News and awareness of these ADA lawsuit situations has been developing a long time.

Here are some of the many links on ADA lawsuit news.

San Francisco tries to stop ADA lawsuits by offering city paid inspections.

Second article about the program in SF to help businesses Here.

The Department of Justice did a survey of Jacksonville, FL and found many different violations. The City of Jacksonville, FL is being asked to fix these violations. At least they have a choice to fix it, rather than having a lawsuit bring them to court.

The city of Baltimore upgrades their curb cuts but lacks the money to complete a path of travel. Curb cuts by themselves leaves the disabled stranded.

Martinez’ widely publicized lawsuit alleges he and his wife were stranded for 40 minutes on Small World just inside the last tunnel when the attraction malfunctioned. He claims that other, non-disabled guests were removed but that he and his wife (“Buchanan”) were not provided “constructive assistance from any emergency or medical professionals, or Disney employees.” While a female cast member approached their boat, Martinez claims he “felt his blood pressure rising, explained to the female employee that he was having a panic attack, requested medical attention, and insisted that he needed to exit the ride immediately” but without success. Martinez claims that despite telling another employee that he needed medical attention, he remained on Small World, “experiencing Dysreflexia” for another 20 to 25 minutes. Martinez claims he repeatedly requested emergency medical attention but Disney did not contact paramedics until after he exited Small World.

You can read the rest here

The basic understanding for how to avoid lawsuits remains the same no matter what state you are in or what the laws are for ADA compliance.

Figure out where you are out of compliance and make a plan to fix it immediately. There are no short cuts, or any other sure ways to avoiding ADA lawsuits.

Colorado has recently joined larger states like New York, Florida and California in suffering a wave of “Drive-by Litigation.” Recently a single disabled plaintiff and Florida attorneys have filed many nearly identical lawsuits designed to extort settlements from Denver Metro Area businesses for failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Channel 7 News reports that these same two attorneys have filed hundreds of similar lawsuits in other states.

How can you avoid your business becoming the target of a drive-by ADA lawsuit? You can start by auditing your business for ADA compliance.

Original article here: Original Article

Interesting article quoted below.

By employing simple risk management techniques you can protect yourself on many levels. First and foremost, be sure you know the law and work within the law to be in compliance. The pieces that you cannot control, you should transfer to others when available. One such risk transfer technique is purchasing Employment Practices Liability Insurance, or EPL for short. This is an insurance policy that protects employers from lawsuits that they may receive from employees. Everything from unlawful termination, discrimination, harassment, and wage & hour disputes are covered under this type of policy. However, this insurance is not included in your standard General Liability protection.

You can read the rest of the article here.

What this article focuses on, is insurance. Insurance is important but that isn’t protection against lawsuits, just against you paying for them. Of course, you still have to pay for the insurance. Either way, the best way to avoid lawsuits is to be compliant in the first place. Being compliant ensures you have a defensible situation. After all, who has money to throw away on a fixed cost such as paying for insurance?

Often property stakeholders will hire us only after the second lawsuit, because they dismiss the first like being hit by lightning (it won’t happen again). This dismissal ignores the fact that most property stakeholders who have been sued believe that they would never have been sued in the first place.

But ADA compliance is something visible to the naked eye. If you know a few things, you can spot them everywhere. And even if you only know a few things, you can bet that there will be many many MANY more things in violation with your site. The best solution to stopping lawsuits is to become compliant in the first place.

You know what to do. help@ytaccess.com or 866 982 3212. Contact us. We are your best solution to finding out what is wrong with your site.

A lawsuit was filed yesterday (11-14) in superior court against the Alameda Count Jail at Santa Rita (Dublin) by lawyers for disabled inmates. The allegation is that the facility denies them access to toilets, showers and programs.

“Whats happening at Santa Rita is wrong as so many levels. Civil rights are routinely violated, and the jail’s correctional rehabilitation model is rendered effectively unavailable for an entire population of people,” Michelle Uzeta, legal director for the Disability Rights Legal Center, is quoted as saying.

See the rest here and here

Referenced from Overlawyered.com

The first shipment of the new [SmarTrip card] machines did not have the audio and Braille features required under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But Metro thought it could roll out the machines and add the audio and Braille a couple of months later. When disability advocates raised concerns, Metro realized that going forward would violate the ADA, and the transit agency halted the rollout.

So nearly three weeks after every station was to have its own SmarTrip card dispenser, riders at nearly half of the stations in the Metrorail system are out of luck if they need to buy a card.

Read it here: New Metro Card Machine not compliant

The principle being that, if it is offered to one it must be offered to all.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The quadriplegic attorney who has sued more than 2,100 businesses over disabled access refuses to answer allegations that he never personally visited many of them.

