Lawmaker's Bill to Curb Disability Rights Lawsuits Clears Committee

January 20, 2016

Often criticized as “shakedown lawsuits,” disabled people sue a small business whether or not they patronize it.

By BEA KARNES (Patch Staff) January 20, 2016 6:15 pm ET

A Riverside County lawmaker’s bill aimed at deterring disability rights lawsuits against small businesses cleared a legislative hurdle Tuesday.

Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, called Senate Bill 269 a “balanced measure to protect the disabled community and small businesses.”

SB 269 was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee in a 9-0 vote and now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration, according to the senator’s office.

The bill was originally authored by Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, who revised it using Roth’s language as part of the Legislature’s “gut-and-amend” process. SB 269 has already been approved once by the Senate but will have to be voted on again if it makes it out of the Assembly, presumably with some changes.

Roth shepherded a similar measure through the Legislature last year, but SB 251 was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

According to Roth, SB 269 proposes to supply business owners with educational resources and training that will bring them up-to-date on state and federal disability access requirements. The measure would further provide “a reasonable amount of time” for merchants to rectify access problems before they could be subjected to legal action, the senator said.

He said the current bill does not contain the small business tax credit that his previous proposal did, prompting the governor’s veto.

In its 2016 legislative advocacy platform, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors named Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits among its foremost concerns.

Often criticized as “shakedown lawsuits,” the actions stem from findings that business owners have not constructed ramps, automated doors or other means that permit disabled individuals from gaining easy access to a location -- whether or not they patronize it.

The board’s platform backed efforts to blunt “predatory litigation” and provide “a reasonable time period in which a business is allowed to ... come into compliance” with ADA standards.

“I am looking forward to sending SB 269 to the governor for his signature, having listened to concerns from his administration, the disability rights community and other stakeholders,” Roth said.

-- City News Service