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SAWHORSE
Eliminate predatory ADA lawsuits
By John Selk
Posted: 08/18/2011 06:18:50 PM PDT
http://www.sbsun.com/pointofview/ci_18712378
When President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) civil rights law in 1990, the intent was to prohibit discrimination based on disability and provide complete access for the disabled in public places. Sadly, opportunists have abused the law by filing tens of thousands of ADA lawsuits meant not to improve access for the disabled, but to extract money from small business owners, especially in California.
A loophole in the law allows professional plaintiffs in California to win monetary awards from noncompliant businesses of up to $4,000 per technical noncompliance. Because businesses often settle rather than pay litigation costs, these lawyers collect outrageous fees for ADA violations without ever ensuring the business owner improves accessibility.
Now, thankfully, Congressman Duncan Hunter is proposing a common sense solution, H.R. 881 - The ADA Notification Act of 2011 - that would eliminate thousands of predatory ADA lawsuits and actually improve public access for disabled individuals.
Currently, the ADA is enforced entirely through civil litigation, and the law does not require any notice before a lawsuit can be filed. Many ADA lawsuits are filed for issues of relatively minor noncompliance - such as a sign being the wrong color or having the wrong wording. Due to California's lawsuit-friendly legal climate, 42 percent of ADA lawsuits filed in the United States are filed in California, causing many small businesses to close and wiping out jobs.
Rep. Hunter's common-sense proposal would require a plaintiff to provide a defendant with notification and an opportunity to correct a violation voluntarily before the plaintiff may commence a civil action and force the business owner to incur legal costs.
California legislators have repeatedly rejected reforms like H.R. 881 at the state level. In 2008, the California Legislature created the California Commission on Disability Access, but the commission has failed make any significant progress in reducing abusive claims. Despite the commission's best intentions, California's accessibility standards continue to conflict with federal laws, and exceed 500 pages of minutely detailed standards that change constantly. Most small business owners are unable to determine with certainty the exact changes they need to make to comply with the law, and those few who can afford it have to hire costly experts. Unfortunately, because the law is so subjective, the experts often disagree, leaving the business open to costly lawsuits.
Under H.R. 881, potential plaintiffs would think twice about filing lawsuits with false, inappropriate or exaggerated claims because the law provides time to properly fix any ADA violations. H.R. 881 would limit the number of lawsuits that could be filed to only those in which a defendant was truly unwilling to make appropriate changes, and would ensure that our legal system's limited resources are expended only for cases in which they are truly needed.
Eliminating frivolous lawsuits would have the added benefit of allowing legitimate claims to move through the legal system faster.
In San Bernardino County, one attorney filed more than 100 ADA access lawsuits for a handful of clients, alleging that each had encountered problems at dozens of different businesses on the same street. However, depositions of three of the plaintiffs confirmed that they knew nothing about the locations the lawyer claimed they visited, suggesting they had never even gone to these businesses.
In another instance, one small business reported spending an entire year's profit on the settlement and legal fees from a single ADA lawsuit. The defendant later learned the plaintiff was completely unaware of the majority of claims his attorney made.
Cases such as these make it clear that some lawsuits alleging ADA violations are not intended to increase access for the disabled, but just to line the pockets of attorneys at the expense of local businesses and jobs.
H.R. 881 would stop these abusive tactics because the defendant would receive a letter stating exactly how they were noncompliant so they could fix the problem. The letter is reviewed by the courts, so an attorney will be less likely to make false or abusive claims. Under the current system, many ADA/accessibility lawsuits are filed with very unspecific allegations to give the defendant direction on what needs to be improved.
California needs to take a hard look at reforming ADA regulations. As our economy struggles to recover, we need to focus on job creation - not costly litigation. Rep. Hunter understands that in California, we need more jobs, not more lawsuits.
John Selk owns a small business in
Rancho Cucamonga. He lives in Claremont
By John Selk
Posted: 08/18/2011 06:18:50 PM PDT
http://www.sbsun.com/pointofview/ci_18712378
When President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) civil rights law in 1990, the intent was to prohibit discrimination based on disability and provide complete access for the disabled in public places. Sadly, opportunists have abused the law by filing tens of thousands of ADA lawsuits meant not to improve access for the disabled, but to extract money from small business owners, especially in California.
A loophole in the law allows professional plaintiffs in California to win monetary awards from noncompliant businesses of up to $4,000 per technical noncompliance. Because businesses often settle rather than pay litigation costs, these lawyers collect outrageous fees for ADA violations without ever ensuring the business owner improves accessibility.
Now, thankfully, Congressman Duncan Hunter is proposing a common sense solution, H.R. 881 - The ADA Notification Act of 2011 - that would eliminate thousands of predatory ADA lawsuits and actually improve public access for disabled individuals.
Currently, the ADA is enforced entirely through civil litigation, and the law does not require any notice before a lawsuit can be filed. Many ADA lawsuits are filed for issues of relatively minor noncompliance - such as a sign being the wrong color or having the wrong wording. Due to California's lawsuit-friendly legal climate, 42 percent of ADA lawsuits filed in the United States are filed in California, causing many small businesses to close and wiping out jobs.
Rep. Hunter's common-sense proposal would require a plaintiff to provide a defendant with notification and an opportunity to correct a violation voluntarily before the plaintiff may commence a civil action and force the business owner to incur legal costs.
California legislators have repeatedly rejected reforms like H.R. 881 at the state level. In 2008, the California Legislature created the California Commission on Disability Access, but the commission has failed make any significant progress in reducing abusive claims. Despite the commission's best intentions, California's accessibility standards continue to conflict with federal laws, and exceed 500 pages of minutely detailed standards that change constantly. Most small business owners are unable to determine with certainty the exact changes they need to make to comply with the law, and those few who can afford it have to hire costly experts. Unfortunately, because the law is so subjective, the experts often disagree, leaving the business open to costly lawsuits.
Under H.R. 881, potential plaintiffs would think twice about filing lawsuits with false, inappropriate or exaggerated claims because the law provides time to properly fix any ADA violations. H.R. 881 would limit the number of lawsuits that could be filed to only those in which a defendant was truly unwilling to make appropriate changes, and would ensure that our legal system's limited resources are expended only for cases in which they are truly needed.
Eliminating frivolous lawsuits would have the added benefit of allowing legitimate claims to move through the legal system faster.
In San Bernardino County, one attorney filed more than 100 ADA access lawsuits for a handful of clients, alleging that each had encountered problems at dozens of different businesses on the same street. However, depositions of three of the plaintiffs confirmed that they knew nothing about the locations the lawyer claimed they visited, suggesting they had never even gone to these businesses.
In another instance, one small business reported spending an entire year's profit on the settlement and legal fees from a single ADA lawsuit. The defendant later learned the plaintiff was completely unaware of the majority of claims his attorney made.
Cases such as these make it clear that some lawsuits alleging ADA violations are not intended to increase access for the disabled, but just to line the pockets of attorneys at the expense of local businesses and jobs.
H.R. 881 would stop these abusive tactics because the defendant would receive a letter stating exactly how they were noncompliant so they could fix the problem. The letter is reviewed by the courts, so an attorney will be less likely to make false or abusive claims. Under the current system, many ADA/accessibility lawsuits are filed with very unspecific allegations to give the defendant direction on what needs to be improved.
California needs to take a hard look at reforming ADA regulations. As our economy struggles to recover, we need to focus on job creation - not costly litigation. Rep. Hunter understands that in California, we need more jobs, not more lawsuits.
John Selk owns a small business in
Rancho Cucamonga. He lives in Claremont
