Posted on 11/16/2011 11:58:17 AM PST by SmithL
One of the recurring scourges facing small-business owners in the Bay Area is the often frivolous lawsuits filed under provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Chronicle has done a number of stories about the problem, relating the travails of bookstore, restaurant and retail store owners in San Francisco who have either been put out of business or essentially extorted to cough up thousands of dollars - which go into the plaintiffs' and lawyers' pockets - to settle the complaints out of court.
Now, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is getting into the act, initially on behalf of Latino small-business owners who are being sued in California and across the nation. This month the chamber's Institute for Legal Reform began a "Latino Faces of Lawsuit Abuse" campaign, an offshoot of a broader awareness campaign the chamber began four years ago.
"Small-business owners across the country are forced to contend with abusive lawsuits, but in the Latino community it is particularly harmful," . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
That terrible law is yet another tyrannical tool of the lawyer/government axis.
The ADA does more harm than good. I’m not sure it does any good.
“....but in the Latino community it is particularly harmful,” . . .
Why; simply because they are Latino?
I was a newspaper editor back when the ADA was first proposed. One of the arguments against the law at the time was that it would open up businesses, especially small businesses, to frivolous lawsuits, which could threaten the finances of small companies.
No way, the supporters told us. This is for the disabled and the handicapped. After all, no one would go through the trouble and expense of court without a good reason.
And here we are. Again.
Tens of thousands of dollars for wheel chair ramps that are never used to access exercise facilities?
How about cross walks in the middle of nowhere and ramps and curbs to go with them?
Another damn foolish government intrusion.
My gym has handicapped-compatible stalls in the bathroom for wheelchair-bound members. Who in the hell, who is wheelchair-bound, would go to a gym and be able to use most of the equipment??? I think I only saw a wheelchair rider in there once.
On the other hand, the handicapped-compatible curb cuts at intersections don’t bother me one bit. I would rather the states set the standards, however, not the all-knowing *snicker* Federal government.
Can we get through a presidency without some new entitlement?
The ADA is the reason why you see things like Braille keys at drive-through ATMs.
Easier to intimidate, and who are they going to run to ? Democrats who they elected ?
And lets be honest, how many latino restaurants (the subject of these lawsuits) are worried that with some digging, a lawyer will find a bunch of illegals working in the kitchen and think that somehow it'll hurt them now in a lawsuit. They'll pay to make the case go away, and they won't or can't run to anyone to help them.
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