A federal court judge today imposed sanctions on Americans for Individuals with Disabilities and its lawyers and awarded fees to Golden Rule Properties, LLC. Judge Murray Snow concluded that Americans for Individuals with Disabilities “cannot assert that any individual suffered an injury-in-fact, and thus AID lacks the requisite standing to pursue this claim in federal court.”
Snow wrote:
“AID and its counsel cannot seek refuge under Baddie. Unlike the plaintiffs in Baddie, AID and its counsel affirmatively told opposing counsel that they had no intention of dismissing the federal claims if the Defendant removed the case.
In Baddie v. Berkeley Farms, Inc. the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiffs should not have been sanctioned under the removal statute for dismissing their federal claims to ensure remand to the state court. There was no bad faith present in that case, as “there was nothing manipulative about that straight-forward tactical decision.” Baddie stands for the proposition that a plaintiff is entitled to strategically “choose between federal claims and a state forum” without fear of being sanctioned.
AID and its counsel cannot seek refuge under Baddie. Unlike the plaintiffs in Baddie, AID and its counsel affirmatively told opposing counsel that they had no intention of dismissing the federal claims if the Defendant removed the case. Furthermore, unlike the plaintiffs in Baddie, AID and its counsel have an established practice of misleading opposing counsel.
AID and its counsel have filed more than 1,000 lawsuits in the past year asserting identical state and federal claims in state court.
AID and its counsel’s decisions to dismiss its federal claims under these circumstances are not “straight-forward tactical decision[s].” Rather, these decisions reflect expensive bait-and-switch maneuvers aimed at “prolonging litigation and imposing costs on the opposing party.” Per Mr. Zazueta’s testimony at oral argument, these decisions are ultimately made by Mr. Zazueta and Mr. Strojnik. In this case the Court finds that the refusal to seek dismissal until after counsel had filed their motions for remand evinces a bad faith desire to “argue a meritorious claim for the purpose of harassing an opponent.” Therefore, the Court finds that counsel’s behavior justifies imposing “the excess costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred” due to counsel’s bad faith conduct.
In August, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the State in Maricopa County Superior Court Case No: CV 2016-090506 Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities, LLC (“Plaintiff”)vs. 1639 40th Street LLC.
In the filing, the Attorney General’s Office argued Americans for Individuals with Disabilities forced the State to intervene as a matter of general public importance given the high volume of lawsuits being filed by the group against small businesses in Arizona. To date, more than one thousand actions have been filed by Americans for Individuals with Disabilities.