Jardine Gougis v. William Ira Nelson

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

JARDINE GOUGIS, Case No. 2:23-cv-06009-SB-MAA

Plaintiff,

v.

ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE

WILLIAM IRA NELSON, JR. et al.,

Defendants.

Plaintiff Jardine Gougis, who is diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both hips, filed this suit alleging that Defendant William Ira Nelson Jr. failed to provide adequate parking spaces for persons with disabilities, in violation of, inter alia, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Unruh Act. Dkt No. 1 at 1, 3–4.

Because Plaintiff’s Unruh Act claim is closely related to her ADA claim, the Court has authority to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the Unruh Act claim under 28 U.S.C. § 367(a). However, supplemental jurisdiction “is a doctrine of discretion, not of plaintiff’s right,” and district courts “can decline to exercise jurisdiction over pendent claims for a number of valid reasons.” City of Chi. v. Int’l Coll. of Surgeons, 522 U.S. 156, 172 (1997) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). This discretion is codified in Section 1367(c):

The district courts may decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over a claim under subsection (a) if—…