Dollar General Can’t Escape ADA Class Action Lawsuit

A Pennsylvania federal judge has determined that Dollar General must face a class action lawsuit claiming that its stores are inaccessible to wheelchair users.

This determination came after Dollar General attempted to have the class action lawsuit dismissed.

According to U.S. District Judge Peter J. Phipps, plaintiff Rebecca Nocera has sufficiently established that its store aisles are inaccessible to those with mobility limitations.

Dollar General attempted to claim that items blocking the aisles were there temporarily and therefore not a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, Judge Phipps said that this argument by the retail chain did not merit dismissing Nocera’s claims.

Judge Phipps said, “while those allegations, without additional factorial support, may fall short of the standards needed for class certification or for permanent injunctive relief … those issues are not before the court today. All that is evaluated now is the sufficiency of the complaint, which survives plausibility pleading standard.”

Wheelchair user Nocera filed her ADA class action lawsuit in September 2018. She says that on multiple occasions when she visited a Dollar General store, she found it difficult to shop because there were obstacles throughout the aisles that got in her way.

She had proposed a statewide Dollar General class action lawsuit covering similarly affected consumers from her home state of Pennsylvania.

Allegedly, she contacted the staff about the accessibility problems, but there was no change. Nocera says that these barriers impeded her so much that she no longer enters the store.

Nocera argues that the limited access she has faced represents violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which guarantees people with disabilities full and equal access to goods and services.

To support her claim that the stores are inaccessible, Nocera notes that other customers have made similar claims against Dollar General, which were settled out of court.

Nocera argues that in particular, there are pillars that are in the middle of aisles, shopping carts are placed throughout the store that narrows pathways, and there are displays of merchandise that make it difficult for her to shop in her wheelchair.

In its motion to dismiss, Dollar General argued that even if the columns impeded Nocera’s movement, she had not shown that their placement violated the standards set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Additionally, Dollar General said that Nocera’s claims that movable merchandise displays and shopping carts were in the way did not mean that the store itself was not accessible.

However, Judge Phipps did not agree that these movable elements should be disregarded. Judge Phipps determined that Nocera had sufficiently shown that these barriers were “systemic and recurring,” because they were present during multiple visits to Dollar General.

Nocera is represented by R. Bruce Carlson, Kelly K. Iverson, and Kevin W. Tucker of Carlson Lynch LLP.

The Dollar General Americans With Disabilities Act Class Action Lawsuit is Rebecca Nocera v. Dollar General Corp., et al., Case No. 2:18-cv-01222, in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania.

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