CHULA VISTA – Business owners
across the state are hoping new legislation will encourage better
access for disabled people while reducing the number of unwarranted
lawsuits over such access.
Local business owners who have
been targeted by lawsuits over access for the disabled, as well as
at least one state business leader, celebrated the newly passed
legislation yesterday at the Chula Vista courthouse, where many of
those lawsuits have been filed.
“It's not perfect,” said John Kabateck, executive director of the
Sacramento-based National Federation of Independent Businesses,
California. “But it ensures fairness and provides small businesses
with protection against egregious lawsuits.”
Some state advocates for the disabled also heralded the law as a
positive step. Margaret Jakobson-Johnson, advocacy director for
Disability Rights California, called it a “good compromise between
business groups and disability groups.”
Disability/lawsuit
legislation facts box
 SB 1608 was
passed by the state Legislature and signed by Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger last week. The law is intended to
encourage better access for the disabled and reduce
unwarranted lawsuits. It calls for:
The
creation of a 17-member state advisory commission on
access for the disabled.
Certain building officials to receive special training
that will allow them to certify buildings as compliant
with the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Cities
by 2014 to have a sufficient number of these specially
trained building officials to inspect all new public
buildings and remodels.
If
sued, businesses previously certified as ADA-compliant
could request a 90-day stay, during which a judge would
evaluate the case to see it if could be resolved without
going to court. This is intended to help business owners
avoid the cost of frivolous lawsuits.
So
far, some of the specifics of the new law are
unresolved. It doesn't list how much the inspectors can
charge businesses or what kind of liability, if any,
business owners will have if they don't complete work
noted by the inspector.
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“This
law will improve access and at the same time give businesses
incentives to comply without being sued,” she said from her office
in Sacramento.
The new law, SB 1608, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last
week, reduces the chance of business owners being sued over access
for disabled people by allowing owners to be certified by the state
that they're in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act
of 1990. It was created with input from advocates for the disabled
and business groups.
Thousands of lawsuits over access have been filed in federal and
state courts by a handful of lawyers in the past few years. Business
owners say that often the plaintiffs never enter a business, use
nearly identical language in multiple lawsuits and demand cash for
early settlement. This law will require people who sue to have
personally been denied access because of a disability.
In San Diego, attorney Theodore Pinnock targeted South County
businesses this year with more than 60 lawsuits to force compliance
with disability laws. A few years ago, he filed 30 similar lawsuits
in Alpine and 67 in Julian.
Motel owner Carlos Vazquez was among more than two dozen business
owners Pinnock sued this year in San Ysidro. Vazquez has made
changes to his businesses, but he says the cost of hiring attorneys
to fight the battle has been devastating.
He showed up at the Chula Vista courthouse steps yesterday to
show his support for the new law. He was joined by a disabled
veteran, a representative of a group that tries to reduce frivolous
lawsuits, and other business owners.
Vazquez said it's disheartening to be sued as he struggles to
make ends meet and reduces his own salary to build up his equity and
assets.
“Then someone comes in and says, 'Pay me,' ” Vazquez said. “It
makes me want to just pay my employees, pay everything off and close
everything down. I feel violated.”
Pinnock, though, called SB 1608 a “feel-good law which will not
promote compliance without litigation.” He said most businesses
won't be certified before a lawsuit is filed.
Kyla Christoffersen, a policy advocate for the California Chamber
of Commerce, one of the business groups involved in developing the
bill, said there are still specifics that need to be worked out, and
she noted that the bill doesn't require business owners to seek
compliance or hire inspectors.
“Some (people who worked on the bill) felt it wasn't doing
enough, and others felt it was doing too much,” Christoffersen said.
Lorie Zapf, president of San Diego Citizens Against Lawsuit
Abuse, also celebrated in Chula Vista.
“This is a big, big deal,” Zapf said. “Someone won't be able to
just go in and look around for a laundry list of violations and say,
'Hey, if you pay me a couple of thousand dollars, I'll go away.' ”
The law goes into effect Jan. 1.
“This is one of the most important bills the governor signed this
year,” said the bill's author, state Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San
Leandro.
Janine Zuniga: (619) 498-6636; janine.zuniga@uniontrib.com
