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Kansas woman files flurry of ADA lawsuits against Tulsa businesses
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/courts/kansas-woman-files-flurry-of-ada-lawsuits-against-tulsa-businesses/article_eaa03b0c-faf9-50bb-be41-08f0d31fe074.html
Posted: Sunday, May 25, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 12:25 am, Sun May 25, 2014.
By Curtis Killman World Staff Writer | 2 comments
A Kansas woman’s visit to Tulsa in February has resulted in eight businesses being hit with federal lawsuits over alleged Americans with Disabilities Act violations.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Guadalupe Betancourt, who according to court documents, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
The cases are the latest in a series of lawsuits the Cowley County, Kansas, woman has filed in federal courts in recent years.
In all, Betancourt has filed over 100 ADA access lawsuits against businesses in five different states since 2009, a Tulsa World review of court records shows.
Most of the lawsuits have been filed against Oklahoma businesses, with 33 cases filed in Tulsa’s Northern District court and eight cases filed in Oklahoma City’s Western District court, records show.
Nearly all of the cases are resolved within six months through undisclosed settlements between the parties.
In some cases, the business is required to pay Betancourt’s legal fees and in other cases the parties pay their own attorney fees and associated expenses.
The ADA does not permit private plaintiffs who bring lawsuits to receive monetary damages.
The most recent round of lawsuits filed involve eight shopping centers in Tulsa. Previously, Betancourt has sued Tulsa hotels, a grocery store and a Hooters restaurant.
The Airway Shopping Center, an aging strip mall located in the 800 block of North Sheridan Road, is one of the businesses sued in May by Betancourt following a Tulsa visit to family members.
The lawsuit states that Betancourt noticed 10 specific deficiencies at the shopping center during a Feb. 25 visit. The deficiencies include a lack of designated accessible parking spaces in front of stores and a lack of curb cuts leading from parking areas to the sidewalk.
Betancourt’s visit to the shopping center came the same month it was sold to a New York entity, the Louis Wiener Trust.
Rich Davies, an attorney for the shopping center, said last week the company had just been served with the lawsuit. But, he added that the company gives a high priority to such issues.
“It’s a recently acquired property,” Davies said. “We probably bought it without knowing about other existential circumstances that existed. Whatever it is, it’s going to be taken care of as quickly as possible.”
Betancourt’s Pennsylvania attorney could not be reached for comment on the lawsuits.
Another Tulsa shopping center owner said he was unaware his business had been sued until contacted by the World.
“It takes me totally by surprise,” said David Cox, owner and manager of the Mini Mall 31 shopping center in the 5900 block of East 31st Street.
Betancourt’s suit makes numerous claims regarding alleged ADA deficiencies at the shopping center. She claims she visited the shopping center Feb. 3 and plans to return in August if existing barriers do not prevent her from doing so.
The alleged barriers include a lack of access aisles at designated parking spaces; accessible parking signs that don’t indicate a fine for illegal parking; no curb cuts at the property for an individual in a wheelchair to utilize, and doors that close too quickly at the movie theater.
Cox, who said he does not own the movie theater property, said he has owned the shopping center for 40 years and has never had a complaint before about accessibility issues.
“We’ve got plenty of (handicapped) parking spots around here,” Cox said. “We’ve got handicapped ramps. ... I would think if someone was handicapped they would come to the property manager or the property owner” to address any access issues.
Federal law provides that individuals may file lawsuits to obtain court orders stopping discrimination. A Wichita attorney who has worked extensively on ADA access matters said he tries to work with the property owner first.
“Personally, I don’t like drive-by lawsuits,” said David Calvert. “I’ve filed lawsuits, but I write a letter to the business first and if they don’t comply then we don’t have any choice but to file a lawsuit.”
Calvert, who uses a wheelchair, described a drive-by lawsuit this way:
“A drive-by lawsuit to me is where a person with a disability will drive by a public accommodation, usually shopping centers and hotels, and determine from the outside whether there is inadequate parking or ADA violations in general,” Calvert said.
“They may go inside or they may not. They report these to an attorney, who files a lawsuit. It usually is not a local attorney that does that.”
Calvert said after he sends a letter detailing the deficiencies, he usually gets businesses to comply “80 percent to 90 percent” of the time.
“Most people are not in compliance because of ignorance,” he said.
The biggest ADA access issues Calvert said he sees relate to parking and restrooms.
“I don’t travel that much, but Oklahoma has not really been real good in ADA enforcement,” Calvert said. “I’ve stopped at restaurants and fast-food places where I can’t get into the bathroom.”
ADA accessibility complaints may be filed with the state Attorney General’s office. Locally, complaints may also be filed with the city of Tulsa Human Rights Department, said Jackson Landrum, interim director of the department.
Landrum estimated that the city received dozens of public accommodation complaints during a year. He said the department does not have subpoena power and cannot bring enforcement actions.
“What we are going to do is get with the complainant and the respondent, find out what’s going on and make aggressive attempts to conciliate the matter,” Landrum said.
Betancourt has filed about 33 ADA access cases in Tulsa federal court since 2009. One of the first cases involved Hooters of Tulsa, 8108 E. 61 St.
Betancourt’s complaint, filed by an Oklahoma City attorney, noted she encountered numerous architectural barriers when she visited the restaurant in 2009, including urinals that did not comply with ADA standards.
The case was dismissed after both sides reached a settlement in 2010, records show. A document filed at the time noted the court would “retain jurisdiction over this matter to enforce, as necessary, the terms of the parties’ consent settlement agreement.”
