BERNARD TARUC v. AUTO COLLISION GROUP COVINA INC; PAL COVINA SMALL BAY, LLC; and DOES 1 to 10
Case No.: 2:25-cv-04519-MEMF-MAR
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
June 10, 2025
MAAME EWUSI-MENSAH FRIMPONG, United States District Judge
I. Background
A. Factual Background1
Plaintiff Bernard Taruc (“Taruc”) suffers from paraplegia, and requires a wheelchair while
In or about February 2025, Taruc went to the Business. Id. ¶ 10. He encountered barriers in doing so. Id. ¶ 12. The Business does not have a parking space designated for persons with disabilities, nor does it have signage indicating such a space with the International Symbol of Accessibility, signage warning others not to park in the designated space, proper paint on the ground for such a space, or proper van accessibility for such a space. Id. ¶ 13. These issues denied Taruc the full and equal access to the Business and deter him from visiting the business. Id. ¶ 14.
B. Procedural History
On May 20, 2025, Taruc filed a complaint against Auto Collision Group Covina Inc., Pal Covina Small Bay, LLC, and Does 1 to 10, asserting: (1) a claim for injunctive relief arising out of an alleged violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”),
II. Applicable Law
A. Supplemental Jurisdiction
(1) The claim raises a novel or complex issue of State law;
(2) The claim substantially predominates over the claim over which the district court has original jurisdiction;
(3) The district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction; or
(4) In exceptional circumstances, there are other compelling reasons for declining jurisdiction.
B. The ADA and Unruh Act
The ADA prohibits discrimination “on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.”
The Unruh Act entitles all people within California, regardless of their disability “to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
Under the Unruh Act, all persons in California, “no matter what their . . . disability . . . are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
Further, California law sets forth a heightened pleading standard for lawsuits brought under the Unruh Act. See
III. Discussion
In the Order to Show Cause, the Court ordered Taruc to show cause in writing why the Court should exercise supplemental jurisdiction over his Unruh Act claim, California Disabled Persons Act claim, California Health and Safety Code claim, and negligence claim. See
A. The Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims.
In the OSC, the Court ordered Taruc to “identify the amount of statutory damages” sought under the Unruh Act and include declarations “providing all facts necessary” for the Court to determine whether Taruc and Taruc‘s counsel satisfy the definition of a “high-frequency litigant” as provided by
i. Taruc qualifies as a high frequency litigant.
In the response to the Court‘s OSC, Taruc admits that he has filed more than ten complaints alleging a construction-related accessibility violation within the 12-month period immediately preceding the instant complaint. ECF No. 11-2. Correspondingly, Taruc‘s counsel conceded that their law firm “likely” qualifies as a high-frequency litigant but failed to provide any facts from which the Court could determine whether Taruc‘s counsel satisfies the definition of a high-frequency litigant under
Therefore, in state court, Taruc would not only be obligated to pay the $1,000 high-frequency litigant fee but would also be required to meet the heightened pleading standard and allege specific facts relating to his claim. Although Taruc alleges that he “is deterred from visiting the Business,” he
The California legislature has determined that requiring Taruc and other high frequency litigants to meet this heightened pleading standard would serve California‘s interest in preventing continued abuse of the Unruh Act by high-frequency litigants. Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1206–07. It is therefore appropriate in view of the Gibbs values of judicial economy, convenience, fairness to litigants, and comity to decline supplemental jurisdiction so that Taruc may comply with the requirements and California‘s interest in curtailing abuse can be vindicated. See United Mine Workers of Am. v. Gibbs, 383 U.S. 715, 726–27 (1966).
ii. Taruc‘s state law claims predominate over the federal ADA claim.
Taruc asserts five claims: one federal law claim and four state law claims. See generally Compl. Of these five claims, Taruc seeks damages and injunctive relief in connection with his state law claims and, as prescribed by statute, only seeks an injunction in connection with his ADA claim. See id.
