Long v. Live Nation Worldwide, Inc.

Long v. Live Nation Worldwide, Inc.

Opinion

ORDER

THIS MATTER comes before the Court on plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, docket no. 18 ("Plaintiff's Motion"), and defendants' cross-motion for summary judgment, docket no. 38 ("Defendants' Cross-Motion"). Having reviewed all papers filed in support of, and in opposition to, the motions, and hearing oral argument on the motions, the Court enters the following order.

Background

Plaintiff Barry Long ("Plaintiff" or "Long") brings a disability discrimination action alleging violations of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and the Washington Law Against [*2]  Discrimination ("WLAD"). See First Amended Complaint for Damages and Injunctive Relief, docket no. 16 (the "Amended Complaint"), at ¶¶ 5.1-5.24. Plaintiff uses a wheelchair to attend Seahawks football games at CenturyLink Field. See Declaration of Barry Long, docket no. 19 ("Long Declaration"), at ¶¶ 3, 5-6. Defendant Ticketmaster LLC is the wholly owned subsidiary of Defendant Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. (collectively, "Defendants"). Defendants operate the website www.ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com (the "Exchange Website"). See Declaration of Brian Luna, docket no. 22-1 ("First Luna Declaration"), at ¶ 1. The Exchange Website connects fans wishing to resell sporting tickets they own to fans wishing to purchase those tickets. See id. at ¶ 4. When this lawsuit was filed in 2016, Defendants did not sell its own tickets on the Exchange Website—instead, they offered direct ticket sales through an affiliated website, www.ticketmaster.com (the "Retail Sales Website"). Id. at ¶¶ 4, 5.

I. Plaintiff's Allegations

The essence of Plaintiff's claims is that he was unable to find wheelchair accessible tickets that met his needs when using the Exchange Website. Plaintiff specifically alleges that [*3]  he has "encountered a number of barriers to access to tickets to CenturyLink Field[,]" including the Exchange Website's lack of "information for accessible seats in violation of the applicable standards under the ADA and WLAD." Amended Complaint at ¶ 4.6. He alleges that "[w]hen attempting to purchase tickets through the Website, it is impossible to identify which seats are wheelchair accessible. This has prevented Plaintiff from purchasing tickets for accessible seating." Id. at ¶ 4.7.

Plaintiff asserts that Defendants have discriminated against Plaintiff in violation of Title III of the ADA by: (1) providing "goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and/or accommodations that are not equal to those afforded to non-disabled individuals;" and (2) by "[f]ailing to make reasonable modifications in policies, practices, and/or procedures as necessary to afford the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and/or accommodations to individuals with disabilities." Id. at ¶ 5.9; see also id. at ¶¶ 5.19, 5.21 (corresponding WLAD allegations).

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