Reiskin v. Greyhound Lines, Inc

District Court, D. Colorado·Decided June 30, 2022·No. 1:20-cv-02605·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Judge William J. Martínez

Civil Action No. 20-cv-2605-WJM-NRN

JULIE REISKIN, and COLORADO CROSS-DISABILITY COALITION,

Plaintiffs,

v.

GREYHOUND LINES, INC.,

Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiffs Julie Reiskin and Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (jointly, “Plaintiffs”) sue Defendant Greyhound Lines, Inc., (“Greyhound”) for alleged violations of: (1) Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181–12189; (2) Sections 504 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §§ 794–794a; and (3) Parts 6 and 8 of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (“CADA”), Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 24-34-601– 605, 801–805. (Id. ¶¶ 33–46.) Before the Court is Greyhound’s Motion for Summary Judgment (“Motion”), in which Greyhound requests that the Court enter judgment in its favor and against Plaintiffs on all claims. (ECF No. 57.) Plaintiff filed a response to the Motion (“Response”) (ECF No. 58), to which Defendant replied (“Reply”) (ECF No. 63). For the reasons explained below, the Motion is granted in part and denied in part. I. STANDARD OF REVIEW Summary judgment is warranted under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); see also Anderson v.

Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248–50 (1986). A fact is “material” if, under the relevant substantive law, it is essential to the proper disposition of the claim. Wright v. Abbott Labs., Inc., 259 F.3d 1226, 1231–32 (10th Cir. 2001). An issue is “genuine” if the evidence is such that it might lead a reasonable trier of fact to return a verdict for the nonmoving party. Allen v. Muskogee, 119 F.3d 837, 839 (10th Cir. 1997). In analyzing a motion for summary judgment, a court must view the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Adler v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 664, 670 (10th Cir. 1998) (citing Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986)). In addition, the Court must resolve factual ambiguities against the moving party, thus favoring the right

to a trial. See Houston v. Nat’l Gen. Ins. Co., 817 F.2d 83, 85 (10th Cir. 1987). If, after considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, the court finds that no rational jury could find in favor of that party, a grant of summary judgment is appropriate. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380 (2007) (citing Matsushita, 475 U.S. at 586–587). II. BACKGROUND1 Greyhound is an inter-city over-the-road bus common carrier that serves

1 The following factual summary is based on the parties’ briefs on the Motion and documents submitted in support thereof. These facts are undisputed unless attributed to a party thousands of destinations. (ECF No. 58 ¶ 1.) Every Greyhound bus is equipped with wheelchair seating locations. (Id. ¶ 2.) To board a passenger who uses a wheelchair, Greyhound bus operators operate a wheelchair lift that brings the passenger from the ground outside the bus into the wheelchair seating area. (Id. ¶ 3.) The lift is designed

to operate electronically, but it can be operated manually if the electronic lift fails. (Id. ¶¶ 4–5.)2 A. Plaintiff Reiskin’s August 28, 2018 Trip On August 28, 2018, Plaintiff Reiskin attempted to board Greyhound bus number 6572—which was running 90 minutes late—to go from Glenwood Springs to Grand Junction, Colorado. (Id. ¶¶ 26, 31, 35.) She had purchased a ticket for this trip on Greyhound’s website and indicated that she would need a wheelchair spot on the bus. (Id. ¶ 27.) When she approached the bus to board, the bus operator attempted to deploy the wheelchair lift to enable her to enter the bus, but it failed to deploy. (Id. ¶ 35.) Then

the bus operator attempted to use the lift’s manual backup system to engage the lift, but he was unable to get the lift to function. (Id. ¶ 36.) For forty-five minutes, the bus operator and another Greyhound employee tried to get the wheelchair lift to work so Plaintiff Reiskin could board the bus. (Id. ¶ 38.) After spending forty-five minutes trying to get the wheelchair lift to work, the bus operator informed Plaintiff Reiskin that he would not be able to get the lift to work. (Id. ¶ 40.)

or source. All citations to docketed materials are to the page number in the CM/ECF header, which sometimes differs from a document’s internal pagination. 2 Plaintiffs deny ¶¶ 3–5, but their explanation shows that they only wish to make clear that neither the electronic nor manual lift works all the time. (ECF No. 61 ¶ 3–5.) The Court notes that it is undisputed that the lifts do not work all the time. (See ECF No. 58 ¶¶ 35–37.) Hoping to find a solution, the bus operator “called everybody”—including the Maintenance Response Desk, dispatch, and Mary Johnson, the Terminal Supervisor of the Denver Greyhound Bus Terminal. (Id. ¶¶ 43–44.) The bus operator spoke with Ms. Johnson on the phone, explaining that he hoped she could assist with finding a bus to

pick up Plaintiff Reiskin. (Id. ¶ 44.) He handed the phone to Plaintiff Reiskin so that she could speak with Ms. Johnson directly, and Ms. Johnson offered to book her on the next bus and to provide a hotel room where she could wait and rest until the bus arrived. (Id. ¶ 46.) Plaintiff Reiskin declined this offer. (Id. ¶ 47.) In her deposition, she testified that she declined because she was worried about traveling to and from the hotel and whether she would be able to find a wheelchair-accessible hotel room in Glenwood Springs. (Id.) However, Plaintiff Reiskin had checked out of a wheelchair-accessible room only a few hours before she went to the Greyhound bus stop. (Id. ¶ 48.) Ms. Johnson then offered to order Plaintiff Reiskin a taxi to travel to and from a local hotel

until the next bus arrived, but she declined, claiming there were no wheelchair- accessible taxis in town. (Id. ¶ 49.) Instead of agreeing to take the next bus, Plaintiff Reiskin called a taxi company in Grand Junction and ordered a taxi to pick her up in Glenwood Springs. (Id. ¶ 50.)3 Shortly thereafter, Ms. Johnson offered to have a training bus come to Glenwood Springs for the sole purpose of driving Plaintiff Reiskin to Grand Junction; the training

3 Plaintiffs assert that Greyhound consented to Plaintiff Reiskin calling a taxi, but Greyhound denies this and points out that Plaintiff Reiskin does not require Greyhound’s consent to call a taxi. (ECF No. 61 ¶ 84; see ECF No. 65 at 7.) The Court resolves this factual issue in favor of Plaintiff at this stage, but does not find it relevant to the resolution of this Motion. bus was only one hour and thirty minutes away. (Id. ¶ 51.) Ms.

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