Strojnik v. Village 1017 Coronado, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJune 16, 2020
Docket3:19-cv-02210
StatusUnknown

This text of Strojnik v. Village 1017 Coronado, Inc. (Strojnik v. Village 1017 Coronado, Inc.) 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
Strojnik v. Village 1017 Coronado, Inc., (S.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 PETER STROJNIK, Case No. 19-cv-02210-BAS-MSB 11 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S 12 MOTION TO DISMISS THE ADA v. CLAIM FOR LACK OF STANDING 13 AND DECLINING TO EXERCISE VILLAGE 1017 CORONADO, INC., SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION 14 OVER STATE LAW CLAIMS Defendant. 15 [ECF No. 4] 16 17 Plaintiff Peter Strojnik (“Plaintiff”), proceeding pro se,1 filed this Complaint 18 alleging three counts for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the 19 California Unruh Act and the California Disabled Persons Act (“DPA”), and one count of 20 negligence. (Compl. ECF No. 1.) Defendant Village 1017 Coronado (“Defendant” or the 21 “Hotel”) has moved to dismiss for lack of standing. (Mot. to Dismiss, ECF No. 4.) 22 Plaintiff has responded (Opp’n, ECF No. 6) and Defendant has replied (ECF No. 7). The 23 Court finds this motion suitable for determination on the papers submitted and without 24 oral argument. See Civ. L.R. 7.1(d)(1). For the reasons stated below, the Court GRANTS 25 Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (“Motion”) (ECF No. 4). 26 27 1 Although Plaintiff was a practicing attorney in Arizona, he has been disbarred by that state, so in this 28 1 I. STATEMENT OF FACTS 2 A. Allegations in the Complaint 3 Plaintiff claims he is disabled “by virtue of a severe right-sided neural foraminal 4 stenosis with symptoms of femoral neuropathy, prostate . . . and renal cancer [and] missing 5 part of a limb (prosthetic right knee).” (Compl. ¶¶ 2–3.) Plaintiff says he “walks with 6 difficulty and pain and requires compliant mobility accessible features at places of public 7 accommodation.” (Id. ¶ 4.) Plaintiff does not provide greater detail as to the “mobility 8 accessible features” he requires, but he claims that “[b]y virtue of his disability, [he] 9 requires an ADA compliant lodging facility particularly applicable to his mobility, both 10 ambulatory and wheelchair assisted.” (Id. ¶ 14.) 11 Plaintiff says he visited “the Coronado area” on June 25 and 26, 2019 and 12 “encountered barriers to accessibility documented in Addendum A” to the Complaint. 13 (Compl. ¶¶ 15–16.) Addendum A provides blurry photographs, presumably taken from 14 Defendant’s website purporting to show: 15 • “Improperly configured hardare [sic]”—showing photo of a door handle without 16 further explanation; 17 • “Naccessible [sic] check-in counter” 18 • “Improperly configured handrails”—showing an indistinguishable photo 19 without detailing where these handrails are or how they are improperly 20 configured; 21 • “Improperly configured stairs”—again showing a photo of stairs without 22 detailing where these stairs lead or how they are improperly configured; 23 • “Inaccessible route”—showing an indistinguishable photo and not explaining 24 where this route leads from or to; 25 • “Hamdrails [sic] one side only”—without explaining where this route leads from 26 or to; 27 • “Improperly configured handrails”—again without explaining where this route 28 leads from or to and how the handrails are improperly configured. 1 (Compl., Addendum A.) Notably, Plaintiff does not allege that he personally encountered 2 these barriers, visited the hotel at 1017 Coronado, or called the facility to see if these 3 barriers exist or if alternative options are available for those with Plaintiff’s disabilities. 4 Plaintiff alleges “Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty to remove ADA accessibility 5 barriers so that Plaintiff as a disabled individual would have full and equal access to the 6 public accommodation.” (Compl. ¶ 33.) 7 B. Additional Evidence 8 Defendant presents a surveillance video from June 5, 2019, ostensibly showing 9 Plaintiff checking into a hotel without the need of a wheelchair. (Decl. of Philip Stillman, 10 ¶ 1, ECF No. 4-2.)2 The Court further notes that in Strojnik v. Torrey Pines Club Corp., 11 Case No. 19-cv-650-BAS-AHG (S.D. Cal. filed Apr. 8, 2019), involving the same Plaintiff 12 as in this case, the Court held an oral hearing on December 10, 2019. Plaintiff was able 13 to enter the courtroom at that time unassisted by a wheelchair and did not appear to have 14 difficulty ambulating. In that case, the Court has an evidentiary hearing scheduled for July 15 24, 2020 on the issue of whether Plaintiff should be declared a vexatious litigant in part 16 for misrepresenting his disability status in that complaint. 17 II. ANALYSIS 18 A motion to dismiss for lack of standing is properly brought under Rule 12(b)(1) of 19 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. White v. Lee, 227 F.3d 1214, 1242 (9th Cir. 2000). 20 “Rule 12(b)(1) jurisdictional attacks can be either facial or factual.” Id. With a facial 21 attack, the Court assumes the allegations in the Complaint are true. Id. However, with a 22 factual attack, “a court may look beyond the [C]omplaint to matters of public record 23 without having to convert the motion into one for summary judgment.” Id. (citations 24 omitted). The Court also “need not presume the truthfulness of Plaintiff’s allegations.” 25 Id.; see also McCarthy v. United States, 850 F.2d 558, 560 (9th Cir. 1988) (“[W]hen 26 considering a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), the district court is not 27

