Anderson v. Rochester-Genesee Regional Transp.

• Decision Date: 23 July 2003
• Docket Number: Dcoket No. 01-9105.
• Parties: Deborah ANDERSON, Bernice Bird, Debra Bonomo, Charlene Carges, Kathryn Froelich, Barbara Forgione, Carmen Hernandez, Lynne Gentry, Ismael Massa, Jeffrey Miller, Vladimir Pelakh, Shelly Perrin, Center for Disability Advocacy Rights, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ROCHESTER-GENESEE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, Donald J. Riley, in his official capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, Lift Line, Inc., Debie Himmelsbach, in her official capacity as Director of Regional Operations of Lift Line, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

337 F.3d 201

Deborah ANDERSON, Bernice Bird, Debra Bonomo, Charlene Carges, Kathryn Froelich, Barbara Forgione, Carmen Hernandez, Lynne Gentry, Ismael Massa, Jeffrey Miller, Vladimir Pelakh, Shelly Perrin, Center for Disability Advocacy Rights, Inc., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. ROCHESTER-GENESEE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, Donald J. Riley, in his official capacity as Chief Executive Officer of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, Lift Line, Inc., Debie Himmelsbach, in her official capacity as Director of Regional Operations of Lift Line, Defendants-Appellants.

Dcoket No. 01-9105.

United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit.

Argued: August 6, 2002.

Decided: July 23, 2003.

Paul J. Yesawich III, Harris Beach LLP, Pittsford, N.Y. (Scott D. Piper, on the brief), for Defendants-Appellants.

David L. Cook, Nixon Peabody LLP, Rochester, N.Y. (Brian C. Eckman, Nixon Peabody LLP; and Bryan Hetherington, Sarah Gilmour, and Peter O'Brian Dellinger, Public Interest Law Office of Rochester, on the brief), for Plaintiffs-Appellees.

Before: JACOBS, CABRANES, and F.I. PARKER, Jr., Circuit Judges.

JACOBS, Circuit Judge.

The plaintiffs, twelve disabled individuals and a disability rights organization, allege that the defendants' paratransit system for disabled persons in the Rochester, New York area violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. ("ADA" or the "Act"). The defendants moved for summary judgment in lieu of answering the complaint, and the plaintiffs cross-moved for summary judgment on three of their four claims. The United States District Court for the Western District of New York (Larimer, J.) granted summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs and enjoined the defendants to comply with their obligations under the ADA. We affirm the grant of injunctive relief, but on grounds somewhat different from those upon which the district court relied, grounds which may require the district court to modify the injunction on remand.

BACKGROUND¹

Defendant Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority ("RGRTA") provides transportation services in the Rochester, New York area. As a public benefit corporation established by New York statute, RGRTA is a "public entity" subject to the requirements of the ADA. See 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1)(B) (defining "public entity" as including "any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or States or local government"). Through a subsidiary, Regional Transit Service, Inc. ("RTS"), RGRTA operates a "fixed route system" of bus lines, defined by the ADA as "a system of providing designated public transportation on which a vehicle is operated along a prescribed route according to a fixed schedule." 42 U.S.C. § 12141(3).

Through a second subsidiary, defendant Lift Line, Inc. ("Lift Line"), RGRTA operates a complementary paratransit system for disabled persons. This service consists of a fleet of thirty-six buses that provide curb-to-curb transportation along a corridor three-quarters of a mile wide on each side of RTS's fixed bus routes. See 49 C.F.R. § 37.131(a)(1).

To be eligible for paratransit service, a disabled Rochesterian must submit an application and a health-care or rehabilitation professional's certification for approval by Lift Line. Lift Line has been liberal in its approval of such applications. From 1992 through 1999, the company received 6,539 applications and granted all but 444 (or 6.8%) of them. Lift Line has not endeavored to recertify its paratransit riders or pare its rolls. When this action was commenced, approximately 6,200 people were certified for paratransit service, including each individual plaintiff. These individuals depend on Lift Line for work, worship services, family visits, medical appointments, errands, and other activities.

To schedule a paratransit ride, certified individuals must make a phone reservation the day before or up to 14 days in advance.² The November 1999 "RTS Bus Guide & Map" for the Rochester area advised Lift Line users to call "between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm, seven days a week" to schedule a ride. It cautioned that "[r]eservations are made on a first-call, first-serve basis."

The parties have presented a largely undisputed series of data about Lift Line's paratransit service from May 26 to June 14, 2000 (the "sample period"). The plaintiffs appear to have selected this period at random to collect data in support of the claims stated in their June 15, 2000 complaint. No party contends that the data collected during this period are unrepresentative.

