Levy v. Mote

104 F. Supp. 2d 538, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12664, 2000 WL 977666
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJuly 11, 2000
DocketH-99-3072
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 104 F. Supp. 2d 538 (Levy v. Mote) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Levy v. Mote, 104 F. Supp. 2d 538, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12664, 2000 WL 977666 (D. Md. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER HARVEY, II, Senior District Judge.

Andrew D. Levy, Esq. (“Levy”) is an experienced member of the Bar of this Court who appears here regularly both as counsel and as a plaintiff. 1 Levy has specialized in representing clients in suits brought in this Court under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. (the “ADA”). He has also been a plaintiff in a number of civil actions filed in this Court seeking relief under the ADA. 2 Levy himself is disabled and has limited use of his legs. He must use a wheelchair for mobility and has appeared without difficulty before judges of this Court at conferences, hearings and trials.

In this particular. action, Levy, represented by one of his partners in the law firm of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, is himself a plaintiff. He has alleged that on an occasion in October of 1999 he was, because of his disability, unable to attend a meeting of attorneys scheduled at a facility *540 owned by the University of Maryland (the “University”) and located on its College Park campus.

Suit has been filed under the ADA and under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 791 et seq. (the “Rehabilitation Act”) against defendants C.D. Mote, Jr., Nathan Chapman, Jr., Lawrence Gordon and Christopher Cantore 3 in their official capacities. Plaintiff alleges that on October 6, 1999, he was wrongfully denied access to The Rossborough Inn (the “Inn”), a facility owned and operated by the University and located on its College Park campus.

I

Procedural History

Levy instituted this action on October 12, 1999, and defendants promptly filed a motion to dismiss. On February 8, 2000, Levy moved for leave to file an amended complaint. The Court granted Levy such leave and denied as moot the University’s motion to dismiss the original complaint. An amended complaint was then filed by plaintiff.

On February 25, 2000, defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint, relying in part on several affidavits. Responding to that motion, plaintiff requested that he be permitted to undertake discovery relating to the facts relied upon by defendants in support of their motion. On April 6, 2000, a status conference was held in chambers, and the Court granted plaintiff leave to conduct additional discovery. A new briefing schedule was set. Thereafter, on May 19, 2000, plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment.

Presently pending before the Court are defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint and plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment. Extensive memoranda and numerous affidavits in support of and in opposition to these motions have been filed by the parties. Included among the briefs reviewed by the Court are the following: defendants’ memorandum in support of their original motion to dismiss (Paper No. 4), plaintiffs memorandum in opposition to defendants’ original motion to dismiss (Paper No. 6), deféndants’ reply to that opposition of plaintiff (Paper No. 9), defendants’ memorandum in support of their motion to dismiss plaintiffs amended complaint (Paper No. 15), plaintiffs opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint (Paper No. 16), defendants’ amended reply to that opposition of plaintiff (Paper No. 19), plaintiffs supplemental memorandum in opposition to defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint (Paper No. 20), plaintiffs memorandum in support of his motion for partial summary judgment (Paper No. 21), defendants’ reply to plaintiffs supplemental memorandum in opposition to their motion to dismiss the amended complaint (Paper No. 22), and defendants’ memorandum in opposition to plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment (Paper No. 23).

Following its review of the parties’ numerous memoranda and the affidavits and exhibits which have been submitted, this Court has concluded that no hearing is necessary for a decision on the pending motions. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons to be stated herein, defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint, treated herein as a motion for summary judgment, will be granted, and plaintiffs motion for partial summary judgment will be denied.

II

*541 Facts 4 and Claims

Plaintiff Levy has limited use of his legs as a result of a central nervous system infection, and he must use a wheelchair for mobility. On October 6, 1999, Levy traveled to the University’s College Park campus to attend a scheduled meeting of the Criminal Law and Practice Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (the “Bar Association”). Levy is an ex officio member of that Section, having formerly been its Chairperson. The meeting was held in facilities of the University of Maryland Faculty/Staff Club (the “University Club” or the “Club”), located in the Inn. The Bar Association had rented the Club’s facilities for the purposes of this meeting. Although Attorney Bob Dean (“Dean”), the Bar Association member responsible for arranging the meeting at the Inn, had been informed by the University that the Inn was not wheelchair accessible, Dean nevertheless rented the Club’s facilities in the Inn.

Upon arriving at the Inn, Levy noted that there was no appropriate parking space with an accessible path of travel to the Inn. After parking and making his way to the Inn by wheelchair, Levy was unable to find an accessible entrance into the building, namely one that did not require going up several steps to enter the facility. Levy was informed by an official working at the Inn that there was no accessible entrance. As a result of the lack of an accessible entrance, Levy was unable to attend the Bar Association meeting. He promptly returned to his car and drove home.

Count I of the amended complaint alleges that the University’s failure to have an accessible entonce to the Inn denied Levy the benefits of the facilities, services, programs, and activities of the University, allegedly in violation of Title II of the ADA. In Count I, Levy requests declaratory and injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages. Count II contains allegations and requests for relief identical to those contained in Count I except that it is premised upon an alleged violation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

After this suit was filed, Levy and his wife applied for membership in the University Club, which accepts as members faculty, staff, alumni, and other individuals with ties to the University. The University Club’s facilities are located at the Inn, where it has a special members-only room and where it provides a fifteen percent discount to Club members on all food purchased at the Inn. Levy and his wife have now been accepted as members of the Club.

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Bluebook (online)
104 F. Supp. 2d 538, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12664, 2000 WL 977666, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/levy-v-mote-mdd-2000.