Scherr v. Marriott Int'l, Inc.

• Citation: 703 F.3d 1069
• Decision Date: 25 February 2013
• Docket Number: No. 11–3833.,11–3833.
• Parties: Marjorie Friedman SCHERR, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC., et al., Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (7th Circuit)

703 F.3d 1069

Marjorie Friedman SCHERR, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC., et al., Defendants–Appellees.

No. 11–3833.

United States Court of Appeals,Seventh Circuit.

Argued Sept. 5, 2012.

Decided Jan. 7, 2013.

Rehearing En Banc Denied ^* Feb. 25, 2013.

Jeremy Loren Friedman (argued), Attorney, Oakland, CA, Steven P. Schneck, Attorney, Allison Associates, Chicago, IL, Julie Friedman Ehrlich, Attorney, Highland Park, IL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

Kara Mather Maciel, Attorney, Epstein, Becker & Green, Washington, DC, Mark Mckay Trapp (argued), Attorney, Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Defendants–Appellees.

Before BAUER, MANION, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

MANION, Circuit Judge.

Marjorie Friedman Scherr, an elderly woman who required the use of a walker, booked a room at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas, in March 2006. She requested a room that complied with the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The hotel had recently undergone a renovation and had installed spring-hinged door closers on the bathroom doors of some of its rooms, including the ADA-compliant room assigned to Scherr. The spring hinge closes the door automatically when a person lets go of the door. While attempting to exit her bathroom, the door, which she had pushed open and then released to use her walker, quickly slammed shut on her, striking her and knocking her down. As a result, she underwent surgery for a broken wrist and an injured hip.

She later brought a personal injury action against the hotel, which settled in December 2010. Just prior to that settlement, however, Scherr brought a suit under Title III of the ADA seeking injunctive relief against the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott and fifty-six other Courtyard Marriotts for using the spring-hinged door closers that resulted in her injury. Marriott sought to dismiss the case on the grounds that Scherr lacked standing to bring a suit for injunctive relief and, alternatively, that the statute of limitations barred her claim. The district court ruled that Scherr had standing to sue the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott, but not the fifty-six other Marriotts, and that the applicable statute of limitations did not bar her suit. Marriott then moved for Judgment on the Pleadings on the grounds that the spring-hinged door closers Marriott used complied with the applicable ADA regulations. In December 2011, the district court granted Marriott's motion. This appeal followed. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the spring-hinged door closers used by Marriott comply with ADA regulations, and we affirm.

I. Background

Marjorie Friedman Scherr, a resident of Illinois, booked a room at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas, in March 2006. At the time, she was seventy-six years old, suffered from a neuro-degenerative disorder and relied on a walker to enhance her mobility. Consequently, she requested an ADA-accessible room. The hotel assigned her to Room 143, and assured her it was “ADA compliant.” On March 19, 2006, Scherr tried to leave the bathroom of her hotel room while using her walker. The door of the bathroom was equipped with a spring-hinged self-closing mechanism. Scherr pushed the door open with her right hand, then let go and began to exit through the threshold of the door using her walker. The door closed quickly, striking her body and causing her to fall to the floor. Scherr broke her wrist and injured her hip as a result of the fall. She later underwent surgery to address complications from the fall.

Scherr has twenty-nine relatives living in the Overland Park area, and she traveled there frequently both before and after her injuries in 2006. Given the close proximity of the Courtyard Marriott to her relatives, she wishes to return to the hotel if its rooms would be made safe for disabled guests. This intent was evinced most recently when Scherr's cousin announced that she would be married in May 2011 in Overland Park, and Scherr declared her intent to attend the wedding and her preference to stay in the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott but for its continued use of the spring-hinged door closer that led to her injury.

