Kudos to Brown on lawsuit bill
Steven Greenhut: Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law today SB 1186, which fights those predatory lawsuits by attorneys who use the Americans with Disabilities Act to shake down businesses for legal settlements even if they have done nothing wrong. ADA scam artists will go to parking lots or go into bathrooms in businesses and allege technical violations of ADA, then they send demand letters — fork over a few thousand bucks or go to court.
Here is the statement from Tom Scott, head of Californians Against Lawsuit Abuse:
“This law will help curb abusive lawsuits alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Governor and legislature deserve credit for getting it passed. Our elected officials heard the voices of small business owners who have been repeatedly victimized by abusive lawsuits at a cost to all Californians. While this is a step in the right direction, much more work remains to be done to rid our state of abusive lawsuits that cost Californians jobs.”
So there I go, praising two good laws in a day. How did these good ones sneak through?
SEPT. 27
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This guy Pinnock was FAMOUS for these lawsuits, and was disbarred;
http://www.adaabuse.com/pinnockwakefield.html
We have one of those guys, Jason Singleton, up here in Humboldt. Infamous for shaking businesses down over ADA violations. He’s still around.
He’d find some guy or gal in a wheelchair to be his confederate. Have the fellow go into a business, take a few measurements and find some technical violation of the ADA. Then he’d send the business owner notice that unless he paid $10 or $15,000 he’d be sued. Rather than go to court, the owner would sometimes pay. Others just closed their doors.
The irony of the whole thing is the disabled were already able to access the business. That’s how he’d get his case together in the first place. Some businesses just closed rather than go through the legal hassle or pay the money. Then nobody, including the disabled, could go there.
Today, ADA reform. Tomorrow, EEOC reform. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an ATM machine for a shakedown lawyer.