Four former legal assistants who have filed a sexual harassment and wrongful termination lawsuit against Scott Johnson claim they were sent into most of the businesses Johnson sued while he waited outside in his van.

Johnson has not returned phone calls or emails since the story broke in early October, but News10 caught up to him Monday outside the federal courthouse as he arrived for a status conference on one of his active cases.

“My legal counsel has instructed me not to provide any comments,” Johnson said in response to multiple questions about the drive-by allegations.

In an earlier interview with News10, the ex-employees expressed remorse for their role in preparing what they now consider fraudulent lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Read more here: http://www.news10.net/news/local/article/215162/2/Attorney-behind-2100-lawsuits-questioned-at-courthouse

We live in a litigious society. Don’t be caught up suing or being sued. Its better to be compliant and avoid any court issues in the first place.

KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A Knoxville breast center is being sued for allegedly denying services to a disabled woman. The plaintiff is the disability service coordinator for the city.

Stephanie Cook has been in a wheelchair for 25 years. She says she was denied an MRI at the Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center (KCBC) because of her disability.

“I’ve just never had any one blatantly say we can’t help you,” said Cook, the disability service coordinator.

It began in June 2011 when Cook, who has a family history of breast cancer, found a suspicious lump. She went to KCBC for a consult.

“They told me to come back in six months for an MRI,” Cook said. “I asked (the nurse) to make a note that I use a chair and I would probably need some help to get on the table.”

Then last December she was told she could not have the MRI she needed. It is not handicap accessible.

Cook is suing the center under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Read more here: Knoxville disability coordinator files discrimination lawsuit

It’s important for all goods and services to be accessible to anyone if those services are offered to everyone.

Senate Bill 1186 couldn’t pass through California’s governmental processes fast enough for businesses. It was heralded as the end of “drive by lawsuits”, but the final bill may have fallen far short of that lofty goal.

Unfortunately for business owners, none of those parts does anything to curb the tide of accessibility lawsuits. In fact, predatory lawyers seeking to bolster their income may start filing even more lawsuits.

SB 1186 has nine important parts. This article focuses on the first three sections.

Part One of the law tries to stop “frivolous” lawsuits by requiring attorneys to send a copies of their demand letters to  the California Commission on Disability Access and, until January 1, 2016, to the State Bar. It also puts some limits on what can be in a demand letter. For example, what has been called “perfectly legal extortion” can no longer happen. In the past these serial litigants would demand a few thousand dollars, or they would file suit seeking tens of thousands of dollars from the target business.

However, because of the rise of CASp, very few letters use this tactic anymore anyway. And nearly all recent lawsuits are based on just a few actually legitimate complaints rather than the laundry list lawsuits of the last decade. This part of the new law is largely behind the times and outdated.

Part Two attempts to protect businesses which are already in the process of becoming compliant. Until now, even if you are in the middle of construction to fix an accessibility problem, a drive-by litigator could send you a lawsuit alleging that it wasn’t correct at the exact moment they visited — and legally they’d be right. In this case, 1186 does give a great benefit. It grants even greater protection for anyone who has hired a CASp. You don’t have to be fully compliant; you don’t even have to have started construction. So long as you’ve hired a CASp before you get sued, you are now protected.

Part Three is what everyone thought would be the magic bullet. It lowers the amount you can be fined from a mandatory minimum of $4000 to a minimum of $1000. However, that only applies if you are able to fix the problem within 60 days of being notified. This type of rush construction is great for contractors because they know you are under the gun so they charge whatever they like. Your total out-of-pocket expenses could even be higher than just ponying up the $4000. It’s also very important to understand that even the $1000 fine is “per offence”, which means the same litigant can say they visited your store or restaurant 10 times and multiply all of the fines by 10. Or 20. Or 50.

So, there are some benefits granted by SB 1186, but getting a CASp survey is still the only true legal protection against accessibility lawsuits.

You can read the law for yourself by clicking here: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_1151-1200/sb_1186_bill_20120430_amended_sen_v98.html

Stay tuned for the second part soon.  Any questions about how SB 1186 applies to your site or looking to schedule an inspection?  Call us at 866 982 3212 or email us at help@ytaccess.com.

The city of Arlington, TX has settled a lawsuit over the Americans with Disabilities Act for their streets and sidewalks.

ARLINGTON — After years of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Arlington has reached a settlement with a group of residents who allege the city failed to ensure its sidewalks were accessible to people with disabilities.

Richard Frame, a quadriplegic resident, sued Arlington in 2005 over the lack of accessible sidewalks and curb cuts that he said were required under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Lack of compliance is rampart. Despite this norm, lawsuits will continue.

Read more here: Tags: ada lawsuit, arlington, tx
Posted in ADA Lawsuits