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http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x233315239/Lawsuit-targets-7-Valley-businesses
January 14, 2011
Lawsuit targets 7 Valley businesses
Handicapped woman complains about facilities
By Tricia Pursell Danville; PA.
The Daily Item The Daily Item Fri Jan 14, 2011, 01:10 AM EST
— She’s won some, and she’s lost some.
Whether Texan Leslie Greer will be the victor in her seven most-recent lawsuits, those that target Valley small businesses, remains to be seen.
The wheelchair-bound woman says Valley restaurants and shopping plazas she patronized during a recent visit with her son, a Bucknell University student, are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The complaints filed this week are against BJ’s Steak & Ribhouse, Emma’s Food for Life and Bot’s Cafe Inc., all of Selinsgrove; Mom’s Dutch Kitchen, Danville; PA. Fox’s Family restaurant, Pennsdale;PA Colonial Village Plaza, Shamokin Dam; and Basin Street Shopping Center, Williamsport.PA
Her complaints: Door knobs that she could not open, lack of handicapped-accessible stalls in the bathroom, no rear or side grab bars, no knee clearance under the sink, and mirrors and coat hooks being too high.
A website with data of court dockets and filings lists Greer as a plaintiff in more than two dozen cases — most, if not all, alleging violations of the ADA since 2007.
Her name is also listed online as the president of a nonprofit agency in Allen, Texas, called No Barriers Inc. An attempt to reach her was unsuccessful, as the number listed for that organization was out of service. Her attorney did not return a call for comment.
Bob Kirkpatrick, owner of BJ’s in Selinsgrove, said Thursday he knew nothing of a lawsuit filed against his restaurant.
He admitted his restaurant was not in compliance. However, he said, it is his understanding that the building is “grandfathered” under the ADA because of its age. The building was constructed in the 1860s.
To meet the ADA requirements, he said, it would be extremely difficult and expensive to make the doorways, for example, the proper height and width called for in ADA law.
“You’re talking about major supports in the building that would have to be moved,” Kirkpatrick said. “An impossibility without tearing the building down.”
He realizes the requirements are to his benefit as a business owner.
“I would love to have accessibility,” he said, adding that if he were to construct a new building, he would make sure all requirements were met.
While the rules are not as strict on older businesses, there is no iron-clad exemption for them. Businesses are required to take steps to make their buildings more accessible, and the Department of Justice may investigate and review whether property owners are taking all reasonable steps, according to information from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Americans with Disabilities Act division.
Small businesses that do not have the same financial resources as larger businesses are not expected to make the same amount of investment.
Jeffrey Whitman, a member of the Selinsgrove school board and a professor at Susquehanna University, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, knows the importance, however, of businesses making smaller changes that would make the lives of the disabled at least a little easier.
Kirkpatrick, he said, could have made some of those changes when renovations were made recently to the front of his establishment.
“That was his opportunity to make a change,” Whitman said. “He could have put an easy ramp system on there.”
People think it costs a lot of money, he said, adding that it really doesn’t.
“With a little bit of invention,” Whitman said, “most places can be made at least reasonably accessible for people in wheelchairs.”
In fact, Whitman was the driving force behind the current portable ramp that is made available to wheelchair-bound patrons at Emma’s Food for Life, also in downtown Selinsgrove. At a cost of $200, he said, the restaurant is now more attractive to the handicapped.
The slope on the ramp is steeper than the ADA requires, but it’s better than not having one at all.
Whitman said he has patronized Emma’s enough times that he has probably paid for the ramp himself.
“If you make the place accessible,” he said, “I’ll be there.”
There are lots of resources for businesses in meeting these standards, he added, and it’s important for business owners to know, “There are a lot more people out there in wheelchairs than they can imagine,” he said.
Emma Renninger, owner of Emma’s Food for Life, said the building was built in the 1920s, and as a “very small business,” she is unable to afford major renovations to meet all ADA standards. But she has made the portable ramp available, and has posted a sign on the door that tells people with disabilities there is assistance if they ask. The sign includes a number to reach someone inside for help.
Rick Schuck, owner of Bot’s Cafe Inc., said the building where his business is located was constructed in the 1800s, and is “one of the original historic buildings in Selinsgrove.”
It would be difficult and expensive to meet the strict ADA standards, he said.
But Bot’s does what it can, he said.
It does have patrons who come in wheelchairs, he said, including elderly people from a nearby nursing care center, he said. Employees assist them in getting in and out of the building, over two “modest steps.” Though those in wheelchairs cannot sit at the bar, there are tables for their use.
Greer lost a case earlier this month against a Texas school district when a federal court reversed its decision and said the district did not violate ADA building regulations by not having wheelchair accessibility in the bleachers. Greer watched the game from a concrete walkway in front of the bleachers.
Greer did win a class-action lawsuit, however, against Cafe Brazil restaurants in 2009. Anyone with a mobility impairment disability and using a wheelchair or other device may be entitled to $100 in damages if they visit the restaurant and complain about the ADA violations.
Shamokin Dam Borough Manager Ed Hovenstine said there are ADA violations everywhere.
“If somebody’s out looking for that stuff, God help us,” he said. “They’re going to find it.”
From ensuring a toilet is 18 inches from the center of the wall — not 18½, mind you, to making sure a slope of a ramp is perfectly in line with ADA requirements, sometimes people “go to the extreme,” he said.
A business could be 90 percent compliant, he said, and it isn’t good enough.
For newer buildings, he said, “There is no excuse not to have it (accessibility).”
But for existing buildings, sometimes those stringent standards are impossible to meet.
That doesn’t mean business owners don’t want to comply.
“I don’t know of anybody,” Hovenstine said, “that would purposefully put something in that would exclude somebody in need of handicapped accessibility.”
