Love v. Handlery Hotels, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided June 21, 2021·No. 3:21-cv-00850·Unknown

Opinion

SAMUEL LOVE, Case No. 21-cv-00850-TSH

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO v. DISMISS

HANDLERY HOTELS, INC., Re: Dkt. No. 10 Defendant.

Plaintiff Samuel Love brings this case against Defendant Handlery Hotels, Inc., alleging the accessibility information on its reservations website was not sufficiently detailed to allow him to make an informed choice, in violation of the regulations promulgated under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 28 C.F.R. § 36.302(e)(1) (the “Reservations Rule”). Pending before the Court is Handlery’s Motion to Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). ECF No. 10. Love filed an Opposition (ECF No. 17) and Handlery filed a Reply (ECF No. 18). The Court finds this matter suitable for disposition without oral argument and VACATES the July 1, 2021 hearing. See Civ. L.R. 7-1(b). Having considered the parties’ positions, relevant legal authority, and the record in this case, the Court GRANTS Handlery’s motion for the following reasons. Love is a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair for mobility. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 1. Handlery owns and operates the Handlery Union Square Hotel (the “Hotel”), which is located at 351 Geary St., San Francisco, California. Id. ¶ 2. Due to Love’s condition, he needs an accessible guestroom, and he needs to be given information about accessible features in hotel rooms so that he can confidently book those rooms and travel independently and safely. Id. ¶¶ 14-15. the Hotel for lodging. Id. ¶¶ 12-13. On September 11, 2020, Love went to the reservation website at https://sf.handlery.com/ seeking to book an accessible room, but he found “insufficient information about the accessible features in the ‘accessible rooms’ at the Hotel to permit him to assess independently whether a given hotel room would work for him.” Id. ¶¶ 16, 18. He alleges that

because the Defendants have failed to identify and describe the core accessibility features in enough detail to reasonably permit individuals with disabilities to assess independently whether a given hotel or guest room meets his accessibility needs, the Defendants fail to comply with its ADA obligations and the result is that the Plaintiff is unable to engage in an online booking of the hotel room with any confidence or knowledge about whether the room will actually work for him due to his disability. Id. ¶ 25. This lack of information “created difficulty for the Plaintiff and the idea of trying to book this room -- essentially ignorant about its accessibility -- caused difficulty and discomfort for the Plaintiff and deterred him from booking a room at the Hotel.” Id. ¶ 26. Love filed this case on February 3, 2021. He brings claims (1) under the ADA, alleging Handlery’s failure to ensure its reservation policies and procedures identify and describe accessible features in the hotels and guest rooms in enough detail to reasonably permit individuals with disabilities to assess independently whether a given hotel or guest room meets his or her accessibility needs, and (2) under the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provides that a violation of the ADA is a violation of the Unruh Act. Cal. Civ. Code § 51(f). He seeks injunctive relief, compelling Handlery to comply with the ADA and Unruh Act, damages under the Unruh Act, and attorney’s fees and costs. Handlery filed the present motion on May 8, 2021, arguing that at least 34 California district courts have already concluded that the type of information provided on its reservations website fully complies with the ADA, and that commentary from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) makes clear the website provides all the information that is required. A motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) “tests the legal can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.” Cook v. Brewer, 637 F.3d 1002, 1004 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation and quotation marks omitted). Rule 8 provides that a complaint must contain a “short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Thus, a complaint must plead “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). Plausibility does not mean probability, but it requires “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 687 (2009). A complaint must therefore provide a defendant with “fair notice” of the claims against it and the grounds for relief. Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555 (quotations and citation omitted). In considering a motion to dismiss, the court accepts factual allegations in the complaint as true and construes the pleadings in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Manzarek v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 519 F.3d 1025, 1031 (9th Cir. 2008); Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93-94 (2007). However, “the tenet that a court must accept a complaint’s allegations as true is inapplicable to threadbare recitals of a cause of action’s elements, supported by mere conclusory statements.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678. If a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is granted, the “court should grant leave to amend even if no request to amend the pleading was made, unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts.” Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000) (en banc) (citations and quotations omitted). However, a court “may exercise its discretion to deny leave to amend due to ‘undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments previously allowed, undue prejudice to the opposing party . . . [and] futility of amendment.’” Carvalho v. Equifax Info. Servs., LLC, 629 F.3d 876, 892–93 (9th Cir. 2010) (alterations in original) (quoting Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182 (1962)). As part of its motion, Handlery requests the Court take judicial notice of the following documents: https://sf.handlery.com/ (Ex. 1). 2) A copy of the relevant pages from its website showing the various accessible room descriptions (Ex. 2). 3) A list of Love’s cases filed in California federal court from PACER (Ex. 3). 4) The Consent Decree in United States v. Hilton Worldwide Inc., No. 10-cv-1924, ECF No. 5 (D.D.C. Nov. 29, 2010) (Ex. 4). Request for Judicial Notice (“RJN”), ECF No. 10-2. Love opposes the request as to exhibit 3, arguing his litigation history is not relevant to the issues before the Court. Opp’n at 1. In general, the Court may not look beyond the four corners of a complaint in ruling on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, except for documents incorporated into the complaint by reference and any relevant matters subject to judicial notice. Swartz v. KPMG LLP, 476 F.3d 756, 763 (9th Cir. 2007) (per curiam); Lee v. City of Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 688–89 (9th Cir. 2

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