The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

When the Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law back in 1990, it was considered a victory for the civil rights movement. While this act has done some good for the disabled in our country, there have been many abuses of this law that have not been properly dealt with. Unfortunately it is these abuses that make it more difficult for the legitimate cases out there. I believe that this is a mere reflection of the civil rights movement of today in general. Most folks in this country who consider themselves “disadvantaged” know the power behind labeling someone as being insensitive. Labeling someone or an institution as “racist” or “insensitive” is enough to cause just about any profitable to enter into an apologetic mode where they are willing to do anything to remove this label. Many of us in the Los Angeles area are currently enraged over the recent news of a Fireman (black) who is set to receive roughly $2.7 million dollars (courtesy of the city of Los Angeles taxpayers) for a practical joke played on him that HE CLAIMED was racist (I’ll talk more about this with the details later). Cases like this are nothing more than a slap in the face of all of those out there who have legitimate cases that are being ignored, thanks to PC.

Apparently the Sacramento Bee is doing a series on this issue. I already stated my reasons yesterday why this really pisses me off, so no need to repeat it here. Here are some excerpts from the latest article:

[excerpted]

“Across the nation, the federal law has been hailed by many as a civil rights triumph since its passage 16 years ago. But California laws allowing the nation’s most generous payouts to disabled people who sue businesses have made this state a magnet for lawyers and plaintiffs and for aggressive, sometimes questionable practices. “Despite the important mission of the ADA, there are those individuals who would abuse (it)… with the intent to profit financially,” wrote U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California, who ruled against Doran in July.

Simply put,” the judge wrote, “this litigation abuse of the ADA results in the exact harmful consequences that Congress sought to eradicate by passing the ADA.”

A six-month investigation by The Bee found troubling cases across the state that have fueled the controversy:

• A disabled teenager was offered $1,000 by a San Diego attorney for every business he could visit to “find” ADA violations the attorney actually had already identified.

• Another disabled man who sued more than 50 businesses in Los Angeles later accused his lawyer of failing to ensure that the violations were fixed.

• Out-of-state lawyers have been lured to California by its laws, setting up shop to sue businesses, using local disabled people as clients.

• One Southern California man who issued a string of letters demanding payment for ADA violations turned out not to be a lawyer, but a self-described “nutritionist,” better known to authorities for his Internet business arranging body-parts transplants overseas.

• A woman is facing prosecution on insurance fraud charges after allegedly faking a disability and filing access claims against several California cities. When confronted by police, the supposedly wheelchair-dependent woman tried to run away.

The San Diego-based Lawyers Against Lawsuit Abuse calculates that at least 14,550 ADA suits were filed in the state’s federal courts between 1992 and July 2006. The lawyers group conservatively estimates that such suits cost California businesses $20 million each year.

Hundreds more lawsuits have been filed in state courts, and even some in small claims divisions. (more…)