Moeller v. Taco Bell Corp.

• Decision Date: 05 October 2011
• Docket Number: No. C 02–5849 PJH.,C 02–5849 PJH.
• Citation: 816 F.Supp.2d 831
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• Parties: Francie MOELLER, et al., Plaintiffs, v. TACO BELL CORP., Defendant.

816 F.Supp.2d 831

Francie MOELLER, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.TACO BELL CORP., Defendant.

No. C 02–5849 PJH.

United States District Court, N.D. California.

Oct. 5, 2011.

Timothy P. Fox, Amy F. Robertson, Ari Reuben Krichiver, Fox & Robertson, P.C., Denver, CO, Antonio Michael Lawson, Lawson Law Offices, Oakland, CA, Brad Seligman, Jocelyn Dion Larkin, Impact Fund, Mari Mayeda, Attorney at Law, Berkeley, CA, for Plaintiffs.

Gregory F. Hurley, Richard Hidehito Hikida, Esq., Greenberg Traurig LLP, Irvine, CA, Thomas P. Howard, Louisville, CO, for Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON, District Judge.

The case was filed as a proposed class action case under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (“ADA”), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 51 et seq. (“Unruh Act”), and the California Disabled Persons Act, Cal. Civ.Code § 54 et seq. (“CDPA”).

Plaintiffs are physically disabled California residents who use electric scooters or wheelchairs as their primary means of mobility. Plaintiffs filed this action on December 17, 2002, against defendant Taco Bell Corp. (“TBC”), alleging that its corporate-owned restaurants in California contained architectural barriers that prevented plaintiffs' access to and enjoyment of the restaurants, in violation of the ADA, the Unruh Act, and the CDPA.

On February 23, 2004, the court certified the following class:

All individuals with disabilities who use wheelchairs or electric scooters for mobility who, at any time on or after December 17, 2001, were denied, or are currently being denied, on the basis of disability, full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of California Taco Bell corporate restaurants.

Moeller v. Taco Bell Corp., 220 F.R.D. 604, 613–14 (N.D.Cal.2004).

On October 5, 2004, the court granted the parties' stipulated request to appoint Bob Evans as Special Master to conduct site visits of all TBC-owned Taco Bell restaurants in California; to determine the dimensions, values, and measurements of the customer-accessible elements at those Taco Bell restaurants, under both federal and state standards; and to make recommendations for bringing into compliance any elements whose dimensions, values, or measurements did not comply with those standards. The Special Master issued his report in mid–2005.

On February 23, 2007, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment as to three types of barriers—the configuration of the queue lines in 77 restaurants, the door force in 171 restaurants, and the indoor accessible seating in 54 restaurants. In an order issued August 8, 2007, the court denied the motion as to queue lines, finding triable issues that precluded summary judgment; granted the motion as to interior door force and as to exterior door force for those restaurants constructed after April 1, 1994, and denied it as to exterior door force for those restaurants constructed prior to April 1, 1994; and granted the motion as to the number of accessible seating positions. See Moeller v. Taco Bell Corp., 2007 WL 2301778 (N.D.Cal. Aug. 8, 2007) (“ Moeller Summ. J.”)

In October 2009, TBC filed a motion for partial summary judgment, addressing numerous ADA violations. At the December 16, 2009 hearing, the court denied TBC's motion, and advised that it would conduct a trial as to one exemplar restaurant to be chosen by plaintiffs, following a period of discovery. In the follow-up December 23, 2009 order, the court set a deadline for plaintiffs to provide TBC with a list of all ADA and Title 24 violations; a deadline for the parties to meet and confer, and prepare a list of all the violations, for each restaurant, that had been remediated; a deadline for discovery; and a deadline for plaintiffs to select the exemplar restaurant. Plaintiffs chose Taco Bell 4518.

On April 5, 2010, the court issued an order bifurcating discovery and the trial of the exemplar restaurant, advising that the first stage of the trial would be on the issues of whether there had been violations of federal and/or state law, and appropriate injunctive relief, with the remaining issues, including trial of the damages phase of the exemplar restaurant, to be scheduled thereafter.

