Brintley v. Aeroquip Credit Union

321 F.Supp.3d 785

Karla BRINTLEY, Plaintiff,

v.AEROQUIP CREDIT UNION, Defendant.

Case No. 17-13912

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

Signed July 20, 2018

Victoria C. Knowles, Pacific Trial Attorneys, Newport Beach, CA, Jennifer B. Salvatore, Salvatore Prescott, PLLC, Northville, MI, for Plaintiff.

Joseph A. Starr, Kathryn E. Jones, William Reed Thomas, Starr, Butler, Alexopoulos, & Stoner, PLLC, Southfield, MI, for Defendant.

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS [6]; DENYING AS MOOT PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RESPONSE [33]

Arthur J. Tarnow, Senior United States District Judge

Plaintiff, Karla Brintley, a permanently blind woman, commenced this action against Defendant Aeroquip Credit Union alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C.§ 12181 et seq. , and the Michigan Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act ("PWDCRA"), M.C.L. § 37.110 et seq.

Plaintiff alleges that Defendant's website contains access barriers which prevent visually-impaired individuals, like herself, from equal enjoyment of and access to Defendant's services.

Before the Court is Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [6] filed on February 5, 2018. For the reasons stated below, Defendant's Motion is DENIED .

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is a Michigan resident who is permanently blind and uses a screen reader to access the internet. Screen-reading software vocalizes visual information and is the only method by which a blind person may independently use the internet. Defendant is a Michigan credit union that operates a website, aeroquipcu.com, which provides information about its locations, services, and amenities. Plaintiff has tried several times to access Defendant's website, but has faced barriers which have hindered her from effectively browsing for locations, amenities, and services and deterred her from visiting Defendant's branches.

On December 5, 2017, Plaintiff, through counsel, commenced four separate actions in the Eastern District of Michigan against different Michigan credit unions alleging violations of the ADA and the PWDCRA. The cases were assigned to this Court as companion cases.

On February 5, 2018, Defendant filed this Motion to Dismiss [6] pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). The Motion is fully briefed.¹ The Court held a hearing on the Motion on May 21, 2018.

LEGAL STANDARDS

Defendant moves to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) for lack of standing. "Standing is thought of as a ‘jurisdictional’ matter, and a plaintiff's lack of standing is said to deprive a court of jurisdiction." Ward v. Alternative Health Delivery Sys., Inc. , 261 F.3d 624, 626 (6th Cir. 2001) (internal citation omitted). "[P]laintiff has the burden of proving jurisdiction in order to survive the motion." Mich. S. R.R. Co. v. Branch & St. Joseph Cntys. Rail Users Ass'n., Inc. , 287 F.3d 568, 573 (6th Cir. 2002).

Defendant also moves to dismiss the Complaint pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). "To survive a motion to dismiss, [plaintiff] must allege ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ " Traverse Bay Area Intermediate Sch. Dist. v. Mich. Dep't of Educ. , 615 F.3d 622, 627 (6th Cir. 2010) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the Court must "assume the veracity of [the plaintiff's] well-pleaded factual allegations and determine whether the plaintiff is entitled to legal relief as a matter of law." McCormick v. Miami Univ. , 693 F.3d 654, 658 (6th Cir. 2012) (citing Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ).

ANALYSIS

I. Plaintiff has standing to pursue this action

"Federal courts may exercise jurisdiction only where an actual ‘case or controversy’ exists." Parsons v. U.S. Dep't of Justice , 801 F.3d 701, 709–10 (6th Cir. 2015) (citing U.S. Const. art. III, § 2). "Courts have explained the case or controversy requirement through a series of justiciability doctrines, including, perhaps the most important, that a litigant must have standing to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts." Id. at 710 (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).

To establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must allege that: she suffered an injury in fact; a causal connection exists between the injury and conduct complained of; and it is likely the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife , 504 U.S. 555, 560-61, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (internal citations omitted).

"The Supreme Court has instructed [courts] to take a broad view of constitutional standing in civil rights cases, especially where, as under the ADA, private enforcement suits ‘are the primary method of obtaining compliance with the Act.’ " Doran v. 7-Eleven, Inc. , 524 F.3d 1034, 1039–40 (9th Cir. 2008) (citing Trafficante v. Metro. Life Ins. Co. , 409 U.S. 205, 209, 93 S.Ct. 364, 34 L.Ed.2d 415 (1972) ).

