News

Senator Feinstein decries ADA 'shakedown' suits

March 28, 2012

At least one U.S. senator is paying attention to the proliferation of predatory ADA lawsuits. An article at law.com reported that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) of California said that if the state does not act to fix the problem she will author legislation at the federal level to do it for them.

"It appears these suits and demand letters are driven by a unique California law that, unlike the federal ADA, permits the recovery of damages for noncompliance," Feinstein wrote in a March 8 letter to California state senate leadership.

A 2008 California law provides some legal cover to business owners who pay to have their premises inspected by "certified access specialists." The inspection does not preclude a suit, though; it merely gives the business owner a 90-day stay and provides for a conference to resolve claims quickly. However, the law.com article said, one frequent plaintiff brought more suits after the law's passage than he had in the three years previous.

In her letter, Feinstein made it clear that the California was not doing enough to protect businesses. "The January 2012 edition of the California Lawyer noted that there are hundreds of cases in which plaintiffs' lawyers demand monetary settlements from business owners that require little in terms of improved access for the disabled," Feinstein wrote. "The 'shakedown' tactics used by these lawyers may place a financial strain on businesses and counterproductively leave them unable to afford to make the required access improvements."

Feinstein noted that the same attorney had filed suit against eight San Francisco businesses within a two-block radius for "comparable" violations. In Redlands, Calif., she said, 22 businesses also were sued by that same attorney "for failing to post a sign next to the handicapped parking spaces that informed parking violators they will be towed. Business owners settled these cases in amounts that ranged from $5,000 to $14,000," Feinstein wrote.

For more on this topic, visit our ADA research center.