Sacramento, Calif. (December 16, 2025) - Sacramento Partner Shane Singh and Associates Grace Mehta and Genna Promnick-Pavlov recently obtained a complete defense verdict for their client, an athletic club operated by a church, in a lawsuit alleging violations of the Unruh Civil Rights Act.
The client's facility offers indoor and outdoor swimming pools to members, both of which are equipped with pool chair lifts. In late June 2023, the plaintiff attempted to use the indoor pool chair lift but discovered that it was not working. The client immediately ordered a new indoor lift. In the month it took the new lift to arrive, the athletic club's staff made alternative arrangements to help the plaintiff access the indoor pool on 16 separate occasions. In addition, the pool chair lift for the outdoor pool remained fully operational during that span of time.
In her lawsuit, the plaintiff claimed that the athletic club was in violation of the Unruh Act because she was denied full and equal access to the facility during the month that the indoor pool chair lift was non-operational. However, the Lewis Brisbois team took the position that the plaintiff's claim was not viable because the outdoor pool chair lift remained available for use during the time period at issue, the indoor pool chair lift was only temporarily unavailable, and the client's staff made other arrangements to allow the plaintiff to access the indoor pool.
The case proceeded to trial in Sacramento County Superior Court. Following a two-week trial, the jury rendered a defense verdict for Lewis Brisbois' client.