LAKE STEVENS — A federal court judge has dismissed part of a claim by a disabled man who is suing the city on civil rights grounds, but will allow most of the man’s allegations go to trial.
Milo J. Kippen, a paraplegic Lake Stevens resident, filed suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act because he was told to leave a local bar in August 2002. He also alleges he was told he would be charged with criminal trespass if he and his service dogs returned.
Kippen sued the owners of the former Lake Shore Inn and Lounge, the city, the police department and the officer who issued Kippen a trespass warning.
Kippen had been in the bar previously and provided information on the federal disability law to the manager. He left his dogs tied to a table while he played pool. When he returned to the bar on another occasion, he was told to leave. A police officer subsequently went to Kippen’s home and gave him a warning that he would be trespassing if he and his dogs returned.
The warning came at the owner’s request, documents say.
The owners of the bar, Jay and Mohammed Jaatar, later filed bankruptcy and are protected through the federal bankruptcy court from the lawsuit, according to Kippen’s attorney, Sid Strong.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik, acting on a city motion, ruled recently that Kippen cannot sue officer Wayne Aukerman individually and dismissed that part of the suit. However, Lasnik ruled that Kippen can argue that the officer violated his civil rights by issuing the trespass warning. Federal law protects the rights of disabled people to have their service dogs with them, the judge said.
Jaatar did not challenge Kippen’s claim that his dogs are service dogs, the judge said. He did question why the dogs should be allowed in his bar when they weren’t needed to assist Kippen while he played pool, Lasnik said. The dogs pull Kippen’s wheelchair and assist him in other ways, Lasnik said.
The judge also ruled that Kippen could pursue his claims of conspiracy between the police and the Jaatars, and that there was an intent to discriminate.
The case now is scheduled for a jury trial in Seattle on May 3.
Neither Kippen nor Richard Jolley, a Seattle attorney representing the city, could be reached for comment, Friday.
The Jaatars reportedly have left they area and also could not be reached. Their attorney did not return a call for comment.
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@heraldnet.com.
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