SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – Disabilities lawyers are out of luck after a California appeals court found they aren’t entitled to the hundreds of thousands of dollars they requested in a lawsuit against a Rio Nido restaurant.
The Rio Nido Roadhouse responded to the Americans with Disabilities Act claim of Richard Skaff by removing the alleged barriers to access for disabled individuals, but that doesn’t make Skaff a “prevailing party,” the First Appellate District recently wrote.
A Sonoma County court had found Skaff was a prevailing party and awarded his lawyers $242,672 in fees.
Plaintiffs lawyers appealed because they wanted more. The restaurant appealed because it didn’t want to pay any fees.
“It is axiomatic that plaintiff cannot prevail on a cause of action in which no violation of law was ever demonstrated or round,” Justice Gabriel Sanchez wrote.
“Nor is the catalyst theory available when a claim lacks legal merit. That a prelitigation demand may have spurred action that resulted in positive societal benefit is not reason alone to award attorneys fees under the Civil Code.”
Skaff’s lawsuit said he could not find a handicap spot at the restaurant and did not see a wheelchair-accessible entrance from its south parking lot.
The restaurant began working on renovations after Skaff complained, thou Skaff was unsatisfied and sued in 2013. After a 12-day trial, a judge found for Skaff on one of his two claims and declared him a “prevailing party” under state law.
The restaurant spent almost $28,000 on the fixes but still found itself facing the $242,000 attorneys fees award.