Miller v. Corporaton

223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 133, 15 Cal. App. 5th 214, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 787
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedSeptember 12, 2017
DocketB271214
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 133 (Miller v. Corporaton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Miller v. Corporaton, 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 133, 15 Cal. App. 5th 214, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 787 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J.

*218Joey Miller (Miller) sued defendant Fortune Commercial Corporation, the owner and operator of a chain of Seafood City markets, and several other defendants (collectively, Defendants), because, allegedly, they illegally denied him service when he tried to enter two different Seafood City stores with his service dog. Miller alleged three causes of action: violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act ( Civ. Code, § 51 et seq. (Unruh Act)1 ); violation of the Disabled Persons Act (§ 54 et seq. (DPA)); and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Defendants moved for summary judgment arguing principally that Miller's dog was not a fully trained service animal at the time of the alleged incidents, that Miller did not bring his dog to the markets for the purpose of training her, and that in any event neither Miller, who suffers from a disability, nor his stepfather who accompanied him to the markets, were, respectively, capable or authorized to train a service dog. The trial court granted Defendants' motion.

On appeal, Miller argues that, at the time of the alleged incidents, his dog Roxy had received, not only obedience training, but also some meaningful training as a service animal-that is, Roxy had been trained to respond to certain symptoms of Miller's disability (e.g., Roxy could prevent Miller from wandering away from home and getting lost) and that as a result he was permitted by law to bring Roxy into the markets. In addition, Miller contends that he was permitted by law to take Roxy into Defendants' markets for the purpose of training her further.

We are not persuaded by Miller's arguments. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.

*219BACKGROUND

I. Miller and Roxy

In May or early June of 2012, Miller acquired Roxy, a one-year old female mixed-breed (German Shepherd-Labrador Retriever) dog. Miller's stepfather, Joseph Scribner (Scribner), purchased Roxy to be Miller's service dog and thereby help him become "more independent." Miller, who was 20 years old at the time, has an IQ between 50 and 75 suffers from both an "intellectual disability and autism"; these twin conditions allow him to function at only a level "somewhere between a third- to a sixth-grader, or a 9-to 12-year-old" boy.

Scribner purchased Roxy from a "regular pet store." When Scribner purchased *136Roxy, the dog had received basic obedience training. After acquiring Roxy, Miller and his family worked on training her further to be a service animal; in addition, Miller's family arranged to have an instructor work with Miller and Roxy at a Petco store in June or July 2012 in order to "teach [Miller] how to handle a dog."

II. Miller and Roxy at Seafood City markets

In August 2012, Scribner took Miller and Roxy to a mall parking lot in North Hills, California. They were there to purchase a Play Station PSP gaming device for Miller as a "reward" for his "tremendous" improvements with Roxy. Located at the mall was a Seafood City market. Before then, Scribner had never been to a Seafood City market; in fact he didn't even know the store existed. After purchasing the device, Scribner took Miller and Roxy into the Seafood City market to buy some seafood because seafood was one of Miller's favorite foods. Almost immediately after entering the store, Scribner and Miller were stopped by an employee who told them they could not bring a pet into the store. Although Miller was "upset" after being asked to leave the store, Scribner discovered that there was another Seafood City market nearby and drove to that store, where "the same thing basically happen[ed]," except that "they were a little nicer at the second [store] than the first one."

III. Miller's lawsuit

Miller filed suit in September 2012. In June 2015, Defendants moved for summary judgment, relying primarily on deposition testimony by Scribner *220and Miller. Miller opposed the motion by relying primarily on a postdeposition declaration by Scribner.2 Neither side offered any expert testimony about service animals and their training, generally or with respect to Miller's specific disability.

On September 8, 2015, the trial court, after hearing oral argument from the parties, granted Defendants' motion. On December 11, 2015, the trial court issued a 34-page written ruling and order on the motion. On January 25, 2016, judgment was entered in favor of the Defendants. Miller timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

I. Standard of review

"The purpose of the law of summary judgment is to provide courts with a mechanism to cut through the parties' pleadings in order to determine whether, despite their allegations, trial is in fact necessary to resolve their dispute." ( Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co. (2001) 25 Cal.4th 826, 843, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493 ( Aguilar ).) Summary judgment is proper only where " 'there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' " ( Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (c) ; Aguilar, at p. 843, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493.)

A defendant seeking summary judgment is required to show that " 'one or more elements of the cause of action ... cannot be established, or that there is a complete defense to the cause of action.' " ( Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (p)(2) ; Aguilar, supra, 25 Cal.4th at p. 849, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 841, 24 P.3d 493 ; Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400(2001) 25 Cal.4th 763, 768, 107 Cal.Rptr.2d 617, 23 P.3d 1143.)

Related

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Bluebook (online)
223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 133, 15 Cal. App. 5th 214, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/miller-v-corporaton-calctapp5d-2017.