NOT FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
EXPENSIFY, INC. ,

Plaintiff

- Appell ant ,

v.
EDDIE WHITE ,

Defendant

- Appel lee , and
MATT KOLESAR,

Defendant. No. 1 9

- 17320

D.C. No. 4 : 19

- cv - 0 1892

- PJH

MEMORANDUM *

Appeal from the United States District Court F or the Northern District of California Phyllis J. Hamilton , District Judge , Presiding
Submitted December 8 , 2020 * * San Francisco , California
Before : BOGGS, ** * M. SMITH, and BENNETT , Circuit Judges.

* This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36

- 3.

** The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2). 

# FILED

DEC 11 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS2

Expensify , Inc. appeals a district

- court ruling granting a motion to dismiss its
suit for declaratory judgment against Eddie White and Matt Kolesar ( “ the Defendants”)

. Expensify, an internet

- only company, sued the Defendants i n response to communication s from the Defendants’ counsel alleging that Expensify’s website and mobile applications discriminated against blind users. The Defendants
had stated that a lack of accessibility violated three civil

- rights statutes, including
the American s with Disabilities Act , 42 U.S.C. § § 12 18 1

– 121 89 (“ADA”)

. Expensify sought a declaration that it did not violate the statutes. In response to the complaint, the Defe ndants each executed a “Release and
Waiver of Claims” that included irrevocable and unconditional covenants not to sue Expensify regarding the accessibility of its products . The Defendants then moved to dismiss the action for lack of subject

- matter jurisd iction under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). T he district court ruled that it had jurisdiction at the outset
of the case but , f

i nd ing that the waivers mooted the action , granted the motion

. 1 Expensify, Inc. v. White , No. 19

- CV

- 01892

- PJH, 2019 WL 5295064, at * 3

– 8 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 18, 2019)

.

*** The Honorable Danny J. Boggs, United States Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by desig nation.

1 Before the ruling, the parties entered a stipulation voluntarily dismissing Kolesar

.3

On appeal, Expensify argues that the district court erred by holding that it had no right to nominal damages , and therefore its case was moot. Because there was

no error, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissal. The district court properly found

— and the parties do not dispute on appeal

— that subject

- matter jurisdiction existed when Expensify filed the complaint. We review de novo the motion to dismiss for lack of subject

- matter jur isdiction. See US West, Inc. v. Nelson , 146 F.3d 718, 721 (9th Cir. 1998).
1. A jurisdiction

- providing controversy must exist at all stages of review, not merely when a party files its complaint. See Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. , 568 U.S. 85, 90

– 91 (201 3). “A case becomes moot,” and a controversy ceases to exist, when

“ the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. ” Id. at 91 (quoting Murphy v. Hunt , 455 U.S. 478, 481 (1982) (per curiam)). There is an exception if the wrongful behavior can reasonably be expected to recur, but a n unconditional and
irrevocable covenant not to sue can preclude that possibility

. See i d. at 92

– 93.
2. A case is not moot if effective relief remains available , such as nominal damages

. Bayer v. Neiman Marcus Grp., Inc. , 861 F.3d 853, 86 2 , 868 (9th Cir. 2017). “A live claim for nominal damages will prevent dismissal for mootness.”
Ibid. (quoting Bernhardt v. C n ty

. of Los Angeles , 279 F.3d 862, 872 (9th Cir. 2002))

. 3. The waivers signed by the Defendants mooted the action. The waivers

were nearly identical to t hose evaluated in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc

. , 568 U.S. 85,4

93 (2013) , which were found to moot the case and preclude the possibility of future
suits. Because the Defendants waived their right to bring a claim against Expensify in the future, there was no longer a live controversy and the court ceased to have subject

- matter jurisdiction. See id. at 93

– 96, 101

– 0 2.
4. Expensify’s argument that its claim for nom inal damages kept its complaint
alive is misplaced. Nominal damages were not proper because Expensify does not seek to vindicate dignitary interests nor important rights. See Bayer , 861 F.3d at
874. Private a ccusations that Expensify may have violated a nother person’s civil rights is not an affront to Expensify’s dignitary interests

. W hile nominal damages may be available for some ADA claims seeking to redress dignitary harms , Expensify is not a plaintiff bringing a suit under the ADA, but a potential ADA defendant seeking declaratory relief. Accordingly, we agree with the district court that there are no special interests or legal authorities supporting Expensify’s claim for nominal damages. Expensify’s complaint against White is moot and therefore i t was properly dismissed.

AFFIRMED.