Gilbert v. Bagga Grandsons Inc

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. California
DecidedAugust 11, 2023
Docket2:22-cv-01300
StatusUnknown

This text of Gilbert v. Bagga Grandsons Inc (Gilbert v. Bagga Grandsons Inc) 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
Gilbert v. Bagga Grandsons Inc, (E.D. Cal. 2023).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DARREN GILBERT, No. 2:22–cv–01300–KJM–KJN 12 Plaintiff, FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS AND ORDER 13 v.

14 BAGGA GRANDSONS INC., et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Presently pending before the court is plaintiff Darren Gilbert’s (“plaintiff”) motion for 18 default judgment against defendants Bagga Grandsons Incorporated LLC (d/b/a Stop & Shop 19 Food Market) and Lakhbir & Sukhbir, LLC (“defendants”).1 (ECF No. 10.) After defendants 20 failed to file an opposition to the motion in accordance with Local Rule 230(c), the motion was 21 submitted on the record and written briefing pursuant to Local Rule 230(g). (ECF No. 12.) 22 For the reasons discussed below, the court now recommends that plaintiff’s motion for 23 default judgment be GRANTED. 24 /// 25 /// 26 /// 27 1 This motion is referred to the undersigned pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B), Federal Rule of 28 Civil Procedure 72, and Local Rule 302(c)(19). 1 I. Background 2 This is a civil rights action filed by plaintiff under Title III of the Americans with 3 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. §§ 12181-12189) (“ADA”) and related California statutes, 4 alleging discrimination at the store known as Stop & Shop Food Market, located at 6007 Dry 5 Creek Road in Rio Linda, California. (See generally ECF No. 1.) Defendants own and operate 6 the Stop & Shop Food Market and the real property in and on which the facility is located. (Id. at 7 ¶ 7.) Plaintiff is a physically disabled man who relies on a wheelchair, knee scooter, or prosthetic 8 for mobility. (Id. at ¶ 8.) 9 Plaintiff alleges that on February 17, 2022, he visited the Stop & Shop Food Market to 10 purchase refreshments. (Id. at ¶ 10.) Plaintiff parked in the designated accessible parking stall, 11 but found that the access aisle next to his parking space was too narrow for him to unload from 12 his van. (Id.) As a result, plaintiff was unable to unload from his van safely and could not enter 13 the Stop & Shop Food Market to make a purchase. Plaintiff seeks statutory damages in the 14 amount of $4,000, attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $3,850.87, and an injunction 15 requiring the removal of the barriers to plaintiff’s access. (ECF No. 10-1 at 11.) 16 A clerk’s default was entered against defendants on September 30, 2022, due to 17 defendants’ failure to respond to the action within the time permitted by the Federal Rules of 18 Civil Procedure. (ECF No. 7.) Plaintiff filed the instant motion on November 17, 2022. (ECF 19 No. 10.) 20 II. Legal Standard – Default Judgment 21 Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55, default may be entered against a party 22 against whom a judgment for affirmative relief is sought who fails to plead or otherwise defend 23 against the action. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). However, “[a] defendant’s default does not 24 automatically entitle the plaintiff to a court-ordered judgment.” PepsiCo, Inc. v. Cal. Sec. Cans, 25 238 F. Supp. 2d 1172, 1174 (C.D. Cal. 2002) (citing Draper v. Coombs, 792 F.2d 915, 924-25 26 (9th Cir. 1986)). Instead, the decision to grant or deny an application for default judgment lies 27 within the district court’s sound discretion. Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 28 1980). In making this determination, the court considers the following factors: 1 (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff, (2) the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim, (3) the sufficiency of the complaint, (4) 2 the sum of money at stake in the action[,] (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts[,] (6) whether the default was due 3 to excusable neglect, and (7) the strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on the merits. 4 5 Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471-72 (9th Cir. 1986). Default judgments are ordinarily 6 disfavored. Id. at 1472. 7 As a general rule, once default is entered, well-pleaded factual allegations in the operative 8 complaint are taken as true, except for those allegations relating to damages. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. 9 v. Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917-18 (9th Cir. 1987) (per curiam) (citing Geddes v. United Fin. 10 Group, 559 F.2d 557, 560 (9th Cir. 1977) (per curiam)); accord Fair Housing of Marin v. Combs, 11 285 F.3d 899, 906 (9th Cir. 2002). In addition, although well-pleaded allegations in the 12 complaint are admitted by a defendant’s failure to respond, “necessary facts not contained in the 13 pleadings, and claims which are legally insufficient, are not established by default.” Cripps v. 14 Life Ins. Co. of N. Am., 980 F.2d 1261, 1267 (9th Cir. 1992) (citing Danning v. Lavine, 572 F.2d 15 1386, 1388 (9th Cir. 1978)); accord DIRECTV, Inc. v. Hoa Huynh, 503 F.3d 847, 854 (9th Cir. 16 2007) (stating that a defendant does not admit facts that are not well-pled or conclusions of law); 17 Abney v. Alameida, 334 F. Supp. 2d 1221, 1235 (S.D. Cal. 2004) (“[A] default judgment may not 18 be entered on a legally insufficient claim”). A party’s default does not establish the amount of 19 damages. Geddes, 559 F.2d at 560. 20 III. Discussion 21 A. The Eitel Factors Weigh in Favor of Granting Default Judgment 22 1. Factor One: Possibility of Prejudice to Plaintiff 23 The first Eitel factor considers whether the plaintiff would suffer prejudice if default 24 judgment is not entered, and such potential prejudice to the plaintiff militates in favor of granting 25 a default judgment. See PepsiCo, Inc., 238 F. Supp. 2d at 1177. Here, plaintiff would potentially 26 face prejudice if the court did not enter a default judgment. Absent entry of a default judgment, 27 plaintiff would be without another recourse against defendants. Accordingly, the first Eitel factor 28 favors the entry of a default judgment. 1 2. Factors Two and Three: The Merits of Plaintiff’s Substantive Claims and 2 the Sufficiency of the Complaint 3 The court considers the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claims and the sufficiency of the 4 complaint together below because of the relatedness of the two inquiries. The court must 5 consider whether the allegations in the complaint are sufficient to state a claim that supports the 6 relief sought. See Danning, 572 F.2d at 1388; PepsiCo, Inc., 238 F. Supp. 2d at 1175. 7 a.

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Bluebook (online)
Gilbert v. Bagga Grandsons Inc, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbert-v-bagga-grandsons-inc-caed-2023.