In 2002, the nonprofit corporation Californians for Disability Rights (CDR) sued Mervyn’s, a corporation that operated 125 retail department stores throughout California. CDR sought injunctive relief under the Unfair Competition Law (UCL) against alleged unlawful business practices by Mervyn’s.
CDR claimed that Mervyn’s denied store access to persons with mobility disabilities by failing to provide adequate pathway space between merchandise displays. CDR alleged that the business practices of Mervyn’s were unlawful because they violated California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code §51 et seq.) (Unruh Act) and California’s Disabled Persons Act (Civ. Code §54 et seq.) (DPA).
