SACRAMENTO — A disabled man who requires a wheelchair is suing Sacramento business operators, alleging disability discrimination and failure to uphold Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations and violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
Scott Johnson filed a complaint Jan. 22 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California against Catherine L. Butler, Geraldine R. Shirvanian, FiveStar Nutrition, Stephen Kings and Does 1-10, alleging they failed to provide full and safe equal access to its facilities.
According to the complaint, starting in December 2016, Johnson has attempted to use the FiveStar Nutrition store on Folsom Boulevard in Sacramento. Johnson says he was discriminated while using the defendants' facilities. The suit says this includes difficulty utilizing the parking spaces and the lack of accessible path of travel from the parking lot to the store's entrance due to the defendants' failure to make reasonable modifications to accommodate all customers, including persons with disabilities.
The plaintiff alleges the defendants denied Johnson full and equal access, caused him difficulty and frustration, and failed to maintain in working and usable conditions those features required to provide ready access to persons with disabilities.
Johnson seeks trial by jury, actual damages and a statutory minimum of $4,000, injunctive relief, 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 Eastern District of California case number 18-cv-132