Sharkey v. O'Neal
| Decision Date | 10 February 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. 11–15619.,11–15619. |
| Citation | 778 F.3d 767 |
| Parties | Dennis SHARKEY, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. Eral O'NEAL; Silva Foster; D. Graham; Charles Sydney, Defendants–Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Lisa Ells (argued) and Sanford Jay Rosen, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld, San Francisco, CA, for Plaintiff–Appellant.
Neah Huynh (argued), Deputy Attorney General; Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General; Jonathan L. Wolff, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Thomas S. Patterson, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, San Francisco, CA, for Defendants–Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Jeffrey S. White, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. 3:09–cv–04341–JSW.
Before: STEPHEN REINHARDT and PAUL J. WATFORD, Circuit Judges, and ROBERT S. LASNIK, District Judge.*
Dennis Sharkey appeals from an order of the district court dismissing as time-barred his claims under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and various provisions of the Constitution pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The district judge applied California's two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims to all of Sharkey's claims. With respect to Sharkey's claim under Title II of the ADA, we hold that the district court did not apply the correct statute of limitations. District courts must borrow the three-year limitations period applicable to claims under California Government Code § 11135, rather than the limitations period applicable to personal injury claims in California. Under this three-year limitations period, Sharkey's ADA claim is not time-barred. With respect to his other claims, Sharkey does not contest the applicable limitations periods, but we hold that the district court abused its discretion in dismissing the complaint with prejudice without affording Sharkey leave to amend.
Sharkey is a 55–year–old man with disabilities that require him to use a wheelchairand two canes. In late 2006 and early 2007, Defendants Graham, Foster, O'Neal, and Sydney were employees at the Parole Division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Berkeley.
In 2006, Sharkey was on parole, living independently in an accessible apartment in Oakland. On December 28, 2006, Agent Foster informed Sharkey of new parole terms, including a housing restriction imposed under the California Sexual Predator and Control Act that required Sharkey to move from his Oakland residence. Agent O'Neal, who Agent Foster had assigned to Sharkey's case, gave Sharkey only an hour to relocate and only 25 minutes to pack, notwithstanding his disability. Sharkey experienced a great deal of pain during this harried move, and, due to the time pressure, left behind important medical supplies and personal possessions. Agent O'Neal forbade Sharkey from ever returning to the apartment or from calling friends to retrieve his remaining belongings.
That night, Agent O'Neal drove Sharkey to the Harris Motel and assigned him to a room that lacked the safety features necessary to accommodate his disability, such as a wheelchair-accessible entrance, sufficient floor space to operate a wheelchair, and bathroom grab bars. When Sharkey complained to Agent Foster, no attempt was made to locate a suitable residence.
Sharkey was injured at least three times in slip and fall accidents as a result of the lack of accommodations at the Harris Motel. He also lost access to a federal program that had provided him with in-home medical services because the motel did not meet the program's residence requirements. Sharkey's doctors in turn canceled several scheduled surgeries because he no longer had a suitable recovery environment, and Sharkey was unable to participate in other medically necessary treatments. Sharkey informed the defendants about the problems caused by his relocation to the Harris Motel and the need for an accessible residence, to no avail.
In March 2007, after Sharkey went to the emergency room with injuries sustained when he fell in the ill-equipped motel room, Agent O'Neal moved Sharkey from the Harris Motel to the Sea Breeze Inn. Located on a truck route in an industrial area that lacked access to public transportation, this new motel did not accommodate Sharkey's disability-related needs either.
Sharkey alleges that the defendants' decisions to require him to live in motels incapable of accommodating his disabilities caused him significant pain and stress, exacerbated his medical conditions, and deprived him of access to important medical treatments. On September 17, 2009, Sharkey filed suit, proceeding pro se and in forma pauperis, against the defendants in the Northern District of California, alleging violations of Title II of the ADA, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the Constitution. On February 25, 2011, the district court dismissed the entirety of Sharkey's complaint with prejudice as time-barred under the two-year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury claims in California.2 We reverse.
