Dubois v. Ass'n Apart. Owners, 2987 Kalakaua

• Decision Date: 13 July 2006
• Docket Number: No. 04-15695.,04-15695.
• Parties: John G. DUBOIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, and Timothy Prindable, Plaintiff, v. ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT OWNERS OF 2987 KALAKAUA, a domestic nonprofit corporation; Certified Management Inc., a domestic corporation; Lois Cain; Stacy Tokairin; Suzanne Macgill; John DOES 1-10; Doe Partnership; Doe Corporations, or other Entities 1-10, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

453 F.3d 1175

John G. DUBOIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, and Timothy Prindable, Plaintiff, v. ASSOCIATION OF APARTMENT OWNERS OF 2987 KALAKAUA, a domestic nonprofit corporation; Certified Management Inc., a domestic corporation; Lois Cain; Stacy Tokairin; Suzanne Macgill; John DOES 1-10; Doe Partnership; Doe Corporations, or other Entities 1-10, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 04-15695.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Submitted November 22, 2005.^*

Filed July 13, 2006.

Shawn A. Luiz, Honolulu, HI, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Lissa H. Andrews, Honolulu, HA, for the defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii; Alan C. Kay, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-02-00504-ACK.

Before HAWKINS, McKEOWN, and CLIFTON, Circuit Judges.

CLIFTON, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs John Dubois and Timothy Prindable sued a condominium association, two association board members, a property management company, and one of its employees (collectively, the "Condominium Association") for refusing to permit plaintiffs to keep a dog in their condominium unit. Their primary legal claim was that the Condominium Association had discriminated against plaintiffs in violation of the Fair Housing Act ("FHA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631, by failing to make a reasonable accommodation for Prindable's disability. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Condominium Association, in a series of orders. Summary judgment on the FHA discrimination claim was granted in a published decision. See Prindable v. Ass'n of Apt. Owners, 304 F.Supp.2d 1245 (D.Haw. 2003). The district court later denied a motion for reconsideration of that order, and then granted summary judgment to the Condominium Association on all remaining claims. Dubois appeals the judgment which resulted from those orders. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

The factual background of this case has been thoroughly detailed by the district court, see id. at 1249-52, and we will not repeat that exposition here. For purposes of this appeal, it is enough to note the following facts.

Dubois was the owner of a unit in a residential condominium project, known as and located at 2987 Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, an attractive site on the beach of Waikiki, across from Kapiolani Park and near Diamond Head.¹ He lived in that apartment together with Prindable. The condominium project was subject to bylaws promulgated by its Association of Apartment Owners, one of which sought to limit the presence of animals:

No animals . . . shall be permitted on the premises, except that qualified individuals with disabilities may have assistance animals. Such animals shall be required to conform to appropriate behavior standards established by the board and shall be removed if they disturb the quiet enjoyment of other residents. A disabled resident must provide appropriate medical documentation justifying the need for the assistance animal before bringing it onto the project.

In January 2000, Dubois brought home Einstein, an English bulldog. In a purported effort to satisfy the bylaw quoted above, Dubois and Prindable submitted letters from doctors recommending that one or the other be permitted to keep Einstein for "medical reasons," with little explanation. The Condominium Association and its property management company, Certified Management, Inc., requested more information about the alleged conditions, but none of the doctors ever responded. Dubois and Prindable took the position that neither they nor their physicians were obligated to disclose further information, but they eventually submitted letters from a behavioral medicine specialist and two doctors stating that Prindable suffered from depression, that he would benefit from animal-assisted therapy, and that separation from Einstein would exacerbate his condition.

At that point, the Condominium Association granted plaintiffs temporary permission to keep Einstein, pending its review of the submissions concerning Prindable's condition. Before the Condominium Association took any further action to evict the dog, Prindable filed a housing discrimination complaint against the Condominium Association with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"). HUD then referred the complaint to the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission. The Condominium Association advised Dubois and Prindable that it would continue the temporary exemption for Einstein, with final approval now contingent upon the results of the state agency's investigation.

