Dahlberg v. Avis Rent a Car System, Inc.

• Decision Date: 31 March 2000
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 98 N 2475.
• Citation: 92 F.Supp.2d 1091
• Parties: John E. DAHLBERG, Plaintiff, v. AVIS RENT A CAR SYSTEM, INC., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Colorado

92 F.Supp.2d 1091

John E. DAHLBERG, Plaintiff, v. AVIS RENT A CAR SYSTEM, INC., Defendant.

Civil Action No. 98 N 2475.

United States District Court, D. Colorado.

March 31, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Dennis W. Brown, Baldwin & Brown, PC, Denver, CO, for plaintiff.

Gregory J. Kerwin, Jeffrey E. Oraker, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP., Denver, CO, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

NOTTINGHAM, District Judge.

This is a disability discrimination case. Plaintiff John E. Dahlberg claims that Defendant Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. ("Avis") violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C.A. §§ 12101 to 12213 (West 1995 & Supp.1999) [hereinafter "ADA"], by discriminating against him on the basis of his disability. Dahlberg also asserts various state statutory and common-law claims. This matter is before the court on "Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment" filed July 12, 1999, as well as numerous motions to supplement the record with additional exhibits, arguments, and briefs of amicus curiae. Jurisdiction is based on 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1331, 1343(a)(4), and 1367 (West 1993).

FACTS

1. General Background

Avis is a car-rental company which employs between 15,000 and 20,000 employees in the United States. (Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1 [filed July 12, 1999] [hereinafter "Def.'s Br."]; admitted at Pl.'s Resp. to Def.'s Mot. Summ. J., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1 [filed Aug. 2, 1999] [hereinafter "Pl.'s Resp."].) In 1996, 1997, and 1998, Avis rented an average of 750 cars each year to customers requesting hand-controlled vehicles. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 8.)¹ There are approximately 1400 Avis locations in the United States. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1.) At present, Avis owns approximately ninety-two percent of the locations, and independent licensees own and operate the remaining eight percent of Avis locations. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 1.)

Dahlberg, a disabled individual who uses a wheelchair for mobility, travels frequently on business as a consultant. (Compl. and Jury Demand ¶ 1 [filed Nov. 12, 1998] [hereinafter "Compl."]; admitted at Def.'s Answer to Pl.'s Compl. ¶ 1 [filed May 7, 1999] [hereinafter "Answer"].) Dahlberg takes between fifty and eighty business trips annually. From 1984 through 1997, Dahlberg rented approximately forty to sixty cars each year. (Def.'s Br., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 46; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 46.)

2. Avis' Dealings with the Justice Department

Avis has been renting D and E class vehicles with hand controls to its disabled customers since 1965.² (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 5; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 5.) At the time that Congress passed the ADA in 1990, Avis was making hand-controlled vehicles available to disabled customers at no additional charge. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 5; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 5.) Sometime after the passage of the ADA, the United States Department of Justice ("Justice Department") began investigating whether Avis' policies regarding car rentals to disabled customers were in compliance with the ADA. In 1994, Avis and the Justice Department entered into an agreement ("Settlement Agreement") concerning allegations that Avis had violated the ADA by failing to provide disabled renters with hand-controlled vehicles for the full range of vehicles that Avis made available to the general public. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 36; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 36.) The Settlement Agreement requires Avis to use its "best efforts" to provide hand-controlled vehicles in the Z, B, D, E, and H classes. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 39; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 39.) The Settlement Agreement further requires Avis to notify non-Avis-owned licensees of the provisions of the Settlement Agreement and urge them to adopt the policies memorialized therein. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 40; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 40.)

In 1996, Avis entered into an amendment to the Settlement Agreement ("1996 Amendment") as a result of a further Justice Department investigation into allegations that Avis had refused to rent a vehicle to a disabled person who did not have a driver's license but who was able to establish personal and financial responsibility and was accompanied by a person possessing a valid driver's license. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 41; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 41.) In the 1996 Amendment, Avis agreed to add class K vehicles — convertibles — to the categories of hand-controlled vehicles available for renters and further agreed to purchase nine hand-control units for the 1995 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 43; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 43.) Avis also agreed to implement additional procedures to educate its employees about Avis' policies and procedures with respect to disabled customers. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 44; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 44.) In particular, Avis agreed in the 1996 Amendment to (1) designate a specific employee as Avis' "disability services coordinator" to be responsible for reservations made by renters with disabilities, and (2) develop procedures for coordinating and following up on reservations made by persons with disabilities outside of regular business hours or during the designated disability services coordinator's absences. (Id., Ex. A-4 [1996 Amendment ¶¶ 7(j),(k)].)

In the 1996 Amendment, the Justice Department noted that: (1) Avis employs more than 3000 customer service representatives at its corporate locations and that more than 300 of Avis' agency locations employ one or more workers per location; (2) Avis takes approximately 23,000,000 car rental reservations annually; (3) approximately forty percent of Avis' customer service representatives and supervisors are new hires in any given year; and (4) because of the sheer volume of reservations and the realities of Avis' staffing, it is inevitable that both disabled and non-disabled customers will sometimes experience difficulties and delays in the provision of car rental services. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 45; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 45.) The 1996 Amendment provides that the Justice Department agreed that full implementation of actions in the Settlement Agreement, as amended by the 1996 Amendment, constitutes best efforts by Avis to comply with the provisions of the ADA addressed in the 1996 Amendment and constitutes evidence of Avis' good faith under the ADA, in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 45; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 45.)

3. Avis' Reservation System for Hand-Controlled Cars

Avis currently installs Kroepke hand controls into its vehicles when a customer requests a hand-controlled vehicle. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 20; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 20.) Kroepke hand controls are not universal and different controls may be required to fit different models of cars.³ (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 20; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 20.) If Kroepke makes a hand control for the type of vehicle which a customer requests, Avis will generally attempt to obtain the Kroepke hand control for that specific type of car, even if the car is not a model for which Avis normally has hand controls. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 24; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 24.) Kroepke hand controls must be installed in a vehicle by a mechanic, and installation typically takes about an hour. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 21; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 21.) Once a Kroepke hand control is installed, the car is taken out of rental circulation because Avis does not rent hand-controlled cars to renters not requesting hand controls. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 21; admitted in pertinent part at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 21.)

Pursuant to the 1996 Amendment, Avis has appointed a permanent disability services coordinator at its reservation center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At present, Dorothy Cole holds the position. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6.) Cole also has a full-time assistant, Pam Burton. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6.) Cole and Burton are responsible for making all necessary arrangements for customers requesting cars with hand controls, and typically handle between 200 and 300 inquiries per month regarding hand-controlled vehicles. (Id., Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6; admitted at Pl.'s Resp., Resp. to Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ¶ 6.) Avis also maintains a...