STEVENS v. OPTIMUM HEALTH INSTITUTE
NANCY STEVENS, Plaintiff,
v.
OPTIMUM HEALTH INSTITUTE, ROBERT NEES, and DOES 1 through 20, inclusive, Defendants.
Case No. 09cv2565 WQH (RBB).
United States District Court, S.D. California.
May 5, 2010.
ORDERWILLIAM Q. HAYES, District Judge.
The matter before the Court is Defendants' Amended Motion to Dismiss. (Doc. # 16).
BACKGROUNDOn November 13, 2009, Plaintiff initiated this action by filing her Complaint. (Doc. # 1). On January 13, 2010, Plaintiff filed her Second Amended Complaint ("SAC"), which is the operative pleading in this case. (Doc. # 8). Plaintiff, a blind woman, alleged Defendants Optimum Health Institute and Robert Nees violated the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 51, et. seq., by denying her services in a business establishment and the California Disabled Persons Act ("DPA"), Cal. Civ. Code § 54, et. seq., by denying her access to a place of public accommodation because of her disability. Id. On February 26, 2010, Defendants Optimum Health Institute and Robert Nees filed a motion to dismiss. (Doc. # 16).
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS OF THE SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINTPlaintiff is a resident of Bend, Oregon. (Doc. # 8 at ¶ 1). Plaintiff is disabled under the California Disabled Persons Act because she is visually impaired. Id. at ¶ 6. Plaintiff uses a guide dog because of her visual impairment. Id. at ¶ 7. Optimum Health Institute is a California corporation with its primary place of business in Lemon Grove, California. Id. at ¶ 3. Optimum Health Institute is a public accommodation and makes its services available to the general public. Id. at ¶¶ 3, 8. Robert Nees, also a California resident, is "an officer of Optimum Health and [is] responsible for implementing and enforcing the policies, practices, and procedures of Optimum Health." Id. at ¶ 4. "Beginning in February 2009 and continuing to the present," Defendants refused to allow Plaintiff to participate in their programs at Optimum Health Institute "unless she was accompanied by a `Sherpa' to provide assistance to her." Id. at ¶ 8. Plaintiff was denied "full and equal access" to Optimum Health Institute's services "because Plaintiff has a guide dog and because the subject facility `has stairs.'" Id.