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Roy Mason
Disability: paraplegic
Represented by: Law Offices of Brian Andrews
Number of lawsuits filed: hundreds
Targets: bars, restaurants
Mr. Mason alleges that he is a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair. He alleges that he owns a van and that he travels throughout California.
Mr. Mason filed a complaint alleging that he wanted to patronize a bar, the "Orchid Room" in San Mateo. When his deposition was taken he testified, "I don't drink." Later in his deposition he contradicted himself, "somebody offered me a beer, and I took it and messed around a little bit with pool, and somebody offered me another beer, and I took it, but I didn't drink much of it."
Mr. Mason also alleged in his complaint that he could not find an accessible restroom while at the Orchid Room. Once again at his deposition he contradicted himself by testifying that he had entered a restroom which was accessible.
The Complaint alleges, in relevant part: "On at least two occasions … prior to the date of filing this complaint, Plaintiff patronized or attempted to patronize the business [a bar called "Orchid Room"] upon the Subject Property with the intent to be a customer ... Plaintiff also encountered lack of ADA-compliant restrooms, to wit, the paper towel and toilet seat cover dispensers are too high, the door lock is noncompliant, and there are no grab bars in the men's restroom. As a result, Plaintiff was unable to comfortably use the restroom facilities."
Below are excerpts from Mr. Mason's deposition. Is Mr. Mason an advocate for the disabled or is he a profiteer? You be the judge.
Examination by attorney Ara Sahelian:
_________________
1 Carlsbad, California - February, 2023
2 * * * * *
3 ROY ANTHONY MASON,
4 called as a witness, having been first duly sworn, was
5 examined and testified as follows:
6 EXAMINATION
16:00 7 Q. BY MR. SAHELIAN: Good afternoon, Mr. Mason,
8 how are you doing today?
9 A. I'm making it.
10 Q. You're making it. Okay, good. Are you under
11 any medication that might impair your memory?
12 A. No. No.
13 Q. Okay. You might want to -- since we're on
14 video, you might want to wait until I finish my question
15 before answering just so the court reporter can get your
16 testimony down. Is that fine?
13:08 17 A. (Shrugs shoulders.)
18 Q. Thank you. Have you had any alcohol today?
19 A. Have you?
20 Q. I get to ask the questions, sir.
21 A. I'm going to ask questions too. That's an
22 insult to me.
23 Q. I'm asking you have you had any substance --
24 A. I don't drink.
25 Q. -- that might --
1 A. I don't drink.
...
10 Q. BY MR. SAHELIAN: Have you had any substance,
11 whether alcohol or medication, that might --
12 A. No.
13 Q. -- impair your memory or your ability to
14 reason today?
15 A. Not at all.
16 Q. Thank you. How old are you, sir?
17 A. 57.
____________________
20 Q. Okay. So on January 26th, tell me what
21 happened after you exited your van. What did you do
22 next?
23 A. Are you talk --? Well, at the location?
24 Q. Yes.
25 A. I went into -- I went -- ride around in the
13:49 1 chair a little bit, stumbled upon the place and went in,
2 that would be a cool place to check out, had a couple of
3 beers. Couldn't hang, you know, because of my problem, I
4 figured I'd go in and change, but I didn't have -- I
5 didn't have room to do so.
6 So they were -- they were I believe two
13:49 7 restrooms. I believe two restrooms. One -- the one that
8 designated for men was I believe too small. And there
9 was another one, but I believe that was for women because
10 they had a small -- it was a piece of paper that -- it
13:49 11 said -- well, there was a triangle on the door. And then
12 there was a small piece of paper that said women's
13 restroom, but somebody drew the -- the wheelchair
14 handicap sign on that. But that -- that was a women's
15 restroom.
16 And I opened the door, and there was already a
17 woman in there. And, you know, I went -- you know, that
18 was kind of too much for me. I didn't want no problems.
13:50 19 Q. All right. You gave me a lot to digest there,
20 so let's take it one step at a time, Mr. Mason. You left
21 your van?
22 A. Uh-huh.
23 Q. From your van, how did you get up onto the
24 sidewalk?
25 A. Well, this -- I didn't -- that ain't the first
1 place I went. I went roaming around, messing around in
2 the area a little bit, looking around and stuff, and --.
13:50 3 I don't -- just fooled around till I got there.
4 Q. All right. And did you open the door to enter
5 the bar yourself?
6 A. Not me. The door was already open.
7 Q. Okay. So you went in. What is the first
8 thing that you did once you went in?
13:51 9 A. Looked around and kind of just chilled in the
10 corner like, right in the center of the floor, kind of
11 like in the -- around the wall area and started talking
12 to a couple people.
13 And as you know, somebody offered me a beer,
14 and I took it and messed around a little bit with pool,
15 and somebody offered me another beer, and I took it, but
16 I didn't drink much of it. And then I said I had to use
17 the restroom.
13:52 18 Q. All right. Can you tell me how you reached
19 the restroom? In other words, was it visible or did you
20 have to look for it?
21 A. It's pretty much visible.
22 Q. All right. Can you tell me, was it visible
23 from the pool table?
24 A. Yeah.
13:52 25 Q. Okay.
1 A. Everything pretty much is.
2 Q. Fair enough. Were both --? You mentioned two
3 bathrooms; correct?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Okay. Were both bathrooms visible from the
6 pool table?
7 A. I believe so.
8 Q. How did you know which one to use?
9 A. Well, like I said, the one -- one had a thing
10 on it that said women's. And then there was another one,
13:52 11 I guess, that was just stated for men.