28 1 restricted to the fact of the pleadings, but may review any evidence, such as affidavits and 2 testimony, to resolve factual disputes concerning the existence of jurisdiction.”). 3 Plaintiff, as the party asserting federal jurisdiction, has the burden of establishing 4 standing. Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife, 504 US 555, 561 (1992). A court may only exercise 5 jurisdiction if a plaintiff has standing on the date the lawsuit is filed; a plaintiff may not 6 supplement facts supporting standing by visiting a facility after filing. Brooke v. H.P. 7 Hospitality, No. ED CV 17-0456-DOC (DTBx), 2017 WL 4586349, at *3 (C.D. Cal. July 8 11, 2017.) 9 An ADA plaintiff can establish standing to sue for injunctive relief (the only relief 10 available to a plaintiff under the ADA) either by demonstrating that he was deterred from 11 visiting the facility because of the barriers, or by demonstrating injury-in-fact. Chapman 12 v. Pier 1 Imports, 631 F.3d 939, 944 (9th Cir. 2011) (en banc). Injury-in fact “‘requires 13 that the party seeking review be himself among the injured.” Doran v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 524 14 F.3d 1034, 1044 (9th Cir. 2008) (quoting Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 734–35 15 (1972)). A “desire to lodge in a hotel that provides equal access to persons of all 16 disabilities is insufficient to provide [a plaintiff] with standing to represent such persons’ 17 claims.” Gastelum v. Canyon Hospitality, LLC, No. CV-17-02792-PHX-GMS, 2018 WL 18 2388047, at *4 (D. Ariz. May 25, 2018.) 19 However, a party seeking to establish standing by alleging deterrence from visiting 20 the facility may do so without actually visiting the facility. Civil Rights Educ. and 21 Enforcement Ctr. (“CREEC”) v. Hospitality Prop. Trust, 867 F. 3d 1093, 1098 (9th Cir. 22 2017). If the plaintiff has “‘actual knowledge of illegal barriers at a public accommodation 23 to which he or she desires access, that plaintiff need not engage in the futile gesture of 24 attempting to gain access in order to show actual injury.’” Id. (quoting Pickern v. Holiday 25 Quality Foods Inc., 293 F.3d 1133, 1135 (9th Cir. 2002)).

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Foman v. Davis
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Chapman v. Pier 1 Imports (U.S.) Inc.
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Bluebook (online)
Strojnik v. Village 1017 Coronado, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strojnik-v-village-1017-coronado-inc-casd-2020.