Whitaker v. Brender Commercial Land Holding LLC

Opinion

1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5 SAN JOSE DIVISION 6 7 BRIAN WHITAKER, Case No. 21-cv-01125-BLF

8 Plaintiff, ORDER DISMISSING UNRUH ACT 9 v. CLAIM WITHOUT PREJUDICE; TERMINATING AS MOOT MOTION 10 BRENDER COMMERCIAL LAND TO DISMISS HOLDING LLC, et al., 11 [Re: ECF Nos. 24, 27] Defendants. 12 13 On October 18, 2021, this Court issued an order to show cause why the remaining Unruh 14 Act claim should not be dismissed without prejudice for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. See 15 ECF No. 27. Plaintiff timely responded, opposing dismissal. ECF No. 28. 16 The Court will decline supplemental jurisdiction over the Unruh Act claim and DISMISS it 17 WITHOUT PREJUDICE to refiling in state court. Plaintiff principally argues that this Court 18 should exercise supplemental jurisdiction because the Unruh Act claim is “uniquely wedded” to 19 his ADA claim, and “it makes no sense to separate them.” See ECF No. 28 at 2-3. In support, 20 Plaintiff cites cases in which courts have exercised supplemental jurisdiction over an Unruh Act 21 claim where an ADA claim has survived. Id. But that is not the case here. The Court dismissed 22 Plaintiff’s ADA claim with leave to amend, but he declined to replead that claim in the Second 23 Amended Complaint. ECF No. 23. Accordingly, there is no efficiency to be gained by litigating 24 that claim here in federal court rather than state court (should Plaintiff choose to refile there). 25 Because the claim “over which [this court] has original jurisdiction” is dismissed, the Court can 26 and will “decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction” over the Unruh Act claim. See 28 U.S.C. 27 § 1367(c)(3). This is consistent with the practice of courts in this District, including this Court. 1 Johnson v. Torres Enters. LP, 2019 WL 285198, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 22, 2019). 2 Accordingly, the Unruh Act claim is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE to refiling in 3 state court. Because no claims remain, Defendant’s motion to dismiss is TERMINATED AS 4 MOOT. See ECF No. 24. The Clerk shall close the file. 5 6 Dated: October 26, 2021 tn) 7 M: BETH LABSON FREEMAN 8 United States District Judge 9 10 11 a 12

15 16

= 17

Z 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28