A rash of Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits have been filed against small businesses operating in San Francisco's Chinatown.
And this isn’t the plaintiff’s first time. According to reporting by KPIX, the same person has filed dozens of lawsuits against small businesses on Park Street in the city of Alameda as well.
One such owner, Mark Rogers, of Lola’s on Park Street in Alameda, didn’t know a lawsuit had been filed against him until he received some letters in the mail from lawyers offering their services.
Rogers and dozens of other business owners along Park Street have been hit with an ADA lawsuit recently. Behind all these suits, and over a thousand similar ADA complaints made against businesses in San Francisco’s Chinatown and the Sunset District is plaintiff Orlando Garcia.
Colin Cross of Lauren’s Closet, across from Park Street, got a similar notice.
"We started reading the complaints and they are a carbon copy of each other," Cross said.
The suit asserts that Lauren’s Closet, a children’s consignment store, had unlawful barriers that prevented entry.
"I looked and I checked, the door is the right width, the slope is the right slope. What is it?"
It’s the same at Lola’s.
"They said that the landing on the ramp wasn’t level," said Rogers. "Now I have to hire a specialist to answer all of these questions and for a couple of thousand dollars give me a survey."
After looking at it himself, Rogers thinks the ramp is level. "I have the feeling they throw these out and hope something sticks," he said.
Both business owners say the settlement cost of $4,000 to $6,000, plus paying Garcia’s attorney fees, could put them out of business after barely surviving the pandemic.
Others along Park Street have resorted to hiring certified access specialists to make sure they are in compliance with the ADA.
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