Rather than await the outcome of the state investigation, though, Dubois and Prindable filed the current lawsuit, alleging discrimination and retaliation in violation of the FHA and its Hawaii counterpart, the Discrimination in Real Property Transactions Act, Haw.Rev.Stat. §§ 515-1 to -20 (2005). They also asserted claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of fiduciary duty, and abuse of process and prayed for punitive damages and injunctive relief.

The Condominium Association subsequently moved for summary judgment on the entire complaint. In its published order, filed on July 11, 2003, the district court granted the motion only as to the FHA discrimination claim. See Prindable, 304 F.Supp.2d at 1262-63. Dubois and Prindable filed a motion for relief from that order, which the district court treated as a motion for reconsideration and which it denied. The Condominium Association then filed a motion for summary judgment as to all remaining claims. Before the district court decided that motion, both parties stipulated to dismissal of the complaint as to Prindable, leaving Dubois as the sole remaining plaintiff. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment to the Condominium Association on all remaining claims. Dubois timely appealed.

II. DISCUSSION

This court reviews de novo the district court's decision to grant summary judgment. Balint v. Carson City, 180 F.3d 1047, 1050 (9th Cir.1999) (en banc). We review for an abuse of discretion the district court's denial of a motion for reconsideration. Carroll v. Nakatani, 342 F.3d 934, 940 (9th Cir.2003).

A. The FHA Discrimination Claim

Plaintiffs' primary claim was that the Condominium Association discriminated against them on the basis of handicap in violation of the FHA when it refused to allow Dubois and Prindable to keep Einstein as a reasonable accommodation for Prindable's mental illness. The FHA makes it unlawful to "discriminate against any person . . . in the provision of services or facilities in connection with [his] dwelling, because of a handicap" of that person or any person associated with that person. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(2). Discrimination includes "a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford [a disabled] person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 C.F.R. § 100.204. "The reasonable accommodation inquiry is highly fact-specific, requiring case-by-case determination." United States v. California Mobile Home Park Mgmt. Co., 107 F.3d 1374, 1380 (9th Cir.1997) (citations omitted).

To prevail on a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3), a plaintiff must prove all of the following elements: (1) that the plaintiff or his associate is handicapped within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. § 3602(h); (2) that the defendant knew or should reasonably be expected to know of the handicap; (3) that accommodation of the handicap may be necessary to afford the handicapped person an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling; (4) that the accommodation is reasonable; and (5) that defendant refused to make the requested accommodation. See 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B); California Mobile Home, 107 F.3d at 1380; HUD v. Riverbay Corp., HUDALJ 02-93-0320-1 (Sept. 8, 1994).

Although the parties have argued various issues at length, there is a simple answer here. The Condominium Association never required Einstein to leave and thus never refused to make the requested accommodation, which is one of the essential elements of the FHA claim. Dubois and Prindable kept Einstein from the day they brought him home in January 2000 until the day they vacated their unit in September 2003. After Prindable requested an accommodation, the Condominium Association granted them a temporary exemption from the bylaw while it investigated and decided what to do. Although Dubois and Prindable made the investigation difficult, the Condominium Association did not force the issue. Instead, the Condominium Association, presumably out of patience, prudence, or a combination of both, left the temporary exemption in place and so advised Dubois and Prindable. Since the Condominium Association never refused to make the requested accommodation, plaintiffs' FHA claim necessarily failed. See Bryant Woods Inn, Inc. v. Howard County, 124 F.3d 597, 602 (4th Cir.1997) ("[A] violation [of the FHA] occurs when the disabled resident is first denied a reasonable accommodation. . . ."). Summary judgment in favor of the Condominium Association on the FHA discrimination claim was appropriate. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) ("[T]he plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment . . . against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case. . . .").²

B. Motion for Reconsideration

Dubois next argues that the district court erred in denying plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration, based on "new material facts not previously available." District of Hawaii Civil Local Rule 60.1. The district court reviewed all of the evidence. It concluded that the evidence, most of it inadmissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence in any event, merely reinforced previously known facts...