Two congresspeople are sponsoring a bill to help indie business fight abusive ADA lawsuits, shares Anne Flynn Wear, a writer for Furniture Today.
I know businesses that have been targeted by lawyers seeking to cash in on the ADA law. The defendants, even after they 'fix' their website, often have to settle for thousands of dollars.
The ADA was not written with websites in mind (the law was created in 1990--well before the Internet), and the law doesn't allow businesses a grace period to rectify the issues reported. Damages by the plaintiff can be claimed immediately. Plaintiffs and their lawyers know this: the number of access lawsuits filed in federal court has tripled from 2017 to 2018.
The new bill seeks to create a grace period and give businesses time to fix the issues. Ms. Wear reports, "Private lawsuits would be allowed, but only after administrative remedies are exhausted." This law seeks to short circuit the growing mountain of lawsuits--and the cash cow--that has been created by the existing ADA law.
Due to the abuse of the existing ADA law, I support Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Lou Correa (D-CA) in their new bill. I hope this becomes law.