Democrats in Sacramento are unswayed by continuing reports that Unruh Act complaint mills are extracting millions from the state’s small businesses on accessibility claims, and throttle a bill that would require notice and a chance to fix problems before suing. [Legal Pad, The Recorder, CJAC] Opponents of the fix include the trial-lawyers’ lobby, Consumer Attorneys of California. Background here; the perennially doomed equivalent bill in the U.S. Congress is discussed here. I discussed the issue on the John Stossel show last year.
4 Comments
Did anyone really believe that the ADA was anything other than a full employment act for lawyers? The ostensible purpose for the ADA was to enable more disabled people to get and keep a job. That has not happened. Instead it has enabled lawyers to extort money from businesses that are accused of being technically non-compliant with the law because for example a mirror in a restroom is a couple of inches too high.
Agreed. This act is one of the biggest boondoggles in American jurisprudence.
If wheelchair people were a significant market, then diners would have ramps as they have coffee urns. The ramps are required as a charitable policy for our fellow citizens who need them. But there is a radio spot running on Bloomberg radio, in which spot a man with a disability says that no unauthorized person should park in a space for the disabled for even a short time, as “one minute is one minute too long” for him. Billions are expended under ADA, the vast majority of such expenditures being on wasteful under-underutilized accommodations, and this jackass can not expend even one minute of time for a sap that is so generous to him.
And the next time I see a clearly disabled person utilizing one of the multiple designated disabled parking spots in my local mall will be the first……………….
These spots are either not used or utilized by fakers or the family of a disabled person.