But advocates for the disabled say other methods don’t produce results
By Maria Polletta | The Arizona Republic
Small businesses throughout the Phoenix area are crying foul at a recent spate of lawsuits filed against them by disability-rights advocates, contending they’ve been unfairly targeted for minor violations by serial plaintiffs looking to make a quick buck.
The advocates, however, argue a flood of lawsuits is the “only effective method to wake up business owners” who continue to ignore clear accessibility requirements outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act decades ago.
The real victims, they say, are people with disabilities who want the chance to comfortably visit the same shops and facilities customers without disabilities do.
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Unfortunately, ADA suits alleging technical violations in parking lots and restroom facilities are likely going to be part of the business landscape in Arizona for sometime. Unlike other states that are enacting legislation in response to a proliferation of suits alleging ADA violations, often by the same small number of plaintiffs and plaintiff’s counsel, Arizona has no pre-suit notice requirements.
The lack of a pre-suit notice requirement enables plaintiffs to file suit for easily correctible violations such as parking lot signage that is two inches below the specified height or towel dispensers a few inches lower than specified in the statutes.
Meanwhile. some plaintiffs have recently begun sending pre-suit notices of potential violations, but this hasn’t always been common practice, often service of the summons and complaint was the first notice many businesses had of the violation.
Unless the business premises were designed by an architect or contractor who certified it was ADA compliant, a business owner could save thousands of dollars in attorneys fee and settlement costs by consulting an ADA compliance expert or an architect who can inspect the property and ensure it complies with the ADA requirements.
~ David McDowell, chairman of the Rose Law Group Litigation Department