January 14, 2011
Lawsuit targets 7 Valley businesses
Handicapped woman complains about facilities
By Tricia Pursell Danville; PA.
The Daily Item The Daily Item Fri Jan 14, 2011, 01:10 AM EST
— She’s won some, and she’s lost some.
Whether Texan Leslie Greer will be the victor in her seven most-recent lawsuits, those that target Valley small businesses, remains to be seen.
The wheelchair-bound woman says Valley restaurants and shopping plazas she patronized during a recent visit with her son, a Bucknell University student, are in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The complaints filed this week are against BJ’s Steak & Ribhouse, Emma’s Food for Life and Bot’s Cafe Inc., all of Selinsgrove; Mom’s Dutch Kitchen, Danville; PA. Fox’s Family restaurant, Pennsdale;PA Colonial Village Plaza, Shamokin Dam; and Basin Street Shopping Center, Williamsport.PA
Her complaints: Door knobs that she could not open, lack of handicapped-accessible stalls in the bathroom, no rear or side grab bars, no knee clearance under the sink, and mirrors and coat hooks being too high.
A website with data of court dockets and filings lists Greer as a plaintiff in more than two dozen cases — most, if not all, alleging violations of the ADA since 2007.
Her name is also listed online as the president of a nonprofit agency in Allen, Texas, called No Barriers Inc. An attempt to reach her was unsuccessful, as the number listed for that organization was out of service. Her attorney did not return a call for comment.
Bob Kirkpatrick, owner of BJ’s in Selinsgrove, said Thursday he knew nothing of a lawsuit filed against his restaurant.
He admitted his restaurant was not in compliance. However, he said, it is his understanding that the building is “grandfathered” under the ADA because of its age. The building was constructed in the 1860s.
To meet the ADA requirements, he said, it would be extremely difficult and expensive to make the doorways, for example, the proper height and width called for in ADA law.
“You’re talking about major supports in the building that would have to be moved,” Kirkpatrick said. “An impossibility without tearing the building down.”
He realizes the requirements are to his benefit as a business owner.
“I would love to have accessibility,” he said, adding that if he were to construct a new building, he would make sure all requirements were met.
While the rules are not as strict on older businesses, there is no iron-clad exemption for them. Businesses are required to take steps to make their buildings more accessible, and the Department of Justice may investigate and review whether property owners are taking all reasonable steps, according to information from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Americans with Disabilities Act division.
Small businesses that do not have the same financial resources as larger businesses are not expected to make the same amount of investment.
Jeffrey Whitman, a member of the Selinsgrove school board and a professor at Susquehanna University, who relies on a wheelchair for mobility, knows the importance, however, of businesses making smaller changes that would make the lives of the disabled at least a little easier.
Kirkpatrick, he said, could have made some of those changes when renovations were made recently to the front of his establishment.
“That was his opportunity to make a change,” Whitman said. “He could have put an easy ramp system on there.”
People think it costs a lot of money, he said, adding that it really doesn’t.
“With a little bit of invention,” Whitman said, “most places can be made at least reasonably accessible for people in wheelchairs.”
In fact, Whitman was the driving force behind the current portable ramp that is made available to wheelchair-bound patrons at Emma’s Food for Life, also in downtown Selinsgrove. At a cost of $200, he said, the restaurant is now more attractive to the handicapped.
The slope on the ramp is steeper than the ADA requires, but it’s better than not having one at all.
Whitman said he has patronized Emma’s enough times that he has probably paid for the ramp himself.
“If you make the place accessible,” he said, “I’ll be there.”
There are lots of resources for businesses in meeting these standards, he added, and it’s important for business owners to know, “There are a lot more people out there in wheelchairs than they can imagine,” he said.
Emma Renninger, owner of Emma’s Food for Life, said the building was built in the 1920s, and as a “very small business,” she is unable to afford major renovations to meet all ADA standards. But she has made the portable ramp available, and has posted a sign on the door that tells people with disabilities there is assistance if they ask. The sign includes a number to reach someone inside for help.
Rick Schuck, owner of Bot’s Cafe Inc., said the building where his business is located was constructed in the 1800s, and is “one of the original historic buildings in Selinsgrove.”
It would be difficult and expensive to meet the strict ADA standards, he said.
But Bot’s does what it can, he said.
It does have patrons who come in wheelchairs, he said, including elderly people from a nearby nursing care center, he said. Employees assist them in getting in and out of the building, over two “modest steps.” Though those in wheelchairs cannot sit at the bar, there are tables for their use.
Greer lost a case earlier this month against a Texas school district when a federal court reversed its decision and said the district did not violate ADA building regulations by not having wheelchair accessibility in the bleachers. Greer watched the game from a concrete walkway in front of the bleachers.
Greer did win a class-action lawsuit, however, against Cafe Brazil restaurants in 2009. Anyone with a mobility impairment disability and using a wheelchair or other device may be entitled to $100 in damages if they visit the restaurant and complain about the ADA violations.
Shamokin Dam Borough Manager Ed Hovenstine said there are ADA violations everywhere.
“If somebody’s out looking for that stuff, God help us,” he said. “They’re going to find it.”
From ensuring a toilet is 18 inches from the center of the wall — not 18½, mind you, to making sure a slope of a ramp is perfectly in line with ADA requirements, sometimes people “go to the extreme,” he said.
A business could be 90 percent compliant, he said, and it isn’t good enough.
For newer buildings, he said, “There is no excuse not to have it (accessibility).”
But for existing buildings, sometimes those stringent standards are impossible to meet.
That doesn’t mean business owners don’t want to comply.
“I don’t know of anybody,” Hovenstine said, “that would purposefully put something in that would exclude somebody in need of handicapped accessibility.”