Reps. Calvert, Obernolte, Correa, and Fine Introduce Bill to Protect Small Businesses from Shakedown Lawsuits

Today, Congressmen Ken Calvert (CA-41), Jay Obernolte (CA-23), Lou Correa (CA-46), and Randy Fine (FL-6) introduced the ACCESS Act, H.R. 8396, legislation designed to help small businesses comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and protect them from serial litigants. The bill is supported by the American Booksellers Association, the Workplace Solutions Association, and the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

“As a former small business owner, I know that our job creators on Main Street face tremendous challenges to keep the doors open,” said Rep. Calvert. “Congress should be protecting small businesses from serial litigants trying to exploit laws, like the ADA, for personal gain. We can protect the disabled, small businesses, and the jobs they create by passing the ACCESS Act and giving owners with a reasonable window of time to address any disabled access issues. I appreciate my colleagues, Rep. Correa, Rep. Obernolte, and Rep. Fine, joining me in this effort to help our small business owners.” 

“Too many small businesses are being targeted by predatory, drive-by lawsuits that do nothing to improve accessibility for the disabled,” said Rep. Obernolte. “This legislation restores common sense by giving business owners the chance to fix legitimate ADA issues before facing costly litigation. More lawsuits won’t solve this problem. Instead we need compliance, education, and real improvements that ensure accessibility for everyone.”

“ADA requirements are crucial to making our communities accessible to neighbors with disabilities, and small businesses here in Orange County work hard to comply with these rules,” said Rep. Lou Correa. “Small business owners don’t always know when they are violating building codes, and they should be given time to fix it when they realize they don’t meet these requirements. This is how we can help keep Main Street businesses from being sued, save money, and create more accessible communities.”

“On behalf of the American Booksellers Association, we want to thank Congressman Calvert for introducing the common-sense ACCESS Act,” said David Grogan, Director, ABFE, Advocacy & Public Policy, American Booksellers Association. “This legislation provides a crucial notice and cure period to end frivolous lawsuits targeting small businesses. The ACCESS Act is pro-small business and pro-strong ADA regulations; by providing a grace period for ADA fixes, it will stop meritless lawsuits while strengthening and clarifying ADA regulations for website owners — guaranteeing that any legitimate ADA violation is fixed in a timely fashion. For years, independent bookstores have been key targets of lawyers falsely claiming non-compliance to intimidate stores into agreeing to costly settlements. These law firms are not interested in ensuring that websites and physical spaces are ADA compliant. As a result, small business owners end up spending thousands of dollars. This jeopardizes both their ability to fix any real ADA issues and their ability to keep their doors open for business. We believe the ACCESS Act of 2025 solves this growing problem, ensuring true accessibility for all.”

The ACCESS (ADA Compliance for Customer Entry to Stores and Services) 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 60 days to either fix the issue or make substantial progress towards fixing the issue. 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. 

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