A. Injury-in-fact

"The injury-in-fact requirement requires a plaintiff to show that he or she suffered ‘an invasion of a legally protected interest’ that is ‘concrete and particularized’ and ‘actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.’ " Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins , ––– U.S. ––––, 136 S.Ct. 1540, 1543, 194 L.Ed.2d 635 (2016) (citing Lujan , 504 U.S. at 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130 ).

Defendant argues that Plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that she suffered concrete harm because she has not been denied any actual services such as the ability to deposit money or obtain a loan. According to Defendant, Plaintiff cannot make a showing of concrete harm because she is neither a member, nor eligible to become of a member, of the credit union.

Relying on a series of cases from the Eastern District of Virginia in which blind plaintiffs have sued credit unions for violating Title III, Defendant argues that Plaintiff's ineligibility for membership is fatal to her claim for relief. In Virginia, the Eastern District has repeatedly dismissed the plaintiffs' claims for lack of standing because they were neither members, nor eligible to become members, of the respective credit unions. See, e.g. , Carroll v. N.W. Fed. Credit Union , No. 17-cv-01205, 2018 WL 2933408 (E.D. Va. Apr. 16, 2018) ; Carroll v. Wash. Gas Light Fed. Credit Union , No. 17-01201, 2018 WL 2933412 (E.D. Va. Apr. 4, 2018) ; Carroll v. ABNB Fed. Credit Union , No. 17-cv-521, 2018 WL 1180317, at *3 (E.D. Va. Mar. 5, 2018) ("In the absence of allegations that show that Mr. Carroll is or could possibly become a member of ABNB, he has not suffered a concrete injury from being unable to access information about the services available to members of ABNB."); Griffin v. Dep't of Labor Fed. Credit Union , 293 F.Supp.3d 576 (E.D. Va. 2018) ("Without membership or even the ability to become a member, there is no harm to plaintiff....").

Contrary to Defendant's position, eligibility for membership in the credit union is not a prerequisite for standing. See PGA Tour, Inc. v. Martin , 532 U.S. 661, 679, 121 S.Ct. 1879, 149 L.Ed.2d 904 (2001) (noting that Title III does not contain a "clients or customers" limitation). By requiring the plaintiffs to demonstrate membership, or eligibility for membership, the Eastern District of Virginia essentially imposes an additional requirement for standing beyond a particularized and concrete injury.

The barriers Plaintiff encountered when she tried to access Defendant's website constitute a concrete and particularized injury for purposes of establishing Article III standing. See Spokeo , 136 S.Ct. at 1543 ("A concrete injury need not be a tangible injury."); see also Doran , 524 F.3d at 1042 n. 5 ("[T]he access barriers that ... plaintiff actually encountered or about which he had personal knowledge [ ] ‘confer’ standing on him under Article III."). Because of these barriers, Plaintiff has been denied the ability to effectively browse for Defendant's services and locations, determine eligibility for membership, and compare Defendant's services and advantages with its competitors. See Gniewkowski v. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc. , 251 F.Supp.3d 908, 913 (W.D. Pa. 2017) (holding that the plaintiffs sufficiently pled an injury-in-fact where they alleged inability to conduct online research or compare financial services and products).

Moreover, such barriers to access "result in exclusion, segregation, and other differential treatment of persons with disabilities—precisely the types of systemic discrimination the ADA seeks to erase." Nanni v. Aberdeen Marketplace, Inc. , 878 F.3d 447, 455 (4th Cir. 2017).

Because Plaintiff seeks injunctive relief, despite having demonstrated that she suffered a concrete and particularized injury, she must also demonstrate that she faces a real or immediate threat that she will be wronged again. City of Los Angeles v. Lyons , 461 U.S. 95, 111, 103 S.Ct. 1660, 75 L.Ed.2d 675 (1983) (internal citation omitted). The Court agrees with Defendant that the Complaint does not satisfy this additional requirement, as it is devoid of allegations concerning Plaintiff's plans or intent to use Defendant's services in the future. Nonetheless, seeing as Plaintiff also seeks compensatory damages in this action, this technicality is not dispositive. In the interest of justice, the Court grants Plaintiff's request for leave to amend the Complaint, so that she may pursue her claim for injunctive relief in conjunction with her claim for damages. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a) ; Foman v. Davis , 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962).

B. Redressability

This element of standing requires Plaintiff to show that a favorable decision by the Court will redress the injury of which she complains. Larson v. Valente , 456 U.S. 228, 270, 102 S.Ct. 1673, 72 L.Ed.2d 33 (1982). "Redressability thus requires that prospective relief will remove the harm, and the plaintiff must...