Scherr v. Marriot International, Inc.

833 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 2606184, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73005
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJune 29, 2011
DocketNo. 10 C 7384
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 833 F. Supp. 2d 945 (Scherr v. Marriot International, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Scherr v. Marriot International, Inc., 833 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 2606184, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73005 (N.D. Ill. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

CHARLES RONALD NORGLE, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendants Marriot International, Inc., Courtyard Management Corporation, Courtyard II Associates, LP, and Marriot International Design and Construction Services, Inc.’s (collectively, “Marriot”) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff Marjorie Friedman Scherr’s (“Scherr”) Complaint. For the following reasons, Marriot’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case presents a difficult question of standing to sue under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12181 et seq. (“ADA”). On March 19, 2006, Scherr was severely injured when she was struck by a self-closing spring-hinged bathroom door in an “ADA-accessible” guestroom at a Courtyard Marriot in Overland Park, Kansas (the “Overland Park Marriot”). Pursuant to Title III of the ADA, Scherr requests: (1) a declaratory judgment that the Overland Park Mar-riot was and remains in violation of the ADA; (2) injunctive relief against Marriot, including an order requiring Marriot to alter the self-closing spring-hinged doors in ADA-accessible rooms in fifty-seven of its Courtyard hotels throughout the United States (including the Overland Park Marriot); and (3) costs, attorneys fees, and expenses. Marriot moves to dismiss Scherr’s Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) because Scherr: (1) lacks Article III standing to seek injunctive relief under the ADA; (2) is barred by the statute of limitations; and (3) fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. For the following reasons, Scherr’s allegations are sufficient to warrant moving forward with respect to injunctive relief against the Overland Park Marriot, but not with respect to the additional fifty-six Courtyard Marriot hotels.

A. Facts

The Court takes the following facts from the allegations in Scherr’s Complaint and Declaration, which is attached as Exhibit 2 to her Opposition Memorandum.1 In [948]*948March 2006, while residing in Cook County, Illinois, the seventy-six-year-old Scherr made a reservation to stay at the Overland Park Marriot for a family trip to the area. Because she has a neuro-degenerative disease and relied on a walker at the time, Scherr requested an ADA-accessible room. The Overland Park Marriot assigned Scherr to Room 143, which it assured her was “ADA compliant.” Compl. ¶ 40. On March 19, 2006 at approximately 12:30 a.m., Scherr attempted to leave the bathroom in Room 143 while using her walker. She exited the bathroom through a self-closing spring-hinged door. After opening the door out into the room with her right hand, Scherr proceeded through the threshold with her walker. The door then quickly closed behind her, striking her body and causing her to fall to the floor. As a result of the fall, Scherr broke her right wrist and had to go to the hospital, where she underwent surgery. The impact also injured her hip. Scherr spent two weeks in a Kansas hospital and rehabilitation center. Since the accident, she has been forced to use a wheelchair.

Scherr has twenty-nine relatives living in or around Overland Park, Kansas and she has a long history of travel to the area. Since her injury, Scherr has traveled to Overland Park four times and stayed in ADA-accessible rooms at hotels similar to the Overland Park Marriot, such as the Drury Hotel and the Hampton Inn. Scherr states that the “particular location [of the Overland Park Marriot] is nearby many of my family members, and — other than the self-closing bathroom door — I have found Marriot’s hotels to provide me with the type of accommodations I desire and need when I travel away from my home.” Pi’s Mem. in Opp. to Def s Mot. to Dismiss, Ex. 2 ¶4.

In August 2010, Scherr’s cousin announced her engagement to be married on May 29, 2011, in the Overland Park area.2 Scherr’s “save the date” announcement was postmarked August 30, 2010. Scherr declares that, since receiving the announcement, “I have expected to attend the wedding this May and plan to stay in an ADA-accessible room at a hotel in or around Overland Park.” Id. ¶ 15. While she was “willing to stay” at the Overland Park Marriot for this wedding, she was “unwilling to do so unless the rooms are made safe for use by disabled guests.” Id.

Scherr further declares that, since May 2006, she has taken eleven trips in addition to her four trips to Overland Park, including trips to Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, California, Georgia, and Florida, among others. Id. ¶ 8. On all but one of the eleven trips, Scherr stayed in ADA-accessible rooms at a wide range of hotels. She only stayed in one Courtyard Marriot, however, in August 2006 in Highland Park, Illinois.

In 2004 and 2005, Marriot commenced a major project to renovate fifty-seven of its Courtyard hotels throughout the United States, including the Overland Park Marriot. “In all 57 hotels, defendants chose to design and install a spring-hinged door closer without a delay mechanism in place of a door closer on the bathroom door of each purportedly ‘ADA-accessible’ guestroom.” Compl. ¶ 35. Scherr contends that, over the course of the renovation, Marriot “did not take reasonable efforts to ensure that the spring hinges designed and installed into their hotels complied with [ADA rules on] door closing speeds [949]*949for closers.” Id. ¶ 38. An “ADA Analysis Summary” of the Overland Park Marriot, performed by design firm Leo A. Daly, contained an asterisk next to Scherr’s Room 143 that stated “Existing guestroom[s] that are partially complaint [sic] will need to [be] brought up to full compliance.” Id. ¶ 55. According to Scherr, Marriot’s legal department had dictated a policy “to not enforce ADA requirements in connection with the design and construction of Marriot hotels and hotel renovations.” Id. ¶ 60. Marriot’s design and construction department was “told they were ‘not the ADA police.’ ” Id.

B. Procedural History

On March 17, 2008, Scherr filed a negligence action, arising from the same facts as the present case, in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Marriot removed the case to the Northern District of Illinois (Kennelly, J.) based on diversity of citizenship. On July 26, 2010, Scherr moved to amend her negligence complaint to include a claim under Title III of the ADA. Her request was denied. On October 13, 2010, Judge Kennelly denied the parties’ motions for summary judgment in the negligence case, see Scherr v. Marriott Int’l, Inc., No. 08-C-2098, 2010 WL 4167487 (N.D.Ill.Oct. 13, 2010), and the case subsequently settled.3 On November 16, 2010, prior to the settlement of the negligence case, Scherr filed the instant ADA case against Marriot. Marriot now moves to dismiss Scherr’s Complaint pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6).

II. DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Decision

1. Rule 12(b)(1)

When considering a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, a court “must accept as true all well-pleaded factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.” Alicea-Hernandez v.

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833 F. Supp. 2d 945, 2011 WL 2606184, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73005, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/scherr-v-marriot-international-inc-ilnd-2011.