Attempts to mediate an accessibility lawsuit filed by two Oakland (Calif.) women against Apple Inc. have failed, but a federal judge has turned down the plaintiffs request to take the case to trial. The legal moves seem to indicate the judge wants both sides to continue their attempts to reach a settlement without a trial. Jana Overbo and Nicole Brown-Booker complained in a 2007 lawsuit that the San Francisco retail store is not accessible to disabled persons, including the entry, paths of travel through the store, the Genius Bar, bathrooms and the second-floor theater seating. The women allege violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and seek damages for “disciminatory experiences, and denial of access and of their civil rights.” They also ask the court to require Apple to make the store totally accessible.
ADA lawsuits follow specific procedures, including disclosures to both parties, an on-site premise inspection, and mediation if the the two parties can’t reach an agreement.
In the latest legal filing on October 15, 2008, the women’s attorneys told the judge that both parties, “have held extensive mediation proceedings, including two full-day in-person sessions.” However, “The case has failed to settle,” attorneys Paul Rein and Julie Ostil wrote. The attorneys continued, “While plaintiffs remain willing to engage in further settlement discussions with defendants, it appears clear that the case does not have a reasonable likelihood of settling without discovery and litigation being undertaken.”
The attorneys asked the judge for “administrative relief,” which would waive the usual settlement procedures for handling ADA lawsuits, and move to the pre-trial stages of discovery and depositions.
In the attorneys’ words, “Plaintiffs further request that discovery be opened immediately so that they can take necessary depositions and propound written discovery to prove their claims.”
However, in an October 22, 2008 filing, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston denied the plaintiffs motion for administrative relief. The decision sends both parties back to mediation or some other method of settling the lawsuit without a trial.
Download (pdf) the latest court documents.
