ADA Lawsuits: Burlingame not immune

I have heard about the stream of ADA access lawsuits targeting small businesses in B'game over the last few months.  Now the SF Chronicle is reporting that two high-profile, big city DA's (who are facing recall elections) are trying to do something about it.  This strikes close to home because the typical settlement is in the range of $10,000 - 11,000.  That's no small change for a small business.  The Chron notes

Accusing a law firm of fleecing small businesses in California with thousands of baseless disability-rights suits, the district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles asked a judge Monday to halt the practice and order the firm to refund millions of dollars the businesses paid to settle the suits.  For years, the firm, Potter Handy of San Diego, has been “bombarding California’s small businesses with abusive, boilerplate lawsuits,” District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his Los Angeles County counterpart, George Gascón, said in a suit in San Francisco Superior Court.

They said the firm sues on behalf of a handful of disabled clients who, in most cases, have never even visited the businesses and claim violations that are typically fabricated.  One of Potter Handy’s clients, Brian Whitaker, has filed approximately 1,700 suits, and another, Orlando Garcia, has filed more than 800, the district attorneys’ lawsuit said. Both live in Los Angeles County but have filed hundreds of cases in the Bay Area.

I spoke with local litigator Mike Liberty, who has represented one local B'game business in one of Mr. Whitaker's 1,700 lawsuits, about the move by Boudin and Gascón.  He estimates there could be as many as 40 such suits just in B'game.  While Mike agrees that the statute is being exploited, he's not confident that the federal law as currently written will give a judge enough room to side with the plaintiffs and the Mom & Pops.  I often complain about judges legislating from the bench and this is no exception.  The answer may be to revise the ADA itself, but in the meantime I would love to see our Burlingame City Attorney, Michael Guina, jump into support the lawsuit via an amicus brief.

It would show that our city council's oft-repeated support for small B'game businesses walks the walk and not just talks the talk.  Check out the photo below of an EssEff business that got sued during Covid when it was only doing take-out!

May 8 Update:  Here is a paragraph from the Daily Post that is B'game specific.  Can you say "refund"?

Comments

[Paloma Ave]

The ADA was one of the worst pieces of legislation passed during the first Bush administration.

[Joe]

SSF stepping in.

South San Francisco businesses, some facing threats of Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits, could get some financial relief to make accessibility or other improvements with a newly established grant program offering payments up to $25,000.

The City Council this week agreed to use $500,000 from its reserves to aid the small business community following a wave of litigation threats made by a Southern California law firm targeting shops and restaurants with facilities like restrooms or seating options that are not ADA compliant. Legal fees and required changes can cost hundreds of thousands and cause businesses to shutter.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/ada-compliance-aid-headed-for-small-businesses-in-south-san-francisco/article_0cb0f6a4-bd38-11ec-a7ea-37dcd8edfb56.html?utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1650117615&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline

[Spurinna]

The solution is not for government to continue buying votes by handing out money.

The solution is for government to change the laws so they can’t be used to harass free enterprise.

[Paloma Ave]

Spurina - You are 100% correct!

[Joe]

Just when you thought this issue couldn't get anymore insane, the Chronicle runs this today:

The first time Kevin Reid received a letter informing him that his family was being sued, he assumed it was “some kind of spam thing.”

But the letters kept coming, and then a notice was delivered in person. A Florida resident named Andres Gomez was suing the Reid family for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act because, the complaint alleged, the WEBSITE for the family’s Napa winery failed to meet accessibility standards.

Reid Family Vineyards is one of at least 50 California wineries that Gomez has sued since the beginning of the year over website accessibility issues.

The wine industry is among many groups targeted lately by a siege of ADA lawsuits, many of them handled by Potter Handy.

Under the ADA, brick-and-mortar businesses that operate websites must comply with certain accessibility standards to accommodate the visually impaired. One common violation he alleged is that images on a website do not have a text equivalent that could be interpreted by a screen reader. Gomez also complained of an “impermissibly low contrast enabling differentiation of background and foreground elements.”

https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/wine/article/50-Bay-Area-wineries-got-hit-with-disability-17079937.php

[Paloma Ave]

What are the three truisms in life?

1

[Paloma Ave]

1) The check is in the mail; 2) I am from the government and I am here to help; 3) ?

[Mom]

No good deed goes unpunished

[[email protected]]

So, like any other "Scam" the Litigant is just throwing unsubstantiated claims all over and hoping someone will just pay them to go away?
Or is there really something that needs to be addressed?

[Just Visiting]

The answer to Holly's question is: both.

The ADA is a well-meaning piece of legislation aimed at making the world more accessible for people with disabilities--and there are lots of ways businesses and governments can improve access to people with disabilities that they largely won't do unless they have to or have a personal experience that informs their POV (because: costs).

And there are plenty of plaintiffs' lawyers who have made cottage industries out of suing anyone and everyone to enforce changes (but mostly to collect fees). They generally don't care if there is a legitimate need, or legitimate complaint, and they often essentially employ the same individual with a disability to visit businesses to find problems (that often aren't especially severe, if at all).

[[email protected]]

Thank you.

[Joe]

There are pieces in both the DJ and the Post about the number of ADA lawsuits by Potter Handy "plummeting" after the filing date of the DAs' suit. Looks like good progress. I do hope the DAs' suit continues.

[Barking Dog]

https://www.rwcpulse.com/redwood-city-news/federal-judge-finds-ada-plaintiffs-testimony-not-credible-dismisses-his-suit-against-redwood-city-restaurant-5340106

[Joe]

Thanks, Barking Dog. You beat me to it, but I have added a bit to the original post from a front-page article in the weekend Daily Post about the impact in B'game.

[Joe]

I cannot fathom how a judge would delay this trial. Justice delayed is justice denied. Per the DJ:

A San Francisco Superior Court judge on Thursday postponed argument on the legitimacy of thousands of Bay Area lawsuits brought in federal court under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Judge Richard Ulmer said that he did not want to “spend judicial resources” on the dispute until he found out if the successor to recently recalled San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will pursue the case.
------------------
The new DA (Brooke Jenkins) should put out a press release this afternoon confirming on-going pursuit in the lawsuit.

[Joe]

From the NY Post:

An infamous ambulance-chasing lawyer — exposed as a scammer by The Post in 2019 — was sentenced to four years behind bars for filing close to 300 sham lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act in New York and Florida.

Stuart Finkelstein, 68, was handed the sentence Thursday from Manhattan federal Judge Paul Gardephe, who also slapped him with three years of post-release supervision and over $800,000 in fines and forfeitures.

Gardephe will determine the restitution Finkelstein must pay at a later date.

https://nypost.com/2023/08/04/fraudster-lawyer-gets-4-years-for-bogus-disability-suit-scam/

I haven't seen any reports that the local prosecution is proceeding......