Strojnik v. Woodside Hotel Group LTD
- Beth Freeman
- 5:20-cv-03204
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 4
In Strojnik v. Woodside, Judge Freeman ordered Strojnik to post a $20,000 costs bond and vacated the pending dismissal-motion hearing.
Peter Strojnik must post a $20,000 bond within 14 days. Woodside Hotel Group LTD receives the security sought for anticipated costs and attorneys’ fees. The scheduled hearing on Woodside’s pending motion to dismiss was vacated, but that motion was not decided in this order.
What happened
Strojnik v. Woodside Hotel Group LTD concerned the defendant’s request that Peter Strojnik provide security for expected litigation costs and attorneys’ fees. The defendant sought a $75,000 bond, arguing that Strojnik lives outside California and that it had a reasonable possibility of winning the case.
The court found that Strojnik resides in Arizona and that the defendant had a reasonable possibility of prevailing. It also found that Strojnik’s Americans with Disabilities Act claim was frivolous, relying in part on the defendant’s argument that he had not adequately alleged standing to sue.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted the motion, but required a $20,000 bond rather than the requested $75,000. Strojnik must post the bond within 14 days, and the court vacated the scheduled hearing on the defendant’s pending motion to dismiss without deciding that motion.
The detailed version
- Strojnik v. Woodside Hotel Group LTD · No. 5:20-cv-03204
- Beth Freeman
- Feb. 9, 2021
Background
Woodside Hotel Group LTD, doing business as Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, moved to require Peter Strojnik to post a bond securing anticipated litigation costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. The defendant requested a $75,000 bond. The opinion states that Strojnik resides in Arizona and that the defendant’s pending motion to dismiss raises, among other issues, whether Strojnik adequately alleged standing under Article III of the Constitution.
Legal standard and analysis
The court explained that federal district courts have inherent authority to require a plaintiff to provide security for costs. It applied California Code of Civil Procedure section 1030, which permits such a requirement when the plaintiff resides outside the state and the defendant shows a reasonable possibility of prevailing on the merits.
The court found both conditions satisfied. It found no dispute that Strojnik resides out of state and concluded that the defendant had a reasonable possibility of prevailing. The court also found that Strojnik’s Americans with Disabilities Act claim was frivolous. In reaching that conclusion, it cited the rule that fees and costs may be awarded under the Act when a plaintiff’s claims are frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation, and it discussed prior federal-court findings concerning Strojnik’s standing allegations and litigation conduct in disability-access cases.
Bond amount and disposition
The defendant’s attorney estimated at least $36,100 in litigation costs and approximately $103,140 in attorneys’ fees to obtain a judgment, while stating that 35 hours had already been spent on the matter. The court nevertheless found a $20,000 bond appropriate, citing more modest fee awards in similar cases.
The court granted the Motion to Require Strojnik to Post a Costs Bond. It ordered Strojnik to post a $20,000 bond within 14 days of the order. The court did not decide the pending motion to dismiss. Instead, it found that motion suitable for decision without oral argument and vacated the hearing scheduled for February 18, 2021.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.