In 2004, Marriott renovated fifty-seven of its Courtyard Marriott hotels, and in each of the hotels (including the Overland Park location) Marriott installed spring-hinged door closer mechanisms on the bathroom doors of its ADA-accessible rooms. There is no dispute that Marriott chose to install the spring-hinged door closer on the bathroom doors rather than a hydraulic-arm door closer or a standard hinge with no door closer. There is also no dispute that the spring hinge is labeled a “Door Closer.” The spring-hinge mechanism closes a door significantly faster than a hydraulic arm closer would; during the personal injury litigation that preceded this case, testimony showed that spring hinge closing mechanisms takes anywhere from 2.58 to 3.1 seconds to close a door, compared to the 5 seconds or more a hydraulic arm door closer takes. This is relevant because, as we explain in more detail below, ADA regulations contain separate provisions that govern the speeds at which “door closers” and “spring hinges” can close.

In March 2008, Scherr filed a negligence action against Marriott for her injuries in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Marriott removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. In July 2010, Scherr sought to amend her complaint to include a claim under Title III of the ADA, but the request was denied. After the district court denied both parties' motions for summary judgment on the negligence action, the case settled. In November 2010, just prior to the settlement of the negligence action, Scherr filed this case against Marriott under Title III of the ADA. Scherr seeks (1) a declaratory judgment that the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott was and is still in violation of the ADA; (2) injunctive relief against Marriott in the form of an order requiring Marriott to change the spring-hinged door closers in all fifty-seven of its renovated Courtyard hotels; and (3) costs, attorneys' fees, and expenses.

Marriott moved to dismiss Scherr's complaint, arguing that Scherr did not have standing to sue, that the statute of limitations barred her suit, and that she failed to state a claim. In June 2011, the district court granted in part and denied in part Marriott's motion and ruled that Scherr had standing to pursue her ADA claim against the Overland Park Marriott but not the other fifty-six hotels, that the statute of limitations did not bar her suit, and that she stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. Marriott then moved for judgment on the pleadings, arguing that the spring hinge on the bathroom door was in compliance with the ADA regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) in 2010. In December 2011, the district court granted Marriott's motion, and this appeal followed.

On appeal, Scherr challenges the district court's ruling on two grounds: first, she contends that she has standing to bring an ADA suit not only against the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott, but all fifty-seven Courtyard hotels that use spring-hinged door closers on their bathroom doors; and two, that the district court erred when it granted Marriott's Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. Marriott argues in response that the district court correctly granted judgment on the pleadings in its favor, and also argues that Scherr does not have standing to sue the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott or any of the other Courtyard Marriotts and that the statute of limitations bars Scherr's suit. We address the arguments in turn.

II. Discussion

We review de novo a district court's grant of judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). Olson v. Wexford Clearing Serv. Corp., 397 F.3d 488, 490 (7th Cir.2005). We take all well-pleaded allegations as true and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party (here, Scherr). Fail–Safe, LLC v. A.O. Smith Corp., 674 F.3d 889, 892 (7th Cir.2012). We must determine if the complaint sets forth facts sufficient to support a cognizable legal theory. St. John's United Church of Christ v. City of Chicago, 502 F.3d 616, 625 (7th Cir.2007). We may take judicial notice of documents that are part of the public record, including pleadings, orders, and transcripts from prior proceedings in the case. Gen. Elec. Capital Corp. v. Lease Res. Corp., 128 F.3d 1074, 1081–82 (7th Cir.1997).

A. Scherr has standing to sue the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott, but not the fifty-six other Courtyard Marriott hotels that use spring-hinged door closers.

The district court ruled that Scherr had standing to pursue her claim for injunctive relief under Title III of the ADA against the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott, but not the other fifty-six Courtyard Marriott hotels that use the spring-hinged door closer. On appeal, she contends that she should be allowed to pursue her claim against not only the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott, but the other hotels as well. Marriott responds that Scherr lacks standing to sue not only the other fifty-six hotels, but the Overland Park hotel as well. For the reasons below, we affirm the district court's ruling that Scherr has standing to bring her suit against the Overland Park Courtyard Marriott but not the other hotels.

Article III of the Constitution specifies that “[t]he Judicial Power shall extend to all Cases ... [and] Controversies....” U.S. Const., Art. III, § 2. Standing to bring and maintain a suit is an essential component of this case-or-controversy requirement. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992). The Supreme Court has held that a plaintiff must meet three key requirements to establish standing: the plaintiff must show (1) injury in fact, which must be concrete and particularized, and actual and...