Case 8:21-cv-01811-CJC-DFM Document 12 Filed 03/28/22 Page 1 of 2 Page ID #:92

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL

Case No. SACV 21-01811-CJC(DFMx) Date: March 28, 2022

Title: UNITED AFRICAN-ASIAN ABILITIES CLUB, ET AL. V. 1939 WALLACE L.P.

PRESENT:

HONORABLE CORMAC J. CARNEY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Rolls Royce Paschal N/A Deputy Clerk Court Reporter

ATTORNEYS PRESENT FOR PLAINTIFF: ATTORNEYS PRESENT FOR DEFENDANT:

None Present None Present

PROCEEDINGS: (IN CHAMBERS) ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE AS TO WHY THIS COURT SHOULD NOT DECLINE TO EXERCISE SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION OVER PLAINTIFFS’ UNRUH ACT CLAIMS

On November 1, 2021, Plaintiffs United African-Asian Abilities Club and Jessie James Davis IV filed this action against Defendant, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the Fair Housing Act, and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act (“Unruh Act”). (Dkt. 1 [Complaint, hereinafter “Compl.”].) Plaintiffs contends that this Court has supplemental jurisdiction over their Unruh Act claims. (Id.)

Supplemental jurisdiction “is a doctrine of discretion, not of plaintiff’s right.” United Mine Workers v. Gibbs,

(1966). District courts have discretion to decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction if: “(1) the claim raises a novel or complex issue of State law, (2) the claim substantially predominates over the claim or claims over which the district court has original jurisdiction, (3) the district court has dismissed all claims over which it has original jurisdiction, or (4) in exceptional circumstances, there are other compelling reasons for declining jurisdiction.”

(c).

A number of federal district courts across California have declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Unruh Act claims brought alongside ADA claims, citing

(c)(2) & (c)(4). See, e.g., Schutza v. Cuddeback,

, 1030–31 (S.D. Cal. 2017) (declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction because Case 8:21-cv-01811-CJC-DFM Document 12 Filed 03/28/22 Page 2 of 2 Page ID #:93

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CIVIL MINUTES – GENERAL

Case No. SACV 21-01811-CJC(DFMx) Date: March 28, 2022 Page 2

(1) “Plaintiff’s state law claim under the Unruh Act substantially predominates over his federal claim” and, (2) because “it would be improper to allow Plaintiff to use federal court as an end-around to California’s pleading requirements.”). And the Ninth Circuit has found “exceptional circumstances” within the meaning of

(c)(4) when a plaintiff would be allowed to circumvent and render ineffectual California’s “procedural requirements aimed at limiting suits by high-frequency litigants” by filing an Unruh Act claim in federal court and invoking the court’s supplemental jurisdiction. Arroyo v. Rosas,

(9th Cir. 2021). The Court therefore orders Plaintiffs to show cause as to why it should not decline to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ Unruh Act claims based on the Ninth Circuit’s reasoning in Arroyo.

Plaintiffs shall file a response to this Order to Show Cause by April 18, 2022. In their response, Plaintiffs shall identify the amount of statutory damages they seek to recover. Plaintiffs and their counsel shall also include declarations in their responses which provide all facts necessary for the Court to determine if they satisfy the definition of a “high-frequency litigant” as provided by California Civil Procedure Code §§ 425.55(b)(1) & (2). Failure to respond to this Order may result in the Court declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ Unruh Act claims.

MINUTES FORM 11 CIVIL-GEN Initials of Deputy Clerk RRP