7-Eleven, Pilot Travel Centers Hit With ADA Class Action Lawsuits

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A Pennsylvania woman has filed two separate proposed class action lawsuits against Pilot Travel Centers and 7-Eleven, claiming the companies violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not providing proper accessibility in parking lots or paths of travel for individuals with disabilities.

Pilot Travel Centers LLC is the largest travel center chain in the county with over 550 locations under the “Pilot” and “Flying J” brands. 7-Eleven is an international franchised convenience store chain headquartered in Irving, Texas with over 8,000 stores in the United States.

Plaintiff Josie Badger, who relies upon a wheelchair for mobility, filed the two class action lawsuits just one day apart in mid-July in Pennsylvania federal court against the two companies after she was allegedly denied full and equal access as a result of the respective companies inaccessible parking lots and paths of travel.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted over a quarter century ago and is intended to “provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities.”

Specifically, the ADA prohibits places of public accommodation from denying individuals with disabilities the opportunity to fully and equally participate in a place of public accommodation.

Badger says she visited a 7-Eleven location in Pittsburgh where she claims she experienced unnecessary difficulty and risk due to the excessive slopes in purportedly accessible parking spaces and access aisles.

Similarly, Badger contends she was discriminated against when she visited a Pilot Travel Center in Knoxville, Tenn. The plaintiff says she had difficulty parking and exiting her wheelchair accessible van because no spaces were designated as “van accessible” at the property.

On her behalf, investigators examined multiple properties owned and operated by both 7-Eleven and Pilot Travel Centers in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Ohio and documented several alleged ADA violations including slopes exceeding 2.1 percent in both parking spaces and access aisles and slopes exceeding five percent at portions of store entrance routes in these locations, the two class action lawsuits state.

Additionally, Badger claims some 7-Eleven locations and Pilot Travel Centers fail to properly mark accessible spaces with required signs and no spaces were designated as “van accessible.”

According to Badger, both 7-Eleven and Pilot Travel Centers “systematically discriminated against individuals with mobility disabilities by implementing policies and practices that consistently violate the ADA’s accessibility guidelines and routinely result in access barriers at Defendant[s] facilities.”

Badger is bringing these separate class action lawsuits against 7-Eleven and Pilot Travel centers on behalf of herself and two proposed Classes of wheelchair users who have attempted or will attempt to utilize the parking facilities at locations for which the two companies own or control.

In both class action lawsuits, Badger is seeking a declaratory judgment that 7-Eleven and Pilot Travel Centers are in violation of specific ADA requirements by not being fully accessible to, and independently usable by, individuals who use wheelchairs.

She is also asking for permanent injunctions directing the defendants to remove all architectural barriers that impede access for wheelchair users and bring their facilities into full compliance with ADA regulations.

Badger is represented by Benjamin J. Sweet, R. Bruce Carlson, and Stephanie K. Goldin of Carlson Lynch Sweet Kilpela & Carpenter LLP.

The 7-Eleven ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Josie Badger v. 7-Eleven Inc., Case No. 2:16-cv-01055, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

The Pilot Travel Centers ADA Class Action Lawsuit is Josie Badger v. Pilot Travel Centers LLC, Case No. 2:16-cv-10151, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.