Mercer v. Jericho Hotels, LLC
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:19-cv-05604
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 8
In Mercer v. Jericho Hotels, Judge Broderick allowed limited discovery but denied a deposition request without deciding whether the case was moot.
Stacey Mercer received permission to serve five written jurisdictional interrogatories, while Jericho Hotels, LLC must answer or object under the federal discovery rule. Mercer’s deposition request was denied, and the parties continued toward briefing on Jericho Hotels’ motion to dismiss.
What happened
In Mercer v. Jericho Hotels, Stacey Mercer alleged that Jericho Hotels, LLC’s hotel-reservation website had barriers violating disability-access laws. She sought an injunction, fees, and costs under the Americans with Disabilities Act, along with relief under New York laws.
Jericho Hotels argued that the case was moot because it had corrected the website’s alleged problems. Mercer asked to question the company’s president and a corporate representative and to serve written questions about whether the alleged violations had been fixed and could recur.
Judge Vernon S. Broderick granted limited written discovery but denied Mercer’s request to take a deposition. He did not decide the motion to dismiss or whether the case was moot; he set deadlines for the written questions and Mercer’s opposition to the dismissal motion.
The detailed version
- Mercer v. Jericho Hotels, LLC · No. 1:19-cv-05604
- Vernon Broderick
- Nov. 18, 2019
Background
Stacey Mercer sued Jericho Hotels, LLC, alleging that the reservation website for the Inn at Jericho lacked information and reservation features required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related accessibility guidelines. The complaint sought an injunction, attorney’s fees, and litigation costs under the ADA, as well as injunctive relief and damages under the New York State Human Rights Law and the New York City Human Rights Law. The court expressly stated that its references to these allegations were not findings that they were true.
Jericho Hotels moved to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, arguing that Mercer’s claims were moot because the company had corrected the website’s alleged accessibility problems. The company supported its motion with an affidavit from Mukesh Patel, its president, who stated that the alleged deficiencies had been remedied and that the company intended to keep the website compliant and updated.
Discovery request
Mercer requested limited discovery concerning mootness, including a deposition of Patel, a deposition of a corporate representative, and written discovery. The court explained that a motion under Rule 12(b)(1), which challenges the court’s subject-matter jurisdiction, may rely on evidence outside the complaint. When relevant jurisdictional facts are especially known to the opposing party, the party asserting jurisdiction may be allowed to obtain discovery.
The court focused on the voluntary-cessation standard. When a defendant says that its voluntary actions have ended a dispute, the defendant must show both that it completely ended the alleged violation’s effects and that the violation is not reasonably expected to happen again. The court found that information about Jericho Hotels’ website-maintenance plans, commitments, and intentions was primarily within the company’s knowledge. It also found that deciding mootness based only on Patel’s brief affidavit would provide too little information, particularly because the affidavit closely resembled a declaration used in another accessibility case.
Ruling
The court granted limited written discovery on subject-matter jurisdiction. Mercer was permitted to serve five written interrogatories within fourteen days, and Jericho Hotels was required to answer or object under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(b). The court denied Mercer’s request to depose Jericho Hotels or a corporate representative.
The court ordered Mercer to file opposition to Jericho Hotels’ motion to dismiss within fourteen days after receiving the interrogatory answers. It directed the Clerk of Court to close the open motion at Document 14. The order did not decide Jericho Hotels’ motion to dismiss or determine whether the case was moot. Judge Vernon S. Broderick signed the order.
Read the full 8-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.