“There is little doubt,” U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria wrote Wednesday, “that [plaintiff] Whitaker had no intention of returning to the shop when he filed his lawsuit, and there is good reason to think that he lied under oath about this issue (and perhaps others) at the evidentiary hearing.”
Chhabria dismissed disabled plaintiff Brian Whitaker’s lawsuit under the Americans With Disabilities Act and, with these words, authorized the defendant, Peet’s Coffee, to seek sanctions against Whitaker and his lawyers.
The decision follows an evidentiary hearing on May 31 in which Peet’s challenged Whitaker’s legal standing to bring his ADA case in federal court.
Standing requires not only that a plaintiff encounter a barrier to accessibility in a place of public accommodation like a restaurant, coffee shop or store, but also that the plaintiff genuinely intends to return to that place of business in the future when the problem is corrected.
Whitaker’s standing has been questioned in a series of federal cases on grounds that even though he regularly alleges that he intends to return to the places he sues, the allegations are untrue.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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