LOS ANGELES — A California paraplegic who requires a wheelchair is suing the owner of Original Bill's Taco House, alleging disability discrimination.
Brian Whitaker filed a complaint Dec. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Seok Mi Won, as trustee of Seok Mi Won Trust, and Does 1-10, alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
According to the complaint, in August, Whitaker went to defendant's restaurant at 219 E. Martin Luther King Blvd. in Los Angeles when he encountered barriers that denied him full and equal access as a disabled person to its facility. Whitaker says he would like to return and patronize Bill's Taco but the facility has failed to accommodate persons with disability when using the restroom.
The plaintiff alleges Seok Mi Won failed to maintain the restaurant in working and usable conditions required to provide ready access to persons with disabilities and failed to remove architectural barriers where such removal is readily achievable.
Whitaker seeks trial by jury, injunctive relief, actual damages of a statutory minimum of $4,000, attorney fees, litigation expenses and costs of suit. He is represented by attorney Isabel Masanque of Center for Disability Access in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 2:17-cv-09136-PSG-PLA