Wilson v. Ly Investments, L.L.C.

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 17, 2022
Docket1:20-cv-00300
StatusUnknown

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

Bluebook
Wilson v. Ly Investments, L.L.C., (S.D. Miss. 2022).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI SOUTHERN DIVISION

CLAUDIA WILSON and § PLAINTIFFS ALFRED WILSON § § § v. § Civil No. 1:20cv300-HSO-RHWR § § LY INVESTMENTS, L.L.C. § DEFENDANT MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE IN PART DEFENDANT’S MOTION [43] FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DISMISSING PLAINTIFF CLAUDIA WILSON’S CLAIM UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT; DECLINING TO EXERCISE SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION OVER PLAINTIFFS’ STATE-LAW CLAIMS; AND REMANDING CASE TO STATE COURT

BEFORE THE COURT is Defendant Ly Investments, L.L.C.’s Motion [43] for Summary Judgment. After consideration of the record and relevant legal authority, the Court is of the opinion that Defendant’s Motion [43] for Summary Judgment should be granted as to Plaintiff Claudia Wilson’s lone federal claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which will be dismissed with prejudice. Because the Court will decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ remaining state-law claims, Defendant’s Motion [43] should be denied without prejudice to the extent it seeks dismissal of those claims, and this case will be remanded to state court.1

1 Defendant has also filed a Motion [58] to Strike Plaintiffs’ designated expert. Because the Court can resolve the present Motion [43] for Summary Judgment without considering the expert’s report, it need not resolve Defendant’s pending Daubert Motion [58]. I. BACKGROUND In August 2017, Plaintiffs Claudia Wilson (“Claudia”) and Alfred Wilson (“Alfred”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) checked into a Quality Inn Hotel in Biloxi,

Mississippi, which was owned and operated by Defendant Ly Investments, L.L.C. (“Defendant” or “Ly”). See Comp. [1-1] at 2; Ans. [7] at 2. Plaintiffs allege that upon their arrival they requested an accessible room. See Claudia’s Dep. [52-2] at 43. Plaintiffs assert that they were originally assigned a room with disability-accessible features, but that it had not been cleaned. See id. at 41-43, 45-46; Alfred’s Dep. [52- 1] at 9-10. Claudia called the front desk, and Plaintiffs were given a second room, which was not accessible. See Alfred’s Dep. [52-1] at 9, 31-32; Claudia’s Dep. [52-2]

at 43. According to Claudia, when she inquired, a hotel worker told her that it was in fact accessible. See Claudia’s Dep. [52-2] at 47. The morning after Plaintiffs checked in to the hotel, Claudia took a shower and placed a towel bathmat on the floor beside the bathtub. See id. at 50-52; Alfred’s Dep. [52-1] at 13. As she exited the bathtub and stepped onto the bathmat, it moved, causing Claudia to fall, strike her head on the toilet, and suffer injuries.

See id. at 50-53; Alfred’s Dep. [52-1] at 13-14. According to Claudia, the “slickness on the floor” caused the bathmat to move. Claudia’s Dep. [52-2] at 53; see id. at 56. Alfred took Claudia to a local hospital for emergency medical attention. See id. at 21-22, 59-60; Alfred’s Dep. [52-1] at 16. On August 5, 2020, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint [1-1] in the Circuit Court of Harrison County, Mississippi, Second Judicial District, advancing claims on behalf of Claudia for negligence, negligence per se, respondeat superior, and violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq. (“ADA”), specifically § 12182. See Compl. [1-1] at 8-12. Claudia’s husband Alfred asserted

only a derivative state-law claim for loss of consortium. See id. at 13. Defendant removed the case to this Court, invoking federal question jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1343(a). See Notice [1] at 2. Defendant has now filed a Motion [43] for Summary Judgment on grounds that Plaintiffs’ premises liability claims fail because there is no evidence of the existence of a dangerous condition or that Defendant had knowledge of any dangerous condition, and because Claudia created the condition which caused her

fall. See Mem. [44] at 8-14. Defendant maintains that the ADA claim fails because there is no evidence that Claudia was disabled within the meaning of the ADA at the time of the incident, nor that she was denied public accommodations due to any disability. See id. at 15-17. II. DISCUSSION A. Summary judgment standard

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). If the movant carries this burden, “the nonmovant must go beyond the pleadings and designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (5th Cir. 1994) (en banc). To rebut a properly supported motion for summary judgment, the opposing party must show, with “significant probative evidence,” that there exists a genuine issue of material fact. Hamilton v. Segue Software, Inc., 232 F.3d 473, 477 (5th Cir.

2000). “A genuine dispute of material fact means that evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Royal v. CCC & R Tres Arboles, L.L.C., 736 F.3d 396, 400 (5th Cir. 2013) (quotation omitted). “‘If the evidence is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative,’ summary judgment is appropriate.” Cutting Underwater Techs. USA, Inc. v. ENI U.S. Operating Co., 671 F.3d 512, 516 (5th Cir. 2012) (quoting Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 249 (1986)). In deciding whether summary judgment is appropriate, the Court

“must view all evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” RSR Corp. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 612 F.3d 851, 857 (5th Cir. 2010). B. Analysis 1. The Americans with Disabilities Act The Complaint asserts a claim on behalf of Claudia under Title III of the

ADA, specifically 42 U.S.C. § 12182, which provides that [n]o individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.

42 U.S.C. § 12182(a). For the purposes of this subsection, discrimination includes a failure to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, or procedures, when such modifications are necessary to afford such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless the entity can demonstrate that making such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations . . . .

Id. § 12182(b)(2)(A)(ii).

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

Related

Little v. Liquid Air Corp.
37 F.3d 1069 (Fifth Circuit, 1994)
Plumley v. Landmark Chevrolet, Inc.
122 F.3d 308 (Fifth Circuit, 1997)
Hamilton v. Segue Software Inc.
232 F.3d 473 (Fifth Circuit, 2000)
Waldrip v. General Electric Co.
325 F.3d 652 (Fifth Circuit, 2003)
United Mine Workers of America v. Gibbs
383 U.S. 715 (Supreme Court, 1966)
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
RSR Corp. v. International Insurance
612 F.3d 851 (Fifth Circuit, 2010)
Clarence Enochs v. Lampasas County
641 F.3d 155 (Fifth Circuit, 2011)
Joyce Whetstone v. Jefferson Prsh Pub School Bd, e
529 F. App'x 394 (Fifth Circuit, 2013)
Mullins v. TestAmerica, Inc.
564 F.3d 386 (Fifth Circuit, 2009)
Tonia Royal v. CCC&R Tres Arboles, L.L.C.
736 F.3d 396 (Fifth Circuit, 2013)
Perez v. Doctors Hospital at Renaissance, Ltd.
624 F. App'x 180 (Fifth Circuit, 2015)
Ronald Heggemeier v. Caldwell County, Texas
826 F.3d 861 (Fifth Circuit, 2016)
Coleman v. BP Expl & Prod
19 F.4th 720 (Fifth Circuit, 2021)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Wilson v. Ly Investments, L.L.C., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-ly-investments-llc-mssd-2022.