ADA Access Reform Bill

[Gunny]

I saw a video about lawyers cruising around town in the USA looking for minor infractions at businesses, so they can sue them and make a profit. That's obviously not what the law was meant for and I don't think this bill is unreasonable at all. Seems like a bunch of lawyer sharks abused the law to line their pockets.

Unless I'm missing out on something here.

"“[Frivolous] ADA lawsuits…are not an ADA issue; they are a state and court problem,” disability rights lawyer Robyn Powell wrote in an op-ed for Rewire in May 2017. “Indeed, ethics rules bar attorneys from bringing frivolous lawsuits. Rather than go after people with disabilities, attention should be focused on stopping these few bad attorneys.”"
Seems to have a point

It’s worse that that even. They’re out cruising websites for ADA compliance and suing businesses out of existence.

 

[Happiness]

Holding comment until the lawboys weigh in.

 

[oldshadow]

This is a good thing there was a shit head lawyer going around extorting money for business if on urinal was an inch too high.

Because he was techanialy correct he had legal grounds but if they paid his fee (and fixed the problem so he could look good) he would drop it.

This shit head carried a tape measure with him all the time to extort any one he could. I'm going to bet he isn't the only one doing this.

 

[Lord Coke]

Companies will plan with it in mind that they don't actually have to do anything to accommodate (city/state or other local laws can guard against that). If you know that you can be sued for not complying from the start, you will comply from the start. But if you know that you have 120 days after the first written complaint (this is another physical barrier, the delivery of the complaint), then you're dicking all of the people who don't want to go out of pocket for a legal battle, or who just don't want the hassle. So it turns the system against cripples to protect businesses from doing what they are already supposed to be doing. IMO it's morally indefensible.

I don't buy this one bit. Big corporations are going to comply because they have big law firms repping them. The stores that do not comply tend to be small businesses that can not hire lawyers and inadvertently make mistakes. Small business get shut down all the time for a minor mistake due to professional plaintiffs.

 

[BKMMAFAN]

I don't buy this one bit. Big corporations are going to comply because they have big law firms repping them. The stores that do not comply tend to be small businesses that can not hire lawyers and inadvertently make mistakes. Small business get shut down all the time for a minor mistake due to professional plaintiffs.

Most businesses with 15 or more employees likely have access to a lawyer.

 

[Fawlty]

I don't buy this one bit. Big corporations are going to comply because they have big law firms repping them. The stores that do not comply tend to be small businesses that can not hire lawyers and inadvertently make mistakes. Small business get shut down all the time for a minor mistake due to professional plaintiffs.

I never said 'big' corporations, but now that you mention it, the only way to get big corporations to do anything is the law and their bottom line. And "Mom & Pop" are notorious for trying to skate by regulations. You're not pulling the wool over my eyes on this one, so let's not even try. Fraudulent lawsuits are what they are, and should be dealt with for what they are. It's not a valid excuse for weakening legal protections for cripples.

 

[Lord Coke]

Most businesses with 15 or more employees likely have access to a lawyer.

Sure but these ADA scam artists more often than not target local business that do not have 15 employees. At most small stores there are less than 10 people there and the owner makes less than 100k. I don't think it is a ust result for a small business owners to lose his store and 10 people to lose their jobs because a disabled person who is going to small business for the specific task of finding ADA claims to sue over managed to find a doorway a quarter inch to narrow.

 

[lilelvis]

So this sort of removes the responsibility of these public places to plan for disabled access in the first place, and further gives them 120 days to dick you if you have a problem. Sounds terrible.

Wrong Faulty.
You can not pass a building inspection without being ADA compliant. You can not open a business at a location that does not meet the minimum accessibility needs for the people using the facility. (for instance, accessibility needs are different for a facility which only hosts it's employees, but not the public)
The problem arises from the ever changing ADA standards that place businesses accessibility requirements in an ever changing flux. There are wheelchair chasing law firms that constantly scan for adjustments to the ADA code and attack unknowing businesses, universities, school districts etc. for being non-compliant. They will even scan the IBC (international Building Code) for changes and file suits in areas that have their own code even though the facilities meet the local requirements, not in the hope of changing the code, but with a calculated settlement goal that is slightly less than the defendants projected court cost.

Most lawyers are exploitative scum.