Johnson v. 12 N Park Victoria LLC
- Vince Chhabria
- 3:20-cv-02200
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Scott Johnson v. 12 N Park Victoria LLC, Judge Chhabria reduced Khalilzadeh’s default damages to $4,000 and required dismissal paperwork for the entity defendant.
Scott Johnson, Jalal Khalilzadeh, and 12 N Park Victoria LLC were affected. Khalilzadeh’s statutory damages were reduced, and the pending default-judgment motion against the entity was terminated as moot.
What happened
Scott Johnson had obtained a default judgment awarding him $12,000 in statutory damages against individual defendant Jalal Khalilzadeh. The case also included a claim against 12 N Park Victoria LLC.
The court reconsidered the earlier order because it found that leaving the $12,000 award in place would be unfair. Johnson had not shown that the facts supported statutory damages for all three visits to the gas station. The court also noted that there was no evidence Johnson told Khalilzadeh about the alleged disability-access violations before suing or had reason to believe the barriers would be fixed before his next visit.
Judge Vince Chhabria reduced the statutory damages against Khalilzadeh from $12,000 to $4,000, while leaving $3,640 in attorney fees and costs unchanged. The court lifted its orders requiring explanations from the parties, terminated the pending default-judgment motion against 12 N Park Victoria LLC as moot because Johnson consented to dismiss that claim, and ordered Johnson to file a dismissal agreement within seven days before final judgment would be entered.
The detailed version
- Johnson v. 12 N Park Victoria LLC · No. 3:20-cv-02200
- Vince Chhabria
- June 3, 2022
Background
The court reconsidered an earlier interlocutory order that had entered a default judgment awarding Scott Johnson $12,000 in statutory damages against individual defendant Jalal Khalilzadeh. The opinion refers to alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act involving barriers at a gas station. The case also included a claim against 12 N Park Victoria LLC, for which Johnson had consented to dismissal.
Reasoning
A district court may reconsider its own nonfinal orders before final judgment for any reason. When a different judge is reconsidering an earlier judge’s order, the court stated that it must identify “cogent reasons” or “exceptional circumstances.” The court found those reasons here, concluding that it would be manifestly unjust to leave the $12,000 award in place.
Johnson had the burden of proving that the facts supported the requested default-judgment damages. The court found that he had not shown that statutory damages were warranted for all three visits to the gas station. It also found no evidence that Johnson had informed Khalilzadeh of the alleged access violations before filing the lawsuit or had reason to believe the barriers would be corrected before his next visit. The court noted that Johnson was described as a sophisticated, repeat disability-rights plaintiff who regularly worked with attorneys on similar cases, and that the circumstances raised equitable concerns.
Rulings
The court reduced the statutory damages previously awarded against Khalilzadeh from $12,000 to $4,000. The award of $3,640 for attorney fees and costs remained unchanged.
The court lifted the orders to show cause. Because Johnson consented to dismissing the claim against 12 N Park Victoria LLC, the pending motion for default judgment against that entity was terminated as moot. The court ordered Johnson to file a stipulation dismissing 12 N Park Victoria within seven days. It stated that, after that filing, it would enter final judgment in the case.
Judge Vince Chhabria signed the order on June 3, 2022.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.