Skaff v. Meridien North America Beverly Hills, LLC

• Decision Date: 01 November 2007
• Docket Number: No. 06-55434.,06-55434.
• Citation: 506 F.3d 832
• Parties: Richard SKAFF, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MERIDIEN NORTH AMERICA BEVERLY HILLS, LLC, e/s/a Le Meridien, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

506 F.3d 832

Richard SKAFF, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. MERIDIEN NORTH AMERICA BEVERLY HILLS, LLC, e/s/a Le Meridien, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 06-55434.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted April 16, 2007.

Filed November 1, 2007.

Sidney J. Cohen, Sidney J. Cohen Professional Corporation, Oakland, CA, for plaintiff-appellant Richard Skaff.

David E. Novitski and E. Todd Chayet, Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for defendant-appellee Meridien North America Beverly Hills, LLC.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Manuel L. Real, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-05-00027-R.

Before: JEROME FARRIS and RONALD M. GOULD, Circuit Judges, and KEVIN THOMAS DUFFY,^* District Judge.

Per Curiam Opinion; Dissent by Judge DUFFY.

PER CURIAM:

We review an order of the district court denying the motion of Richard Skaff, a disabled individual, for attorneys' fees and costs in an action he brought against a hotel pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA") and California civil rights laws. Because the district court erred by concluding that it had no authority under either the ADA or California law to award fees and costs after the parties reached a settlement, we vacate the district court's order and remand the case with instructions that the district court consider the merits of Skaff's motion for fees and costs.

I

Because the district court concluded that there was no standing based on the allegations of the complaint as filed, we recite the facts of this case as Skaff alleged them in his complaint. Skaff is a paraplegic who must use a wheelchair for mobility. Meridien North America Beverly Hills, LLC operated the Le Meridien hotel (collectively, "Le Meridien" or "hotel") in Beverly Hills, California.¹ About two weeks before a visit to Le Meridien, Skaff called the hotel and made a reservation for the night of May 9, 2004. When Skaff made his reservation, he told the Le Meridien reservation agent that he used a wheelchair and that he needed an accessible room with a roll-in shower. Skaff reiterated his need for an accessible room with a roll-in shower when he checked into Le Meridien two weeks later. However, Le Meridien assigned Skaff to a room with a bathtub. Skaff at once told the hotel staff of the problem, and, after a one-hour delay, Le Meridien provided Skaff with a room that had a roll-in shower. The roll-in shower in that room, however, did not have a wall-hung shower chair. This prevented Skaff from using the shower because Skaff cannot stand on his own. Skaff reported this problem to the hotel staff and asked if the hotel had a portable shower chair that he could use. The staff eventually found a portable shower chair for Skaff, and he was able to take a shower the following morning.

In addition to the problems with the shower described above, paragraph 14 of Skaff's complaint alleged more generally that "during the course of his stay at the Hotel, Plaintiff encountered numerous other barriers to disabled access, including `path of travel,' guestroom, bathroom, telephone, elevator, and signage barriers to access, all in violation of federal and state law and regulation." Additionally, paragraph 17 of Skaff's complaint asserted that "[u]ntil Defendants make the Hotel and its facilities accessible to and useable by Plaintiff, he is deterred from returning to the Hotel and its facilities."

Skaff sought injunctive relief pursuant to Title III of the ADA and injunctive relief and damages pursuant to California's state civil rights laws. Skaff also sought attorneys' fees, litigation expenses, and costs pursuant to both the ADA and California law. The parties settled all issues relating to injunctive relief and damages at a settlement conference before a magistrate judge. However, the parties did not settle the issue of attorneys' fees and costs, and, in the parties' settlement agreement, Skaff retained the option to file a motion for such fees and costs if the parties could not further settle the matter. When the parties could not reach a settlement on fees and costs, Skaff filed a motion in the district court.

The district court denied Skaff's motion for attorneys' fees and costs. In its order denying the motion, the district court made the following findings of fact. First, the district court found that "[t]he only specific denial of disabled access that Plaintiff alleged in his complaint was the Defendant's delay in providing him a room with a roll-in shower and shower chair." The district court determined that "[t]he Defendant remedied these matters within hours of Plaintiff's request." Also, the district court found that, in his complaint, Skaff "did not complain of or identify other features of the hotel that he wanted to use but was denied access to or otherwise prevented from using." In addition, the district court noted that Le Meridien "was given neither notice of the violations, as is required by the ADA, nor the opportunity to remedy them" before Skaff sued. Finally, the district court found that "[i]n the past three years, Plaintiff has filed at least 21 lawsuits similar to the case at bar in California federal courts alone."

