Merced’s Gray lauded for efforts on reform to ADA lawsuits

A Sacramento-based group awarded Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, the Civil Justice Leadership Award on Wednesday for legislation he has pushed related to predatory lawsuits regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, an issue brought to light by a Merced Sun-Star and Modesto Bee special report last year.

Civil Justice Association of California, which works in the court system to reduce unwarranted and excessive litigation, praised Gray. The group works with many politicians in Sacramento and President Kim Stone called Gray “one of the good ones.”

Gray and others in the state have tried to curb “drive-by” ADA lawsuits, which typically end in out-of-court settlements but don’t require changes to the business to make them ADA-compliant. None of the bills have made it to law so far.

“Even though it hasn’t yet come to fruition, we think it’s worthy of applause and recognition,” Stone said.

In December of last year, on the first day of a new legislative session, Gray and Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Riverbank, introduced companion bills addressing the same issue. Gray’s Assembly Bill 52 would give small businesses six months to fix ADA violations, and Olsen’s AB 54 would give companies two months if claimed violations are based on standards that changed in the previous three years.

Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Manteca, also took a run at a bill.

Stone said the lawsuits are found all over the state and often target smaller communities. “There’s tons of them in this area,” she said.

Legal experts say the settlements demanded in many ADA lawsuits are modest, usually $5,000 or less, so that small businesses just pay it. Most mom-and-pop shops can’t afford to fight the cases in court.

The ADA law was authored more than 20 years ago by a local congressman, Tony Coelho of Los Banos. Gray said the ADA serves a noble purpose but shouldn’t reward predatory lawsuits.

“Frivolous and predatory lawsuits undermine the value of the judicial system,” he said.

Gray said he is frustrated that none of the bills gained traction. “Maybe we need to take it right to the voters,” he said. “We’ve accomplished very little.”

A series of stories in September 2014 by the Sun-Star and The Bee spotlighted a handful of serial ADA litigants and the growing number of lawsuits in the Valley. An Atwater woman sued 21 businesses in Merced and Stanislaus counties; an Arizona pedophile who uses a wheelchair targeted 19 businesses; and two Southern California men sued about a dozen.

The stories also earned an award this year from the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Merced’s Gray lauded for efforts on reform to ADA lawsuits."