Johnson v. Garlic Farm Truck Center LLC

Background

Scott Johnson brought claims under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act. He sought an injunction, statutory damages, attorney’s fees, and costs. Johnson alleged that he is a C-5 quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair and that he encountered access barriers during three visits to Cruz Tire & Truck Repair in June 2019, October 2019, and January 2020.

The alleged barriers included a sloped parking space and access aisle, missing disability-access signage, only one disability-reserved parking space in a lot with approximately 28 other spaces, an entrance door requiring tight grasping, and an access ramp with only one handrail even though the ramp was more than six feet long and had a rise greater than six inches. Garlic Farm Truck Center LLC, alleged to own the property, did not answer or otherwise appear. The clerk entered default on August 5, 2020.

Default Judgment Standard

A default judgment is a judgment entered against a party that has failed to plead or otherwise defend. Before entering one, the court considered jurisdiction, service of process, and the factors identified in Eitel v. McCool, including prejudice to the plaintiff, the strength of the claims, the amount at stake, the possibility of factual disputes, whether the default resulted from excusable neglect, and the preference for decisions on the merits.

The court found that it had subject-matter jurisdiction over the ADA claim and supplemental jurisdiction over the Unruh Act claim. It also found personal jurisdiction over Garlic Farm Truck Center LLC. The court determined that the company had been properly served through substitute service on its agent for service of process, Ashraf Hussain Ali. Although the motion stated that personal service had occurred, the court relied on the filed proof of substitute service.

ADA Claim

The court concluded that the complaint stated a meritorious ADA claim. Title III prohibits disability discrimination in the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, and other benefits of a public accommodation. Discrimination includes failing to remove architectural barriers in existing facilities when removal is readily achievable, meaning easily accomplished without much difficulty or expense.

The court found that Johnson had standing because he alleged that the barriers caused him difficulty and frustration and deterred him from returning. Standing is the legal requirement that a plaintiff show an injury connected to the defendant’s conduct that a court can remedy.

Applying the accessibility standards in effect for the property, the court found ADA violations based on the parking space and access aisle slopes, the lack of required disability-access signage, the presence of only one disability-reserved parking space in a 29-space lot, the entrance-door handle, and the access ramp’s lack of a second handrail. The court found that the allegations about missing access-aisle markings did not establish an ADA violation because the applicable 1991 standards did not require those markings.

The court rejected Johnson’s argument that the readily-achievable issue was waived because the defendant did not appear. Instead, applying the Ninth Circuit’s burden-shifting framework, the court found that Johnson plausibly alleged that removing the barriers was readily achievable. The burden then shifted to Garlic Farm Truck Center to show otherwise, but the company did not defend the action and therefore did not meet that burden.

Unruh Act Claim

The court stated that an ADA violation necessarily constitutes a violation of the Unruh Act. Because it found ADA violations, it also found that Johnson had stated a claim under the Unruh Act.

Relief

The court granted injunctive relief requiring Garlic Farm Truck Center to bring the parking facilities, entrance door, and access ramp at Cruz Tire & Truck Repair into compliance with the 2010 ADA Accessibility Guidelines.

Johnson requested $12,000 in statutory damages based on three visits and $3,896 in attorney’s fees, along with $885.25 in filing fees and service costs. The court reduced the statutory damages to $4,000, reasoning that the repeated visits, despite Johnson’s allegation that the barriers deterred him from returning, could indicate an effort to increase statutory damages.

The court also reduced the requested attorney’s fees after finding that the requested hourly rates were too high for comparable work in the Northern District of California. It awarded $2,750 in attorney’s fees and $530 in costs, for a combined award of $3,280.

Order

Judge Beth Labson Freeman granted Johnson’s motion for default judgment, awarded $4,000 in statutory damages and $3,280 in attorney’s fees and costs, and granted the injunction requiring the specified accessibility changes. Johnson was ordered to promptly serve Garlic Farm Truck Center with the order and file proof of service.