During the sample period, Lift Line received 8,962 ride requests and scheduled 8,452 (or 94.4%) of them. Nearly 75% of these requests were made fourteen days in advance and, of those, 99.54% were scheduled. The scheduling rates declined, however, with the period of advance notice. Of the 181 rides requested seven days in advance, 154(85%) were scheduled. Of those rides requested two days in advance, only 62.78% were scheduled. And of the 161 rides requested one day in advance, only 69 (42.86%) were scheduled. Thus, by its own admission, Lift Line denied 57.14% of the next-day ride requests during the relevant period. When Lift Line denied these requests, it did so because "all spaces on the buses assigned to the area had been reserved." (Pls.' Statement of Undisputed Facts, dated Oct. 31, 2000, at 21.)

Each individual plaintiff requested a paratransit ride during the sample period. Some of those who called the day before were told that Lift Line could not provide a ride. The others, including those who called several days in advance, were told to call a second time to confirm their rides. When they called the second time, they were told that Lift Line could not provide a ride. Each time, the explanation was a lack of capacity.

According to the defendants, Lift Line's capacity constraints are attributable to some riders' abuse of the system. For purposes of this summary judgment motion, it is uncontested that (1) riders who are not truly eligible for paratransit service take space away from those who are truly eligible under the regulations; (2) although Lift Line is authorized to re-certify riders and de-certify those who are no longer eligible, Lift Line has not done so; and (3) Lift Line canceled 1,694 rides (19% of all reservations) during the relevant period, though the parties disagree about whether this problem is a cause or a symptom of Lift Line's capacity constraints.

On June 15, 2000, the plaintiffs filed this class action, alleging that a substantial number of eligible riders who called to schedule rides one or more days in advance were not accommodated due to a lack of capacity. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants violated the ADA by (1) failing to provide next-day service to eligible persons, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 12143(a)(2) and 49 C.F.R. § 37.131(b); (2) requiring riders to call a second time to confirm ride availability and thereby maintaining waiting lists for paratransit service, in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 37.131(f)(2); (3) engaging in an "operational pattern or practice" that significantly limits the availability of paratransit service, in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 37.131(f)(3); and (4) failing to provide paratransit service in accordance with the plan defendants submitted to the Secretary of Transportation, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 12143(e)(4).

The defendants moved for summary judgment in lieu of filing an answer; and the plaintiffs cross-moved for summary judgment on their first, third, and fourth claims. On August 14, 2001, the district court denied the defendants' motion and granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs on the three claims for which they sought it. See Anderson v. Rochester-Genesee Reg'l Transp. Auth., 206 F.R.D. 56, 71 (W.D.N.Y.2001) ("Anderson I"). As to the first claim, the court held that the defendants failed to meet all next-day ride requests as required by 42 U.S.C. § 12143(a) and 49 C.F.R. § 37.131(b). Id. at 62-68. As to the third claim, the court held that the defendants engaged in an operational pattern or practice that substantially limited the availability of paratransit service by maintaining a capacity level insufficient to meet demand. Id. at 69-70. The court held that these rulings also supported summary judgment for plaintiffs on their fourth claim, failure to comply with the plan submitted to the Secretary of Transportation. Id. at 70. As to the second cause of action — the "waiting list" claim, on which the plaintiffs did not seek judgment as a matter of law — the court denied the defendants' motion for summary judgment and ordered that the parties conduct discovery.³ Id. at 69.

Having so ruled, the district court enjoined the defendants to "take immediate steps to comply with their obligations under the ADA and federal regulations implementing that Act," and ordered the parties to "attempt to work together to formulate a comprehensive plan to effectuate" its ruling. Id. at 71-72. The court also granted the plaintiffs' motion for conditional class certification, defining the class as "all persons who are now or in the future will be eligible for ADA paratransit services in the geographical area served by defendants." Id. at 72. Defendants filed a timely notice of appeal. The injunction has not been stayed and, though the defendants challenge the basis for the injunction, they do not contest its particular terms.

On April 26, 2002, after full briefing in this Court, the district court issued an order to supplement and implement its August 14, 2001 order. See Anderson v. Rochester-Genesee Reg'l Transp. Auth., 205 F.Supp.2d 106 (W.D.N.Y.2002) ("Anderson II"). For reasons set forth in the margin, we give consideration to that order in this appeal.⁴ In it, the court noted that "defendants [had] undertaken various steps to improve their paratransit services," having "increased the number of buses during...