Winborne v. Virginia Lottery

677 S.E.2d 304, 278 Va. 142, 2009 Va. LEXIS 73
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedJune 4, 2009
Docket081477
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 677 S.E.2d 304 (Winborne v. Virginia Lottery) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Winborne v. Virginia Lottery, 677 S.E.2d 304, 278 Va. 142, 2009 Va. LEXIS 73 (Va. 2009).

Opinion

677 S.E.2d 304 (2009)

Roger WINBORNE, et al.
v.
VIRGINIA LOTTERY, et al.

Record No. 081477.

Supreme Court of Virginia.

June 4, 2009.

*305 Jonathan G. Martinis (Kalena C.M. Ek; Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy, on briefs), for appellants.

Francis S. Ferguson, Deputy Attorney General (Robert F. McDonnell, Attorney General; Amy K. Dilworth, Assistant Attorney General, on brief), for appellees.

Present: All the Justices.

OPINION BY Justice S. BERNARD GOODWYN.

In this case, we consider whether the Virginia Lottery offers a program, service, or activity within the meaning of the Virginians with Disabilities Act, Code § 51.5-1 et seq. ("VDA") and the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (2006) ("ADA"), and whether the Virginia Lottery has an obligation to disabled persons under the VDA and ADA.

Roger Winborne, Gregg Morrell, Charles Holliday, and John Dehaven (collectively "the Petitioners") filed suit in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond against the Virginia Lottery and the Director of the Virginia Lottery (collectively "the Director"), seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. The circuit court held a hearing on cross motions for partial summary judgment and granted the Director's motion. Upon request of counsel, the circuit court entered final judgment in favor of the Director. The Petitioners appeal.

FACTS

The Virginia Lottery was established to produce revenue to be used for public purposes. Code § 58.1-4001. The state lottery department is an independent agency of the Commonwealth. Code § 58.1-4003. The Virginia Lottery sells tickets, shares, and other products ("lottery tickets") to raise revenue. Code § 58.1-4001; Code § 58.1-4009. The Virginia Lottery is authorized to license lottery sales agents who are authorized to sell lottery tickets. Code § 58.1-4009.

In their petition in chancery, the Petitioners sought a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, alleging that the Director had violated the VDA and ADA because certain lottery sales agents ("lottery retailers") lack accessible parking spaces, ramps, and paths of travel for disabled persons.

The Petitioners identified sixteen of the Virginia Lottery's retailers and alleged that they have been denied access to lottery tickets because those retailers are inaccessible to them. The Petitioners, who use wheelchairs, claim that those sixteen retailers lack accommodations necessary for the Petitioners to enter those lottery retailers' businesses to purchase lottery tickets. The Petitioners contend that state and federal laws require the Virginia Lottery to ensure that they can access the premises of lottery retailers at which tickets are sold.

The Petitioners filed a motion for partial summary judgment. In the motion, the Petitioners requested the court to hold that the Virginia Lottery had a legal obligation to ensure that the Petitioners were able to access lottery tickets at the premises of lottery retailers. The Petitioners stated that there were no material issues of fact regarding their request for partial summary judgment.

Thereafter, the Director filed a motion for partial summary judgment requesting the court to hold the following:

1. The Virginia Lottery does not offer a program, service, or activity within the meaning of the ADA or VDA;
2. The Virginia Lottery and its executive director are without power to make physical changes to retailers' premises, control those retailers' day-to-day operations, or specify the manner in which any retailer expends its percentage of compensation from lottery ticket and game card sales;
3. Under Bacon v. City of Richmond, 475 F.3d 633 (4th Cir.2007), the Virginia Lottery and its executive director are not liable for the alleged claims of disability discrimination against the Petitioners; and
4. Pursuant to Bacon, injunctive relief may not issue against the Virginia Lottery and its executive director because they played no part in the alleged disability *306 discrimination against Petitioners.

The circuit court, after a hearing, granted the Director's motion for partial summary judgment and denied the Petitioners' motion for partial summary judgment. The circuit court held that the Virginia Lottery does not offer a program, service, or activity within the meaning of the VDA or ADA. As an additional reason for granting the Director's motion for partial summary judgment, the court cited Bacon and held that the Virginia Lottery is not charged by law with the operation and maintenance of the retailers and, therefore, is not responsible for any VDA or ADA violations by the lottery retailers. Counsel agreed that the circuit court's rulings were dispositive of the Petitioners' suit, and the circuit court, therefore, entered final judgment in favor of the Director.

ANALYSIS

The Petitioners claim that the circuit court erred in denying their motion for partial summary judgment, granting the Director's motion for partial summary judgment, and entering final judgment on behalf of the Director. Specifically, the Petitioners argue that the court incorrectly held that the Virginia Lottery does not offer a program, service, or activity within the meaning of the VDA or ADA. The Director asserts that the Virginia Lottery does not offer a program, service, or activity within the meaning of the VDA or ADA.

The VDA states as follows:

No otherwise qualified person with a disability shall, on the basis of disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination ... under any program or activity conducted by or on behalf of any state agency.

Code § 51.5-40.

Title II of the ADA states as follows:

Subject to the provisions of this subchapter, no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by such entity.

42 U.S.C. § 12132.

The parties do not dispute that the Petitioners are qualified individuals with disabilities. Further, the parties do not dispute that the Virginia Lottery is a state agency within the meaning of the VDA and a public entity within the meaning of the ADA. The question in dispute is whether the Virginia Lottery offers a service, program, or activity.

In order to answer that question, we must first determine what constitutes a service, program, or activity within the meaning of the VDA and ADA. Such a determination presents a pure question of law, which is subject to a de novo review. Virginia Cellular LLC v. Virginia Dep't of Taxation, 276 Va. 486, 490, 666 S.E.2d 374, 376 (2008).

Under principles of statutory construction, we must consider the ordinary and plain meaning of statutory terms. Hale v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 277 Va. 250, 269, 673 S.E.2d 170, 179 (2009).

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Bluebook (online)
677 S.E.2d 304, 278 Va. 142, 2009 Va. LEXIS 73, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/winborne-v-virginia-lottery-va-2009.