Spikes v. Shockley

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedOctober 28, 2019
Docket3:19-cv-00523
StatusUnknown

This text of Spikes v. Shockley (Spikes v. Shockley) 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. Shockley, (S.D. Cal. 2019).

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-523 DMS (JLB)

12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR 13 v. DEFAULT JUDGMENT 14 KUM CHA SHOCKLEY, et al., 15 Defendants. 16 17 Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion for default judgment against 18 Defendant Kum Cha Shockley. The motion is unopposed. Upon consideration of the 19 pleadings, the motion, and Defendant’s lack of appearance in this case or opposition to the 20 motion, the Court grants the motion. The Clerk of Court shall enter the judgment in favor 21 of Plaintiff in the amount of $9,046.35. 22 I. 23 BACKGROUND 24 On March 19, 2019, Plaintiff filed a complaint on behalf of himself as a person with 25 a disability to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et 26 seq., and California Civil Code § 52 (the “Unruh Act”). Plaintiff is an amputee who uses 27 a wheelchair for mobility. (P’s Mot. For Def. Judg. At 2). Although Plaintiff included 28 additional claims in his original complaint, he is seeking default judgment based only on 1 the ADA and Unruh Act claims. (See P’s Mot. For Def. Judg. At 2). Plaintiff’s claims 2 arise from his alleged attempt to patronize the marijuana dispensary and retail store, “The 3 Dank House,” (d.b.a. Green Dreams, LLC.), on February 4, 2019. There, Plaintiff alleges 4 he encountered difficulties because the facility lacked designated accessible parking spaces 5 and the wheelchair access ramp was steep and in need of repair. (Compl. at ¶¶ 13—16). 6 Plaintiff alleges this establishment is located on property owned by Defendant Shockley. 7 (Id. at ¶ 6). Defendant was served on April 30, 2019. (Dkt. No. 3). Defendant did not 8 respond to Plaintiff’s complaint. On June 7, 2019, Plaintiff requested the Clerk’s entry of 9 default of Defendant. (Req. for Entr. Of Def. at ¶ 6). The Clerk entered default on June 10 10, 2019, and on June 27, 2019, Plaintiff filed the present motion for default judgment. 11 (P’s Mot. For Def. Judg. at 1). 12 II. 13 DISCUSSION 14 Plaintiff requests entry of default judgment against Defendant, seeking injunctive 15 relief under the ADA, actual damages of $4,000, statutory treble damages of $12,000, and 16 attorney’s fees and costs. (P’s Mot. For Def. Judg. at 1). In the alternative, Plaintiff 17 contends he is entitled to “no less than the statutory minimum amount of $4,000 in 18 damages” under the Unruh Act. (Id. at 9.) 19 A. Default Judgment 20 The Clerk of the Court is required to enter default “when a party against whom a 21 judgment for affirmative relief is sought has failed to plead or otherwise defend, and that 22 failure is shown by affidavit or otherwise.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(a). Federal Rule of Civil 23 Procedure 55(b)(2) allows for entry of default judgment by the court. However, “[a] 24 plaintiff does not receive default judgment as a matter of right; rather, a court has discretion 25 as to whether it should be granted.” United States v. Boyce, 148 F. Supp. 2d. 1069, 1093 26 (S.D. Cal. 2001) (citations omitted). 27 In exercising that discretion, courts consider the following factors: 28 1 “(1) the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff, (2) the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim, (3) the sufficiency of the complaint, (4) the sum of money at stake 2 in the action[,] (5) the possibility of a dispute concerning material facts[,] (6) whether 3 the default was due to excusable neglect, and (7) the strong policy underlying the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure favoring decisions on the merits.” 4

