LOS ANGELES – A paraplegic alleges a Rite Aid store did not have a parking lot accessible to disabled patrons.
Nehemiah Kong filed a complaint on April 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Laura Worchell, individually and as trustee of Thrifty Payless Inc. over alleged violations of Americans with Disabilities Act and Unruh Civil Rights Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that in March, he went to defendants' Rite Aid store in La Mirada and had difficulty accessing the parking spaces as a disabled person. The plaintiff alleges the defendant had no policy or plan in place to make sure that the parking spaces reserved for persons with disabilities remained useable prior to his visit.
The plaintiff holds Worchell, individually and as trustee of Thrifty Payless Inc., responsible because the parking lot at the defendants' store had parking stalls and access aisles that were not level.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks injunctive relief, actual damages and a statutory minimum of $4,000, reasonable attorney fees, litigation expenses and costs of suit. He is represented by Chris Carson, Ray Ballister Jr., Phyl Grace and Dennis Price of Center for Disability Access in San Diego.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California Case number 2:18-cv-02988-JFW-AFM