Each year Jerry Doran travels 550 miles from his home in Cottonwood, Calif., to visit Disneyland. In 2004 his annual vacation hit an unpleasant roadblock. Doran, who is mobility-impaired and uses a wheelchair-accessible van to travel, stopped at a 7-Eleven store in Anaheim only to find that the store had no van-accessible parking, its wheelchair ramp was too steep for him to ascend and a mat obstructed the entryway, making it impossible for a person in a wheelchair to enter the store.
Doran waited outside while his companions went into the store for him. But he didn’t forget the experience. When he returned from his trip, he sued for injunctive relief under Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and for injunctive relief and monetary damages under California law.
