Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca5-14-11122/USCOURTS-ca5-14-11122-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Eric Holder
Appellee
Thomas E. Perez
Appellee
United States Department of Justice
Appellee
Billy Williams
Appellant

Document Text:

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-11122

Summary Calendar

BILLY WILLIAMS, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant

v.

ERIC HOLDER; THOMAS E. PEREZ; UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF 

JUSTICE, 

 Defendants - Appellees

Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division

U.S.D.C. No. 3:13-CV-2179-O

Before STEWART, Chief Judge, and PRADO and HAYNES, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:*

Appellant, pro se, filed suit under the Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) challenging Appellees’ interpretation of Section 12182(a) of Title III of 

the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The district court dismissed the 

suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We AFFIRM.

I.

* Pursuant to 5TH CIR. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not 

be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5TH 

CIR. R. 47.5.4.

United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

FILED

March 30, 2015

Lyle W. Cayce

Clerk

 

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No. 14-11122

This dispute centers on the Appellant’s claim that the Appellees’ 

incorrect interpretation of the ADA has caused, and is causing, him ongoing 

harm. Billy Williams (Williams) is an allegedly disabled individual suffering 

from asthma and hypersensitivity to secondhand tobacco smoke. On June 11, 

2013, he filed suit against Eric Holder, Thomas E. Perez, and the United States 

Department of Justice (DOJ) (collectively the Government) under the APA, 5 

U.S.C. § 702. Williams alleged that he filed a complaint with the Texas Lottery 

Commission asking that all of its lottery sales outlets be required to prohibit 

smoking under the ADA, but the Texas Lottery Commission declined to enforce 

a blanket smoking ban on all of its sales outlets, citing a technical assistance 

letter by the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the 

DOJ. The technical assistance letter stated that “the ADA . . . d[id] not require 

entities to enact legislation or to adopt policies to ban smoking” and that “[t]he 

ADA require[d] the analysis of the requested modifications to be made on a 

case-by-case basis.” Williams also asserted that as the executive director of an 

organization named GASP of Texas, he submitted a complaint to the State of 

Kansas to seek a smoking ban in its casinos. A law firm representing two 

Kansas casinos submitted a letter to the Director of Kansas Gaming Facilities, 

arguing that the ADA did not require a mandatory smoking ban. 

In his complaint, Williams challenged the Government’s statutory 

interpretation of the ADA generally, and 42 U.S.C. § 12201(b) in particular, in 

technical assistance letters that the Government issued to covered entities. He 

also challenged the Government’s failure to impose a smoking ban on all 

covered entities. He claimed that the Government’s interpretation results in 

intentional discrimination against persons impacted by smoking. He also 

claimed that the Assistant Attorney General violated 28 C.F.R. § 35.190(a) by 

failing to provide proper guidance to the U.S. Department of Transportation 

on smoking policies.

2

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No. 14-11122

On November 18, 2013, the Government moved to dismiss Williams’s 

complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for 

failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In response, Williams

filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that a total smoking ban should 

be enforced under the ADA because there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. 

The Magistrate Judge (MJ) issued its Findings, Conclusions, and 

Recommendation (FCR) recommending that the Government’s motion to 

dismiss be granted and Williams’s motion for summary judgment denied. With 

respect to the motion to dismiss, the MJ agreed with the Government that the 

court lacked jurisdiction to compel them to take enforcement actions against 

public accommodations that allegedly violated the ADA or to issue technical 

assistance letters. The MJ also concluded that dismissal for failure to state a 

claim was appropriate because the DOJ’s reading of § 12201(b) as permitting, 

but not requiring, a total ban on smoking was consistent with the statutory 

text.1

Williams filed objections to the FCR, challenging the reading of his 

complaint as seeking a total ban on smoking. He argued that he sought to have 

the Government interpret the ADA as requiring a total ban if a request is made 

and if the facility cannot affirmatively prove that a ban would fundamentally 

alter what it offers. The district court conducted a de novo review of the 

portions of the FCR to which Williams objected and adopted the FCR. Williams

appeals that judgment.2

1 The MJ also concluded that the court had jurisdiction to review the DOJ’s global 

interpretation of the ADA, but that because Williams failed to state a claim upon which relief 

could be granted, the complaint must still be dismissed.

2 Williams does not appeal the denial of his motion for summary judgment.

3

 

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II.

We review 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) motions to dismiss de novo. United 

States v. Renda Marine, Inc., 667 F.3d 651, 655 (5th Cir. 2012); Coleman v. 

Sweetin, 745 F.3d 756, 763 (5th Cir. 2014). 

After considering the parties’ arguments as briefed on appeal, and after 

reviewing the record, the relevant statutes, applicable state and federal case 

law, and the MJ’s FRC as adopted by the district court, we AFFIRM the district 

court’s judgment dismissing Appellant’s claims against Defendant-Appellee 

and adopt its analysis in full.

4

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