12 Q. All right. Let's start with the other one --
13 okay? -- that as you mentioned here. Did the other one
14 have a sign on it?
15 A. The men's?
16 Q. Well, I don't know what it said, so you'll
17 have to tell me. Does it -- did it have a sign on it?
18 A. A triangle. You know, those triangle things?
19 With nothing else on there, I believe.
13:53 20 Q. It was just an empty triangle?
21 A. No, I think it said men's in the triangle.
22 Q. All right. So on that door you saw a
23 triangle, and it said "men's" inside the triangle;
24 correct?
25 A. I believe so. I'm not 100 percent sure.
1 Q. Okay. And was there -- excuse me -- a picture
2 of a man inside the triangle?
13:53 3 A. No, I think it said men's.
4 Q. In other words, the cutout for a man as
5 opposed to a woman. Was there a cutout or a profile?
6 A. I'm not exactly sure.
7 Q. All right. But you're a hundred percent sure
8 that it said men's on it?
9 A. No, but I'm 100 percent sure the other one
10 said women, so I figured it's got to be.
13:54 11 Q. Okay. Now, let's go to the other one. Did it
12 say women and disabled?
13 A. Actually what it was, it was the same
14 triangle. Where there's -- actually, there's a circle,
15 and there's a triangle within that. And there was
16 nothing there.
17 But there was a piece of paper right next to
18 the handle that had women's, the shape of a woman, I
13:54 19 believe, and then there's -- somebody drew the wheelchair
20 symbol, and that was it.
21 Q. All right. Now did you -- you said you opened
22 the door, and you saw a woman in there?
23 A. It was a woman in there, yes.
24 Q. Did you knock on the door before opening the
25 door?
1 A. No.
2 Q. Was there a little sign that said occupied or
3 empty?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Or vacant?
6 A. No.
13:55 7 Q. So when you opened the door and you saw the
8 woman, what did you do then?
9 A. I let go of the door.
10 Q. And then what did you do?
11 A. I waited, see if the person was going to come
12 out, well, when they came out.
13 Q. All right. So you waited for the lady to come
14 out?
15 A. Uh-huh.
16 Q. Is that a yes?
17 A. Yes. Sorry about that.
13:55 18 Q. No problem. And then what did you do after
19 that?
20 A. Well, I said I better not -- it appeared to be
21 like design in the restroom. Appeared to be a woman's
22 restroom. So I figured this has got to be the woman's
23 handicap restroom. As opposed to a male handicap
24 restroom.
13:56 25 Q. Okay. Tell me every feature that you saw that
1 led you to believe that it was a woman's handicap
2 bathroom.
3 A. Well, it was much nicer than the other
4 restroom. And there's like I guess what you would
13:56 5 consider decor by a woman. Or decor to -- for women? I
6 don't know.
7 Q. All right. You mean colors and shapes and
8 flowers? Is that what you mean? Or --
9 A. Well, no, I mean there was a picture on the
10 wall of like a ballet's legs. Upside-down. You couldn't
11 see the body, it was just like the shoes and the part of
12 the legs, and it was all nice and everything, much nicer
13 than the -- than the other one.
13:57 14 Q. Fair enough. Was there anything else that you
15 saw that led you to believe that it was a women's
16 handicap bathroom?
17 A. Not that I can remember.
18 Q. All right. So you waited for the lady to come
13:57 19 out. But you didn't follow her --? Sorry, you did not
20 go inside the restroom; correct?
21 A. No, I did go inside the restroom, but I
22 realized that -- while I was in there, I said, "Wait a
23 minute, this is -- this is probably the women's room."
24 And so that's -- I looked around a while, and I just
13:58 25 figured this is -- this has got to be the women's.
1 Q. Fair enough. Did you notice if there was a
2 lock on the door or not?
3 A. Yeah, there was a lock.
4 Q. There was. Okay. Now I imagine at some point
5 you left the restroom; correct?
6 A. Uh-huh.
7 Q. And this is the -- the one that you called the
8 women's handicap restroom; correct?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. You left the restroom?
13:59 11 A. (Nods head.)
12 Q. And what did you do then?
13 A. I went back to the other one and tried to use
14 that, but the -- it wasn't -- it wasn't enough room for
15 me to do anything in there. I weigh -- I weigh about
16 320, and between me and the chair, there just wasn't
17 enough room to do anything.
13:59 18 Q. And so what did you do after that?
19 A. Well, I had to take a couple of pictures. And
20 I left. I went in the van, and I changed in there.
13:59 21 Quite embarrassing, you know, to have to do.
22 Q. Was anybody staring at you in the van?
23 A. When you -- when you lay down on the floor
24 they -- unless they are in a truck up high or a window up
25 high or they get up on the van and look in, they really
1 can't see you.
2 Q. Were you being observed when you went back to
14:00 3 the van to I imagine -- I don't know how to put it -- but
4 what exactly did you do when you went back into the van?
5 A. I actually -- was embarrassing, but I actually
6 changed my diaper.
7 Q. All right. Do people usually stare inside the
14:00 8 van?
9 A. No.
10 Q. Okay. So there was no one watching; correct?
11 A. No.
12 Q. All right. On your way out, did you notice
13 any employees?
14 A. Sure. There were employees there.
14:01 15 Q. Okay. Tell me -- or describe for me the
16 employees that you saw that day.
17 A. I -- I really can't. I mean, I really didn't
18 pay too much attention to them.