From June 6 to June 16, 2011, the court convened an exemplar trial as to Taco Bell 4518, addressing liability and injunctive relief.¹ Plaintiffs limited their claims at the exemplar trial to the following twelve elements, as having been in violation of the ADA, the Unruh Act, and/or the CDPA during the class period: (1) the width of access aisle next to van accessible parking space; (2) signage at van accessible parking space; (3) force required to open north entry door; (4) time for north entry door to close; (5) queue line; (6) reach ranges for self-service drink lid dispenser; (7) knee and toe clearance under accessible dining tables; (8) push side maneuvering clearance at women's restroom door; (9) height and position of water closet in the women's restroom (height of seat and distance between centerline of water closet and nearest side wall); (10) obstructions in clear floor space at the water closets in the men's and women's restrooms (position or placement of movable trash cans); (11) height of soap dispenser and toilet seat cover dispenser in the men's and women's restrooms; and (12) lavatory insulation.

Plaintiffs' claims for both liability and injunctive relief are based on alleged violations relating to these twelve elements. Plaintiffs seek injunctive relief compelling TBC to ensure that its restaurants are, and remain, in compliance with applicable standards. They also seek minimum statutory damages under the Unruh Act and/or the CDPA, and attorneys' fees.

BACKGROUND

A. Customer Witnesses

1. Katherine Corbett

Named plaintiff Katherine Corbett testified at trial. She has used a power wheelchair for fifteen years. Her 18–year–old daughter also uses a wheelchair for mobility. Ms. Corbett eats at Taco Bell restaurants frequently because she likes the food. She has patronized the Taco Bell restaurant 4518 in San Pablo.

The first time Ms. Corbett went inside Taco Bell 4518 was in 2002. Although Ms. Corbett often uses the drive-through, she has also been inside the restaurant on a number of occasions. She estimated that she has patronized that restaurant approximately 80 times between 2002 and 2010; of these visits, she estimated she went inside two to ten times. She tends to eat inside the restaurant when she is with her daughter, and prefers to do that if she has the time. She intends to go inside Taco Bell 4518 in the future.

Ms. Corbett uses a van for transportation. When she visited Taco Bell 4518 in 2002, the width of the then-existing access aisle next to the van-accessible parking space was insufficient for her to deploy the lift on her van, roll off the lift, and retract the lift back into the van. If she had parked in the designated space and a car later parked in the adjacent space, there would not have been enough space for her to deploy her ramp and enter her van.

However, on this occasion in 2002, Ms. Corbett was able to park and go inside because the designated accessible parking space was unoccupied, as were the space to the left of it and the space to the right of the access aisle. Because of that, she parked her van half in the designated accessible space and half in the adjacent empty space, although it made her uncomfortable to occupy two spaces. After that experience, when she went to Taco Bell 4518 between 2002 and 2010, she parked at another store in the same mall that had wider access aisles.

On her 2002 visit, although Ms. Corbett was able to open the north entry door to Taco Bell 4518, it was heavy. In addition, during that visit, she encountered a “queue line” that TBC had put in place to guide customers lining up to place their orders at the counter. The queue line was too narrow for Ms. Corbett to navigate in her wheelchair, and there was a chain extending from the end of the queue line closest to the entrance and the counter. Ms. Corbett could not enter from the far side of the queue line because there was already a customer there. There were no signs indicating what she should do given that she could not fit through the queue line, and she was not offered any direction by TBC employees. With some difficulty, she removed the chain and approached the counter.

During a later visit, Ms. Corbett encountered the same queue line, although the chain was not in place. Nevertheless, there was no signage, and no TBC employee offered assistance. Since there were people in the queue line, Ms. Corbett attempted to keep her place in line by getting the attention of the last person then in line, and saying, “I just want you to know I am going to be over there, but I am in line behind you.” As later customers arrived, she continued to let them know where she was in line, despite the fact that she had to wait off to the side rather than in the queue with others.

When it eventually came her turn, however, people were staring at her and one said to her, “Hey, ... no cutting.... You are not in line.” The second cash register was available when it came her turn. However, the presence of other customers lined up at the counter also made it difficult for Ms. Corbett to get to the second cash register in the space available between the queue line and the counter.

During the 2002 visit, Ms. Corbett was also unable to reach the drink lids from the self-serve dispenser. No employee offered to assist her, so she asked another customer to hand her a drink lid.

During the visit in 2002, when Ms. Corbett looked for a table, she noticed that most had fixed seats that would have prevented her from pulling her wheelchair up to the table. There was no signage indicating the location of accessible seating, but she did find a table with a removable chair. She was not, however, able to pull...