SACRAMENTO, CA - Businesses hope a new bill will put the squeeze on excessive and opportunistic lawsuits that allege violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Congressman Dan Lungren will be at the popular burger joint, Squeeze Inn, on Thursday to talk about the bill he introduced last week.
Squeeze Inn was hit by two lawsuits in 2009 to become compliant with ADA requirements.
Owner Travis Hausauer settled in the first lawsuit. The second lawsuit forced him to shut down and move to a new location on Power Inn Road.
ADA lawsuits have forced many businesses to "pay up or shutdown."
Congressman Lungren's new bill will help business owners and operators stay open and still perform ADA code upgrades. It would establish a short window of time for businesses to fix the alleged ADA violations without legal action.
"Too often these lawsuits are filed and the accuser takes the settlement money and moves on down the road," Lungren said in a statement.
"This will be huge here for the businesses here in California," Hausauer said. "It gives them a great opportunity to take care of the problem without being sued by the lawyer."
Lungren will be joined by several area chambers of commerce. The group "California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse" will also be there to support Lungren's bill.
Owner of Redrum Burger in Davis Jim Edlund said he fully supports Lungren's bill. Edlund was sued earlier this year by a disabled attorney, who has sued more than 1,500 businesses.
"What infuriates me is the volume of ADA lawsuits," Edlund said. "I am fine with following the letter of the law. But when a man files hundreds of lawsuits and it's for personal enrichment, that's when I have a problem."
By Suzanne Phan, sphan@news10.net
Twitter: @suzannephan
News10/KXTV