D'LIL v. Best Western Encina Lodge & Suites

538 F.3d 1031, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 17168, 2008 WL 3307152
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedAugust 12, 2008
Docket06-55516
StatusPublished
Cited by198 cases

This text of 538 F.3d 1031 (D'LIL v. Best Western Encina Lodge & Suites) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D'LIL v. Best Western Encina Lodge & Suites, 538 F.3d 1031, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 17168, 2008 WL 3307152 (9th Cir. 2008).

Opinions

Opinion by Judge REINHARDT; Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge RYMER.

REINHARDT, Circuit Judge:

We consider whether Hollynn D’Lil has standing to seek attorney’s fees in an action brought against the Best Western Enema Lodge & Suites (“Best Western Enci-na”) under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq., and California civil rights laws. We conclude that she does.

[1034]*1034I. Background

Hollynn D’Lil is a paraplegic who requires the use of a wheelchair for mobility. On December 13, 2001, D’Lil traveled from her home in Sacramento to Santa Barbara, California in order to conduct a property inspection for attorney Jason Singleton.1 Early that day, she called the Best Western Encina to reserve a wheelchair accessible room for the night. She was informed that the hotel had an available room that lacked a roll-in shower, but was fully accessible in all other respects. She reserved the room.

When D’Lil arrived at the hotel that evening, she encountered what she describes as “multiple and severe barriers to disabled access.” Steep ramps, lack of handrails, and high counters made it difficult for D’Lil to maneuver in the front lobby and desk area. After D’Lil checked in and proceeded to her room, she discovered that the area of the hotel containing the designated disabled access rooms did not have any van accessible parking spaces nearby. Once inside her room, D’Lil found that many of the facilities, including the door hardware, curtain and heating controls, and lamps were either too high or too far from a clear path of travel for her to use. The path to the bathroom was blocked by beds and furniture and the bathroom itself lacked sufficient room to approach and safely use the toilet, which was too low to the ground. The grab bars on either side of the toilet were not properly positioned nor were they of the correct length, resulting in “bruises and strains to both [of D’Lil’s] arms and legs while trying to use the facility.” The bathtub was similarly inaccessible.

On December 13, 2002, D’Lil filed suit against the Best Western Encina seeking injunctive relief under Title III of the ADA,2 injunctive relief and damages under California civil rights laws, as well as attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs. After three years of litigation, the parties entered into a consent decree that settled all issues related to injunctive relief and damages. The issue of attorney’s fees, litigation expenses, and costs was reserved for future resolution.

D’Lil then filed a motion for attorney’s fees. In opposing D’Lil’s motion, the defendants did not contest her standing to sue.3 The district court nevertheless expressed “concern ... that the issue of standing was never resolved” and issued a sua sponte order requiring the parties to address it. In response to the district court’s order, both parties filed briefs on standing and an evidentiary hearing was held, at which D’Lil testified.4 The “only [1035]*1035question” with which the district court was concerned at the hearing was whether D’Lil had a “legitimate intent to return” to the Best Western Encina at the time that the complaint was filed. After hearing D’Lil’s testimony and receiving additional briefing from the parties, the district court found that D’Lil failed to provide evidence of her intent to return “as of December 2002.” The court also expressed skepticism that D’Lil would be able to establish standing even if she had provided such evidence, noting concerns about the credibility of D’Lil’s professed desire to return in light of her involvement in multiple prior ADA suits. Accordingly, the district court concluded that D’Lil failed to meet her burden of establishing Article III standing, and that the court therefore lacked jurisdiction over her attorney’s fees motion. D’Lil subsequently filed motions for a new trial and to renew her pending motion for attorney’s fees. The district court denied D’Lil’s motions and imposed sanctions. This appeal followed.

We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Whether a party has standing to pursue its claim is a question of law that we review de novo. See Skaff v. Meridien North America Beverly Hills, LLC, 506 F.3d 832, 837 (9th Cir.2007) (citing Hartman v. Summers, 120 F.3d 157, 159 (9th Cir.1997)). We review the district court’s findings of fact for clear error, id., and afford “great deference to district court findings relating to credibility^]” United States v. Jordan, 291 F.3d 1091, 1100 (9th Cir.2002).

II. Discussion

A.

As an initial matter, we reject D’Lil’s argument that the district court lacked the authority to raise the issue of standing sua sponte. “[Standing is an essential and unchanging part of the case- or-controversy requirement of Article III.” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). For that reason, both the Supreme Court and this court have held that whether or not the parties raise the issue, “ ‘[federal courts are required sua sponte to examine jurisdictional issues such as standing.’ ” Bernhardt v. County of Los Angeles, 279 F.3d 862, 868 (9th Cir.2001) (internal citation omitted) (emphasis added); see also United States v. Hays, 515 U.S. 737, 742, 115 S.Ct. 2431, 132 L.Ed.2d 635 (1995). The district court thus “had both the power and the duty to raise the adequacy of [D’Lil’s] standing sua sponte.” Bernhardt, 279 F.3d at 868.

D’Lil’s principal rejoinder is that the question of subject matter jurisdiction was resolved by the parties in the consent decree, and that the district court was therefore powerless to reexamine the issue by challenging D’Lil’s standing after the decree became final. This argument lacks merit for two reasons. First, it proceeds from the faulty premise that the parties stipulated to the existence of standing in the consent decree. Although the consent decree contains a stipulation to the existence of federal question jurisdiction, the decree is silent on the issue of standing. [1036]*1036The parties neither stipulated to standing nor to any facts that would support it.

Second, even if the consent decree did contain such a stipulation, it would be of no moment. As the Supreme Court has explained, “[t]he question of standing is not subject to waiver....” Hays, 515 U.S. at 742, 115 S.Ct. 2431; see also United States v. Ceja-Prado, 333 F.3d 1046, 1049 (9th Cir.2003).

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538 F.3d 1031, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 17168, 2008 WL 3307152, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dlil-v-best-western-encina-lodge-suites-ca9-2008.