You may think that there is no official body that enforces the ADA but there is, although the dragon often sleeps. The ADA isn’t enforced just by individuals in lawsuits, but also by the Department of Justice. Recently the DOJ has reached a settlement with QuikTrip…

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a comprehensive settlement under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with QuikTrip Corporation, a private company that owns and operates more than 550 gas stations, convenience stores, travel centers, and truck stops in the Midwest, South and Southwestern United States. Under the consent decree, which was filed today along with a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska, QuikTrip will create a $1.5 million compensatory damages fund for individuals who were victims of discrimination based on disability, as well as take various steps to make its stores accessible.

Read more on the details of the ADA Settlement

Chipotle’s experience lets its patrons see the food being prepared. Chipotle Mexican Grill was sued for its counters being too high. The final decision of the lawsuit is below in this article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

On the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal appeals court said the law entitles wheelchair users at a restaurant to the same view as everyone else of the food that awaits them – in this case, burritos, tacos and the rest of the fare at Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The 45-inch-high wall between the customer line and the food preparation counter at two Chipotle restaurants in San Diego County, which blocked the view of patrons in wheelchairs, violated the 1990 federal law that requires equal treatment of the disabled, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Monday.

(Read more on Chipotle’s Counters Block Disabled View of Food)

If getting an inspection could have helped warn the business. Regular inspections are a necessary part of running a business. About 20 years ago there were no house appraisals. Only a few people did them. Most did not want a house appraisal before they bought the house. Now it’s a regular part of the process of buying or refinancing a house. The same was true for various other inspections as well. Eventually ADA inspections will be part of that process.

There are thousands of these lawsuits. As the word passes more and more individuals might be tempted to test the waters with these suits. Having an ADA appraisal done of your site costs a fraction of a what a lawsuit would cost. A good example would be from one of our clients who informed us that after taxes he made only about 28k a year. The aftermath of the lawsuit cost him 15k — which included the cost of settling, paying for an architect and an attorney. An ADA appraisal would have cost him less than a thousand and prevented attracting a professional litigant.

Seminars on ADA Awareness are useful to help small and local businesses.

From the Business Journal:

Many restaurants, bars, salons and other service businesses overlook a requirement in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that signs be mounted exactly 60 inches above the ground.

They may also forget that hot water and drainpipes underneath sinks need to be insulated to protect against contact, particularly from those in wheelchairs.

Those are some of the things that were learned at a recent workshop put on by the City of Clovis to help local businesses come into compliance with the 20-year-old law in response to the large number of recent lawsuits.

Around 50 businesses needed the help since San Jose lawyer Randy Moore began targeting the Central Valley around two months ago on behalf of clients. El Gallo restaurant in Clovis, for instance, was forced to close its doors after being penalized up to $88,000 for 22 different violations.

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The following is from The Fresno Bee:

Help is on the way for Clovis business owners who have been sued over violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. On Monday night, the Clovis City Council approved a package of programs to help them meet state and federal regulations.
The program will allow the city to pay for seminars, inspections and matching loans to help business owners make necessary upgrades.
In the past six months, 45 lawsuits have been filed in federal court, many against Clovis businesses.

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Also, from Clovis Independent:

Clovis to use $624,000 in federal grants
A plan to use about $624,000 in federal grant dollars — mostly to meet requirements of the Americans With Disabilities Act — was approved Monday night by the Clovis City Council.

The city’s Community Development Block Grant funding also will be used for affordable housing programs, home renovation projects and a community service officer for the Clovis Police Department primarily for southwest Clovis.

Under federal block grant funding rules, the city must use the money to assist residents in low- and moderate-income communities, prevent or eliminate urban blight and meet urgent needs around the city.

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Ralphs Grocery Store is embroiled in a class action suit across California. The suit entails that Ralphs presents architectural barriers which discriminate against individuals with disabilities. Interestingly enough many disabled rights advocates oppose the settlement because it does not ensure that the various architectural barriers will be removed.

Some useful links:

“Ralphs Faces Class Action Over Disabilites Discrimination
A California-wide class action lawsuit has been certified, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act and California State discrimination laws, against Ralphs Groceries of California. The case is Sung Park, et al. v. Ralphs Grocery Company.”
Ralphs Class Action Lawsuit Over Discrimination

Settlement Information:
Settlement of Claims Against Ralphs Grocery Company for Disabled Access

Seven businesses in the Coachella Valley were hit by San Diego resident Roy Gash this spring. Gash is represented by the law firm Pinnock & Wakefield, one of the most litigious firms in all of California in regards to ADA litigation.