A district court may dismiss state law claims without prejudice if a state law claim “substantially predominates” over a federal claim “in terms of proof, of the scope of the issues raised or of the comprehensiveness of the remedy sought.” Gibbs, 383 U.S. at 726–27. Indeed, the Unruh Act entitles plaintiffs to a minimum award of $4,000 for each violation of the Act.
The Court finds that Taruc‘s state law claims predominate over the federal law ADA claim. Taruc seeks “all appropriate damages, including but not limited to statutory damages, general damages and treble damages in amounts, according to proof,” and as such, any potential monetary damages awarded predominate over the injunctive relief sought on the ADA claim. Compl. at Prayer.
In the Ninth Circuit, to qualify as “exceptional circumstances” under section 1367(c)(4), the circumstances at hand “should be ‘quite unusual’ and should not rest ‘solely’ on routinely occurring conditions such as ‘docket congestion.’” Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1211 (quoting Ex. Software N. Am., Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct. for Cent. Dist. of Cal., 24 F.3d 1545, 1558, 1560 n.15 (9th Cir. 1994)). The Ninth Circuit has held that in the context of joint ADA-Unruh Act claims, the specific legislative apparatus surrounding the Unruh Act and the ADA meets the “exceptional circumstances” threshold. Vo, 49 F.4th at 1170 (citing Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1213). Specifically, the California Legislature created the Unruh Act to give plaintiffs seeking an injunction under the ADA the additional option of pursuing monetary damages. Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1211–12. The Unruh Act “relies dispositively on the ADA‘s substantive rules [and] expands the remedies available in a private action” to include monetary damages. Id. at 1211. The California legislature became concerned that “high-frequency litigants may be using the statute to obtain monetary relief for themselves without accompanying adjustments to locations to assure accessibility to others.” Id. But rather than adjust the language of the statute, the California Legislature opted to impose filing restrictions on potential litigants, making it “very unattractive” for litigants seeking monetary relief to file joint ADA-Unruh Act claims in state court.” Id. at 1211–12. However, as these restrictions do not apply in federal court, they have been rendered “largely toothless,” causing a “wholesale shifting of Unruh Act/ADA cases into the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.” Id. As the Ninth Circuit concluded, because this evasion of the Legislature‘s limitations would both be unfair to defendants and constitute “an affront to the comity between federal and state courts,” it rises to the level of “exceptional circumstances” under section 1367(c)(4). Vo, 49 F.4th at 1171. The plaintiff asserts that “there is nothing unique in the state court procedures that are not replicated in some fashion in the federal system,” Response at 10, but the Ninth Circuit considered both systems and determined otherwise. See Vo, 49 F.4th at 1170-1171.
Here, the circumstances in this case meet the “exceptional” threshold. As previously discussed, Taruc and/or his counsel qualify as high-frequency litigants. Further, given the “unique
Moreover, as discussed above, Taruc‘s four state law claims predominate over the single federal law claim. Thus, extending supplemental jurisdiction over the Unruh Act would run afoul of principles of federal-state comity.
iv. As this case is in its nascent stages, there are compelling reasons for declining supplemental jurisdiction.
Given that the first prong is satisfied, this Court must proceed to the second prong and consider “what best serves the principles of economy, convenience, fairness, and comity which underlie the pendent jurisdiction doctrine.” Id. at 1171 (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1210).
This case is still in its early stages—the initial complaint was filed on May 20, 2025, and the Defendants have not yet appeared. Accordingly, Vo does not dictate that the Court retain jurisdiction. Compare id. at 1172 (concluding that because “[t]he district court here declined supplemental jurisdiction over Vo’s Unruh Act claim well before it ruled on the merits of the ADA claim,” there is “no reason to hold that the district court abused its discretion in determining there were compelling reasons to decline jurisdiction over the Unruh Act claim”), with Arroyo, 19 F.4th at 1215-16 (“If the district court had declined supplemental jurisdiction over Arroyo‘s Unruh Act claim at the outset of the litigation, it might then still have been possible to further California‘s interest in cabining Unruh Act damages claims through the imposition of heightened pleading requirements and a substantial up-front filing fee.”).
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: June 10, 2025
MAAME EWUSI-MENSAH FRIMPONG
United States District Judge