5 Id. (quoting Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471—72 (9th Cir. 1986)). Consistent with 6 the last factor of the strong public policy in favor of decisions on the merits, “any doubts 7 as to the propriety of a default are usually resolved against the party seeking a default 8 judgment.” VonGrabe v. Spring PCS, 312 F. Supp. 2d 1313, 1318 (S.D. Cal. 2004) (citing 9 Pena v. Seguros La Comercial, S.A., 220 F.2d 811, 814 (9th Cir. 1985)). In general, 10 however, “upon default[,] the factual allegations of the complaint, except those relating to 11 the amount of damages, will be taken as true.” TeleVideo Systems, Inc. v. Heidenthal, 826 12 F.2d 915, 917—18 (9th Cir. 1987). 13 1. Possibility of Prejudice to the Plaintiff 14 The first Eitel factor considers the possibility of prejudice to the plaintiff if a default 15 judgment is not entered. See 782 F.2d at 1471—72. Plaintiff contends that the architectural 16 barriers located on Defendant’s property do not comply with the ADA and Unruh Act, and 17 thus constitute discrimination and denial of equal access. Here, Defendant has failed to 18 appear and has not remedied these barriers to access. If a default judgment is not entered, 19 Plaintiff will likely have no recourse against Defendant. Plaintiff has therefore made a 20 sufficient showing to meet this factor. 21 2. Merits of Plaintiff’s Substantive Claims and Sufficiency of the Complaint 22 The second and third Eitel factors are the merits of plaintiff’s substantive claim and 23 the sufficiency of the complaint. See id. These factors “require that a plaintiff state a claim 24 on which it may recover.” Vogel v. Rite Aid Corp., 992 F. Supp. 2d 998, 1007 (C.D. Cal. 25 2014) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). Plaintiff seeks relief under the 26 ADA and the Unruh Act, each of which is addressed in turn. 27 / / / 28 / / / 1 a. Discrimination under Title III of the ADA 2 Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by public accommodations. 42 U.S.C. 3 § 12182(a). To state a claim under the ADA, Plaintiff’s complaint must first demonstrate 4 that he has Article III standing to bring an ADA claim. Further, Plaintiff must show (1) he 5 is disabled under the ADA; (2) “The Dank House” contains architectural barriers 6 prohibited by the ADA; and (3) “that the removal of those barriers is readily achievable.” 7 Hubbard v. Rite Aid Corp., 433 F. Supp. 2d 1150, 1158 (S.D. Cal. 2006) (citing 42 U.S.C. 8 § 12182(a)). 9 i. Standing to Bring a Claim Under the ADA 10 As with all actions, Plaintiff must have Article III standing to bring a claim under 11 the ADA. To establish Article III standing under the ADA, Plaintiff “must demonstrate 12 that [he has] suffered an injury in fact, that the injury is traceable to the challenged action 13 of the Defendant and that the injury can be redressed by a favorable decision.” Hubbard, 14 433 F. Supp. 2d at 1162 (citing Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 564 (1992)). 15 Since Plaintiff is seeking injunctive relief, this analysis considers the threat of future harm, 16 defined by the likelihood that Plaintiff will return to “The Dank House.” See Vogel, 992 17 F. Supp. 2d at 1008 (citing San Diego Cty. Gun Rights Comm. v. Reno, 98 F.3d 1121, 1126 18 (9th Cir. 1996)).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
504 U.S. 555 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Chapman v. Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc.
631 F.3d 939 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
United States v. Lugo Guerrero
524 F.3d 5 (First Circuit, 2008)
Brandt v. American Bankers Ins. Co. of Florida
653 F.3d 1108 (Ninth Circuit, 2011)
Pang-Tsu Mow v. Republic of China
220 F.2d 811 (D.C. Circuit, 1955)
Gary R. Eitel v. William D. McCool
782 F.2d 1470 (Ninth Circuit, 1986)
Molski v. M.J. Cable, Inc.
481 F.3d 724 (Ninth Circuit, 2007)
United States v. Wade
992 F. Supp. 6 (District of Columbia, 1997)
Moeller v. Taco Bell Corp.
816 F. Supp. 2d 831 (N.D. California, 2011)
VonGrabe v. Sprint PCS
312 F. Supp. 2d 1313 (S.D. California, 2004)
Hubbard v. Rite Aid Corp.
433 F. Supp. 2d 1150 (S.D. California, 2006)
Steeves v. Rodman
12 F.2d 915 (First Circuit, 1926)
Ramsdell v. Huhtamaki, Inc.
992 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D. Maine, 2014)
Vogel v. Rite Aid Corp.
992 F. Supp. 2d 998 (C.D. California, 2014)
Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Castworld Products, Inc.
219 F.R.D. 494 (C.D. California, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Spikes v. Shockley, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spikes-v-shockley-casd-2019.