# California Outpaces Other States in ADA Lawsuits



## mark handler (Feb 21, 2014)

California Outpaces Other States in ADA Lawsuits

California is home to more federal disability lawsuits than the next four states combined.

By Vicky Nguyen, Jeremy Carroll and Kevin Nious |  Thursday, Feb 20, 2014

Depending on who’s telling the story—the enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act in California is either working as intended to ensure equal access for the disabled, or it’s in desperate need of reform to reduce the number of lawsuits over technical violations of the law.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/California-Outpaces-Other-States-in-ADA-Lawsuits-disability-act-246193931.html

One thing is clear: the number of federal ADA lawsuits filed in the Golden State far outpaces any other state in the nation. Small businesses are sometimes caught between the threat of lawsuits and the challenge of  inscrutable building codes.

The Investigative Unit reviewed more than 10,000 federal ADA lawsuits filed since 2005 in the five states with the highest disabled populations. More lawsuits have been filed in California than Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas and New York combined.

Many complaints told a story of embarrassment and inequality. One suit alleged an amputee had to use the restroom with the door open because the stall wasn’t big enough for her wheelchair.  Other suits claimed ADA violations that were less obvious.

They included: a mirror that was hung 1.5 inches too high, a disabled access emblem that was “not the correct size,” and one that was “not at the correct height on a restroom door.”

“The  ADA is a great thing if it’s used in the right way,” said Lee Ky, manager of the Doughnuts to Go in Fresno. “Right now it’s not being used in the right way.”

Ky relies on a wheelchair to get around the shop daily. She said she had never received a complaint from any disabled patrons until she was hit with a lawsuit from San Jose based “Moore Law Firm” for discriminating against the disabled.

Compliance Expert Shows How Easy it is to Risk ADA Violations

“It’s crazy,” she said.”They say our building is a barrier. I don’t see how. I am myself in a wheelchair.”

Ky was sued for violations including  having an outdated sign for the unisex bathroom that was the wrong shape, and not having an emblem engraved in a table indicating it was wheelchair accessible, despite having multiple tables in her facility that were accessible.

The suit cost thousands to settle but Ky said the changes she made did nothing to improve access. “It’s frivolous,” she said. “I think it was all about wanting money.”

Disability rights attorneys take umbrage at what they call a campaign to besmirch disabled plaintiffs.

“This myth that’s being foisted is that these people [businesses] are being hunted down by somebody so that they can bring some false frivolous action,” disability rights attorney Randy Moore said. “I’m telling you that is bull.”

Of the 7,188 federal ADA suits in California reviewed by NBC Bay Area 4,215 were filed by a plaintiff who’s filed at least 30 lawsuits. Business owners call these plaintiffs “serial filers,” while Moore maintains they are advocates on the front line of a civil rights battle.

“In every civil rights fight that there is, you have to realize that it’s only a few people that take the step to go forward and fight for the rights of everyone,” Moore said.

Many businesses have trouble staying accessible with or without litigation.

“Given the way the building codes change as often as they do, it’s virtually impossible [to be in full compliance]” certified access specialist Christina Stevens said.

Two Bay Area Women Sue Wal-Mart Over Wheelchair Access

In a short drive around San Jose, Stevens pointed out violations at businesses both big and small.

“In this iteration of the building code, they actually legislated the color blue,” she said. “Now there’s a specific color blue [disabled parking spaces] have to be and somebody could sue because it’s the wrong color blue,” Stevens explained.

Businesses must be meticulous when it comes to addressing every potential ADA violation.

For example, take the bumps that help the visually impaired determine the boundary between the sidewalk and the street. They’re called “truncated domes” and when they were first added as a requirement to comply with ADA, Stevens said the domes only needed to be “visually contrasting.”

For example, a light gray sidewalk could have dark gray  truncated domes.

“They have now legislated back this needs to be yellow,” Stevens said.

Violating the ADA in California carries a minimum $4,000 penalty in addition to the plaintiff’s legal fees. Unlike most laws, enforcement of the ADA is not up to police or inspectors; it’s up to private lawsuits by private citizens.

 “The advice we give small businesses is:, once a year pay a certified access specialist for an audit and find out if you’re fully compliant or not and if not make a plan to become fully compliant, Kim Stone, president of the Civil Justice Association of California said.

Her organization has supported bills that would try to reduce the number of lawsuits with a 90 day “fix-it” period. So far, the attempts have failed.

“There’s real consequences to disabled folks when things aren't fully accessible,” Stone said. “That’s very different than a mirror being two inches too high or your parking lot being the wrong shade of blue.”