Gash’s claims against John’s Restaurant in Palm Desert included an improper disabled parking space, a paper towel dispenser in the men’s room more than 48 inches from the floor, a round instead of lever doorknob on the restroom entrance door and a front counter too high to access. Gash is seeking more than $25,000, attorney’s fees and correction of the alleged violations. Gash’s lawsuit complaint states that he “desires to return to the defendant’s places of business in the immediate future.”

In the article three things are revealed about Pinnock & Wakefield:

1. Almost 2,000 ADA lawsuits have been filed by this firm
2. “Ninety percent of all cases are settled early, because that’s what the court wants,” – Theodore Pinnock
3. The average ADA settlement demand ranges from $4,000 to $7,000. From our own experience, this is true.

Click the link below to read the full article:

Link: The Desert Sun (article, August 9th, 2009)

The following is from Popehat.com, which was linked to by Overlawyered.com:

The Squeeze Inn, known for huge mounds of melted cheese on its burgers, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, [a] lawsuit alleges.

Kimberly Block, who says she has severly [sic] limited use of her legs, argues she suffered “embarrassment and humiliation” and that her civil rights were violated because of inadequate access inside the Fruitridge Road restaurant.

“In addition to its cheeseburgers, the Squeeze Inn of Sacramento California is also noted for its cramped spaces and limited seating.  Get it?  “Squeeze in.”  The restaurant is famous, having been featured on Food Network and in a number of other media.

The charm is evidently lost on Kimberly Block, who is suing the Squeeze Inn and its owner, Travis Hausauer, for alleged violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act, a well-intended law that has produced an unusually high litigation burden for small restaurants and businesses.  But one wonders whether Ms. Block visited the Squeeze Inn last November to order one of its famous cheeseburgers, or to just to get a settlement check, hold the onions.

Why?  Well according to a search on Justia, this isn’t the first time Ms. Block has suffered embarrassment and humiliation so severe she felt compelled to sue a restaurant.  It’s the third time this year. While Ms. Block hasn’t yet filed enough suits to place her in the company of famous serial ADA litigants like Thomas Mundy, her lawyer Jason Singleton, like Mundy’s lawyers at Morse Mehrban, has made an industry out of the act. No doubt Block will get there in time.

Of course if Block’s suit is litigated rather than settled or defaulted, there’s room for a defense attorney to move here.  According to its owner, Squeeze Inn had already altered its patio dining area to accommodate the disabled, making the outdoor area less “squeezy.”  Did Block ask for a patio seat?  Did she order to go?”

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Links: Popehat.com (Squeeze Inn Lawsuit Article), North Coast Journal (Jason Singleton Strikes Again, the same lawyer who shut down Arctic Circle), Sacramento Magazine (Squeeze Inn Restaurant Profile), Sacramento Bee, (Facing suit, Sacramento burger joint plans to move)

“Businesses that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, even if unintentionally, can be sued for damages, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.

“Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar concluded that was a reasonable interpretation of the state Legislature’s decision in 1992 to adopt Civil Code §51(f) to amend the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act to include violations of the ADA. While the ADA provides only injunctive relief whether the harm was intentional or not, Section 52 of the Unruh Act provides for damages of at least $4,000 or as much as three times the actual harm.”

link: Law.com

“As a result of all the legal fees associated with the lawsuit, we had no choice but to close the facility,” says Crystal Chodes, former marketing director for Basketball Town, a special events facility for basketball, volleyball, and other sporting events for children and families.

Basketball Town was forced to close because it could not afford the legal fees required to fight a lawsuit brought by a family member of a guest at a child’s birthday party hosted at the facility.

The facility hosted parties in two areas, one of which was on a mezzanine level.

“He invited one of his friends and that friend brought his uncle, who is in a wheelchair,” says Crystal. “Once we found out through the family that one of the guests expected was in a wheelchair, we actually offered to move the party downstairs and they declined. As a result, months later we were served with a lawsuit.”

Despite the lawsuit, the facility contended that it was, in fact, in compliance with the law regulating handicapped access for its patrons.

But compliance didn’t matter when the cost to defend oneself against a lawsuit overwhelmed the company’s bottom line. Basketball Town was forced to close its doors. The closure also came at a cost to the small business on the premises.

“There was a family pizzeria here and they had invested all of their money into this, they had their family involved in it, and now the facility’s closed,” says Crystal. “They have two kids that they’ve got to put through college. Just a small business, a great family, and they have lost everything – they’re starting over.”

She says: “If it can close an entire facility that’s meant to benefit children and families, it can hurt anyone. And that has to stop.”

Editor’s Note: California Senate Bill 1608 now provides a mandatory mediation alternative to litigation (with certain pre-conditions) to help prevent this exact thing from happening to other businesses.

Link: Faces of Lawsuit Abuse (with video)
Credits: Overlawyered.com