Disability-rights advocates split on support of lawyer

By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | Saturday, December 17, 2005 10:34 PM PST ∞

Fix it ---- and pay up to the tune of a few grand ---- or face an expensive lawsuit and an uphill legal battle. That's what 67 Julian businesses heard last month from a disabled customer ---- who is also a lawyer ---- after he took a weekend trip up to the quaint mountain hamlet and found that the businesses were not in total compliance with access laws for the disabled.

It's a negotiating tactic that has advocates for people with disabilities divided.

The issue? Whether the monetary demands are justified attempts to right accessibility problems ---- or old-fashioned shakedowns.

Attorney Theodore Pinnock, who uses a wheelchair, in November threatened businesses in Julian with lawsuits because their shops were not up to code under access laws for the disabled. Problems at the businesses ranged from a lack of adequate parking for the disabled to counters that were too high.

The attorney ---- who is also the potential plaintiff if the suits are filed ---- told the businesses that they would have to fix the problems and pay him $2,500 or he would take them to court.

Lose in court, Pinnock told the businesses, and face paying his six-figure attorney's fees.

Pinnock also told the businesses that he was willing to negotiate the amount of money they would have to pay him to keep the case out of court ---- provided the fixes were made. The faster they paid up, the less of the $2,500 they would owe him.

The negotiating tactic angered business owners and others, some of whom called the lawsuits shakedowns. But not all agree that the technique is a bad one.

Some advocates for better access for people with disabilities said negotiating tactics such as those employed in the Julian situation are perfectly fine, while others in the same field said such threats could create public backlash and set the disability access movement back.

Some settle up in Julian
In Julian, 11 of the 67 targeted businesses agreed to settle up, Pinnock said Thursday.

The store owners will fix the access issues, Pinnock said, and those who settled also agreed to pay Pinnock less than $800 each ---- a third of what Pinnock had demanded in the beginning.

They have three years to bring their places into compliance with access laws, Pinnock said. Normally, he said, he would have demanded that the fixes be done within six months.

Among the types of pending fixes, Pinnock said, is a regrading of a store's parking lot to make it more level with easier access for the disabled.

Still, more than 50 businesses are still staring down Pinnock's lawsuits, which he threatened after taking the weekend trip to the town. Pinnock said he found some businesses that were not entirely accessible to him.

Harry Horner is the chairman of a Chamber of Commerce committee in Julian tackling the access issues and Pinnock's tactics. On Friday, he declined comment on the matter and referred calls to attorney Jim Mason.

Mason, who is representing about 40 of the affected businesses, also declined comment.

"We are in the midst of some delicate negotiations," he said. "I don't want to make any comments that will undermine that."

Pinnock himself acknowledged that businesses bristle at his tactics.

"They are very angry. They are very mad," Pinnock said. "And that is normal for people (facing the specter of a lawsuit). We need to work through the anger, but I think we are doing a good job of that. Most people want to comply with the ADA."

Tactic 'perfectly fine'
The Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law that went into effect in 1992, was designed to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities. California has since enacted similar requirements.

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

No government agencies exist to check businesses to be sure they are in compliance with federal access laws, Pinnock has said. Doing so is left up to lawyers like him, he added.

Demand letters such as Pinnock's are common, said Diana Honig, a staff attorney for Protection and Access Inc., a statewide nonprofit agency that provides free legal services to people with disabilities. The group has four offices, one each in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Oakland and San Diego. San Diego officials referred calls to Honig, who works out of the Oakland office.

Honig is not familiar with the Julian situation. However, she said she thinks the letters threatening lawsuits and demanding money are "perfectly fine." Honig noted that demand letters give people chances to respond before suits are filed. Under state law, those harmed by lack of access or total ADA compliance can get up to $4,000 per violation if the case goes to court, she said.

"In our view, there is nothing wrong with filing a lot of lawsuits," Honig said. "The purpose of the law is to get access."

The only thing that would raise concern about such suits, she said, would be people who fight for settlement money, but not for physical fixes to buildings.

'Very bad for public policy'
But the tactic of telling business owners to make fixes and pay up or face a court date has angered others, including those who are fighting for access for the disabled.

Curt Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network based in Washington, D.C., said he worries that certain disability access lawsuits and heavy-handed negotiations will create "a backlash against the ADA."

Decker said that his organization ---- a nationwide network that provides legal services to people with disabilities ---- does seek out businesses to tell them to get into compliance.

"We are going to lose the kind of public support we need for any issues before the Congress," said Decker, who is also not personally familiar with the Julian situation."That's very bad for public policy relating to disabilities."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with alerting business of noncompliance," Decker added, "but attorneys' fees and lawsuits should be for those who refuse to comply."

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.