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Coles Fine Flooring president faced 'trumped-up' ADA lawsuits
March 23, 2012
California group seeks legal reform; holding events throughout the state
http://www.utsandiego.com/news...st-abusive-lawsuits/
A statewide tour aimed at fighting lawsuit abuse stopped in San Diego Friday.
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, the state arm of a grassroots movement across the U.S., is leading "Create Jobs, Not Lawsuits" events in various cities to organize citizens concerned about the economic cost of lawsuit abuse.
The local event was at Coles Fine Flooring, where George Coles, president of the company, described being the target of three lawsuits that he said were motivated solely by money. For example: One plaintiff, who could see well enough to read a book in court, said his showroom lacked Braille for the visually impaired, he said.
"I was sued for trumped up Americans with Disabilities violations, which I took personal because I have a lot of loyal disabled customers here and I've never had a complaint," Coles said. Coles' defense attorney, David Warren Peters, said the matters were eventually settled out of court for $2,400 to avoid the cost of litigation.
The event brought together elected officials, community leaders and business owners. Those present included Jerry Navarra, chairman of Jerome's Furniture; San Diego City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf and Julian business owner Betty Birdsall.
U.S. small businesses (those with $10 million or less in annual revenue) pay more than $98 billion in lawsuit-related liability costs every year, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
"Lawsuit abuse strains small businesses and communities across the country, and we're feeling the pain here in California," said Southern California CALA Regional Director Maryann Marino. "With the upcoming election, we expect to hear a lot about how to get our economy back on track. Legal reform needs to be a part of that conversation. This is something our lawmakers can do now at little or no cost to Californians that will immediately help create jobs."
State Assemblyman Brian Jones, R-Santee, said that businesses "spend far too much time and money defending themselves from lawyers hoping to extort a windfall" from them. He said that one example of good legal reform would be requiring a plaintiff who loses a lawsuit to pay legal costs for the defendant.
March 23, 2012
California group seeks legal reform; holding events throughout the state
http://www.utsandiego.com/news...st-abusive-lawsuits/
A statewide tour aimed at fighting lawsuit abuse stopped in San Diego Friday.
California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, the state arm of a grassroots movement across the U.S., is leading "Create Jobs, Not Lawsuits" events in various cities to organize citizens concerned about the economic cost of lawsuit abuse.
The local event was at Coles Fine Flooring, where George Coles, president of the company, described being the target of three lawsuits that he said were motivated solely by money. For example: One plaintiff, who could see well enough to read a book in court, said his showroom lacked Braille for the visually impaired, he said.
"I was sued for trumped up Americans with Disabilities violations, which I took personal because I have a lot of loyal disabled customers here and I've never had a complaint," Coles said. Coles' defense attorney, David Warren Peters, said the matters were eventually settled out of court for $2,400 to avoid the cost of litigation.
The event brought together elected officials, community leaders and business owners. Those present included Jerry Navarra, chairman of Jerome's Furniture; San Diego City Councilwoman Lorie Zapf and Julian business owner Betty Birdsall.
U.S. small businesses (those with $10 million or less in annual revenue) pay more than $98 billion in lawsuit-related liability costs every year, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
"Lawsuit abuse strains small businesses and communities across the country, and we're feeling the pain here in California," said Southern California CALA Regional Director Maryann Marino. "With the upcoming election, we expect to hear a lot about how to get our economy back on track. Legal reform needs to be a part of that conversation. This is something our lawmakers can do now at little or no cost to Californians that will immediately help create jobs."
State Assemblyman Brian Jones, R-Santee, said that businesses "spend far too much time and money defending themselves from lawyers hoping to extort a windfall" from them. He said that one example of good legal reform would be requiring a plaintiff who loses a lawsuit to pay legal costs for the defendant.