California Small Businesses Need Relief From Lawsuit Abuse
Across California, it has become more and more difficult to start, operate, and grow a small business. What was once a cornerstone of the California Dream has become out of reach for most of our state’s residents.
Politicians in Sacramento have failed to take needed steps to curb the bureaucracy, taxes, and threats that small business owners face. The results have been a severe decline in entrepreneurship, as Californians take their ideas to states like Texas and Florida more accepting of would-be job creators.
One of the most egregious state policies business owners have to deal with is ADA lawsuits. These lawsuits are nothing but legalized extortion, and lawmakers must act to stop them. How this plays out is a profiteering trial attorney will identify a local, small business with some sort of minor accessibility issue. Something as simple as a mirror being two inches too high or a parking lot curb placed in just slightly the wrong location. The attorney will then find a plaintiff and sue the business on their behalf. In many cases, the plaintiff may not have ever even visited the business. The attorney and plaintiff will demand a settlement to avoid going to court. The cost of litigation would be astronomical, so the business owner is left with no choice but to pay the settlement, which could amount to thousands of dollars. This was money that could have been used to improve their business, hire new employees, or invest in the community.
Small businesses in particular are targeted because they normally don’t have the resources and legal teams to fight back.
It is clear that these lawsuits are not about ensuring accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Instead, they are a cynical attempt to make a quick buck at the expense of small businesses. Unfortunately, small businesses across California are being targeted by these predatory lawsuits and California lawmakers have done nothing to stop it.
The problem is not with the ADA itself. The ADA is an important piece of civil rights legislation that has helped to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to public accommodations. Almost all small business owners are willing to make accommodations so all their customers feel welcome. The problem is with the way that the law is being abused by predatory actors.
Look no further than the fact that trial attorneys spend millions of dollars on advertising every year to try and seek out plaintiffs willing to sue. These same trial attorneys also spend large sums on lobbying to make sure the legislature maintains the status quo and doesn’t take action. Every legislative session, common sense measures to support small businesses and curb lawsuit abuse are introduced, and every legislative session, they are shot down.
One such common sense solution that the legislature can and should pass would be a simple requirement that plaintiffs provide businesses with written notice of alleged violations and give them a reasonable amount of time to cure the violation before filing a lawsuit. While this just seems like common sense, no such provisions currently exist in state law.
Another potential solution is establishing a "right to cure" provision that would allow businesses to remedy any alleged violations within a specified period of time and avoid being sued. This would not only provide businesses with an opportunity to correct any issues but also ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to public accommodations.
Unsurprisingly, other states have enacted similar reforms and have seen the number of frivolous lawsuits drop, and their business climates improve. When you let business owners run and grow their businesses feee from burdensome regulations and litigation, they create jobs and grow the economy.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, providing jobs, supporting local charities, and creating a sense of place. When these businesses are forced to pay out large settlements or go out of business altogether, it has a ripple effect throughout our communities.
We saw during the COVID-19 pandemic that when small businesses struggle, the whole community struggles. The challenges facing small business owners in California are numerous, including high taxes, a difficult labor environment, and sky-high inflation. Yet addressing the issues in state law that have opened the floodgates to frivolous lawsuits seems like a simple, easy step to take to bring some relief.
I urge state lawmakers to take action to stop predatory actors from targeting small businesses with frivolous ADA lawsuits. Doing so would help the economy, but more importantly, is a matter of fairness and justice for all Californians.