another post from jcb
The parties stipulated to certain facts:
Quote:
a. On Friday, November 27, 2009, the day after Thanksgiving, Plaintiff Jose R. Martinez ( Martinez ), who is a quadriplegic and Christina Buchanan
( Buchanan ), his wife, visited Disneyland.
b. Martinez cannot transfer out of his wheelchair without substantial assistance.
c. At all times while at Disneyland, Plaintiffs had with them, hanging on the back of Martinezs wheelchair, a backpack that contained his blood pressure
medication, his anxiety medication and equipment used by Buchanan to catheerize Martinez to empty his bladder.
d. That day, Plaintiffs rode the Its a Small World attraction ( Small World ).
e. The Small World Operating Guide provides: Inform the Guest traveling in a wheelchair that a ride vehicle is available that can accommodate the wheelchair.
f. The Small World Operating Guide provides: Inform the Guest traveling in a wheelchair that there is limited time for loading and unloading.
g. The Small World Operating Guide provides: Inform the Guest that in the
event of a breakdown and/or evacuation, he may be required to walk certain distances, to negotiate stairs or narrow walkways, to have a companion assist or carry him, or to wait for an extended period of time in the vehicle for assistance.
h. Plaintiffs boarded a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle ( WAV boat ), which allows guests with mobility disabilities and their companions to ride the attraction without having to transfer out of their wheelchair.
i. Toward the end of the Small World ride, when Plaintiffs WAV boat was just leaving the ride building, the attractions power disconnected and all boats on the ride stopped.
j. Pam Tait ( Tait ), a Disneyland employee for 12 years and on Small World for three, spoke with Plaintiffs after the ride stopped.
k. Both Disneyland nurses and City of Anaheim paramedics were dispatched to the ride.
l. These paramedics are not Disneyland employees.
m. Before the nurses and paramedics arrived, Plaintiffs WAV boat moved to the load/unload dock and they exited it.
n. Two Disneyland nurses, Lina Geiser ( Geiser ) and Shannon Helm ( Helm ), and Disneyland security officer Jeremy Bustos ( Bustos ) arrived after Plaintiffs had disembarked from Small World.
o. Plaintiffs, accompanied by the nurses, then went to the First Aid Station, where Martinez could be catheterized in a unisex restroom.
p. Once at First Aid, Martinez (with Buchanans assistance) emptied his bladder, hoping to reduce his elevated blood pressure.
q. Disneyland refunded Plaintiffs park admission fee and Plaintiffs went home.
r. Plaintiffs have never sought nor received medical or professional care related to their visit to Disneyland.
s. Martinez has filed and settled over 30 civil suits alleging ADA violations and including claims for emotional distress. In no one of these suits did Martinez recover any monies for emotional distress, although he recovered statutory damages and obtained injunctive relief in most of these suits.
Because the court has still not posted its findings and conclusions, I can only make an educated guess (which I like doing as much as Spock will like doing 200 years from now) about the findings.
As I said, the judge disposed of the ADA claims about the Small World attraction itself. The judge appears to have found Disney employees were negligent in getting Martinez off Small World when the attraction malfunctioned. (There was no dispute that the attraction malfunction lasted "about one-half hour.) I have no clear idea why the judge found Disney was negligent. Comparing the public statements to the court filings, my best guess is that the ruling was based based on Martinez argument that Disney employees failed to "warn" him as "required" by the operational guidelines (e, f, g, above).
Martinez also argued that he was "prevented and deterred from the ability to independently locate restrooms at Disneyland, due to the entities' failure to provide adequate signage to direct persons with disabilities to accessible bathroom facilities." (He argued a lot more but apparently lost those claims). At the end of the trial, the parties filed briefs over whether Disney had to have signage at the First Aid Station saying that there were accessible restrooms inside. Martinez also argued that once he got to the First Aid station, there was no signage directing them to the family restroom.
Disney admitted the First Aid Station did not have exterior signage but argued it was not required by the ADA regulations. They may appeal this decision because, I think (haven't checked) this finding may permit Martinez to recover some attorney fees.
Again, I don't know why the judge found an ADA violation just that, it appears, that $4,000 of the award was the statutory penalty permitted under California law for an ADA violation. (I tried to explain about these same statutory penalties in the visual impairment blog post).
Disney "won" much more than it lost in this lawsuit - having the ADA claims about Small World tossed was a big victory - but no one at Disney is "celebrating" this decision.
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