Yates v. Auto City 76

299 F.R.D. 611, 2013 WL 5956266, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160433
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedNovember 7, 2013
DocketNo. C-10-3932 EMC
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 299 F.R.D. 611 (Yates v. Auto City 76) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yates v. Auto City 76, 299 F.R.D. 611, 2013 WL 5956266, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160433 (N.D. Cal. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND

(Docket No. 59)

EDWARD M. CHEN, United States District Judge

Plaintiff Craig Yates has filed suit against Defendants Auto City 76; R.A.T. Oil, Inc.; and Canadian American Oil Co., asserting claims for disability discrimination. More specifically, Mr. Yates claims that Defendants have discriminated against persons with disabilities by failing to remove architectural barriers structural in nature at their public accommodation known as Auto City 76. Currently pending before the Court is Mr. Yates’s motion for leave to amend his complaint. Mr. Yates wishes to amend in order to add new factual allegations. In particular, he “seeks to amend ... to include fifteen (15) post-complaint visits to AUTO CITY 76 wherein on a majority of these visits he encountered architectural barriers and as a result suffered an adverse experience.” Mot. at 1-2.

Having considered the parties’ briefs and accompanying submissions, as well as the oral argument of defense counsel,1 the Court hereby GRANTS the motion to amend but orders the parties to meet and confer as provided below.

I. FACTUAL & PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Original Complaint

Mr. Yates initiated this lawsuit on September 1, 2010. In his original complaint, he alleged as follows.

Mr. Yates is a triplegic who requires the use of a wheelchair to travel about. See Compl. ¶ 5. Mr. Yates visited Auto City 76 on the following dates “for purposes of fueling and the purchasing of sundries,” Compl. ¶ 13:

(1) February 28, 2010;
(2) March 24, 2010;
(3) May 2, 2010;
(4) June 22, 2010;
(5) July 28, 2010;
(6) August 2, 2010; and
(7) August 10, 2010.

See Compl. ¶¶ 2,13.

According to Mr. Yates, on all or some of these dates, he encountered various architectural barriers that prevented him from using the public accommodation. Those barriers are identified as follows:

(1) “lack of directional signage to show accessible routes of travel, i.e., to restrooms” 2;
(2) “lack of the requisite type and number of disabled parking stall(s)”;
(3) “lack of disabled van accessible parking stall(s)”;
(4) “lack of tow-a-way signage”;
(5) “lack of a handicapped-accessible women’s public restroom”;
(6) “lack of a handicapped-accessible men’s public restroom”3;
(7) “lack of a policy and procedure to assist the disabled in pumping fuel when more than one employee was present”; and
[613]*613(8) “other public facilities and elements too numerous to list were improperly inaccessible for use by persons with disabilities.”

Compl. ¶ 22.

B. Proposed Amended Complaint

Approximately a year after filing the original complaint, Mr. Yates moved to file a first amended complaint (“FAC”). In the proposed FAC, Mr. Yates sought to make allegations regarding fifteen additional visits to Auto City 76, each of which took place after the filing of the original complaint:

(1) September 27, 2010;
(2) September 14, 2011;
(3) November 29,2011;
(4) December 8, 2011;
(5) January 25, 2012;
(6) April 9, 2012;
(7) May 1,2012;
(8) May 4, 2012;
(9) May 28, 2012;
(10) June 5, 2012;
(11) June 19, 2012;
(12) June 26, 2012;
(13) June 30, 2012;
(14) June 12, 2013; and
(15) June 20, 2013.

See Prop. FAC ¶ 2.

On some visits, Mr. Yates did not encounter any architectural barriers but, on most, he did. Some of the barriers were the same as those experienced on his previous visits covered by the original complaint — e.g., a too-narrow restroom door. But a significant number of new barriers were also identified. For instance, there are now complaints about:

(1) the service counter being too high, see, e.g., Compl. ¶¶ 22-24;
(2) the restroom door having “no strike side clearance to exit,” the door pressure being “very high,” and the locks being difficult to use, see, e.g., Compl. ¶¶ 26-27, 29, 31;
(3) the placement of the toilet paper dispenser (i.e., “just over the top of the side grab bar which made it difficult for plaintiff ... to adjust himself in his wheelchair”), Compl. ¶ 27;
(4) the restroom door being “hung wrong,” Compl. ¶ 32;
(5) lack of signage for the restrooms, see Compl. ¶ 36;
(6) placement of the flush control on the toilet, see Compl. ¶ 36;
(7) placement of the water closet in the restroom, see Compl. ¶ 36;
(8) various dispensers and hooks in the restroom being too high, see Compl. ¶ 36; and
(9) accessibility of the entrance. See Compl. ¶ 36.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Legal Standard

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15 governs amended and supplemental pleadings. Under Rule 15(d), “[o]n motion and reasonable notice, the court may, on just terms, permit a party to serve a supplemental pleading setting out any transaction, occurrence, or event that happened after the date of the pleading to be supplemented.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(d) (emphasis added); see also Eid v. Alaska Airlines, Inc., 621 F.3d 858, 874 (9th Cir.2010) (noting that “Rule 15(d) provides a mechanism for parties to file additional causes of action based on facts that didn’t exist when the original complaint was filed”).

A trial court has broad discretion in deciding whether to permit a supplemental pleading. See Keith v. Volpe, 858 F.2d 467, 473 (9th Cir.1988). In deciding whether to permit a supplemental pleading, a court’s focus is on judicial efficiency. See Planned Parenthood v. Neely,

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Bluebook (online)
299 F.R.D. 611, 2013 WL 5956266, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 160433, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yates-v-auto-city-76-cand-2013.