Businesses Complain of Nuisance Suits

SF Gate.com & AP ^ | November 28, 2006 | KELLI KENNEDY

[SmithL]

CORAL SPRINGS -- The bathrooms in the country club were opulent, with marble floors and antique furniture. But months after purchasing the club, the owners gutted them.

The problem: The walls at the Carolina Club were about an inch too narrow under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Robert Cohen and his attorney sued the place in 2003, saying he felt discriminated against, even though he was not a club member and had no interest in joining. He sued the same business in 1998 when it was under different ownership. Cohen has also filed ADA lawsuits against Publix supermarkets, McDonald's, Comfort Suites and others — more than 300 federal lawsuits in Florida over the past several years.

Disabled people are not supposed to receive monetary damages from lawsuits over alleged ADA violations, but their attorneys receive fees. Some court-watchers suspect that some disabled people are getting a cut under the table from their attorneys and that these bursts of lawsuits are nothing but shakedown attempts.

"They're what's called drive-by lawsuits," said David Goldfarb, a Miami-based ADA consultant who testifies for business owners who are being sued. "One plaintiff's attorney and one plaintiff will file 10 lawsuits in the same day on the same street. You throw out 10 and hope eight of them stick."

Cohen is 69 and gets around on a scooter because of arthritis. He bristles at the notion the lawsuits are unethical.

"I have never made five cents or anything. Yes, the lawyers get rich on this, but you know what, what is our choice?" the Coral Springs man said. "If the companies will not voluntarily comply, how are we supposed to get our civil rights?"

[Mamzelle]

He never got a nickle, huh? Right.

[sportutegrl]

"Sure, someone is making money off of these lawsuits," said Ruth Colker, a professor of law at Ohio State University. "But the problem with this statute is that there is no effective enforcement mechanism if we don't have these kinds of lawsuits."

Enforcement by lawsuit is wrong. What is wrong is that the prosecutor, (plaintiff lawyer), is benefiting financially from what is clearly a punitative, act. The defendant should be given rights afforded any other accused.

[SuziQ]

Robert Cohen and his attorney sued the place in 2003, saying he felt discriminated against, even though he was not a club member and had no interest in joining.

This alone should have disqualified the suit.

[BerniesFriend]

Disabled people are not supposed to receive monetary damages from lawsuits over alleged ADA violations, but their attorneys receive fees. Some court-watchers suspect that some disabled people are getting a cut under the table from their attorneys and that these bursts of lawsuits are nothing but shakedown attempts.

You know..I hate audits..but what if the IRS would audit these "fronts"..and ask where they get their monies..I know..the scumbags who use disabled people for their benifits would scream louder..but come on..this is such a fraud..my two cents..

[FreedomCalls]

An inch too narrow for what?

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/reg3a.html#Anchor-15677