Stevens v. Optimum Health Inst.-San Diego

• Decision Date: 24 August 2011
• Docket Number: Case No. 09cv2565–WQH–RBB.
• Citation: 810 F.Supp.2d 1074
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of California
• Parties: Nancy STEVENS, Plaintiff, v. OPTIMUM HEALTH INSTITUTE—SAN DIEGO, Robert Nees, and Does 1 through 20, inclusive, Defendants.

810 F.Supp.2d 1074

Nancy STEVENS, Plaintiff,

v.OPTIMUM HEALTH INSTITUTE—SAN DIEGO, Robert Nees, and Does 1 through 20, inclusive, Defendants.

Case No. 09cv2565–WQH–RBB.

United States District Court, S.D. California.

Aug. 24, 2011.

Amy B. Vandeveld, Law Office of Amy B. Vandeveld, San Diego, CA, for Plaintiff.

David D. Cardone, Kevin V. Desantis, Butz Dunner & Desantis, San Diego, CA, for Defendants.

ORDER

HAYES, District Judge:

The matters before the Court are Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 68), and Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment and/or Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 69).

I. Background

On November 13, 2009, Plaintiff initiated this action by filing a Complaint. (ECF No. 1). On January 13, 2010, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint, which is the operative pleading. (ECF No. 8). Plaintiff, who is blind, alleges Defendants Optimum Health Institute—San Diego (“OHI”) and Robert Nees violated the California Unruh Civil Rights Act (“Unruh Act”), Cal. Civ.Code § 51, et. seq. , by denying her services in a business establishment because of her disability, and the California Disabled Persons Act (“Disabled Persons Act” or “DPA”), Cal. Civ.Code § 54, et. seq. , by denying her access to a place of public accommodation because of her disability. Plaintiff seeks damages, declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees and costs.

On February 26, 2010, Defendants filed a Motion to Dismiss the Second Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), contending that the Unruh Act and the DPA are not applicable to OHI. (ECF No. 26).

On May 5, 2010, the Court issued an Order denying the Motion to Dismiss. (ECF No. 26). The Court stated: “[D]etermining whether these laws apply to a non-profit religious corporation requires a court to examine a factual record of the entity's practices, services, and interaction with members of the public, among other factors. The Court concludes that evidentiary analysis is not appropriate at the motion to dismiss stage.” Id. at 8 (citations omitted).

On March 15, 2011, Plaintiff filed the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 68), and Defendants filed the Motion for Summary Judgment and/or Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 69). The parties attached evidence to their respective motions. The parties also filed a Stipulation of Facts for Purposes of Summary Judgment Only (“Stipulation of Facts”). (ECF No. 67).

On April 8, 2011, the parties filed opposition briefs and evidentiary objections. (ECF Nos. 79, 80).

On April 15, 2011, the parties filed reply briefs. (ECF Nos. 82, 83).

On April 28, 2011, the Court conducted oral argument on the pending motions. (ECF No. 87).

II. Facts

Defendant OHI is a non-profit, religious organization which “operates a holistic health program in Lemon Grove, California.” (Stipulation of Facts ¶¶ 2, 4, 66; ECF No. 67). OHI “is a subordinate organization of Free Sacred Trinity Church,” which is a non-profit, religious organization that “commissions missions to carry out the church's programs and promote its beliefs.” Id. ¶¶ 1, 3, 5–6. OHI's website provides that the Free Sacred Trinity Church (“FSTC”) is a “non-denominational church rooted in early Judeo–Christian doctrine,” and its “primary ministry is one of healing carried out at its Mission, the Optimum Health Institute.” Id. ¶¶ 41–42.

“A primary function of [OHI] is to teach its specific program to attendees.” Id. ¶ 19. OHI's “facilities are used to host its program,” and OHI “is not a recreational facility.” Id. ¶¶ 20–21. “Members of the public who are not enrolled in [OHI]'s program cannot participate in the program.” Id. ¶ 23. OHI is a gated facility and OHI “exercises control over who may visit [OHI] and attend its programs.” Id. ¶¶ 32–33. OHI has an on-site chapel which is used for religious worship and teaching, and OHI “provides religious materials to its guests including Bibles, upon request.” Id. ¶¶ 35–38. OHI's website states: OHI is a “spiritual retreat” and a “safe and sacred place” with a “monastic-like setting”; “people from all religious traditions” who attend OHI “gather in prayer circles ... where they share how their stay at OHI has transformed their lives as a result of miraculous healings on all levels”; OHI has a specific set of values that are based on “ancient spiritual disciplines”; and OHI's history includes “biblically and essene based dietary and cleansing practices.” Id. ¶¶ 49, 51–53, 57, 61. OHI conducts daily prayer circles and daily liturgies as part of its program. Id. ¶¶ 87–88.

