The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one of the most important national civil-rights laws dealing with the rights of people with disabilities. The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability in areas of employment, places of public accommodation, housing, public services, transportation, and telecommunications. However, a barrage of ADA lawsuits have recently been filed against New York restaurants and bars and a great deal of them really have nothing to do with assisting those with disabilities.
I very recently defended another NY restaurant in an ADA case where the Plaintiff was claiming that the bathrooms were not ADA compliant because the mirrors were too high, the pipes under the sink were not properly insulated, and the bathroom sign was placed too high and didn’t contain the word bathroom in braille. In that case the Plaintiff was correct. These issues were in fact violations of the ADA and the Defendant restaurant had no choice but to settle the legal action. The settlement included a nominal payment to the Plaintiff himself, a much larger payment to the Plaintiff counsel for their legal fees (prevailing Plaintiffs are entitled to legal fees in ADA cases so these amounts are always worked into a settlement), and an agreement to fix the violations. The total settlement payment was over $10,000.00 plus tack on another $6,000.00 for legal defense fees bringing the cost of that legal action to over $16,000.00. The actual cost incurred to fix the violations . . . .$95.00.
Defendants with any ADA violations, if sued, must ultimately make a business decision. That business decision almost always requires the Defendant to settle the case rather than proceed forward running up their own legal defense fees along with the plaintiff’s legal fees.
The point of this post is simple. Be fully ADA compliant. The ADA law is very technical and even a minor violation may result in a very expensive lawsuit from an enterprising plaintiff counsel. Be proactive. Retain qualified legal counsel and have them do a walk-through of your establishment ensuring compliance and pointing out any and all issues.
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