Sharkey first contends that the district court erred when it dismissed his claim under Title II of the ADA as barred by the two-year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury claims in California. We review de novo the district court's order dismissing the claim on statute of limitations grounds. MHC Fin. Ltd. P'ship v. City of San Rafael, 714 F.3d 1118, 1125 (9th Cir.2013).
Initially, we reject defendants' argument that we must apply the same limitations period to all ADA claims. The ADA is structured as separate titles governing different conduct: Title I, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12111–12117, covers discrimination in employment; Title II, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131–12165, covers discrimination in public services; and Title III, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12181–12189, covers discrimination in public accommodations and services operated by private entities. It is clear that Congress did not intend every title of the ADA to have the same limitations period. Title I expressly incorporates the limitations period under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, see, e.g., Douglas v. Cal. Dep't of Youth Auth., 271 F.3d 812, 823 (9th Cir.2001), whereas Congress omitted express limitations periods from the other ADA titles. Furthermore, because each title of the ADA “encompasses different types of discrimination, as well as different remedies,” Mary J. Topliff, Annotation, Limitation of Actions Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 144 A.L.R. Fed. 307 § 2(a) (1998), there is good reason for differing statutes of limitations. Here, we express no opinion as to the limitations period applicable to claims under titles of the ADA other than Title II.
Title II of the ADA does not contain an express statute of limitations. The four-year catchall statute of limitations for actions arising under federal statutes enacted after December 1, 1990 is inapplicable, as the ADA was enacted on July 26, 1990, see 104 Stat. 327, and Sharkey does not contend that his “claim against the defendant was made possible by a post–1990 enactment.” Jones v. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., 541 U.S. 369, 382, 124 S.Ct. 1836, 158 L.Ed.2d 645 (2004); see also28 U.S.C. § 1658. Instead, we borrow the statute of limitations applicable to the most analogous state-law claim, so long as “it is not inconsistent with federal law or policy to do so.” Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 266–67, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985), partially superseded by statute as stated in Jones, 541 U.S. at 377–80, 124 S.Ct. 1836. See also42 U.S.C. § 1988; Goodman v. Lukens Steel Co., 482 U.S. 656, 660, 107 S.Ct. 2617, 96 L.Ed.2d 572 (1987).
No published opinion of this court has determined the most appropriate state-law analog to claims under Title II of the ADA. In four published opinions we assumed without deciding that California's statute of limitations for personal injury claims applies to ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims. 3 In three of the four cases we did so because the parties argued their positions based on that assumption. In the fourth we stated that the result would be the same whichever statute of limitations was applicable. In any event, none of these cases involved Title II.
We now hold that California Government Code § 11135 provides the most analogous state-law claim to a Title II claim.4 Title II of the ADA provides that “no qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any such entity.” 42 U.S.C. § 12132. Section 11135(a) similarly provides that “No person in the State of California shall, on the basis of ... disability, be unlawfully denied full and equal access to the benefits of, or be unlawfully subjected to discrimination under, any program or activity that is conducted, operated, or administered by the state or by any state agency, is funded directly by the state, or receives any financial assistance from the state.” Section 11135(b) then expressly incorporates “the protections and prohibitions contained in Section 202 of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132) [Title II], and the federal rules and regulations adopted in implementation thereof....” Thus, section 11135 provides an almost identical state-law counterpart to Title II, and we accordingly borrow the limitations period applicable to such claims.5
Some circuits have applied state limitations periods for personal injury claims to ADA or Rehabilitation Act claims. These courts reason that in Wilson v. Garcia, the Supreme Court held that the forum state's personal injury statute of limitations applies to § 1983 claims, see Wilson, 471 U.S. at 280, 105 S.Ct. 1938, and ADA and Rehabilitation Act claims are in turn analogous to § 1983 cla...
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