Federal Disability Lawsuits in California

California is a big state, but it's home to an outsized share of the disability lawsuits in America. There are more disability lawsuits in this state than the next four states combined.

It's not just the size of California's population, either. As a portion of population, California's disabled count is about 2% under the national average. And when you look at disability lawsuits per 100,000 disabled residents, California still outpaces any other state.

Not only does California have an inordinate number of federal disability lawsuits, there's not a lot of people filing those suits. We found that between 2005 to 2013, just 31 plaintiffs file the majority of disability lawsuits. A single plaintiff, Scott Johnson, is responsible for more than 2000 lawsuits since 2005.

Source: US Census Bureau, California District Courts.


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## Keystone (Feb 21, 2014)

It may have to do with the 2nd most populace California's 163,163 resident and active lawyers being ranked only behind the number 1 state being New York at 166,317. All remaining states have under 82K.


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## steveray (Feb 21, 2014)

Whaddaya call 200,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?....My girlfriend and 199,999 of her friends!...You thought that was going somewhere else didn't 'cha....


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## mark handler (Feb 21, 2014)

200,00?  or  200,000?

At the rate law schools are turning them out, by 2050 there will be more lawyers than humans.


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## conarb (Feb 21, 2014)

Agreed, to compete in this society you have to have a doctorate in something, and a JD is a lot easier to get than a PhD.


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## MASSDRIVER (Feb 21, 2014)

mark handler said:
			
		

> 200,00?  or  200,000?At the rate law schools are turning them out, by 2050 there will be more lawyers than humans.


That's already true.

Brent


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## Frank (Feb 21, 2014)

California adds a $4000 incentive to the plaintiff to file.  In most other states all you get in compliance and attorney's fees, the plaintiff is not supposed to get any monetary reward.

You put a $4000 bounty on complaints and you will get alot more of them, regardless of the level of merit.

There is a big difference between no accessible parking space and one that has settled to 3% slope in some areas, depending on how measured as the ground moves and the asphalt compacts under traffic.

There are likely no buildings that completely comply as the dimensions are often given as exact, no tolerances no ranges, settlement of the ground, and even if it complied when new the regs change regularly.  CA gives a particular shade of blue for the parking markings--the color starts changing as it is applied and ages.  How far out is too much?


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## mark handler (Feb 21, 2014)

Frank said:
			
		

> California adds a $4000 incentive to the plaintiff to file.


$4000 per violation


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## steveray (Feb 21, 2014)

I should move out there.....If it is anything like here, I could be a millionaire in a year, or at least as quickly as the court cases proceed...


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## conarb (Feb 21, 2014)

I'm getting ready, the wife's got a bad hip so I got out my deceased mother's walker and took her to the doctor.  She couldn't use those ramps though, they had yellow plastic matts with bumps all over them, the wheels are too small so she found it easier to lift the walker up over the curb than use the ramps.  That ought to be worth $4,000 right there since it's not blue and has all those bumps on it.  I guess I've got to take her down and get one of those blue cards to hang on my rear view mirror, that means no more quarters in parking meters, and no reason to hurry back to plug the meters.  From what I've seen here the medical building is full of ADA violations.  Everyone else here is exploiting the law and the disabled for fun and profit, why not me too?


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## JPohling (Feb 21, 2014)

Those bumps need to be yellow, not blue!  And they continue to be a pain in the *****.  I have seen many people fall because of them.  They are very valuable for the sight impaired, but they are very difficult for people in walkers and those that just do not pick up their feet.  I think they have caused quite a few hip replacements and have moved people up to the next mobility aid.  The shufflers now have walkers and the walker people are now wheelers.  This is one section that really needs to be re thought.  For the sight impaired they can also be very dangerous.  If the diagonal curb cuts keep being used more and more I will have to keep rescuing the blind that find themselves crossing diagonally and are being placed in harms way.  I have personally rescued two blind people that were confused and in the middle of the intersection because that is where the diagonal ramps lead them.


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## mjesse (Feb 21, 2014)

JPohling said:
			
		

> Those bumps .... continue to be a pain in the *****. .


...and they always shake everything out of the bottom shelf of my shopping cart.

Now I'm crawling around on my hands and knees in the drive aisle, picking up my Hostess Twinkies, waiting for Conarb to run me over with his Hummer.


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## ICE (Feb 21, 2014)

I don't know but I've been told that the truncated domes can be any color unless the Dept. Of Transportation has jurisdiction.  In that case they must be yellow.


