William Cohen v. City of Culver City

*693 OPINION

William Cohen, an elderly man suffering from dementia who requires a cane for mobility, walked through an outdoor car show on public streets while in Culver City, California, to attend his grandson’s wedding. A vendor’s display at the car show blocked the curb ramp that provided disabled access to the sidewalk in front of Cohen’s hotel. Cohen was injured when he tripped and fell as he tried to walk around the display and step up on to the sidewalk.

Cohen filed this action against the City of Culver City (“the City”) and the Exchange Club of Culver City (“the ECCC”), alleging violations of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and various California statutes. 1 He appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants. We must decide whether the City may have violated its obligations under Title II of the ADA by allowing the vendor’s display to completely block the curb ramp, impeding disabled access to the public sidewalk, and by failing to post signs identifying alternative disabled access routes. We conclude that a genuine dispute of material fact exists as to whether the City denied Cohen access to the sidewalk by…

dissenting in part:

I respectfully dissent from the portion of the opinion reversing the district court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of Culver City on William Cohen’s claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act and related California statutes. The district court ruled that “Culver City has *702 presented evidence that two wheelchair access ramps were located 20 yards east and ninety yards west, respectively, from where Plaintiff incurred his injury.” The district court then observed that Cohen “has not disputed this evidence or offered any explanation as to why he did not utilize an alternative route.... ” The district court concluded that because alternative routes were available, Cohen failed to raise a material issue of fact regarding his alleged exclusion from use of the sidewalk.

The district court’s grant of summary judgment was consistent with cases that have addressed the issue raised by Cohen, equal access. As we stated in Bird v. Lewis & Clark Coll., 303 F.3d 1015, 1021 (9th Cir.2002), “the central inquiry is whether the program, when viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.” (citation and internal…

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

WILLIAM C. COHEN, an individual, No. 13-55079 Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. v. 2:12-cv-00156-

RGK-PJW

CITY OF CULVER CITY; EXCHANGE

CLUB OF CULVER CITY, a California corporation, OPINION Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California R. Gary Klausner, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted December 2, 2013—Pasadena, California

Filed June 6, 2014

Before: Dorothy W. Nelson, Kim McLane Wardlaw, and Johnnie B. Rawlinson, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Wardlaw; Dissent by Judge Rawlinson SUMMARY*

Americans with Disabilities Act

The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendants on claims under Title II the Americans with Disabilities Act and related California statutes.

The plaintiff, an elderly man suffering from dementia who required a cane for mobility, was injured when he tripped and fell as he tried to walk around a car show vendor’s display blocking a curb ramp that provided…