Strojnik v. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, D. Hawaii
DecidedMay 26, 2020
Docket1:19-cv-00136
StatusUnknown

This text of Strojnik v. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (Strojnik v. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Hawaii primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Strojnik v. Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., (D. Haw. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF HAWAII

PETER STROJNIK, CIV. NO. 19-00136 JMS-RT

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO vs. DISMISS WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND, ECF NO. 55 HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, INC. dba ANDAZ MAUI AT WAILEA RESORT,

Defendant.

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS WITHOUT LEAVE TO AMEND, ECF NO. 55

I. INTRODUCTION On September 17, 2019, pro se Plaintiff Peter Strojnik (“Plaintiff”) filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) on behalf of a class against Defendant Host Hotels and Resorts, Inc. dba Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort (“Defendant” or “the Hotel”) alleging that the Hotel is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) along with various state law claims. Although Plaintiff is pro se, he is a disbarred lawyer quite familiar with the judicial system. See Strojnik v. Kapalua Land Co. Ltd (“Kapalua Land Co. Ltd I”), 379 F. Supp. 3d 1078, 1079 (D. Haw. 2019) (“Strojnik [is] an attorney who has been suspended from practicing law in Arizona”); Strojnik v. 1530 Main LP, 2020 WL 981031, at *1 & n.1 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 28, 2020) (stating that Strojnik was disbarred on May 10, 2019, and that his disbarment related, at least in part, to

his conduct in filing thousands of ADA state and federal related lawsuits); see also Strojnik v. Bakersfield Convention Hotel I, LLC, ___F. Supp. 3d ___, 2020 WL 509156, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Jan. 31, 2020) (“Plaintiff Peter Strojnik . . . pro se, has

filed thousands of disability discrimination cases against hotel defendants in state and federal courts, and this is one of those cases.”) (footnote omitted).1 Before the court is Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss for lack of subject- matter jurisdiction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) or for failure to

state a claim under rule 12(b)(6). See ECF No. 55. For the following reasons, Defendant’s Rule 12(b)(1) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s SAC is GRANTED, without leave to amend.

II. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background Plaintiff is an “ADA tester” and currently resides in Maricopa County, Arizona. SAC ¶¶ 1-2, ECF No. 19 at PageID #208-09. Plaintiff is “legally

1 As a general rule, courts do not liberally construe the filings of disbarred attorneys. See, e.g., Mann v. Boatright, 477 F.3d 1140, 1148 n.4 (10th Cir. 2007). Nonetheless, whether or not the court liberally construes his filings in this case, the court would reach the same conclusion—that Strojnik does not have Article III standing.

2 disabled by virtue of a severe right-sided neural foraminal stenosis and formal neuropathy, prostate cancer and renal cancer, [and] degenerative right knee and is

therefore a member of a protected class under the ADA and [Hawaii Revised Statutes (“HRS”)] Chapter 479.” Id. ¶ 2, ECF No. 19 at PageID #209. “Plaintiff suffers from physical impairments . . . substantially limit[ing] his major life

activities.” Id. ¶ 3, ECF No. 19 at PageID #209. He “walks with difficulty and pain and requires compliant mobility accessible features at places of public accommodation.” Id. Plaintiff alleges that both third-party booking websites and

Defendant’s first-party website “failed to identify and describe mobility related accessibility features and guest rooms offered through its reservations service in enough detail” for Plaintiff to assess whether the Hotel met his accessibility needs.

Id. ¶¶ 22, 24, ECF No. 19 at PageID #212. These websites also “failed to make reservations for accessible guest rooms available in the same manner as individuals who do not need accessible rooms.” Id. ¶ 23, ECF No. 19 at PageID #212. “Because [these websites] failed to identify and describe mobility related

accessibility features and guest rooms” “in enough detail to reasonably permit Plaintiff to assess independently” whether the Hotel “meets his accessibility needs[,] Plaintiff declined to book a room there[,] and because Plaintiff was unable

3 to make reservations for accessible guest rooms available in the same manner as individuals who do not need accessible rooms, Plaintiff declined to book a room

there.” Id. ¶ 26, ECF No. 19 at PageID #212. In further support, Plaintiff attaches an “Addendum A” which appears to be screenshots of the third-party and first- party websites, along with photographs of Defendant’s premise. See generally

ECF No. 19 at PageID #224-59 (Addendum A with unnumbered screenshots). Plaintiff alleges he has been “deterred from visiting the Hotel” based on his knowledge that the hotel is “not ADA or State Law compliant.” Id. ¶ 10, ECF No. 19 at PageID #209. He “intends to visit Defendant[] . . . at a specific time

when the Defendant’s noncompliant Hotel becomes fully compliant with [the] ADA.” Id. ¶ 11, ECF No. 19 at PageID #210. B. Procedural Background

Plaintiff brings the instant suit as a class action complaint2 against Defendant, alleging a sole federal claim of an ADA violation along with state law claims of violation of HRS Chapter 489, Hawaii’s state counterpart to the ADA; non-disclosure; consumer fraud pursuant to HRS Chapter 480; and negligence per

se. Id. ¶¶ 18-78, ECF No. 19 at PageID #211-22. On February 25, 2020,

2 Because the court determines that Plaintiff lacks standing, it need not address Plaintiff’s ability to represent class members.

4 Defendant filed its motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) and for failure to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).

ECF No. 55. Plaintiff filed his opposition on March 4, 2020. ECF No. 57. Defendant filed its reply on April 27, 2020. ECF No. 61. Defendant also requests the court take judicial notice (“RJN”) of several district court dismissal orders that

are not available on Westlaw, Plaintiff’s complaints in other cases, the order suspending Plaintiff’s Arizona bar license, and true and correct copies of various publicly-accessible government websites. See ECF Nos. 55-2 (RJN) & 61-1 (Supplemental RJN). The court finds the motion suitable for disposition without a

hearing pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(c). See ECF No. 60. The court GRANTS Defendant’s RJN3 and, for the reasons stated below, GRANTS Defendant’s motion to dismiss without leave to amend.

3 Specifically, although Plaintiff does not appear to dispute the authenticity of the documents, it appears he opposes Defendant’s RJN to the extent these exhibits are prejudicial— that is, he appears to argue they are “defamatory.” See ECF No. 57 at PageID #1259. However, Plaintiff provides no argument or otherwise disputes the authenticity of these documents. And, the court finds, that there is no reasonable dispute as to these documents. See Lesane v. Aloha Airlines, Inc., 2007 WL 9711167, at *3-4 (D. Haw. Jan. 23, 2007) (taking judicial notice of the record and relevant orders in another proceeding); see also Juliana v. United States, 2018 WL 9802138, at *1 (D. Or. Oct. 15, 2018 (“Judicial notice may be taken of public records and government documents available from reliable sources on the Internet, such as websites run by governmental agencies.”) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

5 III. STANDARD OF REVIEW The question of standing is “an essential and unchanging part of the

case-or-controversy requirement of Article III [of the United States Constitution].” Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992). Because standing is a jurisdictional issue, it is properly addressed as a motion brought under Rule

12(b)(1). Cetacean Cty. v.

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