California Appellate Tracker

Martinez v. California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.

February 27, 2019

Background music is not part of the normal overall experience at a bar, so the bar need not provide hearing-impaired patrons with listening aids in order to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or its California law counterpart.

Civ. Code 51 incorporates the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and provides state law remedies for violation of the ADA. Plaintiff sued to claim that defendant violated the ADA by failing to provide auxiliary aids or services to allow him to enjoy the background music defendant played in its bar—which due to a partial hearing loss he could not distinguish without such aids. This decision follows but distinguishes Feldman v. Pro Football, Inc., 419 Fed. App’x 381 (4th Cir. 2011), which held that a football stadium must provide hearing assistance to hearing impaired patrons so they can hear the game and play announcements as well as ads and music broadcast over the stadium’s PA system since they form part of the total experience of attending a football game. Background music in a bar is different. It isn’t part of the overall bar experience. There was nothing distinctive about the background music. The bar provided food and drink, not entertainment or exhibition as a football stadium does.

San Bernardino County Superior Court, Appellate Division (Cabrera, P.J.); November 20, 2018 (published January 8, 2019); 30 Cal. App. 5th Supp. 14

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Martinez v. California Pizza Kitchen, Inc.

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