Kirola v. City & County of San Francisco, The

Background

Plaintiffs brought a class action alleging discrimination under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and several California laws. The Court certified a class of people with mobility disabilities seeking declaratory and injunctive relief for disability-access barriers at City parks, libraries, swimming pools, curb ramps, sidewalks, crosswalks, and other outdoor pedestrian walkways.

After earlier proceedings and appeals, the Ninth Circuit directed this Court to first issue injunctive relief for ADA Accessibility Guidelines violations that the Court had found at the Main Library, St. Mary’s Playground, and a restroom in Golden Gate Park. This order addresses only that part of the remand.

Violations Addressed

At the Main Library, the Court identified violations involving:

- Missing insulation on restroom supply and drain lines; - Missing semi-ambulatory restroom stalls; - Insufficient knee clearance under a lavatory; - Restroom and non-restroom doors requiring more than five pounds of force to open; - A toilet-stall door opening in front of the toilet rather than in front of clear space; - Lack of companion seating next to wheelchair seating in the Koret Auditorium; - A video-booth doorway with insufficient clear opening width; and - A video-booth landing that was less deep than required.

At St. Mary’s Playground, the accessible route was not compliant. The route included an elevated bridgeway system with excessive slopes and narrow widths, while the alternative service road had slopes of 13 to 15 percent. In one accessible restroom in the Golden Gate Park ballpark area, the Court found a missing grab bar.

Ruling and Required Relief

The Court ordered the City to correct the identified violations within 180 days of the order. Within 30 days, the City must provide the Court and plaintiffs’ counsel with a correction schedule.

For corrective work not already completed, the City must notify plaintiffs at least 60 days before beginning the work and describe the planned work. Plaintiffs may comment within 15 days, after which the City may proceed with work it considers appropriate to meet the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Standards.

Within 30 days after corrective work is completed, the City must notify plaintiffs through counsel. If plaintiffs request it, the City must allow them to jointly observe the completed work. If the parties dispute whether the work satisfies the order, they must first try to define the dispute and resolve it through discussions before bringing the issue to the Court.

The City must also file and serve a certification, sworn under penalty of perjury by a City official with personal knowledge, confirming completion of the required work. Work completed before the order must be certified within 30 days after the order’s entry. All remediation must comply with the 2010 federal accessibility standards and the current California Building Code, whichever provides more protective accessibility requirements. The Court retained jurisdiction to enforce the order and resolve disputes arising from it.