Sanchez v. North Beach Alliance, LLC

Background

Jorge Sanchez and Matt Scott are disabled individuals who use wheelchairs. They sued North Beach Alliance, LLC, doing business as Barbarossa Lounge, and Shannon C. Gwin, alleging disability discrimination at the lounge. The complaint asserted claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, and California disability-access laws.

The plaintiffs alleged that, during a February 2023 visit, they had difficulty reaching a table because there was no designated accessible path of travel. The table was too low for them to pull their wheelchairs underneath. The restroom was down a flight of stairs, with no lift or elevator, and the plaintiffs needed employee assistance to use it.

The Clerk entered default against both defendants on September 27, 2023. After an earlier recommendation that default judgment be granted in part and denied in part, the court required additional briefing concerning service and the requested injunction. The plaintiffs later re-served Gwin but initially were unable to serve North Beach Alliance.

Default judgment against Gwin

The court found that Gwin was properly served on February 18, 2025, by personal delivery of the summons and complaint. It adopted the earlier analysis of the factors courts use when deciding whether to enter default judgment, including the strength of the claims, the sufficiency of the complaint, the amount at stake, the possibility of factual disputes, and whether the defendant’s failure to respond resulted from excusable neglect.

The court also considered evidence that the renewed motion had been sent to an address connected with Gwin and that counsel had spoken with Gwin about the lawsuit and motion. According to the declaration accepted by the court, Gwin said he had decided not to respond and would not attend the hearing. The court found that his default was not caused by excusable neglect.

Relief granted against Gwin

The court granted the plaintiffs’ motion for default judgment against Gwin and ordered him to modify the property at 714 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, California 94111, to comply with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design and Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations by August 27, 2026.

The ordered changes require Gwin to:

- provide at least 5% accessible seating in the lounge; - arrange tables and chairs to create an accessible path through the interior; and - provide an accessible path to an accessible restroom, either by installing a wheelchair lift or another accessible means of egress to the existing designated restroom, or by creating another accessible restroom on an accessible path.

The court awarded Sanchez and Scott $4,000 each under the Unruh Act, for total statutory damages of $8,000. It also ruled that attorneys’ fees and costs should be awarded, but deferred deciding the amount because the plaintiffs had not separated the fees and costs attributable to Gwin from those attributable to North Beach Alliance.

Service and possible future default judgment against North Beach Alliance

The plaintiffs asked to serve North Beach Alliance by publication. The court indicated that publication likely would not provide actual notice, but it allowed a final attempt using another method if the company’s agent continued to avoid personal service.

The process server attempted to serve Arash Ghanadan, identified in the opinion as North Beach Alliance’s service agent, at the Bluxhome Street address. After the agent said by intercom that he was traveling, the process server left a copy of the summons and complaint at the address and mailed another copy there. The court found that this service was effective.

The court did not enter default judgment against North Beach Alliance in this order. Instead, it allowed the plaintiffs to file a renewed motion for default judgment against the company by August 6, 2025, if the company failed to respond. The order also required the plaintiffs to mail courtesy copies of the order to Gwin and to Ghanadan and file proof of that mailing.