Abdul Nevarez, et al. v. Forty Niners Football Company, LLC, et al.

Serving as Class Counsel, GBDH – along with co-counsel Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky and Peiffer Wolf Carr & Kane – obtained a landmark class action settlement requiring the Forty Niners and other Defendants to make Levi’s Stadium accessible to persons with mobility disabilities and their companions. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Judge Lucy H. Koh, presiding) granted final approval of the Settlement on July 23, 2020, the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Judge Koh stated the settlement is an “outstanding result obtained for the class,” and is important to the public. Read the Court’s final approval order here.

The Settlement resolves claims brought on behalf of three certified classes of persons with mobility disabilities and their companions alleging that they were denied full and equal access to Levi’s Stadium’s facilities, services, accessible seating, parking, and other amenities due to Defendants’ failure to construct the Stadium in compliance with disability access standards. The three classes are: the Injunctive Relief Class; the Companion Injunctive Relief Class; and the Damages Class. Please read the Class Notice for more information.

Under the terms of the Settlement, Defendants will fix thousands of physical access barriers identified by Plaintiffs at the Stadium, in its main parking lot, and in the pedestrian right of way connecting the parking lots to the Stadium; will ensure that the shuttle services provided are accessible to persons with mobility disabilities; and will make improvements to how tickets for accessible seating are sold and exchanged to ensure that individuals with mobility disabilities have the same access to ticketing services as the general public. For a summary of the Injunctive Relief obtained under the Settlement, please review Section 7 of the Class Notice.  The full Settlement Agreement is available on the Settlement Website.

The Forty Niners Defendants will also create a $24 million Damages Fund that will be distributed to eligible Damages Class Members who submit valid, timely, and approved claims (checks should be distributed by July 15, 2021, unless further extended by the Court) in order to resolve their claims for statutory damages under the California Unruh Civil Rights Act for incidents of discrimination they suffered between April 13, 2015 and March 9, 2020 as a result of access barriers at the Stadium. The Damages Fund is the largest ever obtained in a case against a place of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

 

Please read the Class Notice or visit the Settlement Website for more information.

If you have questions about this case, please e-mail AccessLevis@gbdhlegal.com or call (866) 723-1494

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