The ADA Nazis again at work:

Just as with pools and lifts for the disabled, the ADA Nazis are back again with their palms outstretched via attorneys looking to fatten their own purses. I also wrote about this regarding a very small lunch stand called the Squeeze Inn, in a depressed area of town, sued behind an ADA issue. It closed that location and had to expend cash to open in another location. This was before, I should note, the entire national economy crashed.

From the Colfax Record website, by Gus Thomson, Auburn Journal Staff Writer:

AUBURN CA - The Weimar Country Store was just barely hanging on before it got hit with a lawsuit from a Carmichael attorney on alleged Americans With Disabilities Act non-compliance, its owners say.

Now the store – a center for the rural community, just west of Colfax – is facing a future clouded with doubt and even more economic uncertainty, said Mike and Carol Gaines.
The couple has owned the store for six years and Carol worked there 22 years before that. It’s the place for locals or travelers pulling off the freeway to buy a lottery ticket or two and a pack of smokes. There’s food and beverages. And Carol admits there’s always gossip to be shared.

“There’s plenty of that,” Carol Gaines said.

Unfortunately for the Gaineses, the talk has revolved around the shaky future of their store after Carmichael attorney Scott Johnson initiated a civil lawsuit in January similar to hundreds of others he has launched in the region on perceived ADA problems.

Johnson didn’t respond to the Journal’s request for an interview but has said in the past that his goal is to have businesses conform with federally-mandated requirements. Critics say that he’s making businesses spend money to settle his lawsuits – usually $5,000 – that could be better spent upgrading facilities. Johnson contends the work should have been done before legal proceedings were started.

For the Weimar Country Store, the lawsuit – plus legal expenses to hire their own lawyer, have an inspector determine what problems exist, and the cost of an upgrade – could be a crushing burden.
“Business has been really slow this year,” Carol Gaines said. “The lack of snow and that impact on the ski business has killed business here.”

Carol Gaines said they always felt the store was ADA-compliant, particularly after state lottery officials inspected the business and OK’d it for selling tickets.

“We’ve had to take a loan out to hire an attorney,” Gaines said. “We have no extra money for this kind of stuff.”

Now the business has had to cut staff hours to make ends meet. And the future is far from clear as the Gaineses move forward on the possibility of thousands of dollars in new, unexpected expenditures.

The store was robbed at gunpoint in late 2010. The take was in the hundreds, they said, not close to what they are anticipating paying Johnson. And the alleged gunman – currently moving through the court system – is facing a prison term of several years if convicted.

The two say they’re irked by the irony.

“It’s criminal,” Mike Gaines said. “Instead of spending money on attorney fees, we should be allowed to put it toward compliance costs.”

Please read the rest of the article, because it does nothing more than document the -- in my opinion --predatory efforts of attorneys who sue smaller businesses on the grounds of ADA "violations."

Scott Norris Johnson, as the article indicates, has already gone against numerous businesses and has essentially, in my opinion, held them hostage by utilizing the very strict wording of the ADA.

Mr Johnson has found and made a quite lucrative business -- estimated at millions of dollars -- by suing SMALL businesses that don't have access to their own attorneys or a bulky cash flow. And he purposely targets those who, in briefcase-speak, cannot predominantly easily "fight back." And isn't it odd how whatever settlements are made, are private and cannot be disclosed? Purposely.

It's interesting, because Mr Scott Johnson has already been the subject of a Sacramento News10 article back in 2010, where he is known to have already filed more than ONE THOUSAND (1,079 suits, specifically, as of 2010) federal lawsuits.

It's also interesting because Mr Johnson was struck by a drunk driver in 1981, making him a quadriplegic. With that in mind, I present the News10 video below:



From the article:

SACRAMENTO, CA - A quadriplegic attorney who has filed more than 1,000 federal lawsuits claiming violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act says he's an agent of change. But his critics choose different words.

Scott Johnson, 47, was disabled by a hit and run drunk driver in 1981. For the past six years, Johnson has been on an ADA enforcement crusade that has potentially earned him millions of dollars. He operates out of his home in Carmichael with a team of legal assistants.

A News10 analysis of federal court records in the Eastern District of California indicated Johnson has been the plaintiff in at least 1,079 ADA lawsuits since 2003. Johnson said he hadn't kept count, but did not dispute the number. He said his average settlement with business owners has been between $4,000 and $6,000.

When you initially think of ADA suits, you think of large business fat cats who refuse to allow guide dogs in stores, don't provide elevators in multiple-story buildings, or tell people in wheelchairs to go somewhere else.

You don't think of this:

The owner of a Rocklin restaurant who became one of Johnson's more recent targets contacted News10 to complain about the fairness of the lawsuit he was served with in November.
Chris Rubino said he spent $700 to repaint hash marks on the side of a disabled parking spot in front of Rubino's Ristorante. He acknowledged it took him a year to do so after receiving Johnson's first warning letter.

Really? A lawsuit because a small business somehow failed to "repaint hash marks" on the side of a disabled parking spot? Because, after all, this paragraph in the article is the most telling:

Johnson agreed to meet with Rubino to inspect the repainted parking space, but said he would still likely seek monetary damages.

Meaning: you complied, but I'm still going to sue you.

Meaning: it isn't quite all about compliance, it's about "hurting you" and "funding me." Because I can, under the law.

As any lawyer or cop can tell you, there is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Mr Johnson clearly works under the letter of the law and the spirit be damned.

Johnson offered no apology for making a handsome living suing businesses both large and small, even if it makes people hate him. "I bring change. People resist change," he said.

In response: first, I congratulate Mr Johnson in overcoming his disability as the result of a tragic accident over 20 years ago, in 1981, at the age of 19. He acquired his degree from CSUS [my alma mater as well], then picked up his JD, post accident, from the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, and passed the Fornicalia bar in 1993. This is no small feat. Many kudos, sir.

But I submit that, in my opinion, you are part of the problem and not part of the solution. Yes, you make a "handsome" living, in the millions of dollars, suing businesses that may not be, entirely by the letter, in compliance with ADA issues. And we all know the history of this focus; that much is clear and obvious. You are part and parcel of the reason that small businesses are closing in Fornicalia, and large businesses are fleeing as well.

I say that, again in response, the upcoming AB 1878 is too long in coming.

Assembly Bill 1878 would give businesses 120 days after written notice is received to correct a possible violation before a lawsuit can be filed.

I can and will support that bill and monitor that bill in any and every way possible.

Beth Gaines contends that 98 percent of California businesses are out of compliance in some way and – as the law now stands – can be sued for railing height being off by a centimeter or parking-lot striping not being the right shade of a particular color.

Let me be up front, Mr Johnson: this all smacks of vindictive behavior because of your personal plight. Focused on businesses who had nothing to do with your plight.

From ADACrisis.com:

Attorney:

Johnson, Scott; Carmichael, CA

457 ADA Lawsuits

Click Here

Just 4 of his initial lawsuits totalled over $115 Million in demands.

How much would it be with 1,000 times more lawsuits?

Mr Johnson's contact info is:

5150 Fair Oaks Blvd
Carmichael, CA 95608
(916) 485-3516

The address itself is a private UPS PO Box complex. A contact is here.

Quantified as a "legal extortionist," he is mostly a one-man suit mill, having shut down a Truckee restaurant, the Donner Lake Kitchen in March of 2011.

Another telling sentence:

The vast majority of the Johnson's targets settle for roughly $2,000 to $6,000 each, and the lawyer puts many of his targets on monthly payment plans.

A monthly payment plan. Imagine that.

Mr Johnson, I know you've suffered. That much is clear.

I still ask: how do you sleep at night?

BZ