Chris Kohler v. Southland Foods, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Plaintiff-appellant Chris Kohler appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellees Southland Foods, Inc. (“Southland”), and Moreno Valley Festival, Inc., in Kohler’s action for injunctive relief under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and for additional relief under related state-law claims. When Southland closed the restaurant that was the subject of Kohler’s ADA action, the district court correctly terminated the action. The order incorrectly, however, referred to a lack of standing. Kohler did not lack standing, because standing “turns on the facts as they existed at the time the plaintiff filed the complaint,” and not on later developments. Sk aff v. Meridien North America Beverly Hills, LLC, 506 F.3d 832, 838 (9th Cir.2007).

We nevertheless must affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants, because Kohler’s claims for prospective injunctive relief became moot once the restaurant ceased operation. There is no basis in the district court record for this court to rule that Kohler’s dispute challenging the presence of access barriers is capable of repetition but evading review, as he…