“A San Diego lawyer has irritated business owners in the town of Redlands, Calif., by sending out letters on behalf of clients demanding $6,500 settlements for claimed violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related state law.” [ABA Journal; attorney James Mason]
3 Comments
So long as the violations are real good for Mr. Mason.
I am, however, somewhat surprised that the law does not have a notice and reasonable opportunity to rectify provision.
Beyond that perhaps business owners had better start thinking about the legal obligations accepted as part of opening their doors and not try to skate by hoping nobody notices and calls them on it.
Not certain that I would blame all business owners as attempting to skate by Soronel. Here (http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm#4.4) is just one interpretation of ADA. It is some seriously heavy reading. Short of hiring an expensive consultant it would be easy to miss some little detail, which at $6,500 a pop is quite a few months personal income for a small business owner.
laws are designed to be broken, not adhered to.
If a law is broken, lawyers and law enforcement have leverage on citizens who do so, even better if the lawbreaker doesn’t know he broke the law because the law is incomprehensible and/or illogical (even better if the law was never published where the lawbreaker can read it, and prosecuted in a court where the lawbreaker doesn’t get to defend himself).