Dodson v. Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Co. II, LLC

289 F.R.D. 595, 85 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1357, 2013 WL 3120322, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85774
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedJune 18, 2013
DocketNO. CIV. S-13-0402 LKK/EFB
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 289 F.R.D. 595 (Dodson v. Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Co. II, LLC) 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
Dodson v. Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Co. II, LLC, 289 F.R.D. 595, 85 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1357, 2013 WL 3120322, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85774 (E.D. Cal. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

LAWRENCE K. KARLTON, Senior District Judge.

Plaintiff Robert Dodson sues defendant Strategic Restaurants Acquisition Company II, LLC d/b/a Burger King # 099371 alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related California statutes. Plaintiff now moves to strike certain affirmative defenses raised in defendant’s answer. This matter was originally set for hearing on June 17, 2013, but has been decided based on the papers submitted.

[598]*5981. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff, who is quadriplegic and uses an electric wheelchair, alleges that he encountered barriers that interfered with his ability “to use and enjoy the goods, services, privileges, and accommodations offered at” a Burger King restaurant in Loomis, California. (Complaint ¶¶ 1, 8, 10.) Defendant owns, leases and/or operates this Burger King. (Id. ¶ 7.)

Plaintiff asserts five causes of action under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. (“ADA”): (1) denial of “full and equal” enjoyment and use of the facility, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(a); (2) failure to remove architectural barriers in an existing facility, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(iv); (3) failure to design and construct an accessible facility, 42 U.S.C. § 12183(a)(1); (4) failure to make an altered facility accessible, 42 U.S.C. § 12183(a)(2); and (5) failure to modify existing policies and procedures, 42 U.S.C. § 12182(b) (2) (A) (ii).

Plaintiff also asserts derivative state law claims under the California Disabled Persons Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 54, et seq., the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 51, et seq., and relevant provisions of the California Health Safety Code.

On April 4, 2013, defendant answered, denying many of plaintiffs factual allegations and raising fourteen affirmative defenses: (1) statute of limitations; (2) unclean hands; (3) accessibility of reasonable portion of facility; (4) good faith; (5) equivalent facilitation; (6) legitimate business purpose; (7) de minimis deviations; (8) reliance upon municipal permits/vested rights; (9) lack of standing for injunctive relief; (10) lack of standing due to no injury in fact; (11) lack of Article III standing; (12) further action would fundamentally alter subject facility, is not technically feasible, or is not structurally readily achievable; (13) failure to name necessary parties; and (14) failure to comply with Cal. Civ.Code § 55.53. (Answer, ECF No. 6.)

On April 25, 2013, plaintiff moved to strike all of defendant’s affirmative defenses. (ECF No. 9.)

II. STANDARD RE: MOTION TO STRIKE AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

A. Should affirmative defenses be subject to a heightened pleading standard?

Plaintiff herein urges the court to apply the heightened “plausibility” pleading standards, as articulated in 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), to its evaluation of defendant’s affirmative defenses. The court has not previously been confronted with the question of whether affirmative defenses are subject to Twombly and Iqbal, and the issue is one that is unsettled nationally. See 5 Charles Alan Wright & Arthur Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1274 (3d ed. 2013) (hereinafter, “Wright & Miller”) (“[Cjourts are in disagreement as to whether the pleading standard articulated in [Twombly ] and [Iqbal ] extends to the pleading of affirmative defenses”).

For this court, the question is whether Twombly and Iqbal so undermine the rationale of Wyshak that this court is free to disregard it and apply the necessary effect of subsequent Supreme Court rulings.2

District courts have historically applied the “fair notice” standard in evaluating affirmative defenses. “The key to determining the sufficiency of pleading an affirmative defense is whether it gives the plaintiff fair notice of the defense.” Wyshak v. City Nat’l Bank, 607 F.2d 824, 826 (9th Cir.1979) (citing Gore[599]*599ley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957)). Fair notice generally requires that the defendant identify the nature and grounds for the affirmative defense, rather than plead a detailed statement of the facts upon which the defense is based. Kohler v. Islands Rests., LP, 280 F.R.D. 560, 564 (S.D.Cal.2012) (citing Conley, 355 U.S. at 47, 78 S.Ct. 99). The pleading of affirmative defenses is generally governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8;3 traditionally, the only defenses that were not subject to the fair notice standard were those “that f[e]ll within the special pleading provisions in Rule 9, especially Rule 9(b), which deals with fraud, mistake, and condition of the mind, or the terms of a federal statute.” Wright & Miller § 1274.

The Ninth Circuit has not explicitly addressed the issue, though at least one of the appeals court’s published post -Iqbal opinions quotes Wyshak, 607 F.2d at 827, for the proposition that “[t]he key to determining the sufficiency of pleading an affirmative defense is whether it gives plaintiff fair notice of the defense.” Simmons v. Navajo Cnty., 609 F.3d 1011, 1023 (9th Cir.2010) (remanding for determination, on summary judgment, of whether plaintiffs satisfied Arizona’s legal standard for notices of claim to a public entity). Simmons stands for the proposition that courts may properly enter judgment for defendants on an affirmative defense, even if it was not pled in the answer, so long as the record demonstrates that plaintiffs were on notice as to the defense during the action and did not suffer prejudice from its omission. Simmons’ s holding is therefore readily reconciled with Iqbal and Twombly.

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289 F.R.D. 595, 85 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1357, 2013 WL 3120322, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 85774, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dodson-v-strategic-restaurants-acquisition-co-ii-llc-caed-2013.