“OHI does not make decisions about who may attend its program based on religious beliefs.” Id. ¶ 89. Attendees of OHI's program who are not missionaries or employees of Free Sacred Trinity Church “are not required to adhere to any specific religious value or belief or ... be a member of OHI or FSTC.” Id. Attendees of OHI's program who are not missionaries or employees of Free Sacred Trinity Church “are not required to participate in any of the activities offered by OHI during its program, including, for example, prayer circles or other religious activities, although their participation is encouraged.” Id. ¶ 91.

Defendant Nees, the Ecclesiastical Superior of the Free Sacred Trinity Church, submitted two Declarations. (ECF Nos. 69–2, 80–2). Nees stated:

The Church and [OHI] welcome all persons, including disabled persons, with the exception that neither the Church nor the Institute allows persons to proselytize other faiths, ... [be] disruptive, ... [or] interfere with or otherwise disrupt the spiritual paths of those attending the Institute.... In the past, I have required persons disrupting the Institute's program to leave the mission for doing such things as proselytizing a different faith....

[OHI] charges a monetary fee as tuition to participate in its program, which serves as a source of funding for the program.

(Nees Decl. ¶¶ 19–20, 22; ECF No. 69–2). Nees stated:

As part of the program, inquirers and adherents may reside at OHI in guest rooms. But OHI is not a hotel. Instead, the guest rooms are intended to enhance the monastic experience of the OHI's holistic health. OHI's accommodations and grounds, including a prayer chapel and other areas for meditation, are designed and maintained to create a sacred space for the Holy Spirit and a setting conducive to spiritual reflection and rejuvenation. These differences also demonstrate how OHI is different than a secular health spa; OHI's program is religious and religion is infused in all aspects of the OHI program....

Although much of the OHI program focuses on diet, food preparation, and ritual purification, the Church's ultimate goal is to bring the participants to an understanding of their purpose in life and to get them to affirm or reaffirm the reality of God....

We believe that all paths eventually lead to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For this reason, we do not evangelize to OHI's participants.

(Nees Decl. ¶¶ 10, 15–16; ECF No. 80–2).

Nees stated:

[T]he Church uses the words ‘inquirer’ and ‘adherent’ to refer to individuals who come to learn of, and to those who have accepted, respectively, the theology and practices of the Church.... All first-time guests at OHI mission [are] ‘inquirer[s]’ within the view of the Church. Those individuals who thereafter return to an OHI mission for additional teaching are ‘adherents' within the view of the Church. During periods when they are in residence at an OHI mission, both ‘inquirers' and ‘adherents' are sometimes referred to as ‘guests.’ ” ...

Those adherents who frequently come to an OHI mission may, from time-to-time, refer to themselves as a ‘member’ of FSTC. However, ... the formal or legal Membership of OHI is limited to only those individuals who serve on FSTC's Board of Elders.... [T]here are approximately 22,000 individuals who are ‘adherents' in the eyes of the Free Sacred Trinity Church.

Id. ¶¶ 38–39, 41.

OHI's website states: “By 2006, the Optimum Health Institute, as the primary healing ministry of FSTC, has helped over 100,000 people.” (ECF NO. 67–1 at 32). OHI's website contains articles which describe OHI as “an educational institute where people come to cleanse their bodies and to learn improved eating habits,” and “the best bargain in health retreats in the country.” (ECF No. 67–1 at 87, 92).

Plaintiff submits a Declaration from Ruth Haynes, who stated:

I attended the wellness program at [OHI] in ... 2007.... I was registered in the program as a ‘guest.’ Throughout my stay at OHI, staff members repeatedly referred to me and other attendees as ‘guests'.... I was not an ‘adherent’ and do not ... know what that term means.... I am not now a member of any church or organized religion, nor was I at the time of my visit to the OHI facilities.

(ECF No. 21–2 at 1–2). Plaintiff submits a Declaration from Dixie Boggs, who stated:

I attended the wellness program at [OHI] ... numerous times over the course of several years and, as a three month missionary volunteer, I worked in the main kitchen each week and I [led] the morning lymphatic exercise class. OHI offers a cleansing and dextoxification program to improve physical and mental health.... When I participated in the program offered at OHI, I was either registered as a guest or I was a missionary volunteer. Staff members referred to me as a ‘guest’ or as a ‘missionary volunteer.’ At no time was I required to become a member of OHI or of Free Sacred Trinity Church in order to attend the wellness program at OHI, to register in the program or to serve as a missionary volunteer.... I am not now a member of any church or organized religion, nor was I a member of any church or organized religion at the time of my visits to the OHI–San Diego facility.

(ECF No. 21–3 at 1–2).

Plaintiff, a resident of Bend, Oregon, “is blind and uses a guide dog or cane because of her disability.” (Stipulation of Facts ¶ 65; ECF No. 67). In February 2009, Plaintiff telephoned...