Haynes v. Kohl's Dep't Stores, Inc.

391 F. Supp. 3d 1128
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedFebruary 9, 2018
DocketCASE NO: 17-cv-61083-MIDDLEBROOKS
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 391 F. Supp. 3d 1128 (Haynes v. Kohl's Dep't Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Haynes v. Kohl's Dep't Stores, Inc., 391 F. Supp. 3d 1128 (S.D. Fla. 2018).

Opinion

DONALD M. MIDDLEBROOKS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court upon Defendant Kohl's Department *1132Stores, Inc.'s ("Defendant") Motion to Dismiss ("Motion"), filed on December 1, 2017. (DE 34). Plaintiff Dennis Haynes ("Plaintiff") filed his Response on December 15, 2017 (DE 42), to which Defendant replied on December 20, 2017 (DE 43). For reasons stated below, Defendant's Motion is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 30, 2017, Plaintiff filed a Complaint against Defendant alleging a violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq. (DE 1). On October 25, 2017, the Court granted in part Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Complaint, finding that Plaintiff failed to state a claim "because he did not plead sufficient facts to demonstrate that he was denied access to the benefits of Defendant's physical stores due to the inaccessibility of Defendant's website." (DE 25 (hereinafter, "Dismissal Order")). Consistent with the Court's Dismissal Order, Plaintiff timely filed an Amended Complaint on November 8, 2017, which re-alleged the same cause of action and sought the same relief, but added factual allegations to support his claim. (DE 27 ("Compl.")).

In the Amended Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that he "is blind and therefore unable to engage in and enjoy the major life activity of seeing," constituting a disability as defined by the ADA. (Compl. ¶ 1). As a result, "Plaintiff is unable to read computer materials and/or access and comprehend internet website information without software specifically designed for the visually impaired ... [s]pecifically, ... JAWS Screen Reader software." (Compl. ¶ 2). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant "owns, operates, or leases a chain of stores throughout the United States, the State of Florida, and Broward County," which are places of public accommodation as defined by the ADA. (Compl. ¶ 4). Plaintiff alleges that Defendant's website, www.kohls.com, is required by law to be in compliance with the ADA, but that it is not. (Compl. ¶¶ 5, 9).

Plaintiff alleges that he "attempted to access and/or utilize Defendant's website, but was unable to, and continues to be unable to, enjoy full and equal access to the website and/or understand the content therein because numerous portions of the website do not interface with and are not readable by SRS." (Compl. ¶ 10). Plaintiff avers that since "Defendant's website contains graphics, links, headings, forms and text with information that is not fully readable and/or compatible with SRS," Plaintiff was prevented "from enjoying the following benefits of Kohl's physical stores: access to the location of the physical stores, including which physical store is nearest or more convenient to the Plaintiff; the ability to obtain discount coupons to be applied to purchases; the ability to obtain information on items are [sic] being offered for sale at a reduced or clearance price; the opportunity to place an order through the website for free pickup at a designated store of Plaintiff's choice." (Id. ). Plaintiff alleges that he has suffered and will continue to suffer injuries as long as Defendant's website remains non-compliant with the ADA and inaccessible to him as an individual with blindness. (Compl. ¶¶ 12-16). Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, and an award of attorney's fees and costs. (Compl. at 11-12).

Defendant filed a motion to dismiss claiming: (1) its website is not required to comply with the ADA as a matter of law, and therefore Plaintiff's Complaint fails to state a claim pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) ; (2) even if Plaintiff states a claim, that requiring Defendant to make its website comply with the ADA would violate Defendant's due process rights; and (3) that the Complaint should be dismissed *1133under the primary jurisdiction doctrine. (DE 34).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) challenges the legal sufficiency of a complaint. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). In assessing the legal sufficiency of a complaint's allegations, the Court is bound to apply the pleading standard articulated in Bell Atl. 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, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Courts must follow a two-pronged approach in evaluating motions to dismiss by "1) eliminat[ing] any allegations in the complaint that are merely legal conclusions; and 2) where there are well-pleaded factual allegations, 'assum[ing] their veracity and then determin[ing] whether they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.' " Am. Dental Ass'n v. Cigna Corp. , 605 F.3d 1283, 1290 (11th Cir. 2010) (quoting Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937 ). A court must "accept the factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff." Almanza v. United Airlines, Inc. , 851 F.3d 1060, 1066 (11th Cir. 2017). However, pleadings that "are no more than conclusions, are not entitled to the assumption of truth. While legal conclusions can provide the framework of a complaint, they must be supported by factual allegations." Iqbal , 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

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391 F. Supp. 3d 1128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haynes-v-kohls-dept-stores-inc-flsd-2018.