If you or your business are facing an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuit it is imperative to comply with ADA law, contact an experienced Nassau County ADA defense lawyer from the Bell Law Group. The ADA only applies to persons who meet the definition of “disabled” under the Act. A person is considered disabled, and so protected under the ADA, if he or she either has or is thought to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits what the ADA calls a “major life activity.” Major life activities are the basic components of any person’s life — including walking, talking, seeing, and learning.
Why Hire an ADA Defense Lawyer?
There are various reasons to choose an ADA defense lawyer from our firm, including:
- Our results speak clearly. We know how to win.
- We exceed the expectation of our clients.
- Our team of experts is committed to your success.
When your company is facing allegations of disability discrimination under the ADA, effective legal representation is critical. At Bell Law Group, we have extensive experience representing employers in ADA litigation in New York. We are intimately familiar with the substantive and procedural issues involved, and we know what it takes to defend our clients effectively. If your company is being accused of violating the ADA, we invite you to arrange a free consultation to discuss our experience and what we can do to help.
Understanding the Definition of Disability Under the ADA
The ADA defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. This includes people who have a record of such an impairment, even if they do not currently have a disability. It also includes individuals who do not have a disability but are regarded as having a disability. The ADA also makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person’s association with a person with a disability.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination based on disability in employment, state and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications.
If a person has an impairment that substantially limits his or her ability to perform one or more of these activities, that person is considered disabled under the ADA. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered, but common examples of disabilities include confinement to a wheelchair, reliance on assistive devices such as canes and walkers, blindness, deafness, a learning disability, and certain kinds of mental illness.
Why ADA Compliance?
As a business owner, your services must be accessible to persons with disabilities. It is good for business and it is also the law. Because disabled persons, advocacy groups, and the DOJ can sue you to enforce ADA compliance, Bell Law Group is committed to helping clients avoid expensive litigation.
Whether you have already been sued in an ADA case or are starting your business, ADA compliance requirements are necessary.
The Bell Law Group’s ADA Compliance & Defense team works with businesses and organizations around the country to achieve company compliance with the ADA.
ADA Title I: Employment
Under Title I of the ADA, employers that have 15 or more employees must generally provide equal opportunities to all employees (and prospective employees) regardless of disability. Discriminating on the basis of disability is prohibited in recruitment, hiring, compensation, promotion, termination and all other employment-related matters. Title I of the ADA also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who request them, provided that employees submit their requests in compliance with the law. What constitutes a “reasonable” accommodation depends on the circumstances involved; and, if it is not possible to provide an accommodation without undue hardship, then no accommodation is required–because providing an accommodation would not be “reasonable” under the circumstances at hand.
Title I complaints must be filed with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the date of discrimination, or 300 days if the charge is filed with a designated State or local fair employment practice agency. Individuals may file a lawsuit in federal court only after they receive a “right-to-sue” letter from the EEOC.
Defending Employers Against ADA Lawsuits
Successfully defending against an ADA lawsuit starts with gaining a clear understanding of the true facts at hand. When facing litigation, it is imperative to make informed decisions based on an unbiased assessment of the facts, and this requires a prompt and thorough investigation. At Bell Law Group, we work closely with our clients’ executives, in-house counsel and key stakeholders to conduct efficient investigations focused on gathering the information we need to develop targeted defense strategies.
In some cases, investigations will reveal that remedial action is necessary to prevent ongoing or future violations. When this is the case, we work with our clients to implement appropriate changes to their ADA policies and procedures while simultaneously constructing their defense.
Drive-By ADA Lawsuits | The Problem
The ADA makes these cases lucrative for plaintiffs’ attorneys. Currently, the law does not even require a potential plaintiff to give the targeted facility notice of the alleged violation before filing suit. Although many of the violations could be easily and inexpensively fixed, a plaintiff can only recover attorney’s fees if there is a pending lawsuit, so disabled individuals rarely give notice.
