Nine local business ADA
lawsuits are dismissed

By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Persistence has paid off for local businesses standing against ADA lawsuit abuse. For a few, the nightmare is now over.
     Angered by often unfounded lawsuits filed late last year, several Alpine business owners decided to join with a local law firm and stand up against the abusive ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) lawsuits now plaguing California. Fighting back has paid off, and some of the lawsuits have been stopped.
     In March 2006 more than 30 Alpine businesses received letters demanding compliance with ADA standards and threatening lawsuits for those who did not comply.
     In his letters to area businesses, Theodore Pinnock, the lawyer who peppered Alpine with the demand letters wrote that he and his client found the town to be generally lax in its compliance with the 15-year-old ADA law.
     He demanded payment of $10,500 for his client, with the amount to go up if the business fails to fully comply with ADA. Attached was a lengthy — but as yet un-filed — lawsuit complaint. In it, Pinnock alleged everything from incorrect support bars in restrooms to inadequate parking and ramps, to counters of the wrong height.
     At the time, the Alpine Chamber of Commerce joined for with Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse and local business-owners to fight the lawsuits. Some businesses settled, some worked to get into compliance, and others went on to fight the suits.
     The Ramey Law Firm in San Diego countered the lawsuits by offering free legal services for small businesses sued in Alpine. Refusing to bow to the demands of what they deemed to be extortion, nine business owners in Alpine decided to fight to save their business.
     Christopher Ramey, a resident of Alpine and member of the Alpine Planning Group, offered his services, and those of his firm, to help the local business-owners
     “The tactics of abuse are straightforward,” wrote Ramey in a press release. “The plaintiff claims the business is inaccessible and does not meet ADA code requirements. Many times, the lawsuits were brought against businesses in which the plaintiff had never even stepped inside. Plaintiffs and their attorneys then demand the owners settle by paying large demands, or face long and expensive litigation.”
     When businesses refused to pay the settlement demands and began filing objections and motions, plaintiffs dismissed their lawsuit – eventually against all nine businesses.
     The lawyers bringing the ADA lawsuits have been accused of bringing the legal profession down another notch in the public eye. Joining with other attorneys, The Ramey Law Firm decided to offer the free services as a way to redeem the image of the legal profession and attorneys.
     “Some attorneys find loopholes in the law and use them to their advantage,” says Amy Lujan, a San Diego attorney volunteering her time to the effort. “I hope that our volunteer efforts shed light on the good things attorneys do.”
     The Alpine business owners filed a motion to have the plaintiff, Delores Jackson, declared a vexatious litigant. If granted, Jackson would be unable to bring any lawsuits without prior court permission. In their motion, business owners asked the court to simply examine Ms. Jackson’s claims.
     In her lawsuits, Jackson, an elderly African-American woman, sued a men’s barber shop in Alpine and a tanning salon on Coronado, businesses she claims she visited on the same day. The day before the court was to rule on the motion, plaintiffs dismissed their lawsuit.
     “Her claims are absolutely absurd,” says Lori Johnson, owner of Lori’s Fibers Frames & Frills. “I feel sorry for the businesses that have to continue to go through the courts, or that have to pay so much money to settle unfounded lawsuits.”
     In March of this year Pinnock was also rebuked for his actions by a San Diego federal court judge for his conduct in these cases, and was ordered to pay more than $15,000 in legal fees incurred by a business owner who was sued over alleged access violations.
     All total, Ms. Jackson and her attorneys sued 68 businesses in the span of just a few months in areas all across the county.
     Jackson and her attorney were hoping to take advantage of lawsuit settlement economics.
     “Attorneys are required to advise their clients in a manner that protect the interests of the client,” says attorney James Bentson, who also volunteered for the businesses. “A business owner will be advised to pay the plaintiffs a couple of thousand dollars to settle the lawsuit rather than invest up to fifty thousand to defend the lawsuit. It just makes economic sense.”
     This tactic seems to work well for plaintiffs, as most — if not all — lawsuits are settled out of court.
     Unfortunately, the lawsuits often do more harm than good.
     “There are businesses that do not take the necessary steps to accommodate the many disabled persons in our community,” said Ramey. “These abusive lawsuits stigmatize and mock the disabled, and make it more difficult for an individual with a real claim to be recognized as legitimate.”
     Until legislation changes the way in which ADA lawsuits are prosecuted, the present law welcomes and promotes abusive lawsuits. At least for nine businesses in Alpine, the law and its advocates have been successful in fighting back.

Editor’s note: Thank you Chris Ramey for providing much of the information for this story, and for fighting for our community business owners.

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