Spikes v. Mann

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedSeptember 9, 2020
Docket3:19-cv-00633
StatusUnknown

This text of Spikes v. Mann (Spikes v. Mann) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spikes v. Mann, (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 KAREL SPIKES, Case No.: 19-CV-633 JLS (RBB)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT 13 v.

14 TERRENCE WILLIAM MANN (ECF No. 11) TRUSTEE OF THE TERRENCE 15 WILLIAM MANN TRUST AND 16 TRUSTEE OF THE MANN FAMILY TRUST 3-13-04; THE DANK HOUSE, a 17 business entity whose form is unknown; 18 and DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 19 Defendants.

21 Presently before the Court is Plaintiff Karel Spikes’ Application for Default 22 Judgment Against Defendant Terrence William Mann (“Mot.,” ECF No. 11). The Court 23 took the matter under submission without oral argument pursuant to Civil Local Rule 24 7.1(d)(1). See ECF No. 12. Having carefully reviewed Plaintiff’s Motion, Complaint, and 25 supporting evidence and having weighed the relevant factors, the Court GRANTS 26 Plaintiff’s Motion (ECF No. 11). 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 BACKGROUND 2 I. Plaintiff’s Allegations 3 Plaintiff has a mobility impairment and therefore uses a wheelchair. ECF No. 1 4 (“Compl.”) ¶ 12. He also uses marijuana. Id. Although he previously used marijuana 5 medicinally with a medical authorization card, he no longer uses his medical authorization 6 card due to the legalization of recreational marijuana in California. Id. Because of his 7 marijuana use, Plaintiff also purchases other retail products related to marijuana use. Id. 8 On April 1, 2019, Plaintiff visited a dispensary he lived near, Defendant The Dank 9 House, located at 1238 Oro Street, El Cajon, California 92020, id. ¶¶ 4, 14, and owned by 10 Defendant Terrence William Mann Trustee of the Terrence William Mann Trust and 11 Trustee of the Mann Family Trust 3-13-04. Id. ¶ 6. Plaintiff drove to The Dank House but 12 had difficulty parking and entering the business because there was no accessible parking 13 space or signage for such a space and the accessible path of travel to the business contained 14 numerous obstacles, including a mechanism for operating the front door that was very 15 difficult to use. Id. ¶ 14. As a result, Plaintiff suffered discomfort and embarrassment. Id. 16 ¶ 18. 17 II. Procedural Background 18 On April 3, 2019, Plaintiff filed a Complaint alleging eight causes of action 19 including, as relevant here, for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 20 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq., and violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act (“Unruh Act”), 21 Cal. Civ. Code § 51. See ECF No. 3. Following Defendant Mann’s failure to respond to 22 the Complaint, Plaintiff filed a request for entry of clerk default, see ECF No. 5, which the 23 clerk entered on June 10, 2019. See ECF No. 5. Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed his claims 24 against The Dank House on June 27, 2019. See ECF No. 6. 25 On June 28, 2019, Plaintiff filed motion for default judgment. See ECF No. 7. On 26 February 24, 2020, this Court vacated the Clerk’s June 10, 2019 Entry of Default and 27 denied without prejudice Plaintiff’s Motion because Plaintiff had sought entry of default 28 prematurely. See ECF No. 9. Because Defendant Mann’s deadline to respond to the 1 Complaint had since expired, the Court directed the Clerk to enter default as to Defendant 2 Mann and invited Plaintiff to renew his motion for default judgment in accordance with 3 this District’s Civil Local Rules. Id. 4 Plaintiff filed this instant Motion on March 3, 2020, renewing his request for entry 5 of default judgment against Defendant Mann. See generally Mot. Plaintiff seeks injunctive 6 relief compelling Defendant to comply with the ADA and the Unruh Act, actual damages 7 in the amount of $4,000, statutory treble damages of $12,000, and attorney’s fees and costs. 8 See id. at 9–10. 9 LEGAL STANDARD 10 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55 permits a court to enter default judgment upon a 11 party’s application. Although default judgments are ordinarily disfavored, a court may 12 grant or deny a motion for default judgment at its discretion. See Alan Neuman Prods., 13 Inc. v. Albright, 862 F.2d 1388, 1392 (9th Cir. 1988) (citing Haw. Carpenters’ Tr. Funds 14 v. Stone, 794 F.2d 508, 511–12 (9th Cir. 1986); Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471 (9th 15 Cir. 1986); Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092 (9th Cir. 1980)). 16 The Ninth Circuit has set out seven factors, known as the Eitel factors, that a court 17 may consider when exercising its discretion as to whether or not to grant default judgment: 18 (1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff, (2) the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim, (3) the sufficiency of the complaint, 19 (4) the sum of money at stake in the action, (5) the possibility of 20 a dispute concerning material facts, (6) whether the default was due to excusable neglect, and (7) the strong policy underlying the 21 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on the 22 merits. 23 Eitel, 782 F.2d at 1471–72. 24 When weighing these factors, the well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint 25 are taken as true, except for those allegations relating to damages. TeleVideo Sys., Inc. v. 26 Heidenthal, 826 F.2d 915, 917–18 (9th Cir. 1987); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(6). To 27 prove damages, a plaintiff may submit declarations, or the Court may hold an evidentiary 28 hearing. See Affinity Grp., Inc. v. Balser Wealth Mgmt., LLC, No. 05CV1555 WQH (LSP), 1 2007 WL 1111239, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Apr. 10, 2007); see also Taylor Made Golf Co. v. 2 Carsten Sports, 175 F.R.D. 658, 661 (S.D. Cal. 1997) (“In assessing damages, the court 3 must review facts of record, requesting more information if necessary, to establish the 4 amount to which plaintiff is lawfully entitled upon judgment by default.”). 5 ANALYSIS 6 I. Jurisdiction 7 A. Subject-Matter Jurisdiction 8 To enter default judgment, the Court must first determine that it has subject-matter 9 jurisdiction. See Twitch Interactive, Inc. v. Johnston, No. 16-cv-03404-BLF, 2019 WL 10 3387977, at *3 (N.D. Cal. July 26, 2019). Here, the Court has subject-matter jurisdiction 11 for the Plaintiff’s ADA claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and has supplemental 12 jurisdiction over Plaintiff’s Unruh Act claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367(a). 13 B. Personal Jurisdiction 14 The Court must also have personal jurisdiction over the defendant, or else entry of 15 default judgment is void. Veeck v. Commodity Enters., Inc., 487 F.2d 423, 426 (9th Cir. 16 1973). For the reasons discussed below, the Court finds that it may exercise personal 17 jurisdiction over Defendant Mann. 18 1. Service of Process 19 “Before a federal court may exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant, the 20 procedural requirement of service of summons must be satisfied.” Omni Capital Int’l., 21 Ltd. v.

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Spikes v. Mann, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spikes-v-mann-casd-2020.