Defense Strategies
Defendants are beginning to use the courts themselves to combat “frequent filers.” The most successful strategies include: 1) Asking the court to declare a plaintiff a “vexatious litigant”, and 2) arguing that the defendant should not have to pay attorney’s fees because it could have easily and inexpensively fixed the problem without a lawsuit.
Pre-litigation notice: Although it is not required by the ADA, a few courts have also denied attorneys’ fees to successful plaintiffs on the ground that they did not provide the defendant with notice of the alleged violation and a reasonable opportunity to cure it. The courts rely on a section of the ADA, which gives courts the discretion to award attorneys’ fees to the winning party. In the particular cases, the courts questioned the motives of the plaintiffs who rushed to file lawsuits, when a simple letter to the target entity would have fixed the alleged violation in a much more efficient and cost-effective manner. See, Doran v. Del Taco, Inc., –F. Supp. 2d–; 2005 WL 1389270 (C.D.Cal. June 9, 2005); Macort v. Checker Drive-In Rests., Inc., 2005 WL 332422 (M.D.Fla. January 28, 2005) (unpub.).
Lack of standing: A third tactic involves the defense that a plaintiff is not allowed to bring a lawsuit under the ADA because he or she does not intend to return to the location. In a case brought by a plaintiff who was later labeled a vexatious litigant by another court, the judge ordered the plaintiff to produce copies of the several hundred complaints that had been filed on his behalf in the previous two years. Molski v. Franklin, 222 F.R.D. 433 (S.D.Cal. 2004). These kinds of challenges are difficult. Even in cases involving vexatious litigants, most courts have found that the plaintiff did indeed intend to return to the restaurant at issue if it came into compliance with the ADA, and thus, he or she had legal standing to sue.
Legislative Developments
In the wake of so much litigation, the push for reform of the ADA is growing stronger but is still meeting some stiff opposition. Several bills designed to create a 90-day notice period during which a public business may fix any violations before a suit is filed have made little headway in Congress, but the movement for reform is gaining momentum. Contact us to discuss how our experienced drive-by ADA defense team can properly represent, protect and defend you, your business, and your assets, from ADA lawsuits.
ADA Mediation | ADA Law Firm Working to Protect You
ADA Mediation allows the parties, not a judge or the mediator, to control the outcomes of their dispute. Parties work together, and there is room to negotiate the terms of the agreement and the timeline for implementation. The matter is not closed until the parties verify that all of the terms of the agreement have been implemented. Either party can withdraw from mediation at any time.
To help avoid expensive court fees and related costs, the DOJ often encourages the use of the ADA Mediation Program. The ADA encourages the use of mediation to resolve employer-employee disputes involving disability discrimination claims. Under the ADA Mediation Program, DOJ mediators work with employers and employees to resolve their disputes without the need for further dispute resolution proceedings. However, while mediation will often lead to a mutually agreeable outcome, a key feature of mediation is that neither party is required to agree to any specific terms, and the mediator’s role is that of a facilitator, not a decision-maker.
Resolving ADA Complaints Through Mediation
According to DOJ statistics, the ADA Mediation Program has been used more than 4,000 times, with 78% of mediation proceedings under the program resulting in a mutually agreeable outcome. An ADA defense lawyer at Bell Law Group can help you decide whether pursuing mediation makes sense on a case-by-case basis; and, when pursuing mediation is your company’s best option, we can represent your company throughout the process. But, while we focus on pursuing mediated settlements in good faith when warranted, we also vigorously defend our clients when necessary.
To prepare yourself for the best results, a New York ADA defense lawyer from the Bell Law Group will work closely with you. Speak with us to discuss how our experienced ADA defense team can properly represent, protect and defend you, your business, and your assets, from ADA lawsuits.
Contact an ADA Defense Lawyer Today
If your business is being sued for alleged violation of ADA laws, or if you need professional advice regarding ADA compliance, then you must consult an ADA defense lawyer. Contact Bell Law Group to discuss how our experienced ADA defense team can properly represent, protect and defend you, your business, and your assets, from ADA lawsuits.
