United States Ninth Circuit

In this action brought under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), plaintiff asserts that the arrangement of a dressing room bench prevented him from making a diagonal transfer from his wheelchair to the bench in violation of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines. The district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant and its denial of attorneys' fees are affirmed, where: 1) the dressing room bench did not comply with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) for diagonal transfer but nonetheless qualified as an "equivalent facilitation" because plaintiff could make a parallel transfer; 2) because the bench complied with the 1991 ADAAG standards and had not been altered since March 15, 2012, it fell within a safe harbor and was not required to comply with the newer ADAAG standards promulgated in 2010; and 3) attorneys' fees were properly denied.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/06/2015
• Published 03/06/2015

Judges

• Motz

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel