Moralez v. Whole Foods Market, Inc.

897 F. Supp. 2d 987, 2012 WL 4369603, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136842
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedSeptember 24, 2012
DocketNo. C 12-01072 CRB
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 897 F. Supp. 2d 987 (Moralez v. Whole Foods Market, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moralez v. Whole Foods Market, Inc., 897 F. Supp. 2d 987, 2012 WL 4369603, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136842 (N.D. Cal. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS

CHARLES R. BREYER, District Judge.

Francisca Moralez, who is wheelchair-bound due to disability, brought this putative class action against a Whole Foods store in Oakland and the lessor of the building Whole Foods occupies (“Bond”), alleging that various features of the store’s design create access barriers in violation of federal and state disability discrimination statutes. Whole Foods and Bond now move to dismiss Moralez’ suit, arguing that Moralez’ claims were all precluded or released by the final settlement and judgment in a similar class action suit (Velasco ) finalized earlier this year in state court.

[990]*990 BACKGROUND

A. Moralez’ Suit

Moralez’ First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) (dkt. 18) alleges that she is disabled within the meaning of the relevant statutes due to rheumatoid arthritis “and other physically disabling condition[s]” that impair her mobility such that she requires a motorized wheelchair. FAC ¶¶ 1, 5. Defendants Whole Foods Market California, Inc. (“Whole Foods”), Bond CC Oakland LLC, and John Does 1-10 are the owners, operators, lessors, and lessees of the Whole Foods store at 230 Bay Place, Oakland, California (the “Bay Place Whole Foods”). FAC ¶¶ 5, 7.

Moralez says that on several occasions within two years before filing this suit on March 2, 2012, she visited the Bay Place Whole Foods and encountered the following problems:

• difficulty locating a “van accessible” disabled parking spot due to an insufficient number of such spots, poor lot configuration, and improper signage, FAC ¶ 11;
• inability to reenter her van after parking in a designated “accessible” space because of inadequate room for her wheelchair ramp between her van and a car that parked in an adjacent space while Moralez was in the store, requiring her to enlist the help of strangers to pull her van out of the parking space, FAC ¶ 11;
• near-collisions with backing vehicles due to the lack of an appropriate path of travel for wheelchairs between parking spaces and the store entrance, FAC ¶ 12;
• difficulty opening an excessively heavy restroom door, FAC ¶ 12;
• difficulty using improperly located and configured credit card readers at the cash register, FAC ¶ 12;
• lack of proper interior accessible paths of travel, FAC ¶ 13; and
• improperly high counters, FAC ¶ 13.

Moralez alleges that she personally suffered “difficulty, discomfort and embarrassment[,] ... [pjhysical, mental, and emotional and emotional damages” after encountering these problems. FAC ¶¶ 12, 13. She also says that her “representative” conducted an independent investigation of the store and discovered multiple unspecified additional accessibility problems, which apparently Moralez did not herself confront during her visits. FAC ¶ 14.

The complaint lists three causes of action: (1) Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 19955 et seq. and the Disabled Persons Act, Cal. Civil Code §§ 54 et seq. (damages and injunctive relief); (2) The Unruh Act, Cal. Civil Code §§ 51 et seq. (damages and injunctive relief); and (3) The Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. (damages and injunctive relief). FAC at 4, 12, 14. She seeks an injunction requiring Defendants to fix the alleged accessibility problems, damages (statutory, general, and treble), and attorneys’ fees. FAC at 17-18.

Defendant Whole Foods (joined by Defendant Bond, dkt. 21) has moved to dismiss (dkt. 20), arguing that Moralez’ suit is barred as res judicata in light of a class-action settlement involving Whole Foods that was recently incorporated into a judgment in state court.

B. The Velasco Action

Kirby Velasco filed a class-action suit in California Superior Court against (among other defendants) Whole Foods on December 21, 2009, see Velasco v. Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Market, Inc., No. BC428347 (Cal.Super. Ct. filed Dec. 21, 2009), alleging violations of state and federal disability access laws. See Ex. 1 to [991]*991Defendant’s Request for Judicial Notice (“RJN”) (Second Amended Class Action Complaint) (“Velasco Compl.”).1 Velasco alleged that she was an “L-l incomplete paraplegic” who required a wheelchair to ambulate, making her disabled under the relevant legal definitions. Velasco Compl. ¶ 15.

Velasco’s complaint said that she confronted accessibility problems during a trip to a Whole Foods store in Long Beach, California; specifically, the store “did not have fully accessible parking or a fully accessible restroom.” Velasco Compl. ¶ 34. Velasco further alleged that she retained an independent investigator who returned to that store (and others) and discovered multiple accessibility barriers, Velasco Compl. ¶ 36, including:

• lack of a required number of van accessible parking spaces, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(1);
• no accessible parking signage, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(2);
• no van accessible parking signage, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(3);
• no accessible aisles in accessible parking spaces, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(4);
• no accessible aisles in van accessible spaces, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(5); and
• a restroom “door force [of] over 5 lbs.” that was not accessible, Velasco Compl. ¶ 38(11).

Velasco’s complaint set out four causes of action: (1) The Unruh Act, Cal. Civil Code §§ 51 et seq.; (2) The California Disabled Persons Act, Cal. Civil Code §§ 54 et seq.; (3) Cal. Civil Code §§ 55 et seq.; and (4) The Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181 et seq. See Velasco Compl. at 12-15. She requested declaratory and injunctive relief, as well as damages and fees. Velasco Compl. at 19.

Following discovery and mediation, the Velasco parties entered into a settlement agreement, see Ex. 2 to RJN (Settlement Agreement) (“Velasco Agreement”), which the court preliminarily approved on September 15, 2011. See Ex. 6 to RJN (Preliminary Approval Order). As ultimately approved, the settlement class consisted of

all persons who at any time from December 21, 2006 through the Term of the Settlement Agreement, were mobility impaired, used, use or will use wheelchairs for mobility, and who patronized any Whole Foods Store in California or who allege they would or would have at one or more Whole Foods Stores in California but for allegedly being denied on the basis of disability the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations at any of the “Whole Foods stores owned or operated by Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Foods Market Inc. and/or Whole Foods Market California, Inc., in California.

Ex. 7 to RJN ¶ 1 (Final Approval Order) (“Velasco Judgment”). Under the settlement, Whole Foods agreed to:

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Bluebook (online)
897 F. Supp. 2d 987, 2012 WL 4369603, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moralez-v-whole-foods-market-inc-cand-2012.