United States Ninth Circuit

In an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) action brought by a legally blind individual who uses a guide dog against a ferry operator arising from its enforcement of a policy of excluding animals from a particular section of a ferry to Catalina Island, summary judgment for the operator is affirmed on the narrow ground that the operator, when suddenly faced with a possible threat to the health and safety of its passengers, made a one-time reasonable judgment under 28 C.F.R. section 36.208 while it investigated the competing interests at issue.

Appellate Information

• Argued 06/04/2007
• Decided 08/09/2007
• Published 08/09/2007

Judges

• Before:  CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL and CONSUELO M. CALLAHAN, Circuit Judges, and JAMES L. ROBART, District Judge.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Russell C. Handy, Center for Disability Access, LLP, of San Marcos, CA, for plaintiff-appellant Tricia Lockett.


• For Appellees:
  
• Peter S. Forgie, Forgie & Leonard, LLP, of Santa Monica, CA, for defendant-appellee Catalina Channel Express, Inc.