The agreement was not made part of the public records.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/courts/kansas-woman-files-flurry-of-ada-lawsuits-against-tulsa-businesses/article_eaa03b0c-faf9-50bb-be41-08f0d31fe074.html
Posted: Sunday, May 25, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 12:25 am, Sun May 25, 2014.
By Curtis Killman World Staff Writer | 2 comments
A Kansas woman’s visit to Tulsa in February has resulted in eight businesses being hit with federal lawsuits over alleged Americans with Disabilities Act violations.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of Guadalupe Betancourt, who according to court documents, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
The cases are the latest in a series of lawsuits the Cowley County, Kansas, woman has filed in federal courts in recent years.
In all, Betancourt has filed over 100 ADA access lawsuits against businesses in five different states since 2009, a Tulsa World review of court records shows.
Most of the lawsuits have been filed against Oklahoma businesses, with 33 cases filed in Tulsa’s Northern District court and eight cases filed in Oklahoma City’s Western District court, records show.
Nearly all of the cases are resolved within six months through undisclosed settlements between the parties.
In some cases, the business is required to pay Betancourt’s legal fees and in other cases the parties pay their own attorney fees and associated expenses.
The ADA does not permit private plaintiffs who bring lawsuits to receive monetary damages.
The most recent round of lawsuits filed involve eight shopping centers in Tulsa. Previously, Betancourt has sued Tulsa hotels, a grocery store and a Hooters restaurant.
The Airway Shopping Center, an aging strip mall located in the 800 block of North Sheridan Road, is one of the businesses sued in May by Betancourt following a Tulsa visit to family members.
The lawsuit states that Betancourt noticed 10 specific deficiencies at the shopping center during a Feb. 25 visit. The deficiencies include a lack of designated accessible parking spaces in front of stores and a lack of curb cuts leading from parking areas to the sidewalk.
Betancourt’s visit to the shopping center came the same month it was sold to a New York entity, the Louis Wiener Trust.
Rich Davies, an attorney for the shopping center, said last week the company had just been served with the lawsuit. But, he added that the company gives a high priority to such issues.
“It’s a recently acquired property,” Davies said. “We probably bought it without knowing about other existential circumstances that existed. Whatever it is, it’s going to be taken care of as quickly as possible.”
Betancourt’s Pennsylvania attorney could not be reached for comment on the lawsuits.
Another Tulsa shopping center owner said he was unaware his business had been sued until contacted by the World.
“It takes me totally by surprise,” said David Cox, owner and manager of the Mini Mall 31 shopping center in the 5900 block of East 31st Street.
Betancourt’s suit makes numerous claims regarding alleged ADA deficiencies at the shopping center. She claims she visited the shopping center Feb. 3 and plans to return in August if existing barriers do not prevent her from doing so.
The alleged barriers include a lack of access aisles at designated parking spaces; accessible parking signs that don’t indicate a fine for illegal parking; no curb cuts at the property for an individual in a wheelchair to utilize, and doors that close too quickly at the movie theater.
Cox, who said he does not own the movie theater property, said he has owned the shopping center for 40 years and has never had a complaint before about accessibility issues.
“We’ve got plenty of (handicapped) parking spots around here,” Cox said. “We’ve got handicapped ramps. ... I would think if someone was handicapped they would come to the property manager or the property owner” to address any access issues.
Federal law provides that individuals may file lawsuits to obtain court orders stopping discrimination. A Wichita attorney who has worked extensively on ADA access matters said he tries to work with the property owner first.
“Personally, I don’t like drive-by lawsuits,” said David Calvert. “I’ve filed lawsuits, but I write a letter to the business first and if they don’t comply then we don’t have any choice but to file a lawsuit.”
Calvert, who uses a wheelchair, described a drive-by lawsuit this way:
“A drive-by lawsuit to me is where a person with a disability will drive by a public accommodation, usually shopping centers and hotels, and determine from the outside whether there is inadequate parking or ADA violations in general,” Calvert said.
“They may go inside or they may not. They report these to an attorney, who files a lawsuit. It usually is not a local attorney that does that.”
Calvert said after he sends a letter detailing the deficiencies, he usually gets businesses to comply “80 percent to 90 percent” of the time.
“Most people are not in compliance because of ignorance,” he said.
The biggest ADA access issues Calvert said he sees relate to parking and restrooms.
“I don’t travel that much, but Oklahoma has not really been real good in ADA enforcement,” Calvert said. “I’ve stopped at restaurants and fast-food places where I can’t get into the bathroom.”
ADA accessibility complaints may be filed with the state Attorney General’s office. Locally, complaints may also be filed with the city of Tulsa Human Rights Department, said Jackson Landrum, interim director of the department.
Landrum estimated that the city received dozens of public accommodation complaints during a year. He said the department does not have subpoena power and cannot bring enforcement actions.
“What we are going to do is get with the complainant and the respondent, find out what’s going on and make aggressive attempts to conciliate the matter,” Landrum said.
Betancourt has filed about 33 ADA access cases in Tulsa federal court since 2009. One of the first cases involved Hooters of Tulsa, 8108 E. 61 St.
Betancourt’s complaint, filed by an Oklahoma City attorney, noted she encountered numerous architectural barriers when she visited the restaurant in 2009, including urinals that did not comply with ADA standards.
The case was dismissed after both sides reached a settlement in 2010, records show. A document filed at the time noted the court would “retain jurisdiction over this matter to enforce, as necessary, the terms of the parties’ consent settlement agreement.”
The agreement was not made part of the public records.