Rep. Calvert Introduces Bill to Protect Small Businesses from Shakedown Lawsuits
Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-41) reintroduced the ACCESS Act, H.R. 241, legislation designed to help small businesses comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and protect them from serial litigants.
“Small business owners face tremendous challenges day to day and should be protected from serial litigants trying to exploit laws, like the ADA, for personal gain,” said Rep. Calvert. “We can protect the disabled and small businesses alike by passing the ACCESS Act and giving owners a small window of time to address any ADA issues. Let’s protect disabled Americans without exposing our businesses on Main Street to shakedown lawsuits.”
The ACCESS Act would alleviate the financial burden small businesses are facing, while still fulfilling the purpose of the ADA. Any person aggrieved by a violation of the ADA would provide the owner or operator with a written notice of the violation, specific enough to allow such owner or operator to identify the barrier to their access. Within 60 days the owner or operator would be required to provide the aggrieved person with a description outlining improvements that would be made to address the barrier. The owner or operator would then have 120 days to remove the infraction. The failure to meet any of these conditions would allow the suit to go forward.
The purpose of the ADA is to ensure appropriate remedial action for those who have suffered harm. Although there are times when litigation by harmed individuals is necessary, there are an increasing number of lawsuits brought under the ADA that are based upon a desire to achieve financial settlements rather than to achieve the appropriate modifications.
ADA lawsuits are especially prevalent in California. According to one analysis, there were more ADA lawsuits in California than the 49 other states combined.
During the pandemic, one serial litigator filed multiple lawsuits against restaurants in San Francisco for not having adequate wheelchair-accessible tables even though the establishments were closed for in-person dining.
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