jar546
CBO
Blame predatory attorneys, not ADA
Chris Jones/My WordPOSTED: **12/22/2013 02:04:49 AM*PST http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_24776139/blame-predatory-attorneys-not-adaPorter
Street Barbeque in Arcata was closed in response to a lawsuit claiming accessibility violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In our community some people become outraged that the “government” (ADA) interferes with the rights of business owners while others hold that business owners are discriminating against people with disabilities by not complying with a law established over 25 years ago. I believe the answer is not so simple.
First: People with disabilities should never be excluded from access to business and services.
Second: Businesses should be not forced to close because of frivolous lawsuits instigated in the name of accessibility.This is not a disability issue, it is an attorney issue.
Attorneys who prey on small businesses are predators. They have no desire to fix the problems. It seems that they are just looking for a quick buck resulting in small businesses such as Porter Street and Arctic Circle, already struggling, being forced to close.There are valid violations of the ADA. A business owner simply cannot nor should not fail to comply with a law that has been on the books for 25 years. One frequently stated opinion is that one may have to spend thousands of dollars to make their place accessible therefore they do nothing. Some organizations really do merit lawsuits for ADA violations. They are ignoring the law by failing to make their places of business accessible. Simply disagreeing with a law does not give one the right to break it.A person with a disability cannot do business at various stores when they are inaccessible either because there is no ramp, stairways are too steep or doorways are too narrow. Aisles in some stores are too narrow to pass through, counters are so high that one cannot reach, or the accessible restroom stall has a lock on it that is so high up that one cannot reach it in order to lock the door once in the stall.For hundreds of years people with disabilities faced these kinds of discriminatory practices. The ADA ensured that people could get jobs, ride buses, go to school, shop in the grocery store, eat in nice restaurants, go to the movies -- in other words, do all the things that everyone else takes for granted as a legitimate right.
When attorneys make profits from the law, the people they hurt are people with disabilities. This notion of hurtful lawsuits becomes associated with a person with a disability and thus, a person with a disability is considered as someone willing to sue a poor business owner just to get rich. I once heard an angry women say about the closure of the Arctic Circle that “the disabled” should go to other places and not burden the poor business owners. California recognized these truths in 2006 and again in 2012 when the business and disability communities came together to create legislation to prevent these types of lawsuits with legislation to try to prevent these types of closures and intimidation from happening. SB 1680 clarifies and amends disability access laws to reduce the unwarranted “drive-by” lawsuits that have plagued California for years.SB 1186 established specific guidelines/requirements which attorneys filing accessibility-related lawsuits must abide by and also made it a punishable offense to not follow the guidelines, thereby deterring unscrupulous lawyers, protecting businesses and educating the public.
My education in remedying accessibility problems came from an enlightened restaurant owner in Eureka who once told me that most of the problems are “screwdriver fixes” meaning they really aren't all that expensive. Other fixes are not inexpensive but might not be as bad as one imagines. Better to at least begin to identify those accessibility issues and determine how to fix them.In order to protect our community businesses, people need to take action. There is no reason for either decent business owners or people with disabilities to be the fodder for the coffers of greedy attorneys who don't care about the well-being of our community. However, by denying the law and hoping that they won't get noticed, business owners are taking a terrible risk.* If family businesses like Arctic Circle and Porter Street can be sued, any business can. I urge businesses not to run away from this issue. I liked Porter Street. I ate there frequently. I want to continue to frequent my favorite establishments and I want the people my agency serves to frequent them as well.
Chris Jones is executive director of Eureka-based Tri-County Independent Living.
Chris Jones/My WordPOSTED: **12/22/2013 02:04:49 AM*PST http://www.times-standard.com/guest_opinion/ci_24776139/blame-predatory-attorneys-not-adaPorter
Street Barbeque in Arcata was closed in response to a lawsuit claiming accessibility violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In our community some people become outraged that the “government” (ADA) interferes with the rights of business owners while others hold that business owners are discriminating against people with disabilities by not complying with a law established over 25 years ago. I believe the answer is not so simple.
First: People with disabilities should never be excluded from access to business and services.
Second: Businesses should be not forced to close because of frivolous lawsuits instigated in the name of accessibility.This is not a disability issue, it is an attorney issue.
Attorneys who prey on small businesses are predators. They have no desire to fix the problems. It seems that they are just looking for a quick buck resulting in small businesses such as Porter Street and Arctic Circle, already struggling, being forced to close.There are valid violations of the ADA. A business owner simply cannot nor should not fail to comply with a law that has been on the books for 25 years. One frequently stated opinion is that one may have to spend thousands of dollars to make their place accessible therefore they do nothing. Some organizations really do merit lawsuits for ADA violations. They are ignoring the law by failing to make their places of business accessible. Simply disagreeing with a law does not give one the right to break it.A person with a disability cannot do business at various stores when they are inaccessible either because there is no ramp, stairways are too steep or doorways are too narrow. Aisles in some stores are too narrow to pass through, counters are so high that one cannot reach, or the accessible restroom stall has a lock on it that is so high up that one cannot reach it in order to lock the door once in the stall.For hundreds of years people with disabilities faced these kinds of discriminatory practices. The ADA ensured that people could get jobs, ride buses, go to school, shop in the grocery store, eat in nice restaurants, go to the movies -- in other words, do all the things that everyone else takes for granted as a legitimate right.
When attorneys make profits from the law, the people they hurt are people with disabilities. This notion of hurtful lawsuits becomes associated with a person with a disability and thus, a person with a disability is considered as someone willing to sue a poor business owner just to get rich. I once heard an angry women say about the closure of the Arctic Circle that “the disabled” should go to other places and not burden the poor business owners. California recognized these truths in 2006 and again in 2012 when the business and disability communities came together to create legislation to prevent these types of lawsuits with legislation to try to prevent these types of closures and intimidation from happening. SB 1680 clarifies and amends disability access laws to reduce the unwarranted “drive-by” lawsuits that have plagued California for years.SB 1186 established specific guidelines/requirements which attorneys filing accessibility-related lawsuits must abide by and also made it a punishable offense to not follow the guidelines, thereby deterring unscrupulous lawyers, protecting businesses and educating the public.
My education in remedying accessibility problems came from an enlightened restaurant owner in Eureka who once told me that most of the problems are “screwdriver fixes” meaning they really aren't all that expensive. Other fixes are not inexpensive but might not be as bad as one imagines. Better to at least begin to identify those accessibility issues and determine how to fix them.In order to protect our community businesses, people need to take action. There is no reason for either decent business owners or people with disabilities to be the fodder for the coffers of greedy attorneys who don't care about the well-being of our community. However, by denying the law and hoping that they won't get noticed, business owners are taking a terrible risk.* If family businesses like Arctic Circle and Porter Street can be sued, any business can. I urge businesses not to run away from this issue. I liked Porter Street. I ate there frequently. I want to continue to frequent my favorite establishments and I want the people my agency serves to frequent them as well.
Chris Jones is executive director of Eureka-based Tri-County Independent Living.