The district court based its denial of attorneys' fees on the following conclusions of law. First, the district court determined that, when Skaff filed his complaint, he did not have standing to pursue his claims. Because in the district court's view the only ADA or state law violations Skaff alleged in his complaint were the problems with the shower, and because Le Meridien remedied those problems promptly during Skaff's visit, the district court concluded that his complaint did not allege an "injury in fact." The district court then concluded that because Skaff lacked standing from the outset of the case, the court had no authority to award fees, notwithstanding the settlement agreement. Additionally, the district court determined that Skaff was not entitled to attorneys' fees under California state law because he did not attempt to settle his dispute with Le Meridien before filing suit, citing the California Supreme Court's decision in Graham v. DaimlerChrysler Corp., 34 Cal.4th 553, 21 Cal.Rptr.3d 331, 101 P.3d 140 (2004). Skaff appeals the district court's order denying his motion for an award of attorneys' fees, litigation expenses, and costs.

II

We review the district court's findings of fact for clear error. San Diego County Gun Rights Comm. v. Reno, 98 F.3d 1121, 1124 (9th Cir.1996). We review for abuse of discretion the district court's decision to deny a motion for attorneys' fees. Labotest, Inc. v. Bonta, 297 F.3d 892, 894 (9th Cir.2002). A district court abuses its discretion when it denies attorneys' fees based on an inaccurate view of the law. Entm't Research Group, Inc. v. Genesis Creative Group, Inc., 122 F.3d 1211, 1216-17 (9th Cir.1997). We review de novo any questions of law underlying the district court's decision to deny fees, including the question of whether a party had standing to pursue its claim. Hartman v. Summers, 120 F.3d 157, 159 (9th Cir.1997). The district court's interpretation and construction of the ADA and the California civil rights laws are also questions of law that we review de novo. Soltani v. W. & So. Life Ins. Co., 258 F.3d 1038, 1042 (9th Cir.2001).

III

We begin with the unassailable premise that "standing is an essential and unchanging part of the case-or-controversy requirement of Article III." Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). Constitutional standing has three elements. First, the plaintiff must have suffered an "injury in fact" that is concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent. Second, there must be a causal link between the injury and the conduct of which the plaintiff complains. Third, it must be likely that a favorable decision will redress the plaintiff's injury. Id. at 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130. In this case, the district court concluded that Skaff did not have standing because his complaint did not allege an injury in fact.

We must follow the rule that if a plaintiff does not allege standing in its complaint, we have no jurisdiction to hear the case. Bernhardt v. County of Los Angeles, 279 F.3d 862, 868 (9th Cir.2002). A court that lacks jurisdiction at the outset of a case lacks the authority to award attorneys' fees. Branson v. Nott, 62 F.3d 287, 292-93 (9th Cir.1995); Smith v. Brady, 972 F.2d 1095, 1097 (9th Cir.1992); Latch v. United States, 842 F.2d 1031, 1033-34 (9th Cir.1988).² Although the district court correctly identified the above rule, it erred in concluding that Skaff had no standing because of his failure to allege injury.

Our case law provides guidance on how to determine whether an ADA plaintiff has suffered an injury in fact sufficient to give that plaintiff standing and to give us jurisdiction. In Pickern v. Holiday Quality Foods Inc., 293 F.3d 1133, 1138-39 (9th Cir.2002), we held that a plaintiff has standing to challenge barriers in a public accommodation under the ADA when he has actually encountered those barriers. Pickern further held that a plaintiff may challenge barriers not personally encountered if those barriers have deterred the plaintiff from patronizing the public accommodation. The key problem with the district court's ruling here is that the district court was wrong in stating that Skaff had not alleged any problem other than the quickly-remedied shower deficiencies and in thus concluding that Skaff had not alleged an injury in fact. To the contrary, Skaff had explicitly alleged that he personally encountered other barriers to access, and that was sufficient to allege an injury in fact.³

The existence of standing turns on the facts as they existed at the time the plaintiff filed the complaint.⁴ Lujan, 504 U.S. at 569 n. 4, 112 S.Ct. 2130. Though the party invoking our jurisdiction bears the burden of establishing...