Businesses threatened with disability access lawsuits

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | Saturday, December 3, 2005 12:47 AM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY ---- A San Diego lawyer is threatening to sue 67 Julian businesses if they don't make their shops in the quaint mountain hamlet more accessible to people with disabilities.

But the threat of the lawsuits will go away, the attorney said Friday, if the businesses make the physical fixes ---- and pay up to the tune of about $200,000.

It is a tactic that the attorney, Theodore Pinnock, says is a legitimate move against businesses that are not complying with federal access laws.

Others are calling it a shakedown.

Pinnock, who uses a wheelchair, said he recently took a weekend trip to Julian and was frustrated to learn that none of the businesses he wanted to solicit were in total compliance with the access requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Pinnock said the experience at Julian ruined his weekend. He wants each of the 67 businesses both to make the fixes and to hand over money ---- the minimum demand is $2,500 per business.

If the businesses decline to do either, he said, he will sue them in federal court. If he wins, he said, each business will not only have to make the changes, but also pay his attorneys fees ---- to the tune of $125,000 per lawsuit, he said.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law that went into effect in 1992, was designed prevent discrimination against people with disabilities.

Older buildings are not exempt from compliance requirements of the disability act, said David Warren Peters, who is the chairman of the board of directors of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. Peters is also an attorney who specializes in representing businesses who face disability lawsuits.

Harry Horner is the owner of Wynola Pizza Express, one of the 67 Julian-area business staring at a lawsuit from Pinnock.

Pinnock's threat to sue, Horner said, "was a real surprise," he said, because the business has had customers in wheelchairs before. "They seem to be accommodated and there's never even been a complaint."

Groups that defend against what they call abusive lawsuits say Pinnock's threats are uncalled for.

"This ... predatory lawsuit is a tremendous threat," said Andy Kotner, the president of the San Diego-based Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. "It's a law and we honor it, and we want businesses to be compliant with it. We are opposed to the lawyers' tactics."

Pinnock rejects the characterization of his suits as "extortion," noting that extortion is illegal, but that his activities are within the limits of the law.

Some of the Julian businesses are organizing to fight back.

Horner, who has owned his Wynola restaurant for about five years, is on the Chamber of Commerce committee trying to figure out how to handle the lawsuit threats.

Horner said the committee is interviewing attorneys and is trying to come up with a recommendation for not only the businesses Pinnock approached, but also those that he hasn't targeted.

"The desire is really is to make Julian a community in compliance with the ADA requirements," Horner said. "We hope to have an opportunity to take care of those (compliance issues), but we hope we are not put out of business in the process of doing it."

On Monday, Pinnock filed his first suit in the Julian matter, choosing to sue King Leo Confections in the East County division of San Diego Superior Court.

King Leo owner Pierre Redmond declined comment Friday afternoon.

Pinnock has filed dozens of disability access-related lawsuits in the last decade or so.

Pinnock noted Friday that no governmental agencies exist to check businesses to be sure they are in compliance with federal access laws, so doing so is left up to lawyers like him, he said. And he does expect the fixes to be made, regardless of whether the businesses choose to settle with him out of court or he takes the case to the judge.

"We want them to repair the problem," Pinnock said. "We do not take the money and run." The money demands, Pinnock said, are simply payment for his time, and that all lawyers are looking for monetary awards.

"We need to be compensated for our time," he said of attorneys who file disability access lawsuits.

As a negotiating tactic, Pinnock sent the Julian businesses a letter with his monetary demands on Nov. 21 ---- and told them that the faster they paid him, the less money they would owe him.

For example, a business owner who agreed to all of Pinnock's demands within two days would only be liable for 40 percent of the $2,500 Pinnock wanted. If the owner opted to wait four days, Pinnock would agree to take half of the $2,500.

And so on.

Two of the businesses have already paid up, Pinnock said.

Kotner said the threat of disability access suits is not just a Julian problem, but one that has a stranglehold on all state businesses. She spoke of one Oceanside inn that closed its doors in recent years when faced with the continuing threats of such lawsuits.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 740-3517 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.