[blindlaw] FW: Businesses Should Reach Out to Avoid ADA Suits

[Noel Nightingale]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-justice at jfanow.org [mailto:owner-justice at jfanow.org] On
Behalf Of Justice For All Moderator
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 3:33 PM
To: justice at jfanow.org
Subject: Businesses Should Reach Out to Avoid ADA Suits


Businesses Should Reach Out to Avoid ADA Suits
  
By Stephanie Tavares / Staff Writer 

It's every small business owner's worst nightmare: Out of the 
blue you get a letter from an attorney saying if you don't 
cough up  say, $4,000  you're going to get sued for tens of 
thousands of dollars for violating the Americans with 
Disabilities Act.

Maybe you thought your building was in full compliance with the 
law. If it's a new building or you haven't done any 
renovations, you should be fine, right?

Probably not. All it takes is a hand rail that's two inches too 
low, a doorway two inches too narrow and an unsympathetic 
customer and you've got a lawsuit on your hands. 
The unfortunate way that this statute has been applied is that 
even for very minor violations, they can collect attorneys' 
fees and benefits, said attorney Anthony Hall of Hale Lane law 
firm.

"(Businesses) can pay $50,000 for something that could have 
cost a couple hundred dollars to fix," he said. 
California plaintiff Jarek Molski is known for filing hundreds 
of such claims. One of his latest suits, Molski v. Mandarin 
Touch Restaurant, is now in front of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court 
of Appeals and is being closely watched by business advocates 
and attorneys across the nation.

Molski claims he injured his hand while trying to use the 
restaurant's bathroom. He made identical injury claims against 
13 other restaurants he visited within four days of visiting 
Mandarin Touch Restaurant in May 2003.

The owners of Mandarin Touch Restaurant, based in Solvang, 
Calif., aren't just fighting the suit, they're fighting 
Molski's right to file it.

After learning they were being sued by Moslki  who has made 
more than 300 similar complaints  the owners filed a motion 
with the court to have him declared a vexatious litigant and 
challenging his right to bring suit. Molski has been banned 
from filing further ADA claims without the consent of the 
court.

The 9th Circuit is expected to rule on whether or not the 
previous court is allowed to do that and if Molski had any 
business suing these people in the first place. He lived more 
than 100 miles from the restaurant and only went there once. He 
has been accused of visiting businesses and filing ADA claims 
for the sole purpose of getting money.

The 9th Circuit is expected to address whether a person has 
standing to file suit if they only went to the business for the 
purpose of enriching themselves. 
"The courts are all over the map on whether the claimant has 
standing," Hall said. "The battlefield and a big issue of 
concern for people who deal with this issue is whether there 
are going to be rulings that will give us an answer and 
appropriately define the standing."

If the 9th Circuit throws out Molski's case, it could mean 
added protection for small businesses who have almost no 
defense against these serial plaintiffs who file suits which 
often lead to only limited improvement in business 
accessibility.

But it's not just businesses that are getting hurt. Activists 
for people with disabilities say that sometimes these lawsuits 
hurt more than they help.

"There are these individuals and boutique law firms that make a 
business out of filing 75 claims at a time and it leads to a 
strong backlash against the ADA and it can do harm to the cause 
of increasing access for those with disabilities," said Andrew 
Imparato, president of the American Association of People with 
Disabilities. "The point of this law is not to shake-down 
businesses and make money off them. The point is to improve 
accessibility."

Imparato said the best thing businesses can do to comply with 
the Americans with Disabilities Act is to start a dialogue with 
local disability organizations and independent living centers.  
Hall suggested putting out a suggestion box so customers can 
alert you to problem areas. There are companies and 
organizations that do inspections but some of them are not 
well-trained and all of them are hard to find  none for Las 
Vegas turned up in a search of the phone book and the Internet. 
Business owners can also find an ADA compliance tip sheet at 
www.restaurant.org/legal/law_ada.cfm.

By reaching out to locals with disabilities, you not only help 
protect yourself from lawsuits, but you can improve access to 
your business leading to increased sales. According to the U.S. 
Department of Labor, people with disabilities have about $175 
billion in discretionary funds and they spend about $13.6 
billion on travel, according to a New York Times study. 
But people with disabilities can't spend money at your business 
if they can't get in the door and they won't make repeat 
customers if they can't use the restroom.

To quote the U.S. Department of Justice, "compliance with the 
Americans with Disabilities Act makes good business sense." 
Stephanie Tavares covers small business and law for In Business 
Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She 
can be reached at (702) 259-4059 or by email at 
stephanie.tavares at lasvegassun.com.
______________________________________________________________

For more ADA in the News issues, see:
www.aapd.com/News/adainthe/indexada.php

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