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May 10, 2012 Updated: 3:57 p.m.
Chicken Man vs. chicken lawyer
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/simmons-353627-chicken-potter.html
By FRANK MICKADEITCOLUMNIST / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Something about the message on my voice mail stirred a memory from deep down in the gray matter. Yes, the caller was talking about an issue I've recently written about – O.C. businesses being shaken down by a San Diego lawyer and his predatory plaintiffs for violations of A.D.A. laws. But that wasn't what this memory was about. Something about the location – P.C.H. in Sunset Beach. And the business – a restaurant. And the name of the defendant – Sanford Simmons.
This went back much deeper in the Mickadeit Files than two months. It felt like pre-column stuff. Pre-Internet, even. I went into the archives and there it was. Twenty-four years ago, I'd covered a code-violation oddity that made for the kind of insignificant journalism I was to later turn into a full-time gig.
Simmons had owned a restaurant called The Stuf'd Chicken. He'd been cited for mounting a 6-foot-tall mechanical chicken on an outdoor sign. The bird, driven by a phonograph motor, "waved" one of its yellow, feathery arms, beckoning motorists on P.C.H. It was good for business, but it ran, uh, afoul, of the code, which prohibited such moving signage.
"We've got a lot of money tied up in that chicken," Simmons told me at the time. He organized a "Save Our Chicken" rally, and even took the bird into court, but the judge wouldn't let it in. Eventually, Simmons took the chicken down.
It all came back as I pulled into the parking lot at Harry's Grill Friday. This was the Stuf'd Chicken back in the day. "We meet again," I said, shaking Simmons' hand. He still owns the property but Harry's is owned by another man. Simmons walked me through the latest.
A couple of weeks back, he got a letter from an Irvine defense attorney offering to represent him in a lawsuit. What lawsuit? Simmons wondered. Turns out, the same plaintiff's lawyer who had sued El Don Liquor just down the highway has now sued Simmons. But Simmons hadn't been served. The defense lawyer had found the case, as many do, by monitoring courthouse filings.
The lawsuit says that a Jon Carpenter of Los Angeles went to Harry's in March and found that its handicap space did not have an eight-foot-wide access aisle on the passenger side, and there was no wheelchair ramp. He wanted $4,000 plus attorney fees and expenses, which are allowed under state law.
Simmons didn't wait to be served. He immediately hired a concrete guy to put in a ramp and he moved the handicap space about 20 feet to the area nearest the door. This cost him about $1,600. The work was just finishing up when I visited.
"I don't mind spending that – it's clear I'm not in compliance, OK?" he said. "I was in compliance when it was built, but I never received any notice the law had changed. My position is, I'm in compliance now. I'll tell the attorney I'm really sorry. I'll invite them down for lunch."
In other words, Simmons was thinking maybe Carpenter and his attorney, Mark Potter, really were all about A.D.A. compliance. That Carpenter really was intending to go to Harry's for a bite to eat, and really was bummed he couldn't get out of his van, and that being a strong advocate for disabled rights, he filed a righteous lawsuit.
Back in the days of the Stuf'd Chicken I might have thought so, too. In that case, the county ultimately didn't fine Simmons because he complied. But 24 more years of journalism and three years of law school made me smile at Simmons' naïvete. Carpenter, who lives in L.A., has filed at least 49 such claims against O.C. businesses alone since 2007. Like the plaintiff in the El Don case, he hired Potter, who has filed hundreds. Potter has refused to return my calls.
But bless him, Simmons tried. He emailed Potter photos of the improvements this week. "We are ready for Mr. Jon Carpenter and guest to take us up on our FREE offer of LUNCH or DINNER at Harry's Grill ... " Simmons wrote. "Again we are all very sorry that our 'Van Accessible' physically challenged parking space was not as close to the entrance as it is now required. Thank you, Jon Carpenter for bringing this to our attention."
Potter's reply: "Thank you for sending the photos. The parking lot looks good. My client will settle the case for $12,000. I look forward to hearing back from you."
Potter's response to Simmons was for three times what he asked in the lawsuit. That's how you play the game.
Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com
Chicken Man vs. chicken lawyer
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/simmons-353627-chicken-potter.html
By FRANK MICKADEITCOLUMNIST / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Something about the message on my voice mail stirred a memory from deep down in the gray matter. Yes, the caller was talking about an issue I've recently written about – O.C. businesses being shaken down by a San Diego lawyer and his predatory plaintiffs for violations of A.D.A. laws. But that wasn't what this memory was about. Something about the location – P.C.H. in Sunset Beach. And the business – a restaurant. And the name of the defendant – Sanford Simmons.
This went back much deeper in the Mickadeit Files than two months. It felt like pre-column stuff. Pre-Internet, even. I went into the archives and there it was. Twenty-four years ago, I'd covered a code-violation oddity that made for the kind of insignificant journalism I was to later turn into a full-time gig.
Simmons had owned a restaurant called The Stuf'd Chicken. He'd been cited for mounting a 6-foot-tall mechanical chicken on an outdoor sign. The bird, driven by a phonograph motor, "waved" one of its yellow, feathery arms, beckoning motorists on P.C.H. It was good for business, but it ran, uh, afoul, of the code, which prohibited such moving signage.
"We've got a lot of money tied up in that chicken," Simmons told me at the time. He organized a "Save Our Chicken" rally, and even took the bird into court, but the judge wouldn't let it in. Eventually, Simmons took the chicken down.
It all came back as I pulled into the parking lot at Harry's Grill Friday. This was the Stuf'd Chicken back in the day. "We meet again," I said, shaking Simmons' hand. He still owns the property but Harry's is owned by another man. Simmons walked me through the latest.
A couple of weeks back, he got a letter from an Irvine defense attorney offering to represent him in a lawsuit. What lawsuit? Simmons wondered. Turns out, the same plaintiff's lawyer who had sued El Don Liquor just down the highway has now sued Simmons. But Simmons hadn't been served. The defense lawyer had found the case, as many do, by monitoring courthouse filings.
The lawsuit says that a Jon Carpenter of Los Angeles went to Harry's in March and found that its handicap space did not have an eight-foot-wide access aisle on the passenger side, and there was no wheelchair ramp. He wanted $4,000 plus attorney fees and expenses, which are allowed under state law.
Simmons didn't wait to be served. He immediately hired a concrete guy to put in a ramp and he moved the handicap space about 20 feet to the area nearest the door. This cost him about $1,600. The work was just finishing up when I visited.
"I don't mind spending that – it's clear I'm not in compliance, OK?" he said. "I was in compliance when it was built, but I never received any notice the law had changed. My position is, I'm in compliance now. I'll tell the attorney I'm really sorry. I'll invite them down for lunch."
In other words, Simmons was thinking maybe Carpenter and his attorney, Mark Potter, really were all about A.D.A. compliance. That Carpenter really was intending to go to Harry's for a bite to eat, and really was bummed he couldn't get out of his van, and that being a strong advocate for disabled rights, he filed a righteous lawsuit.
Back in the days of the Stuf'd Chicken I might have thought so, too. In that case, the county ultimately didn't fine Simmons because he complied. But 24 more years of journalism and three years of law school made me smile at Simmons' naïvete. Carpenter, who lives in L.A., has filed at least 49 such claims against O.C. businesses alone since 2007. Like the plaintiff in the El Don case, he hired Potter, who has filed hundreds. Potter has refused to return my calls.
But bless him, Simmons tried. He emailed Potter photos of the improvements this week. "We are ready for Mr. Jon Carpenter and guest to take us up on our FREE offer of LUNCH or DINNER at Harry's Grill ... " Simmons wrote. "Again we are all very sorry that our 'Van Accessible' physically challenged parking space was not as close to the entrance as it is now required. Thank you, Jon Carpenter for bringing this to our attention."
Potter's reply: "Thank you for sending the photos. The parking lot looks good. My client will settle the case for $12,000. I look forward to hearing back from you."
Potter's response to Simmons was for three times what he asked in the lawsuit. That's how you play the game.
Mickadeit writes Mon.-Fri. Contact him at 714-796-4994 or fmickadeit@ocregister.com