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## steveray (Feb 21, 2014)

"exploiting the law and the disabled for fun and profit, why not me too?"....That is capitalism..Correct? Finding new ways to make money


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## MASSDRIVER (Feb 21, 2014)

I watched Annuzzi concrete spend many months tearing out sidewalks all around San Francisco and installing compliant ramps, dark grey concrete. Then watched the for many more months tear out all the new ramps and replace them with ramps with Stupid Yellow Dot mats.

Retarded and wasteful.

Brent


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## Frank (Feb 21, 2014)

MASSDRIVER said:
			
		

> I watched Annuzzi concrete spend many months tearing out sidewalks all around San Francisco and installing compliant ramps, dark grey concrete. Then watched the for many more months tear out all the new ramps and replace them with ramps with Stupid Yellow Dot mats. Retarded and wasteful.
> 
> Brent


But we are improving the economy as all of the put in and tear out and redo counts towards the GDP, even if it does not anyone better off.


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## mark handler (Feb 22, 2014)

ICE said:
			
		

> I don't know but I've been told that the truncated domes can be any color unless the Dept. Of Transportation has jurisdiction.  In that case they must be yellow.


Read the new CA code color more clearly defined..........


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## Mech (Feb 22, 2014)

I've seen ramps that were missing truncated domes.  Does anyone make replacements?


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## ICE (Feb 22, 2014)

> I don't know but I've been told that the truncated domes can be any color unless the Dept. Of Transportation has jurisdiction. In that case they must be yellow.





			
				mark handler said:
			
		

> Read the new CA code color more clearly defined..........


Oh what a headache that is.

I found this:



> 1117B.5.11 Cleaner air symbol. Strictly for publicly funded facilities or any facilities leased or rented by state of California, not concessionaires. This symbol shall be the standard used to identify a room, facility and paths of travel that are accessible to and usable by people who are adversely impacted by airborne chemicals or particulate(s) and/or the use of electrical fixtures and/or devices. When used, the symbol shall comply with Figure 11B-40.1117B.5.11.1 Color and size of symbol. The symbol shall be used when the following minimum conditions are met. The symbol, which shall include the text “Cleaner Air” as shown, shall be displayed either as a negative or positive image within a square that is a minimum of 6 inches (152 mm) on each side. The symbol may be shown in black and white or in color. When color is used, it shall be Federal Blue (Color No. 15090 Federal Standard 595B) on white, or white on Federal Blue. There shall be at least a 70-percent color contrast between the background of the sign from the surface that it is mounted on. Strictly for publicly funded public facilities or any facilities leased or rented by State of California; not concessionaires. 1117B.5.11.2 Conditions of use. Use of the cleaner air symbol is voluntary. The cleaner air symbol shall be permitted for use to identify a path of travel, and a room or a facility when the following is met.
> 
> 1. Floor or wall coverings, floor or wall covering adhesives, carpets, formaldehyde-emitting particleboard cabinetry, cupboards or doors have not been installed or replaced in the previous 12 months.
> 
> ...


All of it is in this section: 1117B.5 Signs and identification.

The State of Ca created the CASp program but the State should have made it a Degree Program at the university level.


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## MASSDRIVER (Feb 22, 2014)

Just pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Brent.


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## conarb (Feb 22, 2014)

Tiger:



			
				Tiger said:
			
		

> 1117B.5.11.2 Conditions of use. Use of the cleaner air symbol is  voluntary. The cleaner air symbol shall be permitted for use to identify  a path of travel, and a room or a facility when the following is met.


The strange thing here is that it's "voluntary" and nothing is said about constructing a "...room, facility and paths of travel that are accessible to and usable  by people who are adversely impacted by airborne chemicals or  particulate(s)".  In our totalitarian society I can see this becoming mandatory as the next step, and then, following the lead of Austin Texas, moving to single family homes.  Why not with the combination of the Energy and Green codes we are building sealed-up toxic homes.


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## mark handler (Feb 22, 2014)

conarb said:
			
		

> Tiger:The strange thing here is that it's "voluntary" and nothing is said about constructing a "...room, facility and paths of travel that are accessible to and usable  by people who are adversely impacted by airborne chemicals or  particulate(s)".  In our totalitarian society I can see this becoming mandatory as the next step, and then, following the lead of Austin Texas, moving to single family homes.  Why not with the combination of the Energy and Green codes we are building sealed-up toxic homes.


The Austin Texas visit ability issue has NOTHING to do with ADA.

Different, apples and oranges.

Both deal with accessibility,  not ADA


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## mark handler (Feb 22, 2014)

http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm

This might more clearly help define the different "federal" accessibility codes

Still does not address state and local codes, standards, ordinances, or which the Austin case is.


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