 12(b)6 motion to dismiss Plaintiff Cortez’s complaint in full for failure to. state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Subsequently, the City filed an application for stay and an early evaluation conference. For the reasons set forth below, the City’s motion will be denied in part and granted in part. The application for stay and early evaluation conference will be denied.

I. Background1

Cortez’s great-granddaughter has significant disabilities, including lack of motor skills, and uses a wheelchair for mobility. Doc. No. 1, (“Complaint”) at ¶ 5; Doc. No. 18 at 2:13-14. Cortez’s great-granddaughter is a “qualified person with a disability” and a “physically disabled person” as those terms are used under the ADA, the RA, and the CDPA. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 5.

The City owns, controls, and maintains Lindsay City Park (“Park”), which includes pedestrian paths and public facilities. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 8. The pedestrian paths are made of sand and are often wet from sprinkler use. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 20(a). A sandy path is the only access to the Park’s restroom facilities. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 20(b). The path to the Park’s Community Center is primarily made of sand and is crossed by an approximately one-inch hump. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 20(c).

[1172]*1172On May 22, 2013 and on other dates, Cortez visited the park with his great-granddaughter. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 21. Cortez pushes her wheelchair through the park, as her disabilities require. Id. Cortez has significant difficulty navigating his granddaughter’s wheelchair along the pedestrian paths and accessing the Park’s facilities. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 22. Conditions at the Park cause Cortez to “experience difficulty and feel anxious, frustrated, embarrassed, conspicuous, unwelcomed and like second class citizens.” Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 24. Cortez would like to return to visit the Park with his great-granddaughter in the future. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 25. Because of his association with his great-granddaughter, Cortez is denied full and equal access to the programs, services and activities that the Park offers the general public. Doc. No. 1, Complaint at ¶ 25; Doc. No. 18 at 2:12-13.

On January 16, 2014, Plaintiffs filed this action alleging violations of ADA Title II, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131 et seq.; RA Section 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794; and, the DPA, Cal. Civ.Code §§ 54 et seq. On January 28, 2014, the City filed this Rule 12(b)6 motion for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Doc. No. 4, (“Motion”). The City asserts that Cortez lacks standing under all relevant causes of action because he has not alleged that he is a qualified disabled person under any of the disabilities protection acts and that the associational provisions of each statute do not extend to cover Cortez’s claims. See Doc. No. 4, Motion. Additionally, the City filed a motion for a stay of proceedings pursuant to California Civil Code Section 55.54(d)(1) and an early evaluation conference pursuant to California Civil Code Section 55.54(d)(2). Doc. No. 6.

II. Legal Standard

The City filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The City’s argues that Cortez lacks standing under all relevant causes of action. Thus, this motion is properly considered under Rule 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

Federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Complaints are subject to a motion to dismiss where the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). The plaintiff carries the burden of proof of the existence of subject matter jurisdiction. Thompson v. McCombe, 99 F.3d 352, 353 (9th Cir.1996). To satisfy subject matter jurisdiction pleading standards, the Ninth Circuit succinctly explains:

“To invoke a federal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, a plaintiff needs to provide only ‘a short and plain statement of the grounds for the court’s jurisdiction.’ Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(1). The plaintiff must allege facts, not mere legal conclusions, in compliance with the pleading standards established by Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).”

Leite v. Crane Co., 749 F.3d 1117, 1121 (9th Cir.2014).

A defendant may challenge subject matter jurisdiction in one of two ways: through a “facial attack” or a “factual attack.” Leite v. Crane Co., 749 F.3d 1117, 1121 (9th Cir.2014). A facial attack challenges the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s allegation to invoke federal jurisdiction whereas a factual attack challenges the truth of the allegations. Leite v. Crane Co., 749 F.3d 1117, 1121 (9th Cir.2014); Pride v. Correa, 719 F.3d 1130, 1133 n. 6 (9th Cir.2013). Here, Defendant challenges the facial sufficiency of Plaintiffs pleading since Cortez has not shown an “adverse action against the Plaintiff himself [and] Plaintiff cannot establish a claim for associational discrimination” within the meaning of the [1173]*1173ADA, Doc. No. 4, Motion at 10:1, “there are no factual allegations that Plaintiff himself is an individual with a disability” for purposes of the RA, id. at 10:18, and “Plaintiff has not demonstrated that he is disabled” or alleged that he “was denied equal access to the City’s Park” for purposes of the DBA, id. at 12:20-22.

The district court resolves a facial challenge as it would a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss and is limited to considering the allegations in the complaint. Leite v. Crane Co., 749 F.3d 1117, 1121-22 (9th Cir.2014); Wolfe v. Strankman, 392 F.3d 358, 362 (9th Cir.2004). In reviewing a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), all of the complaint’s factual allegations are taken as true, and the facts are construed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Marceau v. Blackfeet Hous. Auth., 540 F.3d 916, 919 (9th Cir.2008); Vignolo v.

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Bluebook (online)
37 F. Supp. 3d 1168, 2014 WL 3938762, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 111435, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/daubert-v-city-of-lindsay-caed-2014.